Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Saturday Self Challenge

(+4 insets!) Walking up and down the driveway this morning, I kept my eyes open for natural frames. That's because today's Saturday Self-Challenge is to create a frame within a frame, in black & white format. I could have done something easier with man-made frames but I thought it would be better to challenge myself. I grabbed my camera when I was done with my walk and headed outside again. The problem with natural frames is that you don't always have the match of a frame and a subject. I found so many keyhole openings, frames of branches, sticks and leaves, but there were never any subjects for the frame. I wandered here and there and ended up creeping onto the side of our steep hill. I was also checking for signs of spring and confirming that we really are late for spring's arrival. We normally have crazy amounts of flowers at this point but not this year. I did find some Saxifrage in our meadow (without any natural frame nearby) and then I found a buttercup on the hillside! The Hounds Tongue is just now sending up its beautiful, fuzzy leaves, but the beautiful blue flowers won't come for another couple of weeks I expect. It was good to see the signs of flowers though! As I was making my way along a deer trail on the hillside, I looked up and noticed the Lower Table Rock and thought, "Ok, now that would be nice if I can find framing branches!" It took a while but eventually I found branches that I could create a frame with…HUZZAH!! I am also including a bunch of other attempts with variable results. Do you think my main image was the right choice? I had a hard time deciding…b/w isn't my strongest suit so I'm not as confident with these pictures! Pam, I did a search on your stream for "black and white" and came up with only one picture, and it explained a lot! :D Your self-portrait looks really dramatic in b/w and I really like it! You also explained that you're not a huge fan of creating b/w pictures and you know what? I am that way too. I really love the artform but I usually leave my pictures in color because it's so important to me. Here's hoping your day is going ok! *BIG HUGGGGGSSSSS*!!! :)

(+1 inset) (view large for frosty goodness!) Such a murky, frostless day...blustery, cold, foggy, and then storm clouds moving in and rain coming down. NOT a day to be outside I've decided. My resolve to deal with frozen feet and hands has waned and since there was no frost to drag me outside, I am foregoing my exercise today. Sometimes I just don't feel like it and that's ok. I used to beat myself up when I didn't do my usual exercise but I've finally allowed that it's ok from time to time. Every weekend when I visit contacts to appreciate their photos and leave comments, I find many pictures for the group, "Saturday Self Challenge." Each week I think to myself, "OH THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN!" However, I am already in two groups that require my attention and input—Macro Monday 2.0 and Happy Fence Friday. (And of course the whole reason I got back into photography...my daily Pictures for Pam!) I have watched and considered and have decided that this commitment should be fine, so I applied and was accepted to the group today, hooray!! :) The week's challenge is "Sharp Focus" and funny enough, I've got perhaps 2 billion pictures that fall under that category! Specifically though, the rules request a new picture taken in the past week, posted today (my time zone's Saturday). Well, that takes the number down to a very scant 500-1000 pictures, heh. LOL, I don't usually take so many pictures per week but I was out twice for frosty pictures and my Macro Monday mishap meant that I did that project twice. So I did take a LOT of pictures this week. Today's image is one of the stars from my super frosty outing a couple of days ago. I almost added it as an inset for yesterday's post but it deserves the center stage, so here you go! Crazy frost crystals in sharp focus! I've also included a very frosty bolt that's bristling with crystals! Pam, I thought it would be fun to find a picture in your photo stream that would be a good entry for "Sharp Focus" and I found this glowing, fiery red and green macro of Autumn-Hued Grape Leaves that I loved. The first one has incredible crispness that show fine vein detail which is like a stained glass window. Absolutely beautiful. The other picture, Autumn-Hued Grape Leaves, Part 2 shows the whole leaf and is brimming with lovely, sharp detail and stunning light. They are both outstanding pictures which make me swoon in delight! Sending another virtual cup of warm soup your way! *BIG HUGGGGZZZZ*!!! Explored on 2/24/19, highest placement, #1.