Such a wonderful challenge Anne presents this week, as she invites us to show photos featuring reflections. There are many shiny surfaces that reflect the world around us, and the one that resonates with me is water, so this post features images of nature reflected on marshes, lakes, streams, and the Pacific Ocean shoreline. Birds are fascinating. I study, identify and photograph them and love every minute! First up is a Red-necked Phalarope, working one of the marsh ponds at the Breakers, Long Beach Washington.
A hen Mallard stands on guard with her mate right behind her. They have a nest in the the Breakers marshy grasses and are diligent protectors of their roost. Below; I have many photos of Bald Eagles in my archives and this is the best one of a Bald Eagle reflection on the shoreline at Long Beach. (And yes, they almost always look this fierce!)
Some of my earliest memories are of camping and fishing with my family. Being by water, in water and on the water is integral to my soul. Photographing still-wild natural beauty reflected in water, stirs my sense of wonder and feeds my serenity
Above & below; Odell Lake at the summit of Willamette Pass, Oregon. Shadows and reflections on this vast lake mirror the treasure of Deschutes Nation Forest. Let us work to preserve it and all our National Forests and Parks.
“You are the sky. The clouds are what happens, what comes and goes.” Eckhart Tolle.
When clouds are in our sky and also upon the water, I pull out my camera. Above, Odell Lake, below a lightly cloudy sunset reflecting on the marshes at the Breakers, Long Beach.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you to Anne for another challenge with many possibilities!
A warm welcome to Beth, as she joins the Lens-Artists Challenge hosts with the challenge Stormy. Indeed, these are turbulent times in the USA and in many countries throughout the world. However, my post this week will focus on blustery weather that can happen in any season at Long Beach, WA, especially in winter and spring!
Gale force wind blasts spray off the tops of breakers as they surge ashore, and whips dune grass to-and-fro in front of me. Rain is in the clouds, and on a day like this it will soon be blowing horizontally, making umbrellas totally useless, and squall gear essential.
Storm-watching is an exciting activity along the Washington and Oregon coasts, where perigean spring tides create impressive and often dramatic wave action. When the ocean is this turbulent, I prefer to watch (and photograph) from our condo deck!
Skies like the one above bring to mind a line from Donovan’s song Starfish on the Toast: “Big cloud tumbling high, the amazing flying sky.”
This storm moved in so fast all I could do was snap a shot, cover my camera and head for home!
For the first time, this past February I was actually in Long Beach when it snowed! What a different sensation snow created. Here, clouds heavy with moisture droop across the horizon sometimes seeming to touch down upon the ocean.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Congratulations to Beth as she takes on the responsibility of regularly hosting Lens-Artists challenges. It is a lot of work; first deciding on a theme, then providing explanations in words and photos, and then responding to all who participate! Here’s to you Beth, and to all our skillful Lens-Artists hosts!
“Life often interrupts even our most cherished routines. But the sky, in all its quiet vastness, remains—unchanged, patient, and always waiting.” Hammad Rais
April, 2025
May 2025
June 7, 2025
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
This week Sofia invites us to continue our break from the harshness of everyday life with the theme Mellow. In the northern hemisphere it’s late spring/early summer. It’s time to relax in soft tones and shapes, to enjoy the season’s warm glow and quiet environments and find places where “there’s no sense of urgency; everything is calm and mellow.” My first image exemplifies just such a venue; dawn at Crescent Creek, with sunlight creeping over the tall evergreen trees, mist rising from the stream, and lovely wildflowers in the meadow.
Crescent Creek Sunrise
Light is a key element of mellow images. Soft, suffused lighting and golden hour glow are especially effective in creating a sense of comfort and warmth.
Tone is another key to mellow photographs. Be the colors pale and creamy or vibrant and rich, out-of-focus backgrounds deepen the dreamy impression.
Mellowness invites us to be quiet and simply contemplate life in the now. Our moon rising in a light blue sky above a golden dune-grass berm asks that we honor our earth, her living plants and creatures, and her celestial neighbors.
Moon Rising
Even with the Pacific Ocean surging toward land, my final photo stirs the sensation of time standing still; a realization that in this moment “life floes on within you and without you”. George Harrison
Time Stands Still
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
A big thank you to Sofia for a challenge that is “right up my alley”.
For this week’s challenge, Ritva invites us to “share our most creative photographic interpretation of anything related to books.” Her post is gorgeous, and you can find it here. Creighton and I love to read. Our bookshelf sometimes gets stacked to the point where it is impossible to see the books alphabetized behind, as the stacks in front grow. Luckily, I had recently re-arranged the chaos to a semblance of order.
Ritva asks us to show what significance books hold for us, and suggests we highlight the “beauty and allure of books.” Neither Creighton nor I have opted to read books on-line. We both love the feel of a book in our hands, the sound made when turning the pages and the fragrance of paper and ink. I especially love illustrated books, like this one.
The Wind in the Willows, (Kenneth Grahame) illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Handmade books are another joy to behold. A dear friend from high school, judi goldburg, has encouraged my writing and illustrating over the years. Her hand-pressed volumes of poetry are unique and lovely. https://judigoldberg.wordpress.com/
Reference books are also favorites. Yes, I can and do get a lot of information on-line, however having resource books, like my bird identification ones, are essential!
I’ll close with a classic stack of bibles. The large one is from Creighton’s maternal grandmother’s, maternal grandfather, and has his signature on the first page, dated 1874. The earliest date entered in the Births registry is 1843.
A big thank you to Ritva for another intriguing challenge. Before I go, I want to apologize to Anne (Slow Shutter Speed) for not participating in last weeks challenge. We all get whelmed at times, and last week it was my turn. Trying to take on something completely new & out of my comfort zone wasn’t in the cards for me, though the concept and possibilities are tempting!
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
With so much ongoing turmoil in our world, Tina invites us to continue to find pockets of serenity and share some humor through our photography. The challenge is to choose amusing/interesting photos, and caption them with what the photo brought to mind when seen. So, here goes – take off your serious-thinking cap and sit back for a bit of silliness!
Hey, come on in, the water’s fine!
Hellooooo in there…
Bottoms up!
…in the name of love…
“Here’s our chance – full steam ahead!”
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
This week, Egídio asks us how we find serenity, and invites us to bring it into our photography. Serenity comes to me when my mind and body are in equilibrium, creating a state of being at peace with myself in the world, and having a sensation of calmness and tranquility. Even if only fleeting, these moments sustain me through stressful times.
Serenity starts with breathing fresh air! It renews my body and mind, as I shed stress and begin to relax.
Sunlight in natural settings provides powerful sensations of calm to my spirit. Whether its filtered as in the above photo of sunrise mist across the dunes, or bright as sunlight filtering through stately fir trees, below .
Colors evoke emotions in people. Blue, green and pastel shades all tend to bring me a feeling of calmness. Blue as the sky and water, green of the living flora on earth, and gentle pastels of sunrise, sunset and of filtered light.
The rippling rhythmic sounds of water summons a sense of peaceful harmony. Streams, lakes and rivers all offer places for quiet contemplation. Though the Pacific Ocean is not always calm, sometimes it is sublimely so, as in the photo below.
I could go on and on! It’s no secret that I love being out in the natural environment, so there are many photos in my posts that present the elements that create a sense of serenity for me. Thank you to Egídio for this challenge which encourages us to find space and place in our lives to re-center and renew.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
As anyone who has taken a class in the visual arts and photography knows, there are rules that help make an image stand out from its surroundings. This week Ritva encourages us to forget about the rules and present photos “with a carefree spirit, that allow our spontaneity to shine through, and infuse each shot with authenticity.” To that end, I have not cropped or enhanced the shots in this post in any way. When my husband saw this first image he said, “I like it, just as it is!”
Little did I suspect there would soon be a challenge that is perfect for this odd angle shot!
Impressionism is a favorite artistic style of mine. Above, the peeling bark of the trees fascinated me and the photo was taken simply to capture that texture. Clouds reflecting on water with reeds and their shadows, created another impressionistic image. The incubation space for butterfly pupa is strangely surreal, with each chrysalis in a different stage of metamorphosis. If you look carefully, you will see a faint reflection of me taking this photo.
Smoke from wildfires around Odell Lake last summer (2024) created light and shadow that made for several unusual photos. This one feels like the boats are floating in air as the sky and lake blend into the distance.
Thank you to Ritva for an opportunity to show some of my photos taken by instinct and emotion! For more guidance on Ritva’s challenge, go to her post here.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
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 