beaches – nancy merrill photography

A Photo a Week: Water

A few years ago, we went to Hawaii for a friend’s wedding. There’s just something magical about being surrounded by water were you touch it all in the same day by just driving around the island. My husband had found this blow hole when he was researching our trip, and it was a lot of fun sitting in the tropic sunshine waiting for moments like this to happen.

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

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Vacation Memories

This summer, we were supposed to go to Europe. We had tickets to the Passion Play at Oberammergau with plans to travel around Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men. Hopeful, that trip will happen in a couple of years. In the meantime, we are doing a lot of close-by trips to the mountains. I feel very blessed to live in a place with diverse geography. I have mountains, deserts, and red rock canyons all within a 3-hour drive from my home. One thing Utah does not have is beautiful beaches. This vacation memory is from last September when we took a chance on a mystery trip and landed in Cancun, Mexico. It was so much fun, and I wish we had gone on one of these trips sooner. The travel agents are friends who live in our neighborhood. They had been telling us for years that we should go with them, and this was their last one before retiring. *sigh* At least we have the memories and the photos.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO VACATIONS PAST.

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Summer Vacation 2020

This year, summer vacations are going to be very different from years past. My sister did a 10-day virtual summer vacation on Facebook, posting pictures from vacations past and asking people to guess were they “where” that day. It was great fun, so I did the same thing. Here are the photos I included. They span 9 years of vacations, and I would love to go back and see each and every place. So, if you could visit anywhere in the world this summer, where would you go?

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OR… THAT SHOW YOUR DREAM SUMMER VACATION.

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

Thankful November 19th: Light

I know it may seem obvious and a bit silly to say, but I am so thankful for light, and not just as a photographer. The other evening, we had the most glorious sunset. I was driving and couldn’t stop and grab a picture of it. Sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy the beauty and not worry about angles and f-stops and aperture. C.S. Lewis once wrote “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Thankful November 2nd: The Beauties of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1835-1917

I have been lucky enough to do a bit of traveling around this amazing planet on which we live (that sentence structure is a nod to all of my English professors at the University of Utah). I’ve been to Asia, Europe, Mexico, Great Britain, and most of the United States of America. Everywhere I go, I find beautiful things to photograph and wonderful people who fill my heart with happiness.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Sun & Water

I don’t know what it is about mixing the sun and water that always creates such beauty, but I’m really glad it does. This beautiful sunrise was taken at our beach resort in Cancun, Mexico last Thursday.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, my husband and I started on a fun adventure. We signed up for a mystery tour. We were told average temperatures (80-90) and we were told to pack an umbrella and a swimming suit. We were also told to bring our passports. That was it. Two weeks before departure, we were told to meet at the Southwest Airlines check in at the airport at 4:45am (no, that’s not a typo). We went to the checkin counter, gave them our bags, and got our boarding passes for Cancun, Mexico. Whoot whoot! A very nice surprise. We spent the week driving individual speed boats, visiting Mayan ruins, driving through the jungle on ATVs, zip lining (a personal favorite), snorkeling, playing in the water, and taking boats across the beautiful Caribbean Sea to small islands to have lunches on private beaches and do more water-based things. I would highly recommend going on this company’s next mystery tour, but the couple who runs the travel agency are in their late 70s and are retiring. This was their last hurrah, and we are so glad that we caught their final fling.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO (OR TWO OR THREE) THAT FEATURES THE SUN AND WATER TOGETHER.

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week: On the Horizon

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Landscape photography comes in many forms: mountains, oceans, deserts. You can think of as many types of landscapes as there are people to think of them. This beautiful sunset was taken in November on Poipu Beach, Kauai

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF HORIZONS (PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, OR OTHERWISE).

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Blue

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While in Hawaii, it is impossible to escape two colors: green and blue. The beautiful, perfect blues of the Pacific Ocean made the perfect backdrop for our friend’s wedding. Blue is a cool, soothing color. It’s the color of water, sky, and blue jays. Nature is resplendent with various shades of blue.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT FEATURES THE COLOR BLUE.

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: From Above and Below

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Last week, we were on the island of Kauai for a friend’s wedding. One of the places we visited was Hanalei Bay. (Is everyone now humming Puff the Magic Dragon? I hope so.) This pier is one of the most photographed places at the bay. It offers an amazing view of the beginning of the Na Pali coast and the bay. We found that the view under the pier was as interesting as on top.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A SET OF PHOTOS SHOWING THINGS FROM ABOVE AND BELOW (OR THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM).

Everyone is welcome to participate, even if your blog isn’t about photography. Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Water

water_nmp

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. This weekend, we were in Chicago and decided to take a walk along the shores of Lake Michigan. The weather seemed pleasant until we were about two blocks from the beach. The wind along the shore was so strong that we did contemplate turning back, but decided to forge on. The waves were massive and looked very dangerous, but gave us some great shots. I really like this one of with the seagulls and the beacon. We usually like to walk out to the beacons, but decided to forego that on this particular day. It looked a little dicey on the pier.

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

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

Here’s how it works:

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.
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.
Come back here and post a link to your image in the comments for this challenge.
Follow nancy merrill photography so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements.