~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87: Reflections ~

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Unique Perspectives with Glass

Upper left clockwise: Self-portrait in a window of Cabin #1, with a dreamy Orcas Island sunset behind me. Exuberant blossoms are reflected on the sliding-glass door at our condo. Shadows from the deck railing create another texture. A Mt. St. Helen’s Glass paperweight creates a surreal picture of where it rests. In the lens of reading glasses, the distorted image of a ceiling light. Mirrors mounted around the top of the Albany Carousel add another dimension to this amazing structure.

Jellyfish

The glossy surfaces of Lion’s Mane and Moon Jelly fish, and “by the sea sailors,” reflect sunlight and sometimes their surroundings.

 

Bird Echoes

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Water reflection photos vary, depending on the stillness of the subject (in this case birds) and the surface movement of the water. I love the distinct echo images of these three.  On top a resting Sanderling, in the middle a flock of Short-billed Dowitchers, and below a duck.

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Water Mirrors

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These shots are among my favorite images that show an almost perfect reflection on the water surface, of light in the sky and the surroundings. Clockwise from top left; Long Beach WA sunset, Orange Sunset, Orcas Island, WA, sunset clouds in the marshes, Long Beach, Still Life Crescent Lake, OR, and Pastel Sunset, Orcas, Island WA.

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Looking through my archives, I had to remind myself this challenge is about reflections, not refractions or shadows or silhouettes! In my final shot, Jello stands at the center of both her shadow and her reflection in the surf at Long Beach.

 

Thanks to Miriam Hurdle at The Showers of Blessings for a lovely challenge!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87 – Reflections

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~Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

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Posted in Being, bugs & critters, flowers, landscape gardening, nature photography, pacific northwest, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #86: Change Your Perspective ~

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

“Over the river and through the woods…”

 

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I love the fairyland feeling of this shot, taken at ground level through flowers and across the meadow to the misty shores of Crescent Creek. We are five thousand feet above sea level, at the summit of Willamette Pass, in Deschutes National Forest, Oregon – USA. It is summer.

 

Perspective:  Underbelly

Mushrooms and toadstools, a common sight in the Pacific Northwest, are fun to photograph, and fascinating to learn about.

Taking shots up from the ground to their gills is an adventure – and a favorite view.

 

Perspective: Close-ups from a distance.

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Adult Bald Eagle

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Black-tail Mule Deer

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Canada goose

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Caspian Terns

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Savannah Sparrow

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Jello is on high alert, and so is an immature Bald Eagle perched on a post along the trail to the beach.

 

Perspective: Figures made small by the immensity of their surroundings.

Whether looking up or across, space and place provide the perspective in these shots, all taken at Long Beach, WA.

 

Perspective: Beneath my feet.

Cottontail tracks.
Rough-skinned Newt

Whenever I’m on a photo excursion my mantra is, look up, look down, and always look back. There’s usually something interesting to explore!

 

Perspective: From another creature’s point of view.

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Jello sits in the rock garden on a sunny day in May, looking up at me while I take her picture looking down from the deck. She’s cocked her head in a way that makes me wonder what she’s thinking!

Thanks to Patti and all the Len-Artists who make this weekly challenge happen. I appreciate your hard work! 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #86: Change Your Perspective

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~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Jello LOVE

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~ Cee’s B&WPC ~ Clouds ~

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Clouds are part of our reality in the Pacific Northwest. Though I want to provide the accurate name for each cloud formation in this post, as I open my Meteorology Field Guide, it’s way more complex than I can summarize. Still, here are some favorite photos from the archives, and my best effort to identify and play with the cloud type!

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Thunderstorm

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Cumulus ~ looks like the big one is about to swallow the smaller one.

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Orographic

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Cumulonimbus

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Cumulus congestus

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Cumulonimbus incus – Anvil

 

Thank you Cee for a fun diversion on a rainy, overcast morning in Vancouver, WA – USA!

 

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Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Clouds

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~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85: Treasure Hunt ~

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Ooh Tina, this is fun! A treasure hunt gives me permission to feature some of my favorites from the archives.

It is a treat to be awake and out with camera in hand, when light starts to bounce over the horizon. Indigo night and early morning sapphire to amethyst skies recede. Earth rotates to a new day as her Sun’s rays fill the blue with pure light – soft tones of pink and yellow lift into a brightening sky.

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Lake Tahoe, Nevada, taken at the rim of a steep slope. Pine tree limbs and needles frame the view, creating an interesting tension. I love how the evergreen trees at the embankment’s base, give us a sense of scale.

EXTRA CREDIT! I always loved extra credit homework. From the Treasure Hunt list: 1) a boat, 2) a mountain landscape; and from the Extra Credit list: 3) an expressive photo of one or more people, 4) a fish, and 5) a single image with multiple challenge items in it.

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Two beaming men, my cousin Duncan holding out his first Mackinaw (Lake) Trout, and Brother-in-law Les, captain of the crew that helped make it happen on Crescent Lake, nestled in the mountains at the summit of Willamette Pass, Oregon.

Occasionally I am obliged to use a humane trap to remove unfriendly critters from the premises. One evening I forgot to close the door, and in the morning I met this amazing creature. Small enough to fit into your hands, with a long fluffy tail and huge night-vision eyes, I didn’t have a clue what it was.

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After taking pictures, I opened the cage door, and watched it scurry along the deck rail, leap and sail to a nearby fir tree. Humbolt’s Flying Squirrel, is a fairly new species discovery. I’m really pleased that this native may be making a home on my grounds. https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/hiding-plain-sight-new-species-flying-squirrel-discovered

Jello loves being at the beach. After a romp through the dunes, she luxuriates in a long nap.

IMG_E1020Creighton’s favorite 5-string Carvin bass guitar rests where he set it down when we returned from our excursion.

Yes, sunrise or sunset, however, they both happen every day, so to conclude my Treasure Hunt, I offer a Long Beach Peninsula sunset.img_1691Notice the spray shooting up from the waves in this Pacific Ocean seascape. Though the sun is hot, this water is hypothermia cold. The lone sandpiper working the shoreline is the only bird in this post – can you believe it?!

 

Lens-Artists Challenge #85 – Treasure Hunt

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~ Wordless Wednesday + Cee’s FOTD ~Late Winter Blooms ~

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

 

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Posted in Cee's Flower Of The Day, flowers, Gardening, landscape gardening, pacific northwest, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #84: Narrow ~

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Three years ago Creighton and I took ownership of our condominium at The Breakers in Long Beach, Washington. Photographing the birds that I see when we are there, keeps me curious and always learning. For Amy’s challenge this week, I’ve narrowed the choices to a few birds with narrow beaks.

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Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)

The first time I saw and identified Greater Yellowlegs was in 2017, our first winter into spring living in this wetland paradise. This shot accentuates the bird’s silhouette, with its elegant yellow legs, graceful neck and body, big alert eye, and long narrow beak.

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Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)

That same spring this Baird’s Sandpiper dabbled in the marsh, on its migration from South America to breeding grounds in the high Arctic tundra.

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Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

Northern (Red-Shafted) Flickers frequent my suet feeders in Vancouver, WA. What a thrill it was to watch this adult feed its fledge and teach it to nourish itself.

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Short-billed Dowitcher (Linodromus griseus)

Short-billed only in comparison to its cousin the Long-billed Dowitcher! “Both species use their long narrow beak to forage for food by rhythmically inserting it straight up and down like a sewing machine needle at work.” allaboutbirds.org

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Juvenile Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 

In June 2019, a flock of migrating Brown Pelicans settled into the waters on the beach where Jello and I take our walks. This shot of a juvenile resting in the gently lapping surf, highlights how elegant these birds are, with their sinuous neck and long narrow beak.

“Brown Pelicans mostly eat small fish that form schools near the surface of the water—including menhaden, mullet, anchovies, herring, and sailfin mollies. A foraging pelican spots a fish from the air and dives head-first from as high as 65 feet over the ocean, tucking and twisting to the left to protect its trachea and esophagus from the impact. As it plunges into the water, its throat pouch expands to trap the fish, filling with up to 2.6 gallons of water.”  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/overview

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #84: Narrow

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~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

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Posted in birds, bugs & critters, Cee's Flower Of The Day, nature, nature photography, pacific northwest, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #83: Future ~

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Egocentric as we are, Homo sapiens find it hard to imagine a future on Earth without us being in it. Though we know our bodies will die, we proceed as though human beings will persevere on planet Earth no matter what.

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Earthrise, taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, during the USA Apollo 8 mission.

I believe this sweet old world will whirl in her orbit around her star with her dear moon pulling the tides, long after human beings have extinguished our species and many others. The soup will be different, and out of it some life forms will emerge, much like after the last extinction event 66 million years ago, when most dinosaurs died, but birds survived.

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Birds are a group of “theropod dinosaurs” originating ~252 million years ago.

The past two winters, dune land between our condo and the beach were dry. Heavy rainstorms this winter have transformed the meadow to marshes with swelling ponds once again. When we left last week, there were about six Mallard pairs, and one Canada goose pair plying the waters. They give me hope I will see duckling and goslings this spring.

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As a citizen scientist associated with the Cornel Lab of Ornithology for over 12 years, I am saddened to learn that nearly 3 billion birds are gone. “A new study finds steep long-term losses across virtually all groups of birds in the U.S. and Canada.” Providing habitat and food for birds is simple and inexpensive. February 14-17, is “The Great Backyard Bird Count.” To learn more and get involved click the link to Cornell Labs.

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2020/02/08/lens-artists-photo-challenge-83-future/

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