Lens-Artist #210 – Picking Favorites

Sarah from “Travel with Me” guest hosts the challenge this week.

I have to admit when I quickly read the title, I thought I was picking my favorite photos I had ever taken. But, “no” Sarah writes “I want to ask you all to join me in sharing three of what you consider to be among your very best shots.”

Timing for this challenge is ironic because just the other day one of my sisters-in-law asked me what my favorite photo was. As I thought about it, I explained, “Trying to pick my favorite photo is like trying to pick my favorite child. I can’t choose one over the other. They’re all so special.”

Goodness! This was a little difficult. But here it goes!

“Photography, is a way of feeling, of touching of loving. What you have captured on film is captured forever. It remembers little things long after you have forgotten everything.”

~Aaron Siskind

7 Mile Bridge – Key West, FL

Why this is my favorite? I love the black and white and how it captures the age of the bridge, it’s textures and the depth of field.

Why is this one of my best? It was shot in 35mm (color) film; limiting me to the number of shots I could take with the roll of film. If I’m really honest with myself on this one, I think I may have set the camera on “Depth of Field” setting. It was really early in my photography journey, and I had no clue about manual settings. Ironically, this is one of my best-selling digital pieces.

“The whole point about taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”

~Elliott Erwitt

Red Tail Hawk

Why is this my favorite? If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know I love the wildlife in my backyard. I love the challenge of trying to photograph each and every detail. I must have snapped about a dozen photos of him before he took off.

Why is this one of my best? Quite honestly, a little bit of everything; the details of the hawk (his feet, his eyes, his coloring); the Bokeh and lighting; the overall composition of the photo. The end result was a little bit of “in the camera” and a little bit of “photoshop.”

“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”

~Ansel Adams

A Fall Walk in the Park

Why is this my favorite? It’s just a peaceful image and it could have been taken anywhere. I feel like I nailed the essence of early Fall in Atlanta.

Why is this one of my best? There’s a lot going on in this photo, but the elements draw you to water and its path from the front of the image backwards through the middle. The added bonus (to me) is that it almost looks like an oil painting.

It’s probably a good thing that Sarah gave us a limit with the number of photos and requiring us to also choose a different genre for each. I can think of about (at a minimum) 20 – 30 other images to include.

Many thanks to Sarah for this fun challenge! Up next week is my long-time photographer/blogger friend, Anne. Her theme is “What’s Your Groove?” Knowing Anne, this will be quite the challenge!

Until next time,

~donna

P.S. If you would like to participate in our weekly Lens-Artists Challenge, just click this link and join us on Saturdays at noon EST: Lens-Artist Challenge

P.S.S. If you are interested in purchasing unique notecards, photography or digital artwork please visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the link below.

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In Other Bird News……..

🦅In other bird news…..

This beautiful hawk has been visiting our backyard lately. I happened to snatch this photo of him last night while working on a few pics of the hummingbirds.

Field Notes:

Camera: Canon EOS 6D

Lens: Canon EF 100mm – 400mm

Focal Length: 180mm

Shutter Speed 1/100

Aperture: f5.6

ISO: 1250

Time of Day:  6:59p.m.

I have no clue what species this is, so if any of you other bird enthusiasts out there know please drop me a note in the comments below👇👇

What types of birds do you have wandering around in your backyard?

~Looking for unique greeting cards and photography gifts? Then pop on over to my Etsy shop by following or copying this link in your browser👉👉 https://www.etsy.com/shop/donnarobinsonphoto

Thoughts – Staying Focused

My 52 Week Photography Challenge took a detour…….well it pretty much stalled.  I have no clue why except that I just grew busy with life and other activities.  It’s really ok because it served it’s purpose for jump starting my photography in 2019.  And, it definitely gave my father something to do this winter when it was just a little too cold for him to venture outside and tinker in the yard (read my post here  52 Week Challenge: Week 2 – “My Everyday”). The remainder of the challenge list has some fun/interesting topics coming up so perhaps I’ll get inspired and hit the reset button…..we’ll see ;-)!

Photography Challenge or not, I am still (err) focused on my photography and continue to find other outlets and opportunities to broaden my skills.  I finally pulled together my website (Donna Robinson Photography) and I have shot a corporate event and a newborn photo session, too!  Plus, I have a part-time job helping a friend of ours (a personal trainer) with his social media, shooting his instructional videos and shooting other content for marketing purposes.  So, yes, I’m still actively following my passion!

 

And then there is always our backyard.  Between the garden, the birds and the critters there is always something to photograph.  The camera and “the big lens” as my husband refers to it, comes out every evening as we sit on our patio and catch-up about the day.

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This beautiful blue tipped hawk was out shopping in our yard one evening.

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The squirrels are always entertaining at how nimble they are.  But, we had to scale back on the bird feeders because they were devouring our supply too quickly!

 

My husband moved the bird bath to the front of the flower bed and the activity has definitely picked up!  This little guy spent 2 – 3 minutes cleaning up!

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Let’s Ride!

But our favorite critters are the chipmunks!  They are fast and efficient in how they gather their food.  We’ve actually given three (3) of them names because of their consistent patterns for gathering food:  “Lefty” because he comes out from the rocks on the left side of the house; “Malcom” because he comes in from the top middle of the wall; and the “Righty” because…….well you get the point.

IMG_1910 061119 Chipmunks in the Garden copyright

This little guy found water in the base of this lantern.

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Seriously?!?!  When have you ever seen a chipmunk in a tree?  Needless to say, he didn’t reach the bird feeder………but, he found the stash we left on the ground for him.

Michael’s convinced that he can get them trained to eat out of his hands by the end of summer.  He may be right……one little guy is getting brave and comes closer to us every night!

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Now I know why some of my petunias didn’t make it!?!?

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The “Little Begger!”

 

How do you “stay focused” on your passion?

Until next time, Happy Summer!

Donna