This week, Ritva has suggested that combining minimalism with B&W creates“a powerful and engaging atmosphere that resonates deeply with us on multiple levels“.I will admit this is a concept I’ve not previously explored, so my efforts may fall short but I am certainly willing to give it a try! I’ve converted the first image, which was originally two shades of green, to the image above. I found it was important to increase the detail of the rough wall which was not as necessary in the color version. I loved the tiny little window in the upper right side of the image which to me made it “photo-worthy”.
My second image below is a diptych in which each image was made after dark. To me the use of B&W to capture the eeriness created by darkness needed no further enhancement. In actuality, neither situation was particularly eerie but the captures, to me, make it seem so.I’ll admit the image of the streetlights was blurry by accident and a second capture was clear but I preferred the blurry image which to me made it feel a bit more frightening.
Eerie Nightlights
“Minimalism is the art of finding happiness in what you have and not what you desire.”
Sukant Ratnakar
Moving to some local minimalism, I find that an image such as the one below says much more than an image with more of the subject’s details, and/or more of its surroundings. I also feel in B&W that the subject feels more threatening – do you agree?
Lurking
“To a minimalist, empty space can be the greatest of luxuries.”
Michael Corthell
As photographers, there are times when we aren’t sure what draws us. Such was the case with the image that follows. Somehow the scene just drew me in – the woman in the image never even glanced in my direction. I suppose she was waiting for someone or something but for me the light and shadows were more the subject than she was. On the other hand the image would be a throw-away without her. As photographers there are times we know there is an image to be had but we aren’t quite sure why. In those cases my feeling is to go for it and hope for understanding later.
Woman in the Hall
“Minimalism is an abundance of enough.”
Torley
Sometimes an image just cries out for both minimalism and B&W, especially when an avoidance of color and/or distraction is in order. Such was the case, at least for me, in the image that follows. To me the color version was nothing special, but reduced to its essence the subject is definitely the star.
Woodpecker and Tree
“Minimalism isn’t about owning less than you need. It’s about owning exactly what you need.”
Joshua Becker
Much like the image above, the one which follows is even more spare. It’s actually a personal favorite and yet there is very little to it other than the juxtaposition of the black and white. For today’s post I asked AI what makes a simple B&W image feel more powerful. Among others, this was my favorite response. “The juxtaposition of black and white offers powerful visual unity, communicating more strongly together than apart.” I’ll leave it to you to agree or disagree 🙂
Absence of Color
“As a minimalist, I find empty space to be one of my greatest luxuries.”
Laurie Buchanan
I’ll leave you with two final images – the first is a long-time favorite that is more white-on-white than black-and-white but I thought it met the spirit of the challenge. The second is nowhere close to Ritva’s guidelines but it cracked me up. It reminded me of one of those sci-fi movies with zombies going back to whence they’d come. Perhaps it’ll leave you with a smile too 🙂.
Monochromatic Reflection
“When you lead a minimalist lifestyle, you are never rich and never poor.”
Rajesh
Apocolyptic
“Minimalism is really about reassessment of priorities.”
Jane Andrews
That’s it for me this week – I’ll admit I enjoyed Ritva’s challenge which was a stretch for me. Please be sure to visit her original post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Our sincere appreciation to Anne for last week’s “What’s on your Block” challenge and of course to all of her respondents. It was fun seeing the areas others love – whether their home area or just a fun visit. Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when Egidio leads us once again on his Through Brazilian Eyes site. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
Perfect Pond, Cougar Point Holes #4 (r) and #5 (l), Kiawah Island
“The whole world is one neighborhood.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
I must admit that this week Anne’s challenge has thrown me for a bit of a loop! Our neighborhood is lovely, but it is quiet and relatively uneventful. I walk most every day so I had two choices – walk to our beautiful beach or head out the back door to Kiawah’s Cougar Point Golf Course. I walked both walks and decided I’ve so often posted about our beach, Cougar Point might be fun, so let’s go!
My image above shows a pond separating holes #s 4 and 5 which has captured many of my golf balls over the years. At the other end of #5 (shown below), the green skirts Kiawah’s beautiful marsh – which once again has an ongoing relationship with my golfballs.
Beside the Marsh, Cougar Point #5, Kiawah Island
“Earth is a small town with many neighborhoods in a very big universe.”
Ronald J. Garjan Jr.
Following #5 we come to a relatively short par 3. Again, it is among the most scenic areas of the course as it runs alongside the beautiful marsh. Adding a bit of additional interest, the back of the green ends just before one of several tall viewing towers on Kiawah. Often my favorite exercise walk or bike ride includes a stop or two – or if I’m REALLY energetic,3 – to climb the 35 circular steps to the top of the tower. My reward is a magnificent view of the marsh, the Kiawah River and the foibles of the golfers on the par three below.
Cougar Point #6, Kiawah Island
“The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.”
Hubert H. Humphrey
A closer view of the stairs is shown below. Seen up close and personal, you can visualize my exercise climbs more easily.I never attempt the climb in the rain as the steps are all metal and would be quite slippery.And yes, I definitely hold the handrail!
Crazy Climb, Kiawah Island
“It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.”
Vaclav Havel
The image that follows features hole #6 from the green back to the tee boxes as seen from the viewing platform.
Hole # 6 from Viewing Tower, Cougar Point #6, Kiawah Island
“You don’t have control over your situation. But you have a choice about how you view it.”
Chris Pine
As my followers know, Kiawah is home to many varieties of wildlife. Among our visitors’ favorites, our resident alligators – albeit from a distance. Although they are well-fed thanks to our many other creatures and birds, they are still wild animals that can be dangerous. Thus you’ll see frequent warning signs, especially near our many ponds and on all of the golf courses.
Seriously!! Cougar Point, Kiawah Island
“It’s hard, when you’re up to your armpits in alligators, to remember you came here to drain the swamp.”
Ronald Reagan
I’ll close today’s post with an image I created from some flowers growing in the grasses between holes 6 and 7. They were simple and monochromatic but after playing around a bit with the image I created the version below.
The Answer Is Blowin’ In The Wind
“If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for a moment.”
Georgia O’Keeffe
I’ll close with thanks to all of our respondents to last week’s 2025 Favorites Challenge. It was wonderful to look back at so many memorable images, as well as some new ones that snuck in at year’s end! That’s it for me this week, so I’ll close with thanks to Anne for leading us. Be sure to visit her post here. We hope you’ll join us and look forward to seeing your responses. Please remember to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Next week Ritva will lead us once again so be sure to visit her post next Saturday at noon EST. In the meanwhile as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
“I discovered the path created by the great teachers: time, nature and silence.”
Silvie Mateljan
As is our custom, we are asking our followers to select their favorite images of 2025 – whether they’ve been included in previous posts or not. The turn of the calendar page gives us a chance to start anew while honoring the year just ended. For me it is only appropriate to open with an image from our beautiful beach here on Kiawah. Truly, wherever I travel it is always a joy to return home – what could be better than that?!
The images that follow were captured along my daily walks, most often also to the beach. Although the sweetgrass triptych was included in my previous post , it is definitely one of my year’s favorites.
In The Pink, Kiawah Island
“In a world that often lacks compassion, pink stands as a reminder to be kind.”
Matthew Green
Droplets on Sweetgrass
“Sweetgrass…Breathe in its scent and you start to remember things you didn’t know you’d forgotten.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Of course, where there are flowers, there are birds, and Kiawah is no exception. It is a rare day indeed that I do not see an eagle, a hawk, a great blue heron, an egret or a pileated woodpecker in my travels. In addition of course we are densely populated by many beautiful smaller birds including endangered Red Knots and Piping Plovers among others. Here then, some of my favorite 2025 captures.
Beautiful Birds of Kiawah
“Without birds, where would we have learned that there can be song in the heart?”
Hal Borland
I’m also sharing my last three images of 2025. On December 29 my friends and I played a final round of golf for the year. The wind that day was fierce and my golf was far less important to me than the incredible bird sightings as our winged friends joined us in battling the breezes. I chose three of my favorites to share for today’s post.
Blustery Birds
“Through the lens a world of feathers and flight unfolds.”
Joan Strassmann
Those who follow me know that I find the local alligators fun subjects for my lens. I’ve restricted myself to only two favorites for this week’s post. First a youngster obviously just learning to read.
Gator Hatchling
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”
Tim Robbins
Second, a sight which I suspect would be the stuff of nightmares to many. Happily we locals found it to be so much fun – especially the photographers among us. This congregation was located about 10 feet to the left of the tee box during one of our golf rounds. Needless to say we paused the game for the photo op!
Busy Day at the Pond
“The canopy of oak and pine is pierced by the pond, which looks back at you like some green eye, knowing and ancient.”
Grace Dane Mazur
I don’t do if often but now and then I do enjoy playing with abstracts. In addition to the vertical included in my sweetgrass triptych above, I created this one earlier in the year.It reminds me of storm clouds, or of a windstorm in autumn. What do you think?
Open to Interpretation
“The most abstract truth is the most practical.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Finally, I’ll close out the 2025 year with a few favorites from our visits with family in New York and New Jersey. First, from a Hudson riverfront art installation, some wonderfully whimsical art in bronze.
Art in the Park, NYC
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Thomas Merton
In the same area, some of nature’s own art 😉
Duck on the Rocks
“…I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”
Vincent van Gogh
Finally, a small element of a much larger, very beautiful art installation also along the river. I thought it was an appropriate ending for my favorite images of 2025.
Closing Thought
“In Silence there is eloquence.”
Rumi
I send my best wishes to all for a wonderful 2026 and look forward to seeing YOUR favorite images of 2025. Anne will be our first 2026 host on her Slow Shutter Speed site so be sure to tune in next Saturday at noon to join the fun. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
“The joy that awakens the creative core, resides in the tiniest of things such as raindrops dancing on the grass, or dewdrops sitting on the petals. “
Jayita Bhattacharjee
As we approach year’s end we are looking forward to seeing those images you’ve loved over the past 12 months, but have not yet shared. To me it‘s an opportunity to relive the moments of pleasure we felt as we captured them. I made my opening set of images earlier this month as I took my usual morning walk. It had rained overnight and the still-wet sweetgrass was beautifully decorated with droplets. It was also a nice chance to take an impressionist approach which resulted in the panel on the right,
Living on Kiawah, it is not surprising that the images I am featuring this week fall into two nature categories – plants and creatures. Since I’ve opened with sweetgrass, I’ll continue to feature plants such as the simple weed on a wall that follows.
Weed on a Wall
“The difference between a flower and a weed is perspective.”
Christian Baloga
Yet another yellow wildflower was growing alongside my usual path to the ocean. There were several growths which lasted only a few days but happily I was able to capture some before they disappeared.Did you notice the little critter on the far right flower?
Wild Cacti
“Hope is not a resting place but a starting point – a cactus, not a cushion.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
As happy as I was to see cacti bloom by the sea, their presence was short-lived, as is that of our lovely magnolias. This year their disappearance seemed exceptionally quick. I managed a few images before they were gone, including the one that follows.For both the cacti and the magnolia, I preferred to eliminate distractions that surrounded the blossoms to focus on the subject alone.
Ephemeral
“…the more fondly we imagine something will last forever, the more ephemeral it often proves to be.”
Iain M. Banks
Moving on to the beautiful winged creatures of Kiawah, here are some of my favorites that did not make the year’s posts. First, a beautiful great blue heron posing so perfectly I had to interrupt my golf game to capture it. I will readily admit I am a better photographer than golfer to which my playing partners will no doubt attest!
Posing Great Blue Heron
“Serenely splendid heron, staring into river, the wind that blows your feathers is causing me to shiver…”
Jez Green
Although great blue herons are readily seen on Kiawah, they are nowhere near as plentiful as the lovely white egrets. There is one in particular who seems to live near the pond behind our home, which my husband has taken to calling mine 🙃. Here then, a few egret images that did not make this year’s posts.
Stalking Our Garden
Lookout On My Daily Walk
Golf Course Resident
“Wherever there are birds, there is hope.”
Mehmet Murat Ildan
I’ll close my post and our Lens-Artists year with one last image – which is neither flower nor bird. To me it is one of those moments that we photographers cherish. It’s not a particularly wonderful image, nor was it made with a high-powered lens on a sophisticated camera. It simply captures a brief moment in time, a heart-warming encounter between parent and child, an ephemeral gift from Mother Nature. As another year draws to a close, it helps to remind me to cherish the moment and to appreciate the gifts we’re given every single day.
Cherish the Moments
” I can find it (happiness) in the little things, like looking out into my backyard and seeing deer in the fields.”
Queen Latifah
Wishing all of our participants and followers a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate. Your time, attention and commentary throughout the year is very much appreciated We’ll return with our annual Favorite Photos of the Year challenge at noon on Saturday, January 3. Until then, as always please be kind, stay safe and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
“My photographs are a celebration of life, fun and the beautiful.”
Ryan McGinley
This week Ann-Christine leads us in an exploration of Holiday Fun. Of course for those of us who celebrate, Christmas is just around the corner and I suspect we will see many posts to get us into the spirit. We hope to see highlights of your favorite holidays as well. I’ve opened above with two images of holiday decorations at NYC’s World Trade Center. On the left, a look at the big picture, and on the right, my favorite feature, a large silver snowman reflecting the holiday spirit all round.Then again, some of the best moments can also be found sitting by a warm fire relaxing with friends and family.
Warm and Cozy
“Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.”
Washington Irving
Of course, sitting by the fire on a chilly winter’s evening often means a warm mug of tea or hot chocolate or perhaps a favorite libation. Sometimes it can be fun to dress up the options.
Making Spirits Bright
“All worries are less with wine.”
Amit Kalantri
Often times the fire and libations are featured in a a Christmas-themed room made festive by ornaments and lights on a holiday tree.
Festive
“Christmas magic starts in the heart.”
Toni Sorenson
For all the little ones out there, and for those still young at heart, what would Christmas be without Santa?Here on Kiawah, we have our own unique perspective on Santa’s role😊!
Kiawah Santas
“Give a Christmas gift that can only be wrapped in a hug.”
Ted Sorenson
I’ll end with an example of an “over the top” holiday celebration. I can’t help wondering how long it took to put it up, and worse still, how long to take it down! Somehow I’m thinking the residents just might be the most fun family in the neighborhood 🙂.
Merry Grinchmas!
“What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
Dr. Seuss – How the Grinch Stole Christmas
That will do it for me this week. Our thanks to Ann-Christine for her fun and festive challenge. Be sure to link your responses to her wonderful original here as she shares holiday fun and traditions a world away from mine. Don’t forget to use the Lens-Artists Tagin your response to help us find you. Thanks also to Beth and to all of our respondents for last week’s Wings challenge. We enjoyed every single butterfly, bird, bee and angel, as well as those flying contraptions that get us where we need to go – at least most of the time!
As in previous years, next week the Lens-Artists team will be hosting our annual “Last Chance” challenge. We will invite you to share images you made in 2025 that somehow never fit and have not been included in any previous challenges. We look forward to seeing you then. In the meanwhile as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
“The egrets are the color of waterfalls, and of clouds…(they) stalk through the rain as if nothing mortal can affect them.”
Derek Walcott
To me, few things in this world are more beautiful than a glorious great white egret as it soars overhead. Happily, this week Beth has given us an excellent opportunity to feature some of them in our response to her Wings challenge. I’ve chosen to open with a collage highlighting several of my favorite captures. Their wingspans are typically close to 6 feet (1.8 meters). Of course there are other beautiful birds with even wider wingspans, such as the Andean Condor at nearly 11 feet (over 3 meters), and the American Eagle at up to 6.5 feet (2 meters),
Andean Condor, Argentina (l) and American Eagle, Kiawah (r)
“No man can tame a predator by acting like prey.”
Tamerlan Kuzgov
Beautiful winged Kiawah residents can be found in abundance most anywhere on the island. I’ve Included a few of my favorites in the collage that follows.
Winged Residents, Kiawah Island
“We were all born with wings. In times of doubt: spread them.”
Kevin Myers
Of course, there are many creatures other than birds with wings. One of my favorite subjects is the fast-moving dragon (or damsel) fly. Despite their speed, if one is patient, eventually they will sit still for just a moment – but don’t blink or you’ll miss it!
Colorful Creatures
“Dragonflies are an endless pleasure.”
Cindy Crosby
Similarly, but also quite different, butterflies are an excellent draw for a photographer’s lens. Like dragonflies they tend to be in perpetual motion. That said, they too will hold still for a few seconds if one is focused and alert. A few of my favorites are included below.
Bountiful Butterflies
“Butterflies are self propelled flowers.”
Robert A. Heinlein
That will do it for me this week. Many thanks to Beth for leading us. Please visit her beautiful post here, and be sure to link to it and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Thanks also to Patti for last week’s Where To Find The Mysterious challenge – so great to have her back with us – and also to all those who joined us.! Finally, Ann Christine will lead us next week so be sure to visit her Leya site next Saturday at noon EST. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
To learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.
“I have always found black and white photographs to be quieter and more mysterious than those made in colour.”
Michael Kenna
This week Patti takes us on a journey toward the mysterious. Be sure to visit her post, which offers some suggestions along with beautiful illustrations. I’ve chosen to respond using Black & White images because to me it is one of the best ways to portray mystery. As an example, I captured the image above during September’s rare partnership of a crescent moon and Venus. The image is from our front yard and candidly it couldn’t be any less mysterious yet somehow using B&W makes it so. The same is true for the image that follows, which I captured in broad daylight during a visit to the U.S. West. It is the only time I”ve been fortunate enough to capture a clear image of a lightning strike.
Stormy
“The world is in color, you have to work at black and white.”
Andrew Maclean
I captured the next image many years ago during a visit to Central Europe. I found the lighting very interesting (yes, the image was captured after sunset) and liked the effect of B&W especially.
Creepy Courtyard
“To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.”
Andri Cauldwell
Since we’re focused on people for the moment, the image that follows includes a beach walker here on Kiawah. For me the fog seems to add a bit of mystery which is further enhanced by the use of monochrome.
In A Fog
“Colour is everything, black and white is more.”
Dominic Rouse
Perhaps this is what the walk ahead looked like to the woman in the image above.
Footsteps in the Fog
“Black and white are the colors of photography.”
Robert Frank
When entering or leaving the beach at the approach nearest our home, this is the scene that greets you. To me it brings to mind the wild grasses of Scotland.
Kiawah Grasses – a Sense of Scotland
“The world may be color but black and white transcends it.”
Abbas Attar
Sometimes a scene captures the imagination and despite the lack of light we cannot resist making an image. In both of the images that follow there was very little light and little time to compose anything other than a quick catch. Most importantly I did not want to disturb the subjects. I’ve included them in today’s post as I love the emotion of them, especially in B&W.
Sad Daydreaming
“In black and white you suggest, in color you state.”
Paul Outerbridge
At Prayer
“I choose the abstraction of black and white because it helps convey symbols and ultimately meaning.”
Paolo Pellegrin
I’ll close with thanks to Patti for the opportunity to explore the mysterious and look forward to seeing your interpretations. Be sure to visit Patti’s beautiful post here, and remember to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Our thanks to all who responded to last week’s On The Move challenge. The variety of your responses was amazing! Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when Beth leads us once again on her Wandering Dawgs site. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
“A train is a poem that will take you anywhere you want to go.”
Dale Maharidge
Those who know John know his love of trains, so I’ve opened my response to his challenge this week with an image in his honor. I’ve had both good and bad experiences with trains and find myself using them only as a last resort. But I’ll admit they do have an air of distinction and mystique about them.That said, I find I am willing to endure the issues that seem to come too often with air travel in the interest of spending less time traveling and more time at my destination.Another benefit is that they can carry one directly to remote areas in places like those in Alaska where the best fishing is often inaccessible to anything other than a seaplane.
Come Fly With Me
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.”
John Hermes Secondari
Back on land, a favorite form of transportation is on two wheels. Not quite as fast as an airplane or a train, but much better for getting close to smaller things of interest – the ocean on a sunny day, dolphins cavorting in the waves (as they did this week on my morning’s walk), birds stalking a local pond, golfers trying their best – you get the idea. My favorite ride is a circuit that takes me to a tall viewing tower over the Kiawah River – about 35 steps up and again back down, it a great way to see an amazing vista while getting a good workout. Of course, not every bicyclist is exercising or exploring. In China it’s a primary method of transportation.
Primary Transportation, China
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein
Traveling can open our eyes to the different ways people live around the world. The bicycles in China are one example, here are several others.
(From top left – ox cart (Cambodia), elephant transport (Cambodia), camels (Wadi Rum, Jordan), horse-drawn carriage (Petra, Jordan), tourist carriages (China), Tuk Tuk driver (Cambodia)
Alternative Transportation
“Transportation should always connect, never divide.”
Pete Buttigieg
Many travelers choose to travel by water. New, old, large, small…the options are endless. Here are a few examples.
From top left, Alaska cruise ship (we were nearby in a much smaller vessel), Botswana jeep (we were on dry land😊), fun river rafting in China (nope, we were just observing!) and a junk in Vietnam.
Water Wanderings
“There’s nothing––absolutely nothing––half so much worth doing as messing about in boats.”
Kenneth Grahame
I couldn’t resist closing with another favorite type of transportation here on Kiawah – the omnipresent golf cart. Unlike some golf communities, carts are allowed only on the courses, and private carts are not allowed. Several of my friends and I typically walk the courses except during the heat of summer. The rest of the year it’s not only fun to walk, it’s also good exercise. Of course, as a well-known book once said, golf truly can be “a good walk spoiled”, but that’s a story for another day!
Reflecting On Golf
“To find a man’s true character, play golf with him. ”
P.G. Wodehouse
That’s it for me today – I look forward to seeing your responses. Thanks to John for his fun challenge – be sure to visit his post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Thanks also to Egidio and to all those who responded to last week’s look back at Landscapes. It was an amazing week of beautiful scenes. Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when we welcome Patti who will lead us on her Pilotfish Blog for Challenge #375. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
“…smile in trouble, gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Thanks to Egidio, we are once again looking back – this time to Lens-Artists Challenge #31 – Landscapes. I’ve opened with a long-ago favorite image of a row of verdant green trees reflected in a pond along with a lovely blue sky. While it may not be prize-worthy I’ll admit that for some reason I cannot identify, it speaks to me. Perhaps it will whisper to you too.I’ve followed it with an image from our visit to Alaska. For me it brings to mind the line from our National Anthem about “purple mountains’ majesty” – and I can also attest to the fact that Alaska’s reputed “midnight sun” is for real.
Alaska’s Purple Mountain Majesty
“May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.”
Edward Abbey
Speaking of mountains, those of Glacier National Park seem somehow to actually reach the sky. The pair in the diptych that follows were captured several years apart, and like those in the image above, majestic is an appropriate description.Sadly, I find myself wondering if the glacier in the left-side image still exists today.
Majestic Mountains, Glacier National Park
“Where the glacier meets the sky, the land ceases to be earthly, and the earth becomes one with the heavens.”
Halidor Laxness
Closer to home, the two images that follow are from here on Kiawah. First a very rare occurrence, that of pristine snow and frosty grasses on our widely-recognized Ocean Course.
Kiawah Island Ocean Course
“It was magical, this snow globe world.”
Sarah Addison Allen
Less rare but equally beautiful, a favorite recent image of a curious egret seeking, I suspect, lunch!
Seeking Substinence
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”
Robert Lynd
Those who know me know I could go on and on, however very wisely Egidio has restricted us to 6 images so I will stop now. Sincere thanks to him for his wonderful challenge. Be sure to visit and link to his post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Thanks also to those who joined me last week for our Ephemeral challenge. Your responses were wonderful and so varied! Finally we hope you’ll join us next week when John leads us once again on his Journeys with Johnbo post. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
“The more fondly we imagine something will last forever, the more ephemeral it often proves to be.”
Iain M. Banks
I will start this week’s challenge with the dictionary’s short and simple definition of the word ephemeral – “lasting for a very short time“. To me, the perfect example of the concept is Kiawah’s lovely autumn sweetgrass. Some images from this season’s crop are featured in the image above, which, with any luck, will be with us until mid-November. Much more short-lived, the image that follows features yet another ephemeral element of life here on Kiawah – a magical layer of heavy fog.
In A Fog
“Sunrise and sunset – nature’s fleeting brushstrokes, a photographer’s quest to preserve their ephemeral poetry.”
Biju Karakkonam
The other day I was walking along the beach and came across a very sad scene – dozens of butterflies lying lifeless on the beach. There was an unusually strong wind and a high tide, so I‘m guessing their wings got wet from the spray and they were unable to take flight. In any case, I’ve preserved a few of them in the images below.
Sad Endings
“What you see with your eyes are transient and ephemeral, What you see through your heart is everlasting and eternal.”
Debasish Mridha
We love our sweetgrass when it blooms, as in today’s opening image. Of course we enjoy its other eye-catching moments, such as in the image that follows. This one is from an early morning walk following an overnight rain.
Morning Dewdrops
“For the camera, the creative moment is brief–a compelling, ephemeral collision of event and artist.”
Ken Ruth
Here on Kiawah we”ve occasionally been struck by some serious storms. Fortunately they are few and far between and our predominant weather is beautiful, warm sunshine. Now and then of course, we experience a simple rainfall which can sometimes result in the opportunity for an image like the one below.Typically the puddles disappear before day’s end.
Perfect Puddle
“I take photographs to hold on to the ephemeral.”
Sabine Weiss
I’ll close with something we often see here on our beach – sea stars delivered to the sands by the ocean’s waves. Once out of the water they’ve reached the end of their short lives. Surprisingly, although I’ve always thought of them as truly ephemeral, they can in fact live as long as 5 to 10 years. Who knew?!
Sea Star Duet
“We humans are essentially ephemeral – akin as much to wind, water, and fire as to earth.”
Curt Stager
That will do it for me this week. We hope you’ll join us with your own interpretations. Be sure to link them to my post and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Our thanks to Ritva and to all of her respondents for last week’s Street Details challenge. I must admit I’d never thought about taking an approach like that and found it great fun! Finally we hope you’ll join us next week when Egidio will lead us once again on his Through Brazilian Eyes site. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.
Interested in learning more about the Lens-Artists challenge? Click here .
Travels and Trifles 