Posted on by Anne Sandler · 50 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #287: Sound

All of our senses are connected. When you see a plate of well-presented food, can’t you taste it before you take a bite? When I’m walking my dog, I can hear a car long before I can see it, giving me plenty of time to navigate to the side of the road. I once interviewed deaf students through an interpreter. I watched their faces and body language to understand their excitement and other feelings.

This week Donna opens the world of sound for us. This challenge helped me understand how we show sound to our viewers through our two-dimensional presentations. Let’s get into my selections.

This Civil War Reenactment image shows the canon being fired. Can’t you just hear the loud boom as smoke fills the air?

And more booms and pops during this fireworks display.

If you’re really into music and you’re in a setting with a wood floor, you can actually feel the music’s beat with your feet. But in a picture we can imagine the sound of musicians and their music.

Waves crash rocks, making a serene sound as we watch a beautiful sunset. Here two senses are working together.

Remember those cars I mentioned. Just stand next to a freeway and close your eyes. You can hear the passing whish and feel the rumble of the cars. But don’t close them now, see the light trails!

I’ve saved the worst image, but most meaningful to me for last–my grandson’s elementary school class’s performance during the holidays years ago. They were singing holiday songs. These performances show that music reaches our hearts beyond what we hear. Ryan is in the second row, right side in back of the girl wearing a red dress that has a white heart on it. Ryan is now 15 years.

When I started looking for sounds, I thought I wouldn’t have much. But I have even more. Sound is all around us and in our images.

When you respond, please link to Donna’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. We would all like to see your sounds.

Thank you for your responses to my Weather Challenge. I’m so glad you all weathered the week and found amazing images. I also enjoyed that some of you played along with the homophone. One of you even got in wether, admitting they didn’t have a picture of a young castrated ram!

Next week, Ritva will be presenting her first challenge as a team member. So be sure to look for her post.

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 42 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #223: Flights of Fancy

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. 

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Back in time: Civil War Re-enactment, Gibson Ranch, Elverta, California

It was one of the most brutal wars, and one fought on our soil–the Civil War, north against south and sometimes brother against brother. It was something to enter a time warp and see the encampments as they may have been during the civil war. I felt immersed in the culture and people. But, it was a re-enactment at Gibson Ranch. That is the very same ranch that we photographers visit to shoot horses, ducks, and a sunset.

Marlene and I first visited the Union camp just because they were near the parking lot. Except for a few cars, portable toilets and large trash bins, we walked back in time. As much as I appreciated the effort to keep things as realistic to the time period, it was tough to photograph because of all the modern day stuff visible. But it was just a challenge.

This will be another two part post. Today I’ll focus on the Union encampment and tomorrow the confederate encampment and the battle.

Here’s what it was like pre-battle in one of our bloodiest wars.