02 June 2014
Lens:
1. Dandelion, Spent, iPhone 4s, April 2014; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2014
2. Dandelion, Spent, iPhone 4s, April 2014; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2014
3. Tree with New Foliage, UD Campus, iPhone 4s, April 2014; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2014
4. Tree with New Foliage, UD Campus. iPhone 4s, April 2014; © Sally W. Donatello and Lens and Pens by Sally, 2014
Pens:
Spring unfolds our senses and presents us with renewal,
Putting us on alert,
Divining our impressions and responses.
Dormancy is cast aside.
Beneath the visual efforts of nature,
Atoms teem and pulse with pride’s infusion.
Rebirth comes in silent outbursts,
Blazing with profusion.
Transformation fulfills its quest.
Hope is rekindled across time,
And pours into observers.
A cavalcade of hues mingle,
Forcing throngs of viewers to catch
kaleidoscopic surprises.
As Spring enlivens our souls,
Its aura quickens, and the horizon beams.
© Sally W. Donatello, 29 May 2014
In the Lens section are four images taken in May, just as spring on the East Coast, USA, was breaking through winter’s tail. They convey the beginning and the finality that transpire through parts of spring’s season.
New life slowly appears in the photographs of a tree’s new foliage. Leaves with their feather-like delicacy staring at the day’s nourishment.
The spent stage of the dandelion dabbled and lined with seeds that long for their next cycle. This phase shows the round base of the flower that has spread most of its seeds. Recently, I learned that it’s called the Bishop’s Crown, which requires some imagination to connect the two.
Transformation and more transformation is what each season reveals. Surely, springtime provides courage that uplifts our spirits, and washes away winter’s monochrome.
Tip of the Day: eNature: Bringing nature to life is a terrific source, especially if you have a passion or inkling toward the natural world. Even though they focus on the United States, there is much to savor for people all over the globe. The following is a description from their Website:
“eNature.com is the web’s premier destination for information about the wild animals and plants of the United States. Over past years, eNature has consistently been one of the Internet’s most-visited sites for nature and wildlife information and has won numerous awards and accolades. The site’s core content of wildlife information about almost 6,000 individual species is the same data set used to create the printed Audubon Field Guides. All the data has been carefully reviewed and vetted by leading biologists, zoologists and other natural history specialists.”
Click here to go to their site.
View other entries for this week’s challenge:
forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-photo-challenge-nature/
http://blogagaini.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature/
http://streetsofsfphotos.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/wild-artichokes-in-the-city/
http://completelydisappear.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/that-small-moon/
http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-celebrating-a-spontaneous-sunflower/
http://firebonnet.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-aloe-aliens/
http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-chalenge-nature-in-blackbird-minor/
http://decocraftsdigicrafts.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-challenge-nature-2/
http://artifactsandfictions.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/autumns-bounty/
http://nwframeofmind.com/2014/06/02/iphoneography-monday-6-2-14/
steve-says.net/2014/06/03/sorry-my-wallets-in-my-other-set-of-feathers/
http://allkindsaeverything.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/phoneography-and-non-slr-challenge-nature-2/
http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/a-moment-of-solitude-in-a-favourite-place/
Note:
As always I welcome any comment about this post or any part of my blog. If you’d like to join the fun, please click here for details. If you have any questions about the Photo Challenge, please contact me.
Below is a reminder of the monthly schedule with themes for upcoming Photo Challenges:
1st Monday: Nature
2nd Monday: Macro
3rd Monday: Black and White
4th Monday Challenger’s Choice (Pick One: Abstraction, Animals, Architecture, Food Photography, Night Photography, Objects, Portraiture, Still Life, Street Photography, and Travel).
5th Monday: Editing and Processing with Various Apps Using Themes from the Fourth Week
Lens and Pens by Sally 
Number 4 Sally is warming the heart ♥
That’s lovely.
Wow Sally, your challenge is really catching on! I love your second dandelion shot. very original and quite evocative!
Tina, sometimes a post-processing can add an unusual element. It’s a continual journey of experimentation. Thanks so much.
The second photo particularly appeals to me with its delicacy and the different intensities of light.
Lovely to hear from you. Thanks so much.
Hi Sally; particularly love the dandelion photos. Although quite different, they both capture the sense of loss and decay. Here’s my contribution: http://zimmerbitch.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/a-moment-of-solitude-in-a-favourite-place/
I do like your interpretation and agree. Thanks so much.
Great images again, Sally. Interestingly enough I like the mostly (or maybe completely) unprocessed, first dandelion and the more processed and last photo of the back-lit tree.
Otto, the first is only slightly editing. The dandelion was in a small meadow of many, and it had quite different appeal than other spent flowers. Thank so much.
Love the first one best 🙂
Lovely to hear from you–thanks.
I especially like the dandelion shots. Great macros.
Patti, the dandelions seem to be everywhere spreading their seeds. See you soon. Thanks.
Love the dandelions Sally. Here’s mine for this week. http://allkindsaeverything.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/phoneography-and-non-slr-challenge-nature-2/
Livvy, thanks so much.
I like your different perspective on the dandelion, I don’t think I’ve every seen one captured at that point in it “release.” The first shot is my favorite because of the colors. Creams, browns and sages, the colors of nature make the perfect combination.
Elisa, I appreciate your comment. Thank so much.
I keep going back and forth between the first and third photos, so I’ll just say both! Wonderful poem! 🙂 Here is my contribution: http://livingwithmyancestors.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature-2/
Linda, thanks so much.
Good to be back on this again. Here’s my entry…
Sorry , My Wallet’s In My Other Set Of Feathers…
http://steve-says.net/2014/06/03/sorry-my-wallets-in-my-other-set-of-feathers/
Delighted that you’re once again participating.
Love the two versions of the dandelion ! We went right from winter to summer here and pretty much skipped spring. It is beautiful now and in the 80s but the spring flowers only came and went within a week!
Nicole, summer will bring large swaths of flowers to make up for it. I’m going to send you an e-mail later this morning. Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Wonderful! Thanks and I will look forward to the email and our summer flowers!
I’m about to compose the e-mail.
Thanks Sally. Wish so much I could join in the fun. I’m so behind! 🙂
Hopefully, you’ll be able to participate in the future.
Thanks again for another week of beauty – love number 4 but I also really like the treatment on 2, made me stop and consider the image more closely. I also like images that make me linger.
Dawn, that’s a lovely comment. I truly appreciate your response. See you soon.
Great Tip of the day. I like the drama in the first photo.
Thank you. See you soon.
As usual, I love all the photos! 🙂
i”m touched. Thank you.
Great photos, thank you for sharing !
My pleasure–thank you.
The first dandelion was dazzling!
Thank you so much.
Wonderful thoughts on spring today, Sally! I’m joining Janet with saying #1 and #4 are my favorites but as always I love your range of expression with such a great variety photos.
Lisa, your comment fills me with joy. Thank you so much.
Made it! 🙂 I like the first and last photos best. Something about them is attractive to me. I enjoyed your poem, too. I think one of the things that makes spring special is that it’s the portal from the spare beauty of winter into the voluptuousness of summer and that gives it a special, tender exuberance, a whetting of our senses for the full-on onslaught of summer. I look forward to visiting the site you shared.
janet
Janet, your comment is expressed with such conviction and heart, and so well said.
These photos are excellent – I really like the first one.
Suzanne, I adore spring for its concentration on renewal. Thanks so much.
Love the top photo particularly Sally-it really shows off the humble dandelion as something of a *dandy* as it were-
Yes, I do agree. They have so many facets to their existence, and do lore me into their world. But not everyone is enthralled with them. Thanks so much.
Wonderful photos, Sally. I particularly like the second dandelion that reminds me of an xray. Beautiful poem to accompany today’s challenge.
http://angelinem.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-chalenge-nature-in-blackbird-minor/
Angeline, it was an experiment. Thank so much.
Yes, agree with the others…the fourth one is more of a piece of great art. Well done!
Laurie, I’m humbled. See you soon. Thanks.
Love the first photo. Great colors 🙂
Thank you so much.
Hi Sally. I particularly love the fourth photo. The colours burst out of the image.
Your creativity is definitely ‘blazing with profusion’ – an incredibly descriptive piece of writing.
This is my contribution:
http://walktheselftalk.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-devices-photo-challenge-nature/
Steve, I’m humbled. I appreciate your thoughtful comment. Thanks.
Your poetry is scrumptious… ‘Rebirth comes in silent outbursts’ just wonderful! I think I like the first shot and the last… I am always so amazed at how the leaves of trees grow so quickly… they unfurl in front of our eyes and yet we can’t see the movement. Just amazing.
Meghan, you’ve touched my heartstrings. I totally agree with your thoughts about the unfurling of leaves. Thanks so much.
Gosh thanks Sally! I also have this magic thoughts that the birds sing the leaves to grow…
How delightful and sweet.
Your post is beautiful Sally, I love the final sun dappled image and your evocative words. 🙂
Amanda, thanks so much.
Love “dormancy cast aside!” As well as the first flower, it just burst with the fire of the coming summer.
Happy Monday!
Carol, that’s a lovely response. Thanks so much.
I like the Dandelion’s first photo, but both are interesting. The second one definitely gives off a colder atmosphere. My contribution here: http://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/phoneography-and-non-slr-digital-photo-challenge-nature/
Yes, I agree. Thanks so much.