WP weekly photo challenge: from above

When we take photos most of the time we look straight ahead or maybe upwards but how often do we look down? This was the challenge set for us by WordPress: to take a photo from above. Here are some photos from above, taken in Thailand

my birthday cake

the wishing well in the white temple at Chiang Rai

leaf on the beach

heart-shaped piece of coral on the beach

found on the beach on Valentine’s day

abandoned fishing nets

weathered wood on the beach

flowers strewn on the beach for a Thai-style beach wedding

spider lily

pink lotus flower

weekly photo challenge: renewal

WordPress’ own weekly photo challenge this week was to share a photo featuring “renewal”, however we wished to interpret that.

These photos were taken in the woods near Watersmeet, Lynmouth, North Devon, UK, in the spring of this year and the mosaic of images was created as part of Kim Klassen’s Beyond Layers course.

Don’t forget to go and see how other people have interpreted this prompt.

Mandarin Orange Monday no 17

I recently came across a new online challenge called Mandarin Orange Monday hosted by Lorikart. The object of this challenge is to share your photos/photoart/any artwork but the predominant colour must be orange.

Do drop by the MOM site and see how other people have interpreted this wonderful colour – just perfect for a dull wintry morning

Sunday Post – favourite spot

I’ve just been introduced to a new weekly photography challenge blog. The challenge this week was to illustrate our favourite spot. I have several favourite spots:

our garden

the back garden at my parents’ house, this garden has been part of my life since I was 3 months old

the village of Lynmouth in North Devon (UK) where my family has holiday’d for 40 years

my favourite beach on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand

TT – something orange

Kim’s challenge was to feature a “something orange” photo treated with one of her textures. I’ve used her Autumn Burst on this photo of Chinese Lantern flowers (physalis)

I can never resist photographing these beautiful things. I only wish I could grow them in the garden successfully – unfortunately the slugs always get to them long before they flower

Photo Art Friday: the beauty of aging

Bonnie’s challenge this week was for us to interpret “the beauty of aging” in whatever way we liked. Many people view aging and aged objects as things without beauty for they no longer have their former bloom of youth. However, I think that the aging process in itself is beautiful and these dying hydrangea heads illustrate this perfectly. This was an image I created for Kim Klassen’s Beyond Layers class and I thought it fit this week’s theme perfectly

I am not perfect.
My colours have faded,
Clothed in winter’s lacy garb,
my petals are lined and wrinkled
reflecting the passage of the seasons
like my own face
on which are written time’s inexorable tracks
But this is me
And yet there is beauty here

Remember that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and no two people see the same thing.

<

flower art Friday #13

Parrot tulips,

and some variations

Beyond Layers – day 50 – a tall order

This week Kim challenged us to view our world in a different way – so often when we take photos of scenery we tend to opt for a horizontal or landscape shot. However, if you use the vertical option (portrait) you get quite a different perspective.

Luxembourg is a beautiful country but in the summer it excels – serried ranks of vines climb the hillsides along the slopes bordering the river Moselle which forms a natural border between Luxembourg and Germany.

Spires of black mullein reach for the skies on this rocky, wooded outcrop

Up on the plateaus the sky seems to stretch into infinity and the landscape lies like a patchwork quilt before you with nothing but the song of the skylarks breaking the silence

and a river of blue cornflowers flows through a cornfield

And finally, sunsets, when you can capture the path of the setting sun on the sea, lend themselves particularly well to being shot vertically

This one was photographed in Turkey.

travel theme: summer

Last week’s impromptu ‘Reflections‘ challenge hosted by Ailsa was so much fun, she asked if we could do it again?  She went on to say “There are many other photo challenges out there, but how about one with a travel theme? I love finding out about great places waiting to be discovered, and it doesn’t have to be an exotic location, either. What’s everyday in your part of the world is exotic to someone who doesn’t live there.” Curiously enough, the WordPress weekly challenge is also on the theme of summer so I’ve linked this post there too.

We have been visiting Provence on and off over the years and I never tire of the landscape and the flowers. Early summer brings masses of purple irises, brilliant poppies, sunflowers and fields and fields of lavender.

what could be better than a lunch al fresco, sitting in a small French village?

or exploring the local fruit and vegetable market

or browsing the stalls at a local antiques market in Isle sur la Sorgue

view from the house in the early morning

all of these remind me of summers spent in the cicada-buzzing heat, waves of lavender perfume washing over you as you drive past the fields

butterfly effect

Here is my contribution to the butterfly effect project

The writing reads “for the children who never danced” and “lest we forget”.

The aim of the project is to collect 1.5 million butterflies in memory of the 1.5 million children killed in the holocaust.