Tag: basic life

A Photo a Week Challenge: Playtime

I had the opportunity to do an extended family photo shoot, and these adorable cousins were having so much fun together. Even though they see each other often, they were so excited when they got together, and their enthusiasm made the whole shoot go off splendidly, even with the chilly weather. Big kudos to their parents and grandparents, who let them be kids and have moments like this, even if some might think they are wasting time (they weren’t, because I loved taking this photo).

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF KIDS (OF ANY AGE) BEING KIDS.

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: 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.

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.

The Spottiness of Challenges

Hello, my dear friends. I want to apologize and explain the spottiness of the Photo a Week Challenges lately. In October, I started having significant pain in my right hip. At first, we thought it was a pinched nerve or maybe my Sciatica. After working with our chiropractor for a couple of months, it was getting worse instead of better, and he recommended seeing our regular doctor and getting x-rays. Turns out, I have a genetic issue with my hips, and I will be having hip surgery in a couple of weeks. Dealing with the pain and all that goes with it has limited my activities significantly (matching the pain in the hip). As a result, I have been taking fewer photos and getting online less. Sitting at a computer is one of the activities that brings on the pain, so I have to limit my time at the keyboard.

Once I have fully recovered from the surgery, the challenges hopefully will again come fast and furiously. In the meantime, keep taking lots of wonderful photos and sharing them with all of us.

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: Animals

Final challenge of 2021! What a year. As we look back on this year, I hope we can all find things to be grateful and joyful about. We welcomed a new grandson in November and had a wonderful Holiday Season with friends and family. I am grateful to all of you who participate in these challenges. I love seeing your creativity and a little bit of your lives in the photos you share.

I took this photo of a friend’s horse in June 2020. They have two horses, and this one was very friendly came up to the fence to greet me. I have always loved horses, even though I have never owned one myself. I grew up near several horse pastures where some of my friends’ parents pastured their animals. It was always fun to ride them up and down our short street.

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

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: Funny Signs

When we were in Switzerland a few years ago, we spontaneously stopped at this little frozen yogurt shop for a treat. Little did we know that along with a delicious dessert, we would also score this amazingly funny sign. Advertising agencies frequently come up with fun and clever ways to promote their clients’ wares.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF SIGNS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE OR LAUGH.

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: Injuries (none serious, please)

This is my nephew. He played baseball for his high school baseball team for four years. Yes, he’s very good at it. Just before his senior year started during summer practice, he was hit in the face by a line drive ball that caught him just below his left eye. At first, everyone thought it wasn’t too bad, but it turned out that he had a serious concussion and was out of school for almost a month. This picture was taken about a year ago when he was almost over the concussion and, as you can see, the black eye was almost healed. He’s doing fine now and shows no lingering facial damage or effects of the concussion. Hey, but he has a great story to tell.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT SHOW NON LIFE-THREATENING INJURIES.

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: Gates and Fences

This is the road that leads to our family cabin. It is in a gated area (but don’t let that fool you into ideas of a grand, luxury home; it is as cabin-esque as a cabin can be) in the Uinta National Forest. I spent a lot of time during my childhood swinging on this gate. Gates and fences come in all types, shapes, and sizes. This one is rather heavy (but well hung to be easy to swing open and closed). I know that we occasionally get a notification that someone has tried to drive through it, but it usually ends poorly for the vehicle and driver.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT FEATURES GATES OR FENCES.

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.

A Photo a Week Challenge: From the Side

This is my very good friend, Emily, who is an amazing runner. She and her husband (who ran for the University of Utah) have a tendency to win most if not all of the local 5K races. Emily ran for Brigham Young University and the USA team, training for the Olympics until she became pregnant with their oldest child. That oldest child has recently placed in the top 10 nationally for his age group.

So now that I’ve done all the bragging about my friend that I should, on to the challenge topic: from the side. I love how shooting Emily from the side gave me the opportunity to capture the focused look on her face as she’s waiting for the race to start.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) THAT CAPTURES YOUR SUBJECT FROM THE SIDE.

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.