Photos "Explored"

Saturday Self-Challenge: Minimalism using one item for your subject. A sea shell that I found while on vacation at Sanibel Island, Florida 15 years ago. Sanibel Island is considered the "seashell capital of the world". A strong reason for this is where it is located along the gulf coast of the US. The best time to collect the shells is after a hurricane's winds have driven them to the coastline. I wish all a happy and healthy weekend! Huggs to Pam! :-)

Since I could not visit the beautiful tulip display this year at Longwood Gardens, I thought I would post a picture of a gorgeous scene from 2 years ago. Enjoy!

Experimenting with Intentional camera movement using my Japanese maple as the subject.

Macro Mondays: Diagonal Have a peaceful and safe week, friends!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Something in your home or yard that is serene or calming to you. Gardening is one thing that makes me feel serene. Seeing life spring forth from the ground after a long cold winter is therapeutic to the soul. This year I got an early head start on it thanks to the Covid-19 isolation. There is a silver lining in every cloud! Have a wonderful (and safe!) weekend, my friends. Hugs to Pam!

The first of many dahlia blooms, I hope!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Take a picture of a permanent architectural detail INSIDE your home (apartment or house). This was a very tough challenge for me since there is nothing of note with the inside of my home. For most of the week I was going to use the cutout in the wall bordering my kitchen and living room, but lighting was a problem. This morning presented a better opportunity when I saw the light filtering through the picture window in my living room. It made for a far more interesting image. I wound up using my phone camera as it captured the scene so much better than my regular camera (my apologies to the camera purists). Have a good weekend, my friends! Hugggs to Pam!

Macro Mondays: Anything wine related Wine label from a local winery.

Saturday Self-Challenge: Art The art displayed in this photo is a beautiful example of indigenous Australian folk art. I bought it years ago from an Australian friend of mine whose husband is Aboriginal and is an artist. The art form he used is called "dot painting" and originated in the 1970's. It became very popular in art circles. Some information about it is in the links below: japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/aboriginal-animal-art www.personally-selected-aboriginal-art.com/aboriginal-animal-art.html japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/aboriginal-art-symbols Have a safe and healthy week, my friends! Hugggs to Pam!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Since it is Easter this Sunday, take a photo of anything Easter related, or the Spring season. Easter is my favorite holiday because it commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the renewal of nature after a long cold winter. Have a wonderful Easter holiday and Spring Solstice, everyone! Huggs to Pam!

Macro Mondays: Books A slightly closer cropping of a photo I took a couple of years ago. Best Wishes, my friends, hope you are safe and healthy!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Collections As some of you probably know, I am a collector of many things. Even still, this week was a challenge to choose which collection to use as my subject. Since I already have used Teddy bears, dolls, colored glass and salt glazed pottery as subjects in the past, I chose this very small collection of capodimonte porcelain that I purchased at Bush Gardens, a theme park located in Williamsburg Virginia. This wonderful park has different sections that represent countries of the world, Italy being one of them. The works of art in the photo above were created by Italian artisans who created the flowers and painted them on the spot for passersby to see. I was taken by their breathtaking beauty and I had to purchase at least one piece every time we visited the park. Every time I look at them I am reminded of the very good times we had at our favorite vacation spot... Have a happy and safe week, my friends! My love to Pam, HUGGS

Macro Mondays: create a red or pink macro abstract filling the image to the edge with color. Sunlight going through a red glass and reflecting on my wood floor in the living room. An image of the full shadow is in the note. HMM and have a safe week, everyone!

Saturday Self-Challenge: Still Life Two beautiful pieces of salt glazed pottery from my collection along with two bunches of dried lavender from my garden. Stay safe from the Corona virus, and enjoy the springtime blooms, my friends! Hugs to you, Pam :-)

Macro Mondays: Twisted The twisted leaves of my air plant (Tillandsia). Have a safe week, my friends; may the virus stay far from you!

Saturday Self-Challenge: "Panning" To be sure, this was not an easy challenge! After reading articles on the technique, I decided to enlist the help of my loving husband and his VW Beetle. After fiddling with settings I started taking image after image. This was the best of the lot. I thought it would be interesting to use selective color to further isolate the car from background. Looks best enlarged on black. The unedited version of this image is in the note. Have a great weekend, my friends! Huggss and well wishes to Pam!

I have been in the process of restoring family photos from my childhood this past year. In this image my sister Bridget (on the left) and I pose in a photo booth while vacationing at Asbury Park, New Jersey USA, August, 1968. She was 8 years old and I was almost 12 at the time. Sometimes you don't realize how much time has passed until you look at childhood photos!

Macro Mondays: Water Drops