Washington State – nancy merrill photography

A Photo a Week Challenge: Really Big Toys

We were out of town for the US Independence Day holiday, so I’m combining the challenges for this week and next week today. Hurrah!

While visiting our daughter and her guy in Spokane, Washington this weekend, my husband got to check off one of his bucket list items: drive a vintage tractor. Our kids have an amazing property in the area above Spokane of twenty acres of forest. They’ve been clearing some of it for animals (chickens and soon sheep and pigs) and a huge garden (about an acre). We had a blast, and Tyler showed Russell the 1951 tractor and how to run it. He had so much fun.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) FEATURING LARGE TOYS 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: Something Pretty

Welcome to 2021 and a new year of challenges. Sorry about no challenge last week. It’s been a crazy time here in the Good Ol’ US of A. So, with all of the negativity roaming about, I thought we could all do with some brightness and loveliness, so this week is all about pretty things. Any pretty things. This rose is from a trip we took to Spokane, Washington 7 years ago to visit our daughter who was attending Gonzaga Law School at the time. Spokane has a beautiful garden there called the Manito Gardens. I love wandering through all of the different flowers with my camera. I’ve posted several photos from our trips there over the years.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR MORE) OF ANYTHING PRETTY.

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 20th: Our Kids

When I married my husband, I inherited four children of varying ages. The oldest was 22 and the youngest was 13. Step-parenting is an interesting journey, and it definitely has its ups and downs, but I love my kids, which now also includes two sons-in-law, a permanent partner, and two grandsons. They are wild and wacky and very, very different from each other, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

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 14th: Flowers

I love flowers. I love smelling flowers. I love looking at flowers. And I especially love photographing flowers. My maternal grandmother had the most amazing flower garden: roses, lilies, snapdragons, daisies. Each summer, her small yard was transformed by colors and scents that transported us to a fairy world.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things That Are Wet

For more from this challenge, visit Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things That Are Wet.

A Photo a Week Challenge: Thirds Rule

In photography, we are taught many rules and guidelines about composing our images. One of the most basic is the rule of thirds. Cut your image area into a graph of nine (three vertical lines and three horizontal lines) and place your subject on one of the lines, avoiding the very center of your plane.

I love how using this rule opens up images and really draws our attention to the main subject, even though you would think the opposite would be true. My husband is my favorite subject, so I get to experiment with this rule a lot with him. I hope you like the results.

IN A NEW POST CREATED FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO OR TWO (OR THREE…) USING THE RULE OF THIRDS.

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.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Weight(less)

Flowing water and waterfalls are constant reminders of the power of gravity.

For more from this challenge, visit Weekly Photo Challenge: Weight(less).