Category: nature

A Photo a Week Challenge: Change of Seasons

Hello again! Sorry about the long break. My hip surgery went so well that the doctor wanted to fix my knee as soon as possible. I’m now four week past the knee replacement surgery, and it is also going very well. Whew! Hopefully no more surgeries for, well, forever if possible.

The fall colors this year along the Wasatch Front in Utah have been spectacular. We have some Virginia creeper in our yard that we only like for a few weeks a year when the leaves start changing from green to red. They are dramatic and beautiful, but not really worth the struggle of fighting it the rest of the year. However, I will take some really cool pictures of it until we can irradiate it from our yard.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF THE CHANGING OF THE SEASONS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.
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A Photo a Week Challenge: Nature at Work

Our roses have been going like gangbusters this year, and we love it. This morning, when I went out to take some photos of them, I found this little fellow hard a work collecting nectar. Even the stiff wind couldn’t deter him from his appointed task. Bees are a bit like mail carriers that way.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF NATURE WORKING.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: View

I know I’ve posted a similar photo to this one before, but it was part of a group of photos from our business. I just wanted to do a little bragging on this one by itself. Our firm won a concrete design award for this building, which is pretty cool. However, I find the view from these windows on the top floor (the building is 8 stories tall) to be one of the coolest things about the building. Because the building is a concrete building, it allows for more open spaces like this two-story space, giving the eventual tenant a wonderful view of the Wasatch Front.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF AMAZING VIEWS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Posterity

My parents have a good-sized posterity. They have five children, 19 grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren (with more on the way). My mother-in-law counted her posterity up a few years ago and stopped at 56 (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren). I remember a scene from an old movie called The Moon is Blue where the main characters are having a discussion about the state of the world and having children. The woman says to the man something like “So you think it’s unfair to bring children into this messed up world” and he answers “Have you ever heard of a mess being fixed by unborn children?” I love my big family. I can’t think of anyone who we could do without. I love this photo with my mom and my sisters (my brother and his family live in a different state and weren’t able to come because of the pandemic). This was my mother’s 88th birthday party. We had it at a park (and no one got the vid from attending). Most of my mom’s posterity was able to be there. I don’t know how many more gatherings like this we will have. Mom is in good health, but life is too uncertain. I like to think that we should take these moments when we get them.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF EXTENDED FAMILIES.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Lights

With Christmas this week, it’s time for my traditional lights challenge. I love Christmas lights. I love the warmth and magic they bring to the season. To say that I am addicted to light would be very accurate. Of course, we need light to live, so that’s rather fitting. I hope your holiday season is filled with light and love and the joy of hope.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO FEATURING LIGHTS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Sunrise

For some people, mornings can be a bit challenging. I’m an early riser, and I especially love late summer/early fall morning sunrises. While sunsets may get the majority of the attention, a beautiful sunrise has very few competitors. This sunset was last January.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF SUNRISES.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week: Gateways

A couple of months ago, I posted a challenge for fences and gates. This week is similar but with a slightly different focus. By definition, a gateway is any passage by or point at which a region may be entered. Port cities are frequently referred to as gateways. This very picturesque gateway is in Switzerland and led from a castle courtyard into a beautiful, forested area surrounding the castle. It was almost like a fairy portal. And let’s be honest: I love any type of perspective shot with a vanishing point.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT FEATURES ANY TYPE OF GATEWAY.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Bokeh

In photography, bokeh is the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens. In other words, it’s the quality of the intentionally blurry part of your image, or the background. While I love the flower in this photo, I really love the bokeh produced by my 50mm lens. It is my go-to lens for photographing flowers and people. As I shoot using Nikon cameras, my 50mm is a Nikor lens that I’ve had for over 10 years. I haven’t been able to beat it’s quality or flexibility, even though it has a dedicated focal length.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT HAVE GREAT BOKEH.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Vibrant

Since we’ve returned from Mexico (and apparently the entire week we were gone), Utah has been experiencing heavier than usual rain. It’s cold. It’s dank. And it is very much needed as we’ve been in a sever draught for over a year. However, it does make taking pictures of pretty things difficult. So I’m going back a few months (to May) to bring you this week’s challenge. Each year, Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah has a tulip festival during April and May. We went with our daughter and grandsons this year, and these beautiful, vibrant tulips were waiting to greet us at the entrance. I couldn’t resist taking their picture.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT HAVE VIBRANT COLORS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ tag.
  3. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Focal Point

As a photographer, I take great care about what is in focus in my photos. Changing the focal point of an image can change the entire feel of the photo. In the images I’ve shared for today’s challenge, I’ve taken the same picture but changed the focus of the image. I love each image for different reasons.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A SERIES OF PHOTOS THAT SHOW THE SAME SCENE WITH DIFFERENT FOCUAL POINTS.

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Each week, I’ll come up with a theme and post a photo that I think fits. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog (a new post!) anytime before the following Thursday, when the next photo theme will be announced.
  2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “A Photo a Week Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use the “postaday″ and “Photo a Week” tags.
  3. Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
  4. Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.