My dear fellow bloggers:Β I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to concentrate on blogging (or much of anything) with all that’s happening in the world around us; there is too much uncertainty swirling about.Β But I hope we can maintain some degree of tranquility and sanity by continuing to do the things we love best: reaching out to each other in our blogging world, loving and encouraging each other, and appreciating the struggles each of us is going through.Β We can choose to either hole up in our houses and go into hibernation (or worse, depression), or continue to make an effort to reach out while staying physically isolated.Β Peace and hugs to all of you out there.
That being said, as I try my best to keep the faith, here is my take on Jude’s photo challenge for this month.Β It’s all about textures.
This month we are going to look at textures.Β While the structure of an object is its form, the material from which it is made constitutes its texture. Is it hard or soft, smooth or rough?Β You are aiming at translating texture visually, bringing life and energy to a photo through shape, tone and colour. Study the texture and forget about the object. Texture becomes the subject here.
- Find something smooth and get in close (see my post: tiffany glass: painting with color and light)
- Find something rough and get in close. Try contrasting a rough texture against a smooth texture (2020 Photo Challenge #10).
Here I’ve juxtaposed rough and smooth (well, somewhat smooth).Β In the second photo, I’ve zoomed in to the rough texture.

rough and smooth

rough texture up close
3. Play with angles. This might mean getting down on your stomach to shoot upwards. Or zoom in to focus on the texture and not the subject itself (2020 Photo Challenge #11).

sunflower at McKee-Beshers in Maryland

sunflower at McKee-Beshers in Maryland
4. Try to mix your texture with other colors and patterns.
5. Get close to your subject and capture just the texture itself, without the context. Then zoom out so that you capture both the context of the texture as well as the texture itself.
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Thanks to Jude for hosting this challenge. π
Everyone, please keep yourselves safe out there, and remember to appreciate and thank all the people you meet in the service, grocery, and health industries who are providing your food, drinks, pharmaceuticals, health care and other necessities!Β Peace to you all. π
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βPHOTOGRAPHYβ INVITATION:Β I invite you to create a photography intention and then create a blog post for a place you have visited. Alternately, you can post a thematic post about a place, photos of whatever you discovered that set your heart afire. You can also do a thematic post of something you have found throughout all your travels: churches, doors, people reading, people hiking, mountains, patterns, all black & white, whatever!
In this case, I am participating in Jude’s photo challenge on textures found here:
You probably have your own ideas about this, but in case youβd like some ideas, you can visit my page: photography inspiration.
I challenge you to post no more than 20-25 photos and to write less than 1,500 words about any travel-related photography intention you set for yourself. Include the link in the comments below by Wednesday, April 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST.Β When I write my post in response to this challenge on Thursday, April 2, Iβll include your links in that post.
This will be an ongoing invitation, every first, second, and third (& 5th, if there is one) Thursday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. π
I hope youβll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
Love this!
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Thank you so much, Lexa. π
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Amazing images.
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Thank you so much, Ishaan. π
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You have some great examples here, Cathy! I have a rubbish filing system (or no system at all! π ) for my photos which makes going through the archives hard work. Well, slow work, anyway. I know what you mean about concentrating, and I spend so much time answering WhatsApp and Messenger and just keeping in touch (and making each other laugh, when we can π ) but it is essential to hold hands virtually. And exchange hugs π π
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Finding moments of laughter is the best medicine for our current crisis, I think. Holding hands virtually is also nice, and hugs. π
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Great photos for Judeβs theme, Cathy. Yes, I agree that we should be very grateful for all the folk who keep everything working during this worrying time. Stay safe and healthy.
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Thanks so much, Sylvia. Yes, I’m very grateful for those working in service industries right now, especially those in grocery stores who normally get such scant appreciation. I almost cried when I went in Whole Foods and found employees so upbeat, cheerful and helpful. π
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Beautiful!
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Thank you so much, Ianus. π
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π
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Wonderful photos, Cathy. I agree, about reaching out and staying in touch in the many ways that we still can. I also have some trouble concentrating, blogging, and staying on task. I’m hoping that will settle soon. I have to keep reminding myself that even in the best of times, nothing is certain (no matter how much we want it to be).
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Thank you so much, Robin. I’m having a very hard time being motivated, and am tempted to just lie around reading, escaping into books. Staying on task is difficult with so much to worry about. But it really is a good time, if I could get focused, to actually get some projects done with few distractions. I’m hoping that with all the closures, and with more people isolating themselves, the number of increasing cases each day will start to dwindle, showing our efforts are having some positive effects. If this goes on for too long, I don’t know how we all will fare. And yes, you’re so right, even in the best of times nothing is certain (even though we often take for granted that it is, deluding ourselves!).
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A wonderful study, Cathy! The holey tree is especially outstanding.
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Thanks, Christopher. It’s fun to challenge myself sometimes in photography. π
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Take care, Cathy! I find concentration hard too,
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Thanks, Anabel. Please be safe, healthy and hopeful. Hugs to you! π
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And to you! Safe, virtual hugs obviously β¦
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Thanks, Anabel. Same right back at you. π
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Wonderful textures here Cathy, I love the sunflower images, the bark and the rice terraces. A lovely selection of images. Thank you for sharing these. And I hope you and your family keep safe. It is definitely an unusual time.
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Thanks, Jude. All the ones you like are from my archives. I went out to Meadowlark Gardens to find some new material, but I couldn’t find much that excited me. The ones that are less interesting are in this post too. I hope you keep safe, healthy and hopeful, Jude. It is a very difficult and trying time, but hopefully we’ll all emerge stronger. π
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Those are gorgeous pictures Cathy- the tree trunk, the sunflowers( my favourite) , angles, zoom in and out , so many different perspectives. An excellent collection!
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Thank you so much, Sheetal. I love the sunflower pictures too. I went out to try to find new material at Meadowlark Gardens, but I didn’t have much luck, so I had to dip into my archives. π
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You nailed it! These are great textures and colors. I also love the way you can post HUGE photos so I can get right into them. Beautiful!
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Thank you so much, Rusha. I’m glad you enjoyed the texture photos. I love having huge pictures on the blog. This one is a perfect theme for me. π
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