Category: Photo Challenge

Challenges from the Wordpress Community

Day Twenty-Two

The theme for Becky’s  April Squares challenge is ‘top’ 

    1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
    2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
    3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
    4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
    5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!
bee atop Helenium (Sneezeweed)

Happy 50th Anniversary of Earth Day: Theme = Climate Change

“Earth Day 2020 will be far more than a day. It must be a historic moment when citizens of the world rise up in a united call for the creativity, innovation, ambition, and bravery that we need to meet our climate crisis and seize the enormous opportunities of a zero-carbon future.”

Perhaps now that people have seen the difference it makes by not having roads choked with traffic, skies filled with planes and cities swamped with thousands of tourists descending from huge cruise ships they might consider what is most valuable to them? Something good may come out of this horrid surreal situation we all find ourselves living through. My hope is that people will appreciate the cleaner air, the value of nature in our lives and a slower, more gentle way of life.

Today’s square honours the work of the bee – a pollinator that keeps us in food and which is under great threat – so if you can, provide a safe place for the bees to nest, drinking water and bee-friendly plants in your garden.

April Squares | Day Twenty-two

Day Twenty-One

The theme for Becky’s  April Squares challenge is ‘top’ 

    1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
    2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
    3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
    4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
    5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!
 “top of the morning to you”

“And the rest of the day to you“

“The Capela de Sao Sebastião (Chapel of Saint Sebastian) is a delightful chapel in the Marechal Carmona Park opposite the elegant Condes de Castro Guimaraes museum. The chapel dates from the 17th and predates the intriguing museum by almost 200 years.” – Cascais, Portugal

April Squares | Day Twenty-One

Day Twenty

The theme for Becky’s  April Squares challenge is ‘top’ 

    1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
    2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
    3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
    4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
    5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!
 topless

 “Lely’s Venus”: Aphrodite surprised as she bathes. Marble, Roman copy from the 2nd century BC after an Hellenistic original. British Museum.

April Squares | Day Twenty

Day Nineteen

The theme for Becky’s  April Squares challenge is ‘top’ 

    1. On Top of the World – summit, crown, peak or uppermost part of something
    2. Under the Big Top – topping or covering (or if you’re really lucky circus)
    3. Room at the Top – first or highest in position
    4. Cherry on Top – something made even more wonderful by becoming square
    5. Top and Tail – or maybe you’d prefer to play around with word combinations such as top dog, top stitch, top full, top line, top fruit, top hat, top secret, top knot, top drawer and top dollar!
Top Dog

This wonderfully carved piece is the Queen of the Lewis Chessmen or Uig Chessmen, named after the island or the bay where they were found, a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces, along with other game pieces, most of which are carved from walrus ivory. Seen here in a British Museum blog.

April Squares | Day Nineteen

2020 Photo Challenge #16

April’s theme / technique: Being Creative with Lines

The six visual keys to a great photograph are:

    • Patterns
    • Texture
    • Lines
    • Light
    • Depth of field
    • Space

Lines are everywhere in our world. Just look around you. Seek them out to add visual impact to your photographs (in fact Becky ran a Square Challenge in November purely on lines – check out some of my entries for that if you want ideas) There are lines within nature which can be straight or curved, and man-made lines are everywhere in buildings and roads and even cars. Even a human arm is a line.

    • choose a subject and then look for lines in the scene that lead the viewer to it
    • find an interesting line then decide what your subject is going to be
    • start making looking for lines a part of every photographic outing and develop an eye for finding and placing lines in your composition.

Lines and perspective – Parallel lines never meet or touch but as they disappear an impression is given that they do. This is what fools the eye and brain into believing that there is distance in the image.  It is best illustrated when using a wide angle lens. Be sure though to include the focal point which is also known as the vanishing point, which is the point where the lines disappear into nothing.

Diminishing Lines – Diminishing perspective of scale refers to the appearance of size that our eyes see. Take for example a row of telephone poles disappearing into the distance. Our brain tells us that they all should be the same height. But, because they are all gradually getting smaller the brain says they must be getting further apart. If you use this sense of perspective you will find it extremely effective in giving depth to your images. So when you are trying to achieve this, look for fences, trees, telephone poles, and similar repeated objects to include in your photo which will help create the depth.

Diagonal Lines – diagonal lines lead the eye from one part of an image to another and impart more energy than horizontals. It allows the viewer to scan the picture sweeping naturally through the frame.

Implied Lines – are where there are no distinct lines but they are clearly part of the composition. Think about a line of people in a queue, a row of flowers, birds on the seashore.

This week's assignment - Converging lines. These convey a sense of depth and distance, try to have something of interest at the point where they appear to meet. Or position them on the diagonal to infer motion.

Continue reading 2020 Photo Challenge #16