Tag Archives: #challenges

Share Your World- Sept 2 2019

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Occasionally I run across these- Share Your World- posts from Melanie on the Sparks From a Combustible Mind blog. It’s always interesting to read all the comments from everyone and I like that the questions usually make me think. 😉

The questions are in bold, my answers are not.

When you’re 90 years old, what do you suppose will matter most to you? My health, and especially my mental state. I would hate to live to be 90 years old and too sick to get out and do any of the things I enjoy. I would rather be dead than lose my mind (or the use of my body).

What’s the best way to spend a rainy afternoon? Reading a good book.

What is one thing you don’t understand about yourself? How do I manage to accomplish everything I set out to do (eventually) EXCEPT lose weight?

When was the last time you tried something to look ‘cool’ (hip), but it ended in utter embarrassment?   Details? I’m trying to remember the last time I tried to ‘look cool’. I really can’t. It’s been decades since I’ve tried to do anything to impress anybody that way. I can’t even remember doing that when I was young. I never really thought that way. Always just “take me the way I am, or screw it”. Too many people in the world to worry about acting to impress.

And I like this one from last week so will include it here…

If you’d like, please list five things that are priceless to you. Freedom, liberty, friends, ability to travel, books.

Friendly Friday: Tiled

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I was looking at everybody’s posts for this week’s Friendly Friday challenge, and I just had to post one more time. 🙂

When I made my post the other day, I totally forgot about all the other places in Istanbul where they had such beautiful tile work. Different than the gorgeous stuff some people were posting from Portugal, but beautiful in another way altogether. Combined with the architecture, the artistry with the tile work makes so many of their buildings really special.

Here are a few photos I took in the mosques. I was really affected by how much time and effort went into building these places. The total devotion it must take to spend years, decades, centuries even- to build something so impressive.

Istanbul’s Blue Mosque with thousands of blue tiles decorating the interior

Those were from the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The photos below, I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure they were in the Hagia Sophia. It was a Christian cathedral before it became a mosque and it’s now a museum. The shimmering gold tiles of these mosaics really shine when the sun hits them.

Imagine the skill and patience it must’ve taken to make these things. How to make sure all those little pieces go together just right. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle! And all such a long time ago too. Of course, they didn’t have the internet to distract them back then. 😉

One more note re: tile. Have you heard of Dixie Friend Gay? She’s a modern day mosaic artist with some absolutely stunning projects. Here’s a photo I took to pique your interest. Check out this earlier post...

KOB: Big Pink Piggie

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For some reason, I really like this guy. 🙂

This is my entry for Kammie’s Oddball Challenge.

“Odd Ball Photos are those great photos that you take which really don’t seem to fit into a common category.  We’ve all taken them and like them, because we just can’t hit delete and get rid of them.  If you have any of those type of photos, this challenge is for you.”

Check out the link, see what everyone’s posting and join in the fun. 🙂

CFFC: Close Up of Flowers

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Cee has more challenges this week. I saw this one and had to jump in. Here’s the rules from Cee…

“This week the topic is Close Up of Flowers.  Any flower will do.  It can be a natural flower, artificial, or even handmade.  Just get as close as you can with your favorite camera, and lens, if you have an interchangeable lenses.  Macros are allowed too.”

A single waterlily, details are beautiful

Take a look at Cee’s blog and see what everyone’s posting. There are some real beauties. 🙂

CYW: Asparagus

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I don’t have any asparagus around the house to photograph, tho I do have some out in my garden. It’s not nearly ready to harvest yet, and it doesn’t match the color swatch anyways. I’ve looked through my photo stash and this is what I’ve come up with for Jennifer’s Color Your World Challenge for this week- Asparagus…

Most of what I found were of some type of plant/vegetation, but some were man-made. I found this display of tiny dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

This asparagus colored plate (with delicious entree) was served to us at the Lemala Mpingo Ridge Camp in Tanzania.

I always enjoy these challenges. It’s fun to try to come up with something to enter and to see all the different ideas people have to play along. If you want to see the rest of the Color Your World series and see what’s coming up in the future, click this link.

Small Subjects

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Cee’s Black and White Challenge’s topic for this week is: small subjects.

Here’s the kind of thing she’s looking for…

  • Black and white photography
  • Sepia tones (browns)
  • Selective color with the majority of the photo being in black and white
  • Desaturated – very little color tone left in your photo

So, here’s my entry…

I was up in Galveston a while ago. Wandering around town with a friend after dropping off some of my paintings at the From the Heart Gallery where I’ve been trying to sell some of my art. We were enjoying looking at all the historical buildings, taking lots of photos, and window shopping. I took these photos in one of the antique shops around the Strand. Just a bunch of little china statues of cute little buildings.

Twisted- May Photo A Day

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Here’s a new photo challenge to join in. From Maria at citySonnet.

Here’s my entry…

I took this photo at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It’s labeled as a “sandstone concretion”. I really loved looking at all its twists and turns. I always enjoy this museum, they have a great exhibit on insects and a butterfly ‘garden’, and they have frequent very interesting lectures and presentations.