Lens-Artists Challenge #40 – Something Different

“The things that make me different are the things that make me me.”

A.A. Milne

CACTUS CREATURE

Those who saw my post last week know that I was on the west coast, enjoying the super blooms of Arizona and California along with friends and family. Beyond the amazing flowers, I really enjoyed the differences between the Kiawah scenery and the desert landscapes . As I thought about it, it seemed only natural that this week’s challenge should be “Something Different”.

SIDE BY SIDE

“Insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein

The landscapes looked completely different depending on the time of day. The famous deep purple Arizona sunset cast a golden glow, while the blue sky of daylight provided a colorful contrast to the greens of the hillside sentinels.

PRETTY IN PINK

“There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.”

Freya Stark

The chances of seeing desert blossoms and cacti are less than zero here on Kiawah 😊. While I might prefer our ocean and beach landscapes if forced to make a choice, it’s always nice to have a new and different experience. Somehow travel seems to awaken our senses and cause us to absorb our surroundings in a new way.

STANDING TALL

“Be daring. Be first. Be different.”

Anita Roddick

Clearly we have no cacti here on Kiawah, nor do we have the hills and mountains which are so much fun to hike. Our flowers are different due to the change in climate, as are our birds and bugs. Although I love our beautiful home surroundings, life often gets in the way. When traveling I tend to use my lens a bit more often, especially when presented with new and different opportunities.

SEEING DOUBLE

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

Coco Chanel

In the image above we see two different species of cacti. On the left, two cholla cacti are alive and well, while on the right the cactus, now unidentifiable, has died. Interestingly a tree or plant has taken root and is growing out of its skeleton – yet another of nature’s small miracles.

DEADLY REDS

“We have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.”

Kofi Annan

I’ve done my best to cull the images from our western adventure, but there was so much to see and shoot! The super bloom flowers were incredible, but even without them, the cacti were a great subject. I was surprised by the many varieties and how very different they were from each other – as many as 127 genera according to Wikipedia.

two small cacti growing on one large cactus

TWO IN HAND

“The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.”

Mahatma Ghandi

I enjoyed shooting both the flowers and the cacti. The differences between the various elements of the desert were astounding, as was the difference versus our home landscape. That said, I’m closing with one of my favorites of the trip, which features neither flowers nor cacti. Unlike the Fuji X-T2 images above, this one was captured using my iPhone 8+ as we drove by. I loved the feeling of the painted desert created by the clouds, the shadows and the hills spotted with tiny dots of cacti.

PAINTED DESERT

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”

Martin Luther King

So lets see something out of the norm in your world. Show us something different, something unusual, something we wouldn’t normally expect from you. We look forward to your entries and as always, remind you to tag them “Lens-Artists” so that we can all find them.

Speaking of entries, we enjoyed and appreciate all of your responses to Amy’s fun Hello April challenge last week.

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE ?

o RXFrazier went for originality and a smile with an April Fools joke here

o Gina from Photography in Pearls shared an amazing Lady Bank shrub in full bloom. Check it out on the link.

Interested in joining the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge? For instructions and more information click here. We’d love to have you. 😊