Month: January 2017

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 40

Flocks, herds, schools, prides and much more!

Little did I know that this week’s theme of Animals would turn into a stampede of wonderful entries that have just kept on coming in!  Thank you to all of you, as you have made this a banner week for the TPC; of course, I feel no pressure to come up with an equally good theme for next week 🙂

I should have known that animals are near and dear to all of us, across the entire globe.  Often, they provide our connection to Nature, which is essential to maintain, as we stay in touch with the planet that we inhabit.  Please, go and check out these wonderful posts and let the authors know how much you enjoy them!

These animals are also looking to find their way into your hearts…

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Cowparazzi!

This image is what happens when you try to take a landscape photo of a farm and the cows spot you; they must have thought that I was some kind of famous photographer, who was there to increase their celebrity among cows!

The following were this week’s participants in the challenge with links to their posts:

  • ladyleemanila started us off with a variety of animals ranging from slow to fierce!
  • Charles brings us bison at their most playful in his post in charlesewaugh.
  • Georgie’s post in the blog Third Time Lucky! featured animals both domesticated and wild, one of which made me smile (guess which one!).
  • Xenia provided two entries; the first in WhippetWisdom with a haiku and the second in WhippetWisdom with just her whippets having fun.   Both are joyful!
  • Leaking Ink shows us that even lizards like a cup of chai from time to time…
  • pensitivity101 introduces us to Maggie; go look and say hi!
  • That Little Voice speaks to us of garden cats in a wonderful post!
  • The always wonderful Cee’s Photography brings us animals that you may just want to cuddle for their loveliness!
  • Michelle’s post in Southern By Design brings us the sweetest cat (of course, all cat owners will note that theirs is the sweetest 🙂 ).
  • Miriam’s post in The Showers of Blessing brings us into the fun times had by a squirrel.
  • Susan’s shares a post in the Abject Muse with a cat that just made me laugh; go check it out…
  • Candace brought home the rooster in Netdancer’s Musings and Photography; great color and texture too!
  • Susan’s blog Musin’ with Susan brings us some fun that is being perpetrated by Gabby with her friend.
  • Ron professes that he’s been to a zoo or two in Progressing Into Solitude, and the photography is stunning!
  • Stella shares a photo in Giggles & Tales that has some of my favorite (non-pet) animals in the world.
  • The blog Black Body exposes us to a very different world that is submerged just a bit; you’ll want to check it out!
  • Tisha’s post on foundroundandabout.com brings us a variety of cute button noses; irresistible.
  • Miriam’s entry in her Out an’ About has an amazing variety of animals in lots of great photos!
  • In her post in The New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect, Marie shows us that pigeons know how to throw a party!
  • The post in the awesome blog alfaazmeredilse brings us animals wild and tame!
  • Judith shares some of her favorite animals in her blog, Nature Knows Best; the cats playing is my favorite!
  • The post in Following Him Beside Still Waters has some unusual animals captured beautifully!
  • Emily brings us the most quintessential cat photo in Zombie Flamingoes; see, if you agree with me which one her photos it is.
  • Nikki posts some wonderful photos in her blog Flying Through Water!
  • Steve introduces us to his feather friends in his post in Steve Newcomb Photography.
  • Middleton Road features great photography by Sonya and this week’s entry is no exception!
  • Khürt’s post in Island in the Net brings us the most unusual animals of all…go check them out!

Thanks to each of you for your participating in this week’s challenge.  This has been the highest turnout thus far, which put a smile on my face!

Along the Path

This morning I went for a jog along the paths next to Wachusett Reservoir; a jog, as I’m slowly getting myself back in shape, and nowhere near a full-tilt run yet :-). It was actually warmer than I expect this time of year, presenting nice slushy footing mixed with patches of ice.  I’d rather be working my way through some fresh snow, as you get this wonderfully quiet run with just a bit of cushioning that makes the run feel that much better.

On advantage of the mud is that it managed to reveal a bit of scene to me that hadn’t caught my eye before…

Oaken Droppings

In a way I found this little tableau to be a bit macabre, as it felt like an open burial of acorns in various states.  At the same time, it does show the success of the nearby oaks in spreading their seed along the path.

Inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt theme of Successful.

The Grace of Nature

On this wonderful Saturday, my wife and I went for a walk with 2 of our dogs (the old boys prefer to sleep at home) and enjoyed the rather mild weather that we have today.  Upon doing a quick blog check, I noticed today’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge theme of Graceful.

Given all the turmoil that is the current state of affairs and its lack of grace, I think that focusing on a theme such as this is important.  The Universe is full of grace and Nature never ceases to inspire me with its grace and beauty.  Of course, for me a lot of grace and beauty has been demonstrated by the Yoga Tree, whose wisdom is on display in this image…

The Wise Tree

The gentle curve that she presents, as she reaches up toward the firmament, reminding us to accept all that is beautiful in our lives and the Universe.

May you have a wonderful day filled with grace.

Exposure

Exposure of the best kind…

Seeing today’s WordPress Daily Prompt of Exposure took my mind in several directions, with the current season and all…

As Winter works its way across the Northern Hemisphere, we are exposed to the (sometimes) frigid temperatures.  As it is Inauguration Day in the United States, there is definitely a lot of media exposure (both good and bad 🙂 ).  As a photographer, getting the exposure right is a key item.

So I give you 2 out of 3 (in my opinion)…

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Winter Idyll

Here we see the beauty of Winter in its full glory!  One of these days, I will take that branch in the top out of the image, as that is the one thing that bugs me about this image 🙂

Have a wonderful day!!

Brooding Ambience

Water, sky, a safe haven

The Weekly Photo Challenges posted byWordPress’ Daily Post are always well thought out; despite that I find that this week’s challenge of Ambience really stands out, as it requires a bit of introspection on the part of the photographer.  Of course, the ambience of a scene can go into many directions, as it really is all about the character and atmosphere that you are trying to capture or portray.

After a bit of thought, I figured that I’d share this image for its ambience…

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Nubble Brooding

The lighthouse on Cape Neddick, Maine, aka Nubble Light, has been photographed millions of times, as people flock to it for its picturesque setting.  As a photographer who likes to create a one-of-a-kind connection between image and viewer, I had been loathe to photograph this scene during my previous visits; just another image of a pretty scene just didn’t speak to me.

However, on this gorgeous June day, I felt something a little different speaking to me from across this little expanse of ocean water.  It was a hint of recognition of a story being presented to me that urged me to clamber down the rocks to water level and set up for a series of shots that resulted in this image.

After some careful processing, I arrived at the scene that is presented here, which is very much the story that was being told to me on that beautiful day…

Three Line Tales – Danger

What lies beneath…

It’s great to participate in Week Fifty-One of Three Line Tales run by Sonya  of Only 100 Words!

three line tales week 51 - danger deep water
photo by Sean Tan via Unsplash

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Water seems placid,
Sky reflected in stillness.
Cautionary tale.

****

Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on the TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
  • Link back to this post.
  • Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
  • Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
  • NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
  • Have fun.

Happy three-lining !

Warped Wednesday – pt. 3

Variegation to the max

The foray into abstract photography has very much been a voyage of exploration and discovery.  Along the way, I have learned to control the various techniques and improved my visualization skills, so that I can figure out how to get the image that I want just using the camera.

The process is a combination of taking in the landscape or environment, in which I find myself, allowing myself to become absorbed by my surroundings, and then opening my mind’s eye, so that I can see the morphed image.

Cryptomorphosis 1
Cryptomorphosis 2
Cryptomorphosis 3
Cryptomorphosis 4

These images are a series that I shot while visiting my mother in the Netherlands.  It’s a view of a wall covered with variegated vine; when I saw it, I noticed that there were some hidden patterns that were trying to emerge into the visible dimension.  I titled this series Cryptomorphosis 1-4, using the Greek roots for hidden and form.

I’m curious to hear what you see in these images.

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Animals

Happy animals abound!

Welcome to Week 40 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge. Last week, everyone had a lot of fun playing with fire (in images, of course!), which made for a great array of magnificent posts.  Thanks to all who participated and the readers who enjoyed the posts!

Yes, this week is a radical departure from the past number of weeks; it’s time to look past cold and hot items to something that generates internal warmth: Animals!  My challenge to you is to show animals having fun doing what they love.  I’m sure that your creative energies will come up with some really interesting posts, and I’m definitely looking forward to them!

Here’s an example that shows our old man, Darwin, having a great time on the see-saw; he was only 9 years old in this photo and hasn’t been competing for several years (he still has fun, though!)…

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Darwin Having Fun!

This shot was one from Darwin’s many agility competitions; he enjoyed his agility for many years!  As you can tell from the smile on his face, there was never any shortage of fun for this dog!

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

Looking forward to seeing the animals in your lives and what they do for their entertainment (and ours).  Be creative, have fun, and always be kind to animals!

Technical Details

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 1D MkIII using an EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens with a 1.4x EFII extender.  Exposure settings were at f/6.3 and 1/320 second with 640 ISO.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 39

A blazing set of entries!

While the chill may be continuing off an on in New England, I was not surprised that this past week’s Tuesday Photo Challenge Theme of Fire lit up the responses!!  Our weather may be all over the place, but the level of creativity in your entries into this challenge has been steady and very high!  Thanks to all for participating and making this so much fun for me.

I strongly encourage all of you to check out each of the posts, as you’ll be both entertained and educated, while enjoying the lovely creative thoughts that are in the responses!

Here’s another little bit of fire to warm your hearts…

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Chestnuts Roasting

I captured this rather wintry scene with classic tones (actually, they were roasting marshmallows 🙂 ) during our visit to Tower Hill Botanic Gardens in Boylston, Massachusetts this past December.

The following were this week’s participants in the challenge with links to their posts:

  • Candace was first this week with her post in Netdancer’s Musings and Photography; she brought us a very happy occasion that has to do with making wishes.
  • ladyleemanila was not far behind, as she shared a wonderful variety of images inspired by fire in her post (it even included toes…).
  • Charles’ post in his blog charlesewaugh provided us with a truly gorgeous capture of fire!
  • Mini On Tour is a wonderful blog about the travels and travails of a Mini Mayfair; the TPC post with a wonderful photo of a fireplace left me longing for some port!
  •  Leaking Ink is just an amazing blog with great photography and interesting information; this week’s entry touches on Pongal, a Tamil harvest festival.
  • Progressing Into Solitude‘s entry is all about fire and lost control; the images are wonderful!
  • Miriam’s post in The Showers of Blessing puts us in front of the fireplace ready to enjoy the warmth and comfort of a relaxing evening!
  • Stella second entry in the challenge with a post in her blog Giggles & Tales brings us both great architecture and a beautiful capture of the essence of fire.
  • Susan’s blog Musin’ with Susan has lots of great photography, and her entry into this week’s challenge stands out!
  • Judith’s post in her blog, Nature Knows Best, captures some rather imaginative aspects of fire… you should check it out!
  • Emily’s post in her blog, Zombie Flamingoes, brings back memories of cozy fires from the past in a creative set of images.
  • In her post in The New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect Marie brings us an fantastic view of a great window of a cathedral that is highlighted by one of our favorite fires, the Sun!
  • Miriam’s entry in her excellent blog, Out an’ About, brings us a Fiery Ambience in all manner of images ranging from sunset to steam trains!
  • …and Debbie created another wonderful post in ForgivingConnects about her burning desire; you’ll like it!
  • …also, Khürt’s post in Island in the Net has a stunning image that is very appropriate for the theme!

Thanks to each of you for your participating in this week’s challenge.  I’ve enjoyed each and every one of your posts and appreciate the time you have taken in putting them together.  Now to decide on the next challenge!

Afterthought: looking at the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge of Ambience, I think this image fits rather nicely (as do many of yours!!)