rivers – nancy merrill photography

A Photo a Week Challenge: Dusk

Dusk is one of the two Golden Hour times for photography (the hour or so around sunrise and the hour or so around sunset). A few weeks ago, my husband and I went for a walk in the industrial area of Salt Lake City (along the Jordan Parkway path) and found these great train tracks crossing the Jordan River (in Utah, not Israel). It was the perfect time of evening to take photos.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO (OR TWO OR THREE) TAKEN AT DUSK.

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.

Thankful November 18th: Traveling

I know that I’ve already expressed gratitude for the earth and its beauties, but I am also very grateful for the chance I’ve had (and continue to have) to travel many places around the world and also close to home. When my husband and I got married, he hadn’t traveled much. A couple of years after we married, I convinced him that we needed to take a trip to Great Britain to visit a nephew who had been transferred to London for a year, along with his wife and three boys. It was the best thing that could have happened to us. Since then, we have made a few more trips across the pond to the east, across the pond to the west, and headed down south for my first experience in Mexico (besides Tijuana). I’m looking forward to many more adventures around this amazing globe we live on in the near and distant future.

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: Changing Seasons

Monday was officially the first day of fall here in the northern hemisphere. We’ve had an interesting spring and summer in Utah. We started with a lot of rain in June, followed by almost no rain in July, and then a bit of a mixed bag in August. September has been undecided in its weather loyalties, going from highs in the upper 90s in Salt Lake City, to barely cracking the low 60s. We have a saying (that is probably common to 90% of the world): “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.”

We are now in my favorite time of year. I love everything about fall. I love the changing leaves, the crisp feeling of a chill in the air, every holiday between now and New Years, and even a bit of snow.

Whether you are going from summer to fall or winter to spring, the changing of the seasons reminds us of the beauty of this amazing world we live in.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF THAT DEPICT SEASONS.

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: View

As photographers, we get the chance to take a lot of pictures of many things: scenery, family, scenery, buildings, scenery, pets, scenery. You get the picture (pun intended). I can’t think of anywhere that I’ve ever been where I thought “Wow, I never want to take a picture of THIS place.” And I’m really glad about that. The world around us is amazing. Every place has it’s own type of beauty. These pictures are from our trip last summer to Europe. The top one is looking through a convenient “National Geographic” frame at the windmills at Kinderdijk in The Nederlands. The pictures below are from stops in Germany along the Main and Rhine Rivers. So this week’s challenge is to find the beauty in your view, whether it’s just outside your kitchen window or from a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

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

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: Beauty

Queen's View Scotland

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.

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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:

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: Colorful

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I’ve done several color challenges lately, so this time I decided to go for the whole shebang. I’m looking for the most colorful thing you can find to photograph. This amazing building is the Old Town Hall in Bamberg, Germany. From Bamberg’s tourism site: “According to legend the bishop of Bamberg did not grant the citizens any land for the construction of a town hall. This prompted the townsfolk to ram stakes into the river Regnitz to create an artificial island, on which they built the town hall they so badly wanted.”

The Hall includes an archway (shown below) to the bridges that allow people to cross the Regnitz River.

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IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) THAT HAVE COLORFUL SUBJECTS.

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: Unexpected Windows

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Have you ever walked pass an opening in a wall or barrier and suddenly an amazing view opened up? I love unexpected windows. It’s like viewing a whole different world, even if it’s your own backyard through your backdoor.

This photo was taken from the William I Monument in Koblenz, Germany looking north up the Rhine River.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) USING AN UNUSUAL WINDOW.

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: Bridges

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Bridges are one of the most photographed structures in our world. Because of our need to live close to water, almost every community has at least one bridge it can claim as its own. Some are beautiful, some are urban, some are graffitied. But all bridges link one place to another, whether it’s two sides of a river or creek, two sides of a road, or two sides of an idea. Adventure awaits as we cross the various bridges in our lives, physical, emotional, or mental.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) OF BRIDGES.

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: Light the Night

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It’s been a while since I did a night shot challenge. We recent had the chance to visit Budapest, Hungary. One evening, we strolled from Castle Hill down to the banks of the Danube River looking for great night shots of the beautifully illuminated buildings and structures of the city. The first photo is the famous Parliament Building from the banks of the Danube. The second photo is the Chain Bridge taken close to where we took the picture of the Parliament Building, just swinging the camera down the river instead of up. The third photo is the Matthias Church on Castle Hill. The last photo is the Parliament Building from the Fisherman’s Bastion. I highly recommend visiting Budapest. Wonderful food, amazing sites, and fun adventures (the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath was a blast!) await the adventurous soul.

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

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.