Oh John, how many scenarios went through my mind when I read this amazing challenge! My mind was actually going through Flights of Fancy! I finally settled on one. Different Flights of Fancy of various people.

Some people like festivals that take their imagination to a certain time and places where they can leave their current world behind for a couple of days. They dress and act as if they were in that time and place. Take this Pirate Festival I attended a few years ago. It was fun even for the non-participants.

Closely related to festivals are the reenactments. Marlene and I visited the Civil War Reenactment at nearby Gibson Ranch a few years ago. The participants were so into recreating their Flight of Fancy that everything was in the time of the Civil War: dishes, tents, costumes, language, etc. When it came time for the battle, the South didn’t have enough soldiers so they drafted some of the audience. These shots are from the end of the battle with cannons firing and causalities on the ground. Of course, the North won. The South surrendered with a full ceremony. It was great.

Now for my Flight of Fancy. For years I’ve fancied traveling again. Finally the chance came and so did my passion to photograph different places and things. Within that passion is the fun of creating abstract images from colorful landscapes. Here are some ceiling shots I took aboard the ship.

I’m ending with my husband, Richard’s, Flight of Fancy. He looks to the skies and beyond. Actually, his telescope looks for him. He’s an astronomer who images. There’s a camera on his scope that takes pictures of deep space objects like galaxies and nebula. He normally has his shutter open for 24 minutes to take 4 color shots, and he takes 20 pictures. That’s dedication and a nap while it’s happening! Here are a few of his images

From left to right: M8, the Lagoon Nubula; M31, the Andromeda Galaxy; from left to right: NGC 4312 NGC 4321 Galaxies.

No matter what your Flights of Fancy are, I hope they come to realization. When you post your response, please remember to use the Lens-Artists tag and link to John’s post. Last week we were taken to scenic mountains from all over the world. Thank you Amy! Next week Sophia leads the challenge on Exposure.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

42 thoughts on “Lens-Artists Challenge #223: Flights of Fancy”

  1. What a great post, Anne. I love that you included the re-enactments and the Pirates festival. Great idea. Your abstracts are also terrific, as well as your husband’s astro photography. Simply wonderful post.

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  2. I love the idea of including those costumed reinactors! The astronomical images, though, are truly destinations for those space flights of fancy we see in the movies!

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  3. Very fanciful indeed Anne. Loved your ceiling shots – very creative! Also loved your husband’s work. He must be a very patient man, and talented too! Astro photography is not for the faint of heart! Clever to include the re-enactors too!

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  4. Thanks Tina! Once I realized a path, the post became fun. Richard is now doing better at processing his images. If you think processing from a camera is difficult, astronomy is WOW.

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  5. Fights of fancy indeed, Anne. I didn’t know they had civil war reenactments at Gibson Ranch. Love those pirate costumes, reminds me of the many Ren Faires in the area. Folsom had one for a while that we went to every year because it was so close, but in mid-October, it is still hot, especially when wearing all that garb! Did you ever go when the faire was in Vallejo? They eventually moved it to Gilroy.

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    1. Thanks Terri. the Civil War reenactment was at Gibson Ranch just that one year. It was the last year that a private company was running it. There’s not much going on since the County took control back.

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  10. Wonderful take on the challenge. Loved all your sets. The art nouveau look of the ceilings is wonderful, vaguely reminded me of the look of Flash Gordon. Loved the astrophotography. Having failed miserably in taking a photo of the milky way with my phone, I’m seriously considering making a mount for my phone with a gyroscope.

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  11. Excellent post, Anne! I love your shots of the ceilings, wonderful abstracts, so imaginative. I bet you get inspired by them, I know I did. I was equally impressed with your husbands photos, simply magical.

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  12. Congrats to your husband: fantastic images 👍👍👍👍 I also love the idea of including images taken during the pirate festival. It reminds me, to have included a few images taken of cosplayers 😮

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  13. Fantastic response to the challenge, Anne 👏 Love the re-enactments & how cool that some of the audience got to join in; I’d have jumped at the chance 😂 Those images from your husband’s work are mesmorising, literally out of this world 😃

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    1. Thanks Jez! I’m glad you liked the reenactment. Of course you know that volunteering to fight for the South, meant certain death! I loved the battle scene. That war was truly a war that didn’t need to be fought. I will pass your words on to my husband.

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  14. Love your take on, Anne! Wonderful to include the festivals. The ceiling shots are fabulous!
    Thank you so much for sharing your husband’s sky images, shutter open for 24 minutes, Wow!!!

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  15. Thanks Amy! Richard’s shutter was open for 6 minutes for each of 4 shots, equaling 24 minutes. Each shot is one color. He then has to combine all 4 colors in post. Not something I’d want to do. Sometimes I hear desk pounding and colorful language while he’s processing! 😃

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  22. I love all your flights of fancy and also Richard’s. When I was a child, I dreamt of becoming an astronomer (and I also fancied space traveling). As things have turned out, I’m not cut out for being an astronomer, but I still love the outer space and want to try space photography and space traveling (though the latter seems unlikely) one day!

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