Pacific Ocean – 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.

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 7th: Photography

I love taking pictures. I love taking pictures of people. I love taking pictures of places. I love taking pictures of abstract things. I just love taking pictures. My love of photography started with I was very young. Starting from about age 7, if you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you, “A free-lance photojournalist for the National Geographic Society.” And I knew what that meant. My parents had a subscription to the NGS, and each month I would pour over the photos from around the world of amazing places and cultures. I got my first camera when I was about 10. I took a photography class in 9th Grade where we learned all about light, f-stops, aperture, and how to develop your own black and white film (yes, film). I got my first really good camera when I was 23, and I loved taking black and white slides. My first trip to Europe (when I was 26), all of my photos were slides. Crazy, I know. But now, with everything digital, most photos are shared online and shown in a new form of slide show. I was just ahead of my time.

Recently, I’ve delved in portrait photography, and it’s been a blast. Weddings can still give me some anxiety, but it is so much fun to capture moments and memories for people.

I had a hard time deciding what photo I would include on this post. I decided to use the first photos I posted when I started this blog seven years ago. I still can’t believe it’s been that long. What an amazing adventure!

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.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected Beauty

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I just discovered this photo challenge, and I’m excited to join in. This photo was take on the backside of Molokini Crater on a snorkeling trip to Maui. While I was prepared to enjoy the colorful fish, the beauty of the crater, the deep blue of the ocean, and the perfect sky were an added bonus to the trip.

For more from this challenge, visit Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected Beauty.

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.