Lens-Artists Challenge #257 Simplicity

Philosophy through photography provided this week’s challenge of simplicity.  “The modern world is so stressful and chaotic that we are losing the fundamental clarity and simplicity that allows us to concentrate on what is really important.” So true!

Subject

The subject IS color
Monochromatic Dandelion

Tell a story

Gull finds treasure on Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
Quiet Pomponio State Beach near Half Moon Bay
Lone pedestrian crossing the Embarcadero in San Francisco
Walking along the Mendocino coast

Sense of Scale

Sailboat sails under the Golden Gate Bridge at Sunset
Kayaking along the American River

I had to look through my archive to find this one because usually, I will fill the frame with the people. But this time I was in awe of the surroundings.

Mirror Lake in Yosemite.
Walking a long way down near a waterfall in Hilo Hawaii

As we got closer to the waterfall we witnessed its power.

Waterfall in Hilo Hawaii
So small on this Southern California beach
My granddaughter @ age 10 at Stinson Beach

The vastness and power of water bring perspective to our view of self. Watching how fast it can transform places. There is little a person can do to hold back the water. The world’s people are learning this the hard way.

Negative Space

Fishing in Monterey Bay

Still Life

Tea Setting
Side Lighting of Chinese Tea Service
Coffee Time

Textures

Bumpy and Orange
Soft focused leaf

Splash of Color

Lady Bug Beetle all alone
Boulder Ridge Park, Rocklin Ca

Patterns

Swim meet pool lanes

I hope that you enjoy the simple life. Which photograph spoke to you? I appreciate all comments.

Lens-Artists Challenge #256 Kitchen Inspiration

Ritva hosts this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge with a theme of Inspiration found in the kitchen. That is often a place I find something to photograph in an hour of need. It can be a view from the kitchen window or an interior shot of the kitchen.

I had an assignment to show Kitchen Essentials in my Color Photography class. My husband received a box of stuff haphazardly packed from my sister-in-law. It contained photographs, frames with broken glass, and some serving pieces from my mother-in-law. Strange stuff, but I knew it would do for my assignment. I got some plastic to create reflections and I got busy. I entered this image in an online contest and it was selected #1 for the week. What a boost to my confidence.

Kitchen Essentials
Happy Face
My parents’ last true kitchen in Sun City West, Arizona
Granddaughter cooking
Getting some help
Kitchen Remodel
A new countertop was installed. Almost done.
Kitchen at work
New kitchen and Thanksgiving
My current kitchen

Kitchens from a time gone by

Bodie Kitchen
Lawsen Kitchen in Apple Hill
Kitchen in Fiddletown, Ca
Found when visiting with my photo friends

Found at home and away

What’s a kitchen without some food? Essential!

Unhappy guest for dinner!
BBQ
Tea
Making Plum Jam
Food preparation and meal ready
Turkey Leg from a deep fryer. Just in time too!

Not much more to say. Except that on these hot, hot, hot days I try and stay out of my kitchen!

Lens-Artists Challenge #255: Telling a Story

This week, Patti of P.A. Moed asks me to focus on telling a story with my photos. “Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we can convey a story in one image; other times we need several. For this challenge, we’ll set a limit of 5 photos per story.” People-watching is a favorite pastime for me. I do not eavesdrop; instead, I try to imagine what is happening and capture the emotions.

Festivals and Events

Renaissance Fayre
Father and son act at the Renaissance Fayre
Amgen Cyclist – thoughts?
Amgen Tour of California. How would you caption this?

Summer is heating up here in Sacramento. We are alerted that a heat wave is approaching. Years ago, my grandchildren joined a swim team. That meant all-day swim meets on Saturday. I had my camera ready for action.

What is this swimmer thinking?
Such enthusiasm
Pep Talk
Cheering
Congratulations
Summer = Watermelon

Helping hand

Getting directions at the
American Museum of Natural History
Lost visitor
Father and son. What’s the story?

Teaching

Many docents can be found at the zoo or museums. They provide valuable teachings to the community. Thank you.

Explaining tools at a Big Truck event in Roseville
Spining explained

Creative Energy

Berkeley Kite Festival
Chanukah Celebration
Folsom 4th of July Parade
Spray paint art on the Embarcadero. This artist was less than friendly.
Chalk it Up is held once a year in John C Fremont Park

Caught in the Act

Fisherman’s Wharf in San Fransisco provides plenty of photo opportunities for people-watching. I captured this local character as he counted his earnings.

San Francisco Bush Man
Geyserville, Ca
Nothing like a hot dog on the New York City streets
Capturing a fun moment at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Keeps traffic flowing on N.Y.C. streets
Serious moment with Daisy Duck in Disneyland

Animal Stories

Ducks at the Sacramento Zoo.
Can you think of a story for these images? Something was going on.
We know what this photo is all about.

And that’s all folks. For now! Check back soon for more of my photographs.

Lens-Artists Challenge #254 Spiritual Places

This week Tina from Travels and Trifles creates a Lens-Artists challenge focused on Spiritual Places. While many associate spirituality with religion, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”, a much wider interpretation.

While photographing buildings, I inevitably find myself in front of a religious site. It may be a church, temple, or synagogue. There is a quietness to these places. Some may call this respectfulness.

One place that gives me a sense of peacefulness is located in Grass Valley. Ananda Village and Crystal Hermitage Garden exude calm.

Many visitors enjoy the tulips in the spring.

Looking over the Sierras.

Churches

Rio Linda, Ca
Sacramento, Ca
Jackson, Ca.

Churches that started as a different building, and churches that have been repurposed.

Saw this in Lincoln, Ca.
On the main street in Zionsville, Indiana this Methodist Church transformed into an art gallery. It sits vacant and is looking for a new purpose.
Congregation Beth Shalom in Marysville, California. This building was once a boarding house. It is now making another change.

Abandoned Religious Building

Bodie, California

Stain Glass and Beauty

Petaluma, Ca.
St. Peteter’s Chapel in Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo California.

Sikh Temple

Yuba City Gurdwara, California

Buddhist Temple

Offerings
Bok Kai Temple in Marysville, Ca

Memorial Sites

Donner Party
Ground Zero 911
Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter
Memorial sites let us remember

Cemetery

Walking through a cemetery, looking at the gravestones, imagining the history, and taking in the flowers provides me with some quiet reflective spiritualness.

I end at the gravesite of my parents. They both are Holocaust Survivors.

My brother pays respect to my parents. There are no markers for my family from Poland for at least 3 generations due to World War II.

Many ask why stones and not flowers are left at Jewish graves. Upon researching this I found that there are many plausible explanations for this tradition. I would like to think of the remembrance of those who come before me.