Lens-Artists Challenge #210 – Three Favorites

Daybreak, Botany Bay

“With the coming of daybreak even the tiniest particles of dust in this world sing and dance in the sunlight.”

Wang Any

This week our guest host Sarah has asked us to share three, and only three, favorite images, and to explain why they are special to us. She’s challenged us to be self-critical and to evaluate our own work. Now I have been a photographer for longer than I care to admit so one would hope I’d have a lot more than three favorites 😊, as I’m sure most all of us do. For my choices then, I’ve decided to share three of my personal favorites that have also been judged as special by others. My opening image for example was featured in the annual My Charleston magazine, published by South Carolina’s largest newspaper, the Post and Courier.

Tools of the Trade

“The hand is the tool of tools.”

Aristotle

The image just above was chosen for the Post & Courier’s weekly photography contest with the subject “Tools of the trade”. The image is special to me because it was one of very few times that I’ve asked a stranger for permission to photograph. I’m quite shy about that but he was wonderful and after giving me the OK proceeded to ignore me and go about his business. I loved the capture of the dust coming from his saw and the veins and tats on his very strong hands and arms.

My opening image is from a photography outing with a very good friend who sadly is about to move away from Kiawah, making the fond memory even more special to me. We hit the road at 4:00 am and if you know me, you know how rare that is! I said at the time that God delivered the most incredible sunrise ever because He or She knew how infuriated I’d have been if it weren’t. 😊.

Day’s End, Kiawah Island

“Just remember, there was never a cloud that the sun couldn’t shine through.”

Giovannie de Sadeleer

My third choice has found it’s way into my blog several times over the years. It is definitely a personal favorite and was also chosen as the winner of a magazine cover contest for Naturally Kiawah, a semi-annual publication of our island’s conservation organization. It’s been published several times since. Beyond its publication, it’s special to me personally because not only did I manage to capture the image of the amazing rays breaking through the clouds and reflecting on the marsh, I also found a way to lose my lens hood and lens cap in the process . I was pleased with myself for not venturing into the water to retrieve them!

My favorite publication story though is NOT one of my favorite images so I haven’t included it. For those who are curious, I posted a photo of the image as it appeared in the venerable New York Times here. I’ve often wondered why I chose to submit that image, and of course why it was chosen. It’s part of why I love blogging – seeing how others react to my images and for what reasons. My header this week is also a personal favorite, the colorful umbrellas of Laos.

Sincere thanks to Sarah for her invitation to share both our selections and our thoughts about them. We look forward to seeing your choices. Please be sure to link to Sarah’s original here and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Thanks also to Tracy for her marvelous Surrealism challenge, and to all those who responded so creatively. We thank all of our Guest Hosts this past month for their enthusiasm and commitment which offered our team a lovely break. We’ll be back again next week when Anne brings us her “What’s Your Photography Groove” challenge. Until then, as always please stay safe and be kind.

Interested in joining the Lens-Artists challenge? Click here for more information.

Tags: FAVORITES, Kiawah, LENS-ARTISTS, published, Sunrise, sunset, worker

• July 31, 2022
• Photography
• 98 Comments