Phoneography Challenge: Nature

01 July 2013 Lens:

1. Sunset, iPhone 4s, June 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

2. Sunset, iPhone 4s, June 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

3. Sunset, iPhone 4s, June 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

4. Sunset, iPhone 4s, June 2013; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2013

Let me know which you prefer and why.

Pens: Gracie (http://graciebinoya.com), Polly (http://watchingthephotoreels.com) and I began the iPhoneography Monday Challenge in February. Recently, we had a re-launch that made the challenge open to everyone who uses their Smartphones as their lens–exclusively, experimentally, frequently, occasionally, or back-up. Check here for that post. If you’d like to join the fun, please click here for details. Please use the current badge until a new one is created, which will be ready sometime this month.  

Lately a sunset–meek or spectacular—has been a rare commodity. We’ve had long and loud thunderstorms that seem to break near sunset. So when the occasional one occurs, I go to my favorite place to ponder and shoot.

This watering has its pluses and minuses. Our state has reached a sizable percentage of our yearly rainfall. That’s seems a blessing. Some crops are flourishing, but others are water-logged. Seedlings have been drowned. Or washed away.

Oh, and then there is the mosquito population that is gorging on this opportunity. But how dare I complain about the rain.

Usually, at this time of year we’re hungering for showers. I find it scary that late spring and early summer 2013 has turned the usual into the over-saturated unusual. As I write this post, the thunder is roaring, and my phone alerts me about flash-flood warnings.

Sunsets are such visual tantalizing treats that I miss them. I miss their spontaneous gifts. I miss the unexpected in the expected.

In the Lens section are four captures from last month. In their infancy the colors were so brilliant as to make it impossible to keep away. Some rays seem to butterfly across the sky with endless orange-pink and orange-red hues.

I’m fortunate to have scouted the perfect vantage point to spy on these natural wonders. Because in nature photography location, location, location can be a critical key to success: with a sunset the wider the expanse and the closer to the horizon, the better. Of course, one of the advantages of a sunset over a sunrise is that it’s light when you position yourself to watch the transformation.

I want to compare twists and turns of sunrises and sunsets. Someday I will kick myself out of bed early enough to find that tender spot where shafts of light slowly beam across the day’s unfolding. But for now every sunset has become precious, and I will honor each chance to observe the magic.

Tip of the Day: Seattle-based mobile photographer Star Rush is co-founder and editor of the online magazine, Lys Foto. Her work is worth the browse. Click here to learn more about her documentary and street photography. Click here to see the magazine, which is published every eight weeks. iPhone and mobile photographers can submit their works  for consideration.

Visit these entries for today’s challenge:

http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-challenge-nature/

http://woollymuses.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/you-yangs/

http://blogagaini.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-monday-challenge-nature/

http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/the-scary-cloud/

http://weliveinaflat.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-weekly-not-exactly-timber/

http://streetsofsfphotos.com/2013/07/01/tree-eyes-9-photos/

http://livingwithmyancestors.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-challenge-nature/

http://graciebinoya.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-challenge-nature/

http://watchingthephotoreels.com/2013/07/01/im-in-hawaii-so-ill-keep-this-post-short-and-sweet/

http://nwframeofmind.com/2013/07/01/phoneography-monday-nature/

http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/phoneography-challenge-lulled-by-nature/

http://cairosunsets.wordpress.com/2013/07/03/phoneography-challenge-nature/

Note: As always I welcome comments about this post or any part of my blog. The following is a reminder of the weekly schedule and themes for upcoming challenges.   1st Monday: Nature 2nd Monday: Macro 3rd Monday: Black-and-White 4th and 5th Mondays: Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).