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.

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A Photo a Week Challenge: Backlit

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I seem to be visiting photos from vacations past. It’s probably because we haven’t taken many trips in the last twelves month. Ah, well. While I remember very well where and when I took the photo from last week (Switzerland in 2016), the only things I remember about this circumstances for this photo is that it was during our 2014 trip to Scotland and England and that we stopped because we saw a very pretty church and wanted to go inside. However, I do love this photo and feel that it’s perfect for a challenge this time of year because the stained glass is a beautiful depiction of Christ’s Crucifixion, very timely as much of the Christian world just celebrated Easter and the Eastern Orthodox churches will be celebrating in early May.

I do love stained glass. I love how from the outside of the building you can’t really tell what it is going to show you until you come inside and let the sun do its work. I have visited Notre Dame in Paris, and I was so happy to hear that, even with the tragedy of the fire, the great Rose Window was preserved.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO THAT USES BACKLIGHTING.

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: Light the Night

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A few years ago, we had the opportunity to travel to the Mesa/Gilbert, Arizona area for a family wedding. While there, we experimented with long exposure night photography. The LDS Gilbert Arizona Temple proved to be the perfect subject for our venture, and the weather cooperated better than we could have hoped, and we are very pleased with the results. When working with longer shutter speeds, it’s vital to have a tripod and really nice to use a shutter remote instead of having to touch the camera. It’s also important to be patient and experiment with different settings on your camera. We got better results with f-stops of 5 or higher to avoid too much light hitting the sensor.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE YOUR FAVORITE NIGHT SHOTS (WITH LONGER EXPOSURE TIMES OR NOT).

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: Over 100 Years Old

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This is the Box Elder Tabernacle in Brigham City, Utah. It was built by the Mormon pioneers who settled the area in 1897. The tabernacle is still used as a meetinghouse now, seating approximately 1600 people. It is also a wonderful venue for concerts and other special events and is open for tours during the summer. It was put on National Register of Historic Places on May 14, 1971.

Whenever we travel to Europe, it’s easy to find buildings and points of interest to photograph that are 100-1,500 years old or even older (Stonehenge, Colosseum, Pantheon, etc.). To us newbie Americans, that’s amazing. In a few years, we will be celebrating our 250th anniversary as a country, so anything that’s 100 years or older is very old to us.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO OF THINGS 100 YEARS OLD OR OLDER.

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.

Christmas Lights Day #23

Salt Lake Temple with Christmas lights

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Christmas Lights Day #12

Salt Lake Temple with Christmas lights

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Trees

This is one of my favorite views on Temple Square during the Christmas season. Even thought this tree is light from the bottom, many of the trees and bushes throughout the square are hand-strung with Christmas lights. I can’t imagine how many hours it takes, but the results are stunning each year.

For more from this challenge, visit Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Trees.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Urban

Downtown Salt Lake City offers several urban locations. One of my favorites is Temple Square, home to the famous Salt Lake City Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was downtown today with some friends for lunch, and as we walked back to our car, this was my view of the temple.

I’m also including a few other photos I’ve taken of downtown Salt Lake City, Chicago, and New York, just because I know that the temple doesn’t have a typical urban look.

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IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) WITH AN URBAN THEME.

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: Beauty

One of the places we wanted to visit while in Scotland is called the Queen’s View. When Queen Victoria visited it in the 1800s, legend has it that she believed it was named for her, but in reality, Robert the Bruce called it that because it was the favorite view of his wife, Queen Margaret. With the recent tragedy in Paris, I wanted this week’s challenge to be one of hope and beauty. Beauty can be found everywhere, even in tragedy. The image below is the ruins Melrose Abbey, where Robert the Bruce’s heart is believed to be buried. The Abbey was built in the 1100s, and after many assaults and wars, fell into disuse and ruin in the late 1500s.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF THINGS YOU FIND BEAUTIFUL.

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.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Worship

With the devastation in Paris, this seems a very fitting topic for Frank Jansen’s Tuesday Photo Challenge today.  The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral is very iconic for Paris, and the LDS Salt Lake Temple is very iconic for both Salt Lake City, Utah and for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

For more from this challenge, visit Tuesday Photo Challenge – Worship.