Color has a powerful influence upon the mood in many different kinds of circumstances. For this week’s challenge Egídio, invites us to explore warm colors. Nature abounds with color and blesses us with many opportunities to rejoice in their splendor.
What’s not to love about yellow? It is energetic and cheerful, often gracing the first blossoms of spring. Yellow feels like Joy to me.
Orange is such a vibrant hue, a perfect blend of yellow and red that stimulates and delights my senses.
Red is a powerful color that draws our attention immediately. To me it radiates energy, passion and love.
Pink is soft and friendly. To my eye, it glows with kindness, comfort and contentment.
A touch of blue added to red creates the color purple – a hue that uplifts and inspires me. On the cool end of the warm spectrum, purple’s intensity is rich and luxurious.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
A big thank you to Egídio, for bringing warmth to those of us in the northern hemisphere still living in the midst of winter’s dreariness!
Sophia Alves leads our challenge this week with the theme of Night and Day. The golden hours of dawn and sundown are favorite times for photographers to capture the glory of our beautiful earth, and then there are all the other times in our daily 24 hours to find beauty. In this challenge, once again I am pairing photos with haiku and poetry from my collected writings.
suspended in rosy heavens full Hunter’s moon drifts toward tomorrow
secret dark night woods underline dawn’s golden glow clouds scatter luster
Light is Life (excerpt)
light-years radiate far-away glimmer of wishes beams from ancient dreams spark a torch of hope
white-hot sun drifting yellow corona glows orange radiates
full moon floats upon an ocean of foamy clouds deep-blue night awaits
night-time companion moon ~ master of ocean tides mother of wonder
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
A big thank you to Sofia, for another fun challenge!
A few years ago I started writing poems about the birds I encountered at the beach. In these poems my goal is to describe their behavior without personifying them. In answer to Ann-Christine’s challenge to illustrate a favorite quote or poem with our photography, I am presenting one of my poems; Sanderling Dance.
Racing a swirling tide Sanderling quickstep at ocean’s edge needle-nebs peck persistently devouring small worms and sand-shrimp.
Instinct drives recurring action; sprint ahead of rushing surf turn and chase retreating flow mining sand for sustenance.
Preserving energy Sanderling gather to rest stand upright on one leg beak tucked under wing.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
With below freezing temperatures, snow all week-end and now freezing rain in my little corner of the world (Vancouver, WA – USA), life has been full of drama! The temps are rising, so the ice will begin to melt today, and by tomorrow this drama of nature will be a memory. This week, Patti challenges us to find dramatic images in our archives, and she explains the characteristics of a dramatic photo perfectly.
Caught in the center of a stunning sundown reflecting upon the waters of President’s Channel (Orcas, Island WA), this lithe young woman expertly plies her paddle board atop strong tidal currents. The drama for me is that she remains stable throughout her journey.
There is theater in watching songbirds splash away in a bird bath. This Song Sparrow was making quite a splatter, action which my camera caught.
There is something terrifying and almost sinister about the claw-jaws of a large excavator machine, and converting the photo to Noir added tension. Not to mention MACO is a shark!
The dazzling shades of tangerine, rose and lilac in these whirling clouds reflected in the marsh ponds, is my favorite end-of-day spectacle at the Breakers, Long Beach, WA.
No guilt. No regret. Bald Eagles are opportunists and eat whatever they can catch, including other birds. Though I’ve featured this shot in previous posts, it truly is one of my more dramatic photographs.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you Patti for this dramatic start to Lens-Artists Photo Challenges- 2024!
As we open a new calendar year, Lens-Artists suggest we review our photos from 2023 and present some of our favorites. The golden hour at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, with pastel toned breakers rolling in, and two young people enjoying a romp on the beach was a joy to behold.
On a cold windy morning, with thunderous surf near high tide, a group of Brown Pelicans plunged into the waves for fish. I couldn’t see where the Pelicans were, or tell if I was getting any photos of them, yet in the end I had a few nice images. This gliding solo bird above the seething surf is one of my favorites.
On clear days at Long Beach WA, afternoon sun shines through the top of breakers creating a translucent green crest. After quite a few attempts, I caught one that captures the essence.
Early morning on Kamiak Butte, in the Palouse hills of Washington State, I watched this Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly float through the sunshine to land on a bright yellow day lily. It was busy sipping nectar, so I had time to get in close.
A showing of Chihuly in the Garden, at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, was a photographers feast. I featured the twisty blue chandelier in post #276. After playing with the photo in editing, this image was my favorite. It made a lovely photo-to-canvas for my sister’s home in St. Louis!
As the sun begins to glow upon the dune grass, a full moon is on its way to disappearing beyond the Pacific horizon. Scenes like this create a tranquility in me that keeps me breathing deeply with peace.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
There is no specific host for this week’s challenge, so let’s just thank all the contributors who coordinate this wonderful site. Wishing you a new year filled with happiness and adventure.
Tina, of Travels and Trifles brings back a popular challenge introduced at the end of 2022, which is to choose photographs that we have taken this year (2023) but did not included in response to the 2023 Lens-Artist challenges.
My friend Mike, at the Breakers in Long Beach, WA, has nurtured some lovely Golden Chain Trees. This spring they were magnificent in profile upon a clear blue sky. There were many challenges this year where this photo might have fit, yet somehow it didn’t end up in any posts. Consequently, this photo is first up in my Last Chance 2023 post!
Many photographs of the Chihuly sculptures I took at the Missouri Botanical Gardens in October, have not made it into my posts. On the other hand, several have! Each Chihuly instillation is unique, magical and worthy.
In late June, my dear friend Jocelyn and I got together in Spokane for an afternoon and evening of girl time. This photo was the view from the patio outside our room. It was tranquil and provided space for us to talk about the real stuff going on in our lives. Though the photo fit many challenges, I wanted to keep it close and personal. It feels right to share it here.
This photograph of a light glaze of ice on a marsh pond could have fit many challenges in 2023, yet it kept ending up in the “also ran” file. No longer – today it gets a chance to shine!
In April guest host Siobhan Sullivan of Bend Branches, challenged us to present glowing moments. My post featured subtle yet vibrant photos. This sunset over the Pacific Ocean, taken from my deck at the Breakers in Long Beach, WA, would have been over the top for that post! However it is perfect as the final offering in the Last Chance Challenge of 2023!
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you to Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, Amy, John, and all the guest hosts who provided provocative themes to followers of Lens-Artists Photo Challenges in 2023. Amy, enjoy your new adventures! See you all in 2023. 🐾🐾
Ann-Christine invites us to explore the concept of Magical in our photographs this week. Magical in the sense of being “beautiful or delightful in a way that seems removed from everyday life,” (New Oxford American Dictionary), also “extremely or extraordinarily pleasant, enjoyable, or exciting,” (Merriam-Webster). There is magic in the arts, dance, music, visual arts that stirs my soul. The magic of nature all around me inspires awe and wonder every day. To paraphrase Anne-Christine, in times of international anxiety, it is even more important that we find magic in our everyday experiences.
On my beach walk yesterday, the air was clean and brisk, the sky was ever-changing and there were many shorebirds working the outward bound tide-line. My thoughts became more clear, and even with two beagles barking and tugging, I felt the burdens of the world lift and my heart became more tranquil.
A clear night sky is magical, especially here in the Pacific Northwest USA, where clouds often obscure the dance of moon and stars.
Even though I know the physics of rainbows, they always appear as magical mirages. Being able to capture one from end to end is something of a miracle!
The magical transformation of caterpillar to butterfly is another wonder of nature.
I will conclude with the magical quality of companionship. “Legend has it that soon after Creation, the earth was torn in two. Humans were on one side of the chasm, all the animals on the other. Only the dog tried to find a way across to join the humans. He tried to jump the huge abyss but only his forepaws reached the far edge. A human reached down and pulled him to safety, saying, “You shall be my companion forever.” Indian legend.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you to Ann-Christine for another challenge which opened the doors to my imagination!
As I began looking through my archives for photos that would match Amy’s challenge this week, the weather forecast for SW Washington warned of another Atmospheric River on its way. By Monday evening the rain started and it has continued through now – Wednesday evening. In a nod to this reality, my offering this week features some Unique cloud images from Long Beach and Vancouver. Though they are categorized and studied, each *”mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere” is unique.
Cumulonimbus fibrous-edged top capillatus.
This cloud appeared in the northern sky, as I was walking in my Vancouver neighborhood one spring day. All I knew was that it was a Thundercloud, and getting home soon would be a good idea! Below is another Cumulonimbus cloud, this one at Long Beach.
Anvil – Cumulonimbus incus cloud
Above, once again I was walking, this time heading south on Long Beach in the morning, as this anvil cloud stretched long and wide above me toward North Head.
In the midst of a downpour, this little rainbow shimmered long enough for me to snap a photo of it.
Cloud watchers like me, enjoy formations that look like characters or creatures. Above I see a sinister dark cloud with its mouth wide open ready to gobble-up a smaller cloud fleeing ahead. Below the cloud outlined in orange appears to be a fabulous bird ready to perch on or devour the sun.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thanks to Amy at The World Is A Book for this wide-open challenge!
Walking With Eagles is a collection of original poems and photographs by Lindy Low Le Coq. A lifelong naturalist, amateur photographer and bird enthusiast, Lindy’s verse, composition and photographs open a window into the essence of her subjects. Her poems and photography reflect the rich natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
Bald Eagles mature over the course of five years. Walking With Eagles invites the reader to take a poetic and visual tour of this odyssey.
view ~ Walking With Eagles ~ in top menu bar for a preview, though the folio is much nicer!
Lindy Low LeCoq 