A cluster of small pink-purple Redstem Stork’s-Bill flowers, each with five petals and orange-tipped stamens, with a fuzzy green bud below, against a blurred green background.

The Wild Geometry Next Door

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Lens-Artists Challenge #421: Exploring Geometry in Architecture, Nature, & Daily Life Patti leads this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge. In her post, she asked us “to be a photo detective, hunting for geometry—circles, rectangles, squares, triangles, arches, spirals—on the street, or in … Read More

Feathery, pink-tinged Apache Plume seed heads twisting in different directions against a soft, dark background.

Faded, Frayed, and Still Beautiful

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Lens-Artists Challenge #420 – Looking Back to #125 You Pick It! “Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”— Richard R. Powell, Wabi Sabi Simple What a clever … Read More

Wide view of the ancestral Pueblo stone ruins at Aztec Ruins National Monument, with roofless masonry rooms, a round kiva at right, a paved path, and tall green cottonwood trees under a sky streaked with wispy clouds.

A Monumental Misnomer: Aztec Ruins National Monument

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Lens-Artists Challenge #419—Landmarks and Monuments This week, John hosts the Lens-Artists Challenge and asks us to “focus on Landmarks and Monuments.” As easy as it may seem, I had a hard time deciding what to respond with. I’ve visited several … Read More

Rocky mountain creek flowing toward the viewer between dense shrubs and willows turning yellow and gold, near the Snowflake Trailhead in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Where the Creek Leads

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Lens-Artists Challenge #418: Memories Memories have an interesting way of playing with our minds. Big or small, they stay vivid when they play an important part in our lives. That was true of this short, scenic trail in Breckenridge. We … Read More

Black-and-white photo of a metal road sign at a highway fork in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, reading South Texas 166 and North Texas 118, with a two-lane road curving in each direction beneath a partly cloudy sky.

Lens-Artists Challenge #417: Where Does It Lead?

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What does the title get you thinking about? Trails? Leading lines? Maybe animal tracks? There’s no single right answer, and that’s exactly the point. This week’s header image says it well: a signpost fork on a lonely stretch of highway … Read More

A Rock Cafe bar and restaurant at night, its neon sign shaped like a red and blue electric guitar glowing above an outdoor patio with diners seated at tables under leafy trees in Albufeira, Portugal.

What Moves You?

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Lens-Artists Challenge #416: Music I often hear people say that music is the universal language. At some level, music touches people and goes beyond language barriers. Whether it is sacred music, opera, pop, folk, country, jazz, soul, hip-hop, rap, or … Read More

Whitewashed limestone officers’ quarters at Fort McKavett State Historic Site, with a covered front porch, shuttered windows, a weathered wood-shingle roof, and two chimneys, beside a large live oak under a deep blue sky.

Close Quarters

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Lens-Artists Challenge #415: Move Your Body When Anne set this week’s challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to show. However, because I was in Colorado until Monday, I waited until I got home to put this post together. Like … Read More

A small reed-covered island in a man-made lake at Murphy Park, Taylor, Texas, dotted with dozens of white egrets, with trees and a water tower behind it under a blue sky.

Room on the Island

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Lens-Artists Challenge #414: Looking Back at #44–Harmony This week Ann-Christine revisits the Lens-Artists Challenge #44: Harmony. She’s given us more freedom to explore harmony beyond the color-harmony concept. Please see her post and photos for her take on the topic. … Read More

A weathered wooden footbridge with slanted rails rises from a reddish dirt path into a dense canopy of juniper and oak, rendered with a soft, painterly, amber-toned effect. Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, Austin, Texas.

Bridges on Two Wheels

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #413: Bridges Those who read my posts regularly know how much I enjoy riding my bicycles. Whether on the gravel bike or the mountain bike, the breeze on my face and the scenery around me give me … Read More

Wide concrete emergency spillway of Canyon Dam under a clear blue sky, with the turquoise water of Canyon Lake and wooded Hill Country ridges beyond, framed by live oak and juniper branches.

A Canyon Born In Three Days

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Lens-Artists Challenge #412: Places Shaped by Water What are the odds of hiking through a canyon that is younger than you are? I don’t know how often that chance comes along, but in the Texas Hill Country it does. Canyon … Read More

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