Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Creepy

This week, Ann-Christine asks us to get “creeped out” on any images we might have left over from our recent celebration of Halloween. My first thought was one that this would be a challenge for me as I don’t tend toward the “creepy” in my images. Then I remembered a few places and times that could be considered creepy, especially with a little help from my photo processing tools. The Mystery Castle in Phoenix, Arizona is my opening example. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky and fair weather clouds when I focused my lens on this interesting domicile. The story is one of love for a father and his daughter with a sad and intriguing twist. You can read about it here. I took one of the images of the house and gave it a black and white photo treatment with the emphasis on low-key under exposure.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Monochrome

In my youth, I learned darkroom skills using chemical processing for both black and white and color printing. I was a “color snob” always wanting color in my images and on my TVs. Now that I’ve gained some life experience, I’ve discovered that the absence of color is often an artistic statement about texture and mood. This week, Patti Moed suggested that we can share monochrome images, sepia images, single color images and images that feature a spot of color in a black-and-white world.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Seeing Double

This week, Tina Schell asks us to see double. She writes, “Double trouble, double-time, two’s company, take two ….  the world is filled with references to twosomes. This week, let’s double our pleasure and focus on things that come in twos.” You can read Tina’s entire challenge post here. Her challenge brought back the memory of a cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. It was getting close to time to being back on the ship after our visit to the British Island of Grand Turk. Our Carnival Magic ship was docked next to the Azura, a cruiser from the P&O Line. The P&O lineage of the Azura goes back to 1837 but today P&O is part of the Carnival corporate umbrella.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Layered

In our weekly photo challenge, Amy invites us to visit Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia and shares with us some of the beauty of the naturally layered landscapes in the park. With that, she defines the challenge, “This week, we invite you to explore Layers.  You can include images of buildings, landscapes, seascapes, clouds, etc.” You can read her entire challenge post here. I have taken up the challenge and feature as my opening image a view of the Lavender open pit mine in Bisbee, Arizona. Before all the copper was removed, this mine was active in producing one of Arizona’s more common minerals, copper.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Candid

For this week’s challenge, Ann-Christine asks us to share candid images, shots captured when the subject is unaware they are being photographed. She writes, “So, this week I thought we would go for candid photos of people or animals“. You can read her challenge and view her submissions here. The genre truly captures real life, not some stilted, posed performance for posterity. Looking back through my collection of images, I don’t have a lot of candid shots, but as it turns out, I have more than I thought. In the opening example, a model train exposition allowed me the opportunity to capture this gentleman in steady concentration as he works to repair a section of track.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Pick a Place

Mexico.

Who’da thunk? It’s ironic that I should pick this country as my choice for Tina Schell’s photo challenge this week. She writes in part, “Last week Amy challenged us to share images of the countryside and/or a small town. This week we’re asking you to look a bit farther afield. Each of us at some point has visited a place that holds special memories. It may have been a small town, a big city, or even better, an entire country.  We’d like you to capture the spirit of a place that is vivid in your memory. What was it that drew you in and why did it capture YOUR heart?” You can read her entire challenge post here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Countryside and Small Towns

This week, it’s Amy’s turn to give us a theme for the weekly photo challenge and she picked an interesting topic. I’ll be looking forward to seeing all my blogger friends’ responses. Amy asked us to focus our collective lens upon the countryside and small towns. You can read her entire challenge post here. I have many photos of the countryside that I’ve shared over the years, so for my challenge response, I’ll share some of the photos I’ve captured featuring small towns I have visited over the years. The opening image features a view of an alleyway in the small town of Malpica, a town of about 650 population in Sinaloa, Mexico.