Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is photos that have basically two colors.





Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is photos that have basically two colors.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge has a series focusing on songs. This week the theme is It’s a Small World.
“It’s a small world after all”
“There is just one moon…
…And one golden sun”
“And a smile means friendship for everyone.”
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Sunset to Sunrise; essentially, night photography with the added beauty of the sun going down or coming up!
Sunset
Night
Sunrise
Enjoy this video!
For Becky’s SquareTop challenge today, here is my offering: I was planning to feature the buds on this tree, but then I saw the moon rising between the branches. That is really tops – you can’t get much higher than that!
I have two square photos of moonlight. The first one was taken last March, when the full moon was rising over the houses across the street in our Des Plaines neighborhood. The second one was taken a few nights ago, when I knew the moon was full but it was cloudy. So the second photo is called “Barely Moonlight!”
#JanuarySquares
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme this week is shiny.Ā Using photographic manipulation and mistakes added to the shiny-ness of some of these photos!
Icicles – I got the effect I was looking for in this shot, with the late afternoon sun shining behind the icicles to create a golden glow. (Taken from my living room window)
The full moon rising in the darkness plus the bright holiday lights on people’s balconies brought out the contrast between dark and light. Using my cellphone camera made the moon look larger and shinier than it actually was. (Taken across the street from my church in Des Plaines)
I cropped this shot to focus on the shiny golden table surface with the reflection of a shiny wine glass. (Restaurant in Cairo, Egypt)
This photo needed no modification – the shiny white marble floor of this mosque reflected the architecture around it, creating an awe-inspiring effect. (Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo, Egypt)
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Israel is easy to spot with its shiny golden dome standing out against the shades of white of the old city. I enhanced the contrast to emphasize this magnificent building.
This photo was an accident – I had my camera on the wrong setting so this photo of sailboats on the Mediterranean Sea (at Cesarea, Israel) was overexposed. But I liked the effect and the shiny surface of the Mediterranean casts a white glow on the scene. (I also discovered I needed to clean my lens!)
The day following this, we drove along the coast of the Dead Sea by motorcoach on our way to Masada. It was still relatively early, so the rising sun made a shiny reflection on the surface of the Dead Sea, our first view of it.Ā Once again, my cellphone’s sensitivity to bright light made the sun bigger and brighter than it was.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge for this week is Standing Out or Blending In.
Camouflage (blending in) is a common way in nature for animals to hide from predators or so they cannot be seen. It was hard to spot this eagle at first, because his brown feathers blend in so well with the tree branches.
There’s a giraffe in these woods somewhere…his long neck and spotted coat blend in with his surroundings.
On the other hand, some animals want to stand out to attract a mate with their bright colors. It is usually the male bird that has vivid colors, while the female’s feathers tend to be more muted so she can camouflage herself in her nest. Here is a lilac breasted weaver, who stands out against the sky.
Autumn is a great time to photograph things that stand out. The bright colors of the leaves on the trees, for instance…
or the brilliant orange canopy in sharp contrast with the bright blue sky.
Some things which remain hidden during leafy seasons of the year, stand out once the trees shed their leaves, such as this fairy-tale house in Des Plaines, which I can only get a good photo of in the fall or winter.
And during long December nights, holiday lights and the light of the moon stand out against the darkness.
Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge this week is to feature two different things.
Candelabra & violin at rummage sale
Full moon & trees
Sculpture & windows, Northlight Theatre
Bottle & mini fan on a ledge in front of someone’s house
Flower & basket of fruit
Sign & sculpture
Religious shrine & nail polish
The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is Temporary. Nature’s beauty has an element of permanence, in that there is always beauty to appreciate at any time of year and the fact that the seasons come and go and nature “repeats itself.” Still, in spite of this repetition, none of nature’s beauties are ever exactly the same, and as summer changes to autumn, and autumn to winter, I find myself nostalgic for warm weather, for flowers, for the brilliant color of sugar maples in the fall, and the wonder of growing children.
Here are some temporary beauties I have appreciated over the last several months.
I often pass a house in my walks around the neighborhood, where beautiful and changing flowers bloom along a white fence, such as these pink cone flowers, white lilies and purple phlox.
A special moment is getting close to a loon on a Wisconsin lake…
and the full moon rising through the trees over that same lake.
I love the beauty of a sunset behind a marina in San Diego…
…or accented by the streak of a jet streamĀ in Indiana…
…as well as the perfect fall leaf.
Most wonderful of all is watching nieces and nephews grow and change (clockwise from top left: Rosie, Leslie with sons Max & McKay, Maggie with daughter Frances, Xavier, Grace & Sylvia.)
Although all these wonders are temporary, I am comforted by having captured them all permanently in photographs, which I am able to admire again and again!