Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Under the Sun

The Arizona Deserts, Arizona.

This week, Amy’s challenge for us is to focus on life under the sun. Actually, that’s a broad category considering that all earthbound things are under the sun. She writes that her inspiration came from the title of a book, “Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

I’ve decided that my response to the challenge will feature images from my adopted state, Arizona. Though most of the images here come from the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona, the opening photo is from Monument Valley, part of the Colorado Plateau, a desert environment with hot summers and cold winters. Wild horses inhabit the desert that is part of the Navajo Nation. As you can see by the photo, life for them is hard.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Sanctuary

This week, guest challenger, Xenia who blogs at Tranature and Whippet Wisdom, asks us to consider the term “sanctuary” and what it means to us. You can read Xenia’s entire challenge post here.

I find a personal sanctuary in a shady spot along a trail while hiking in the Arizona desert or on a bench in a North Carolina botanical garden. Some might find their sanctuary in a special place on a mountain. Many people find their personal sanctuary in their church, and I find church architecture to be a spectacular subject for photography. Indeed, my opening photo is of a magnificent cathedral in Cartagena, Colombia, the Iglesia de Santo Toribio.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Winter

This week’s photo challenge is “Winter”, and winds up the July photo challenge collection of seasons. I love the beauty of winter. I can sit at my computer and browse winter scenes all day, from my office, in Arizona. You see, it’s not the winter I don’t like, it’s the cold. >grin< Still and all, I have a collection of winter images to share. I brave the cold weather during the holiday season and return to North Dakota to be with family over Christmas. The above image was captured along the Red River on a late December day.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Autumn

This week’s challenge is Autumn. In North Dakota’s farm country, it’s harvest time and time for the harvest celebrations. At Bismarck’s Buckstop Junction, a pioneer village, it’s time for Applefest, an annual autumn weekend celebration. Displays like that shown in the opening photo are found throughout the upper midwest. Patti Moed brings us this week’s challenge. She writes, “What does autumn look like in your part of the world? What does this season mean to you personally?” You can read her entire challenge post here.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Spring

This week, Tina Schell continues with the Lens-Artists challenge that asks us to share images of the four seasons. Spring is the season of rebirth. Given a new normal in the world as we adjust to new rules and limitations, Tina shares the hope that springs eternal from the new growth and new life that emerges from the long winter. You can read her entire challenge post here.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Summer

Summer, 2020.

Happy Independence Day! I am writing this post a week in advance thanks to knowing that the entire July Lens-Artists Challenge schedule has been published. We will be traveling that week to a neighboring state for a celebration of life. Travel this year is risky due to the pandemic, so you can bet we will be taking appropriate precautions as we travel and visit with family. I know this summer will be different in many ways than most, but summer will come and go and people will take advantage of the warm weather to do at least some of the usual summer activities. The opening photo features a fireworks display from the Pyrotechnics Guild. Sequenced to music, it was one of the most spectacular displays I’ve ever seen.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Surprise

This week, Ann-Christine in her photo challenge asks us to feature images that are the result of a surprise. As it turned out, I have two surprise encounters with horses that I thought would be the appropriate responses to this week’s challenge. In the opening image, while traveling through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we rounded a corner on the scenic drive to discover several cars stopped in the middle of the roadway, no one was going anywhere and people were out of their cars, cameras in hand. A small band of wild horses parked themselves on the roadway much to the delight of the park visitors who happened along at that moment.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – A Quiet Moment

This week for our Lens-Artists challenge, Patti Moed asks us to share captures of “A Quiet Moment.”  She writes, “Maybe it’s a walk early in the morning or the time you sit down with a book and a cup of coffee.  Include shots captured at home or in your neighborhood, or from a trip to a faraway place months or years ago.” You can view her entire challenge post here.

For my opening image, I am reaching back almost 40 years to my college days. I spent a week with a college buddy backpacking in the backcountry of the Bighorn Mountains near Sheridan, Wyoming. This image was digitally reworked from the original 4×6 snapshot. Early on a crisp, cool morning, we had the fire going as we started our day.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Single Flower

This week, the photo challenge team welcomes a guest challenger, Cee of Cee’s Photo Challenges. I’ve been a follower of photo challenges she posted or others she’s mentioned almost since I started blogging about photography. Her challenge this week features images of a single flower. She writes, “When I was asked to guest host, my first thought was it had to be a flower challenge and as I thought more about it, I came up with the topic one single flower. One of my favorite quotes is ‘If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.’ Buddha.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – The Long and Winding Road

The American Southwest.

This week Tina brings us the 100th Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. Each week I look forward to either searching my galleries or grabbing my camera to find appropriate images to share that focus on the challenge topic. Tina writes in part, “This week, share your images and thoughts about the long and winding road. Feel free to be literal or metaphorical in your approach.” You can read her entire challenge post here.