Patricia Sands

Author

CBBH PHOTO CHALLENGE

CBBH Photo Challenge: Across The Rooftops

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love photo challenges. It’s great fun to spend time reliving memories as I linger in my albums finding the shots I want to use.

Every month Marianne … oh wait! … first I want to congratulate her as she  recently won first prize in a photo contest for this entry …  *YAY! WOOHOO!*  … okay, back on track …

On Marianne’s fabulous East of Malaga website, she has a photo challenge once a month and February’s topic is Across The Rooftops.

That challenge took me back to one of my visits with my (no exaggeration)

Spain-PSandsPhotos
Spain-PSandsPhotos

beautiful, wonderful, hilarious, one-in-a-million, sister-in-law, Ofra, who lives in a tiny village a half-hour south of Granada, Spain. She went there for a one-week visit 25 years ago and hasn’t left! I love her story!

I’ve spent many hours on her rooftop terrace snapping photos and getting caught up in the sheer beauty of this picturesque part of Andalucia; a half-hour from the Alpujarra mountains to the north and 20 minutes south to the Mediterranean beaches. The first time I won a writing award was for a piece I wrote about doing just that. I’ve never lost my fascination for the colours and textures of those terra cotta tiles, the vistas beyond, and the stories they might hold.

Rooftops like these exist in many countries around the world but the ones I’m sharing here are from the Valle de Lecrin in the south of Spain. I hope you see the attraction!

Spanish rooftops-PSandsPhotos
Spanish rooftops-PSandsPhotos
viejos y nuevos-PSandsPhotos
viejos y nuevos-PSandsPhotos
Spanish Rooftops-PSandsPhotos
Spanish Rooftops-PSandsPhotos
Ancient rooftops of 11thC Alhambra-PSandsPhotos
Ancient rooftops of 11thC Alhambra-PSandsPhotos

As much as I love the rooftops in Spain, it wouldn’t be moi if I didn’t finish with a rooftop shot from France. Looking down on the vieille ville of Nice is a view I love.

Vieille Ville~Nice~PSandsPhotos
Vieille Ville~Nice~PSandsPhotos

Where are your favourite rooftops? One of the rules of Marianne’s challenges is that you must visit other blogs from her comments and refer back to two of them here.

If you can, take a minute to see the photos they have posted and please tell them I sent you. Enjoy!  

I love the variety here, from Prague to San Diego on http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/cbbh-across-the-rooftops/ 

And Pat’s photography here on every subject is inspiring: http://imissmetoo.me

CBBH Photo Challenge: Ancient & Modern

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You know how I love photo challenges! When I saw this month’s topic on the CBBH Photo Challenge on Marianne’s East of Malaga blog, I knew precisely which photos I wanted to use.  In all of our travels, nowhere was the contrast between ancient and modern more vivid to me than in Rome.  With the blink of an eye, the new contrasted with the old no matter where you looked.

First, then …

Forum/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Forum/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Colosseum/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Colosseum/Rome-PSandsPhotos

Where the price of entertainment could be your life …

Colosseum/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Colosseum/Rome-PSandsPhotos

And now …

Via Condotti/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Via Condotti/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Via Condotti/Rome-PSandsPhotos
Via Condotti/Rome-PSandsPhotos

Where the price of entertainment could still be your life …

Rome-PSandsPhotos
Rome-PSandsPhotos

Part of the fun of this challenge is visiting other participants’ blogs to see what photos they have chosen. Here are just a couple of my favourites!

Don’t miss this fabulous post~secrets of Paris revealed! Theurgetowander.com

And a look at ancient and modern in Scandinavia – Forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com

This challenge got me thinking about what might be good subject matter for ancient and modern in my own back yard. It’s not so obvious in a young country like Canada but I’m taking my camera one of these days and thinking outside the box. Where would you look?

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: The World Through Your Eyes

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IMG_4110What photo challenge sites do you follow? There are many choices and several I follow but WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is a fine place to begin. Along with the challenge it also offers excellent photography tips from technical and creative perspectives. Got a good idea for a challenge? Submit it here!

This is a quick shot from our balcony last week. You never know when a photo op will stop you dead in your tracks!

Do you love to take photos? If you have a challenge site to share, please leave a link in the comments. Whether you simply point and shoot or study and practice the art of photography, it’s the pleasure you get that counts.

Here are two other favourite photo challenges sites. Join in!

CBBH PHOTO CHALLENGE – at Marianne’s fabulous East of Malaga blog

WHERE’S MY BACKPACK – Weekly Travel Themes

CBBH Photo Challenge: Framed

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Instead of writing a blog post here today, you can find me over in the LoveAHappyEndingLifestyle Ezine talking about tennis. Who knew? This new online magazine is a great resource for all sorts of topics, book reviews, recipes and interviews. There’s something for everyone so pop on over because you may just want to bookmark it. I know the smoothie recipe page is one I’m going to be printing. Hmm – I think I’ll go make one right now!

YUM! I went shopping today and just happened to have all the ingredients for The Big Brain Booster. It sounds like something I just might need … on a regular basis! I used vanilla yogurt instead of coconut. My husband thought it needed a good shot of rum but I resisted … for now, anyway.

Okay, back to the blog.

I love participating in some of the fabulous and fun online photo challenges. The best part is  taking time to visit other sites and getting to connect with other bloggers who post some wonderful photographs. One of the other great things about being involved, for me, is that this also gives me a chance to browse through my own pictures and relive memories. It’s the best kind of break, IMHO.

This week’s theme on Marianne’s CBBH Challenge is “Framed”. If you go over to see her  awesome “Framed” shots, be sure to say I sent you. Here are a few ‘faves’ from my travels.

The first four are part of a series I took in Venice. (That’s 4 out of the 800 + photos I took in 7 days in Venice! It’s a photographers’s dream destination.)

Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
Venice-PSandsPhotos
France-PSandsPhotos
France-PSandsPhotos
Antibes-PSandsPhotos
Antibes-PSandsPhotos
Alhambra,Granada-PSandsPhotos
Alhambra,Granada-PSandsPhotos
Alhambra,Granada,Spain-PSandsPhotos
Alhambra,Granada,Spain-PSandsPhotos
Antibes,France-PSandsPhotos
Antibes,France-PSandsPhotos

What sort of special techniques do you use in your photography? Do you like to frame shots?Do you dabble in black and white? Are you a point and shooter or do you like to  take your time and set up your shots? Do you find you are taking more and more photographs with your phone? I used my Canon Rebel SLR for these but I have to say I’m seeing some terrific phone shots by others.

Here are a few of my favourite sites from this challenge. I hope you drop by to see their work:

Julie Dawn Fox – http://juliedawnfoxphotography.wordpress.com/

Travel with Intent -http://travelwithintent.com/2013/03/02/collioure-framed/

Iphoneography? Take a look here – http://thismansjourney.net/