Lens-Artist Challenge #213 – Here Comes the Sun

This week Amy has chosen the theme “Here Comes the Sun.” In her post she writes “explore the sunlight and things under the sun, whether it’s in the morning, middle of the day, and/or before sun goes down.”

Michael and I have been very fortunate to travel many places together on this big round ball and we’ve seen our share of sunrises and sunsets. But for this particular challenge I decided on a selection of photos from right here at home in Atlanta, GA.

Several years ago, we lived in a high-rise condominium which had a Southern facing view of Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown Atlanta. A city scape may not sound all that appealing but let me tell you it was a different view every day. We never grew tired of sitting on our balcony looking at the changing scenery….condo living, yes. But the view never!

Depending on the time of year and the weather we had some spectacular sunrises like the one below. The mist you see in the foreground is coming up off the Chattahoochee River which meanders its way through Atlanta.

Watching the storms roll in any time of the day was incredible. Sometimes the sky would just open up in one area of town, while the sun was shining everywhere else.

But at sunset after a rain, Mother Nature had a way of painting the city in a manner only she was capable of doing.

And sometimes, that included a rainbow or two after the storm. If you look closely in the photo above, you can see the faintness of a rainbow just to the right of the city.

In the photo below you can see the outline of a second rainbow. I have so many photos of rainbows I could probably devote an entire post to them!

Our building was also in the flight pattern for Dobbins Air Force base, and they frequently gave us quite the show. This was taken at sunset during one of the C-130’s touch and goes at sunset.

As much as we didn’t care for condo living, I have to admit our time there was very pivotal for my photography, because it gave me so many opportunities to practice and sharpen my skills. For instance, using my 200 – 400mm lens for shooting wildlife in mid-flight like this hawk out searching for its next meal.

Thank you, Amy for this challenge which allowed me the opportunity to stroll down memory lane and re-live some of our views from the condo.

Next week, Leya/Ann-Christine will have a new theme for us. 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.

Until next time,

~donna

P.S. I’m scaling back on my Etsy shop to spend more time on my true passion Photography and not running an on-line shop. So, I have an inventory clearance (available in the U.S. only and while supplies last) on all notecards and matted photography. If you, or you know of anyone interested in purchasing unique notecards, photography or digital artwork please visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the link below.

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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.

Shop Donna Robinson Photography

Lens Artist Challenge #209 – Surrealism

This week our guest host, Tracy over at “Reflections of an Untidy Mind” challenges us with the theme of “surrealism.” Be sure to read her post, it’s quite interesting and chock full of fun examples: Lens-Artists Challenge #209 – Surreal – Reflections of An Untidy Mind

Photoshop and other editing software are great tools to help a photographer distort or recreate their images. But I found a unique setting in my camera several years ago which lends itself to creating surreal images. I shoot with a Canon DSLR 6D and within the camera is a multi-exposure setting and it lets me choose up to 9 exposures in creating one image. You can read my original post here to learn more about multi-exposure in camera art.

Below are the images from my original post:

First up, yellow daisy in the birdbath. My base/background image was the birdbath with some leaves floating in the water. I then took the second image, the yellow daisy. As you can see the final image looks like the daisy is floating along with the leaves in the birdbath.

Next up, fire in a glass vase. The base image was the glass vase, and the fireplace was the overlay. I suppose with photoshop I could really get creative with this image and make some smoke out of it or change the background.

My last image is the same glass vase but with a glass of chilled wine as the overlay. Again, I suppose I could get a little more creative with the image in photoshop.

If your DSLR has this capability you should give it a try. I know after revisiting my original post I’m ready to start playing around with this setting again to see where my creativity takes me!

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 button below.