*Challenge You* Kathy~ Wins December's Best CY Medal of the Mo
View allAll Photos Tagged Challenger
Made from my own shots in older gen apps.
Can click for texture if you like.
For:
New! Challenge 221.0 ~ Abstract ~ The Award Tree ~
flickr.com/groups/759740@N22/discuss/72157721918109922/72...
I was challenged by my very dear friend Ethan to partake in the #guardyourlight challenge that T E E J ✿ launched spontaneously a few days ago on her Flickr.
I was inspired and snapped this last night. Now it's my turn to challenge some talented artists to keep it alive and do something inspired by those words !
Friends, if you've been tagged,
grab your cameras and "Guard your light! "
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”You have this way of seeing the Light in others. You have this way of noticing what is beautiful and unique about those around you. And I just hope you know, the same Light you see within others is shining within you too. You have this way of holding up a mirror to others and making sure they feel seen, and this is a very valuable thing. But sometimes, that can make you feel a little less seen yourself... a little less valuable, and less important than everyone else. So in case no one told you lately, it’s okay to turn that mirror around and see you for you, too. And know that no matter who does or does not notice you, Light is running wild within you. It shows up in your laughter. Your stories. Your presence. And I am sorry for all the times no one has taken the time to let you know this, in the same way that you have done this for so many others. I just wanted to remind you this is true: the same Light you see in others is shining within you, too.”
-Morgan Harper Nichols
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Disclaimer :
All the poses used in my pictures are made from scratch by me
Rising 6200 feet/ 1900 m above the town of Crestone Colorado, Challenger Point (14080 ft / 4292 m, right center) catches the last full rays of the sun along with other summits of the Sangre de Cristo range, including 14ers Kit Carson and Crestone Peaks. Challenger Point was named in honor of the seven astronauts who perished when the space shuttle Challenger broke up on liftoff in 1986.
For years, I've been asked to do pictures of me as comic book women, so I've done some online research to find out who they are and what they look like. Then I put together costumes to get their look as close as I can. Usually, it takes a good bit of photo editing. Making their look and building sets or finding good locations is a fun process. Thanks to the people who have suggested who they would like me to appear as. I have more in the works. If you have any suggestions, please drop me a line.
Compositionally Challenged Week 20 - Active Space
After looking in my bird books, I think this is a Swainson's Hawk.
We watched the hawk for several minutes while it moved from one branch to another before it took flight carrying a piece of bark.
For this week's MacroMondays
challenge misfit.
Welcome to my Flickr space & thank you for visiting,
hope you enjoy my images.
Many thanks to everyone who takes the time to look,
like and comment on my pictures.
Don't use this image on any media without my permission.
You can contact me on my website at:
Thanks for more than 15 000 000 views.
My brief for this challenge was: Train Station, Billboard, Possibly a Cinema, and ‘Rainman’ Escaping.
Still no cinema but I got the train station, billboard and Rainman escaping the ‘Bounty Hunters’. This image fits the brief better than the first attempt to fulfil the challenge….! (Latest Challenge).
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili...
If you're interested, you'll find a more detailed closeup here (it's the 8th photo from the top): www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (it's very brief but pretty unusual: a tiny wall lizard attacks two young great tits): www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqkSsyrm7E
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: MY LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY TO BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
If you've set yourself the challenge of exclusively shooting the wildlife in your own back yard, you might find - as I did - that bird photography is really, really hard.
It's not that reptiles are easy to photograph either, mind - but at least the ones in my garden stay (for the most part) on the ground, and one can learn how to carefully approach them with a camera. They're also clearly egoists, which from a photographer's point of view is is a great character trait: if a lizard detects a human in its vicinity, it's only interested in saving its own skin, and it won't alarm its buddies.
But birds... oh man. Over the years, my feathered friends and I have developed a lovely routine that now defines our peaceful co-existence. As soon as I as much as open a window (let alone the door), I'm instantly greeted by an eruption of panicky fluttering and hysterical shouts from my garden: "SAVE YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND FLY FOR YOUR LIVES: THE HAIRLESS, PINK MONSTER IS COMING!!! (Yes, I speak bird, and I know that this is exactly what they are shouting 😉).
Needless to say, with the exception of the redstart I already showed here, all my efforts to get the kind of detailed shots I usually strive for with my nature photography ended in complete failure and utter disillusionment. I was ready to give up on stalking the winged misanthropes in my garden altogether, but then winter came - and changed everything.
One day this past January I observed my neighbor Signora P - a kind, elderly Italian lady - putting something on the low garden wall in front of my house. At first I thought she was just putting some treat there for her cat Romeo; the young tom patrols that wall constantly (it's his favorite spot in the garden, and during the warmer months he usually lurks in the thick foliage next to it to prey on lizards).
But once I detected a lot of movement on that wall through my window, I understood she had put a little pile of bread crumbs there; she was feeding the birds who soon arrived in flocks. This was certainly well-intended on my neighbor's part, but her noble action came with a catch, and I'm afraid quite literally.
When I took a stroll through my garden the next day I discovered a suspicious amount of feathers on the ground next to the wall. Romeo had apparently switched from his low-calorie summer diet (lizard) to more energy-rich meals consisting of "fowl" (it was winter after all, so from a nutritionist's point of view this made sense).
I would find fresh traces of Romeo's victims (mostly feathers, but also the odd wing) in my garden over the following days; so my first intuition that my neighbor was feeding her cat hadn't been that far off after all, as Romeo was now clearly being "served" fresh birds on a daily basis. And although the hungry visitors seemed to be aware of the danger and became slightly more prudent, they just couldn't resist the tasty snacks Signora P put on that wall - and neither could Romeo.
It was obvious that I had to act, but talking to my neighbor - who is as stubborn as she is kind - would have been futile, I knew that much. I pondered the matter long and hard - until a light bulb went off in my head. The idea was genius. If successful, what I had in mind would not only increase the birds' chances of surviving Romeo's appetite, but also greatly benefit my own photographic endeavors.
I started to enact my master plan the very next day by buying a giant bag of bird feed (consisting mainly of sunflower seeds) from the store. Then I dragged a huge piece of a tree trunk (approx. 120 cm in height) that we normally chop firewood on in the shed out into the garden and emptied almost half of the bag's content on top of it. Signora P's buffet for birds (and cats) was about to get some serious competition 😊.
My reasoning was as follows: not only would the birds be lured away from the fatally low garden wall to a place where they were safe from the cat - there was nothing around that tree trunk that provided cover for a predator, and the birds had a nice 360° view around it at all times - but I was also able to photograph them while hiding in the shed.
However, in order for my plan to work there was one little extra measure I had to take, and it was one that risked lowering my own life expectancy considerably once the owner of the property - my mom - discovered it. You see, our shed is completely windowless, so if I wanted to use it as a blind, I had no choice but to cut a hole into one of its wooden walls... which I promptly did (I figured all's fair in love - and photography 😉).
Granted, I have absolutely zero carpentering skills, and it showed. That hole was an ugly mess: the shed's wall seemed to have had an encounter with Jack Nicholson's ax-wielding lunatic character from the film 'The Shining'. Needless to say, I was incredibly proud of my work (I mean, come on: there now was a hole where before there wasn't a hole, and it was big enough for the lens of my camera to peek through, so it was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned).
Now all I had to do was wait for the birds to discover the tree trunk. In the meantime I started to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable confrontation with my mom and go through possible explanations for that splintering hole in the wall (it was either gonna be a rabid woodpecker attack or an emergency rescue mission with a feeding tube for a little kid that had accidentally locked himself inside the shed - both seemed valid options, though I slightly preferred the locked-in kid due to the involved drama and heroism 😉).
A whole day went by, and not a single bird visited the sunflower seeds. I had expected that it might take a few hours until the first of the ever curious great tits or blue tits would show up, but given how tiny my garden is, an entire day seemed excessive. Then another day came and went: the birds kept flocking to the bread crumbs on the wall, and my tree trunk kept collecting dust. To add injury to insult, a few fresh feathers on the ground were proof that Romeo was still feasting.
It was incredibly frustrating: I provided my winged guests with a much better view - plus a higher chance of surviving the cuisine - than Signora P's place; I risked (almost) certain death at the hands of my own mother (OK, the act of vandalism on the shed I had committed for my own benefit, but still), yet the birds kept ignoring me.
Then, after three days, just before sunset, I spotted a single blue tit on the tree trunk picking away at the sunflower seeds.
When I got up the next morning I immediately realized that the loud noise that accompanies each and every tit activity had shifted from the wall to the shed. At last the dam had broken: there was a flurry of movement around the tree trunk, and I counted at least 5 different species of birds feasting on the sunflower seeds.
From day 4 onward my plan worked beautifully: the birds now indeed mostly ignored Romeo's "snack wall" and kept to the tree trunk. And yes, I was able to play peeping tom from behind the shed's wall and photograph them!! 😊
Thus, dear readers, I finally managed to produce some acceptable bird photos, and I had even saved my feathered friends from a deadly foe in the process. All through winter and spring I took advantage of my new bird hide, and in late May I started mixing some cherries with the sunflower seeds. The idea was to attract a Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), and as you can see, it worked!
It took me almost three weeks and more than a few tricks to capture that clever fella, but given how long I've been rambling here already, that's a story for another day. As for my mom, she still doesn't know about the hole in the wall, so please don't snitch! 😉.
I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments 🙏 😊 ❤!
P.S. if anyone has their own funny tale about the obstacles we photographers are prepared to overcome for a desired photo, please write it in the comments: I love such stories 😊
My neighbor's beautiful Husky. She is very loving, sweet and gentle. But, she's also a protector, so you'd better not mess with her owner because Sasha will defend and protect her.
Challenge #196: Selective Color
The challenge calls for "My Favourite Things". I have lots of favourite things to choose from but visiting the Sumatran Tigers at Australia Zoo is really a great pleasure.
"Australia Zoo is home to some of the last surviving Indonesian species of big cat – the Sumatran tiger!
Found throughout the forests and grasslands of Sumatra, these big cats are the smallest of all remaining tiger species. They are an impressive and powerful hunter with the ability to jump up to 5 metres (16 feet) in length! Using their stealthy stalking abilities, they will successfully hunt deer, pigs, jungle fowl and fish. Sumatran tigers have a range of vocalisations and communication tools. Their roar can be heard up to 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) away. Crikey! Like all tiger species, their beautiful orange and black striped coat is unique to every individual, just like our fingerprints!
Sumatran tigers are a critically endangered species. There are fewer than 350 left in the wild. These beautiful animals are victim to the illegal wildlife pet trade, illegal poaching for traditional medicine, illegal hunting for pelts and meat, as well as experiencing rapid deforestation and habitat loss. They are a species that is facing certain extinction without our protection."
For Challenge 159.0 ~ Famous Painters ~ The Award Tree ~
Own image & texture / filter: Topaz / brushes from Brusheezy.com
Dor Walker, here's my version... adjusted various tones & hues plus the little puddle. Tried to add some punch to it but don't know if I succeded.
Thanks for the challenge!
When it comes to my pictures, I like to talk about challenges. Often, it's not about getting the best photos, but about the challenges in a particular situation.
In an old building that may be over 100 years old, such a window situation is unusual and only occurs in this room in the museum building. Of course, a tripod is not allowed.
So I tried to expose the outside and inside of the room in backlight, as close as possible to the exact same position.
Wide-angle lenses have their problems when orthogonal lines are distributed throughout the room because they distort in a cushion-shaped and barrel-shaped manner, and if you're unlucky, both at the same time (moustache type), and so a room where windows, corners, ceilings, and works of art form a grid makes the optical errors obvious.
This meant that I had to superimpose the exterior image over the interior image, and of course there were deviations, so I not only had to correct the distortion but also, quite often, correct parts of the image.
However, I found this “Petersburg hanging” of Münster Cathedral so interesting that I really wanted to show you the situation with a work of art by Albers, a work of art probably by Serra, and a black picture by an artist I don't know.
Deutsch
Ich spreche bei meinen Bildern gerne von Herausforderungen. Oft geht es mir gar nicht um die besten Fotos, sondern um die Herausforderungen in einer bestimmten Situation.
In einem alten Gebäude, das über 100 Jahre alt sein kann, ist eine solche Fenstersituation ungewöhnlich und kommt im Museumsgebäude nur in diesem Raum vor.
Ein Stativ ist natürlich nicht erlaubt. Also versuchte ich im Gegenlicht eine Belichtung des Außenraumes und eine Belichtung des Innenraumes, möglichst in der absolut gleichen Position.
Weitwinkel haben ihre Probleme, wenn über den ganzen Raum orthogonale Linien verteilt sind, weil sie kissenförmig oder tonnenförmig verzerren, wenn man Pech hat, beides gleichzeitig (Moustache-Type), und so ein Raum wo Fenster, Ecken, Decken und Kunstwerke ein Raster ergeben, macht die optischen Fehler deutlich.
Bedeutet, ich musste das Außenbild über das Innenbild bringen und natürlich gab es Abweichungen, und musste nicht nur entzerren sondern ganz oft einzelne Bildteile entzerren.
Jedoch fand ich diese "Petersburger Hängung" des Münsteraner Doms so interessant, dass ich euch die Situation unbedingt zeigen wollte mit einem Kunstwerk von Albers, einem Kunstwerk von wahrscheinlich Serra und einem schwarzen Bild, von dem ich nicht den Künstler kenne.
_MG_3629_pt2
Just for fun
Bare Face Challenge flickr group www.flickr.com/groups/14682117@N25/
No makeup
No lashes
No editing
Tag someone you know and see what they come up with.
I tag Bewitched Difference, Violetta Rain and Kay Windstorm, don't spank me! lol
People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy.
- Anton Chekhov
details and landmarks at ahchoo-e!.
I took a challenge to take a clear photo of my daughter & sun in law in this lovely misty surrounding to keep it for remembrance about kodaikanal trip. .
thanks for every one for views, faves & comments.
On a trip west to Portland, Oregon, UP's Challenger #3985 is working hard upgrade in the Blue Mountains of Oregon on a rainy June morning in 1993.
When there are many problems and responsibilities in life, when you cannot feel free, then you challenge yourself and your destiny.
Когда в жизни множество проблем и обязанностей, когда ты не можешь почуствовать себя свободным, тогда ты бросаешь вызов самому себе и своей судьбе.
So I'm trying to move away from drawing flat-on side angles, and drawing a bit more 3D. This is my attempt at the Challenger 1 MBT
1st PK challenge i joined ahehheheh sana MANALO ahahaha!
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Original photo by Sir Boggs Dichoson | PostProcess by Me
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PK BASIC Post Processing Challenge # 26 MerLion Park
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comments and faves will be much appreciated