The Cosmic Photo Challenge: As summer fades.

I was fully expecting a weekend of dreary weather, as per the forecast, hence the theme on The Cosmic Photo Challenge this week being based on the prompt; As summer fades.

But nature confounded satellite technology once again, with very pleasant weather on both days, including this fabulous Exmoor sunrise, from early yesterday morning after taking Rhonda to work.

Maybe there’s hope for summer, yet.

How did your mission to capture the changing seasons go?

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: In the evening.

Welcome to a bank holiday Monday edition of The Cosmic Photo Challenge, inspired by the prompt; In the evening.

I captured my twilight images on the way to collect Rhonda from work, including a brief visit to the Millennium Green at Landkey, just before 7 last night.

How did you fare in your search for some enchanted evening..?

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Action shots.

Your mission on The Cosmic Photo Challenge today, if you choose to accept it, is to provide us with; Action shots.

I have to admit to taking advantage of hosting this week, already having some photos in mind when I set the prompt, but I did conduct one or two new experiments, too.

Most of my shots concern the always entertaining herring gull chicks at work, specifically their eagerness to consume any morsels of food on offer.

They’re very keen on fruit loaf and bagels, here’s two siblings fighting over scraps…

…and here’s a sequence I like, particularly for the expression of concentration on the mum as she watches the bread from behind her chick.

Then there’s this verrrrrrrry sloooowwww action shot, taken in the hope of capturing the Perseid meteor shower.

Alas, all I caught were stars, still pretty cool, though.

And here are a couple of new long exposures, made using an old Zippo lighter

Now let’s see yours, it’s time for lights, camera, action!

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: North, South, East, West.

Hi there, I hope you had a good weekend, we’re here to ease you into Monday with The Cosmic Photo Challenge. This week we take you on a whistle stop tour of all points of the compass, with the prompt; North, South, East, West.

This gave pretty free rein in subject matter selection, since we simply had to be shooting in roughly the right direction each time, so for added precision I have included screenshots of my compass app in all the images.

I gave a friend a lift to Braunton yesterday and I took a few pictures over there, including a couple of North/South and East/West panoramas, one vertical, one horizontal. I captured a handsome looking spider in the garden and also got some nice star trails with a long exposure on Saturday night.

North
East
South
West
North to South
East to West

What treasures did your 360° photographic quest reveal for us this week?

There’s plenty of time to join in, don’t be shy, we’re a friendly bunch. ;~}

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: From the ground, up.

Where did the weekend go? It seems like Friday was only yesterday, when I gave you the prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge this week; From the ground, up.

I took the literal route, with most of my photos taken at ground level, some using a wide angle, one with a timer.

Now let’s see what you’ve all been looking up to…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Birds and bees and bugs and fleas.

Whew, that was a hot weekend and it’s due to get hotter, so I hope you’re staying safe and keeping hydrated.

What’s hot right now is The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which this week is concentrating its collective global lens on; Birds and bees and bugs and fleas.

Or, to put it another way, anything with more than four legs, and/or wings.

Even the bees seemed too tired to fly, although we did experience the joy of “flying-ant day” on Saturday, when hundreds of the little pests sprout wings and vacate the nest in search of more desirable accommodation.

At work, we’ve had the daily entertainment of watching herring gull chicks fledging from their nests on the roof; here’s one of the first to make the perilous drop, who has been named “Steve”…

…and here’s one of his parents, being unusually reticent at taking food from strangers, namely some of my coffee break muffin.

I should add that, five minutes after he’d graciously accepted my home cooked muffin, I turned my back for literally ten seconds and the little bastard stole my bagel.

Hence this photo of him and a friend, noisily registering their displeasure as I refused to part with any the following day.

They’re becoming so used to having us around, there was even one waiting at the door when I got to work the other day.

Yesterday I took a walk along the Tarka Trail at Wrafton to the wildfowl reserve, where there were 8 fluffy grey cygnets lazily paddling about in the stifling heat, along with some equally lacklustre ducks.

Now it’s time to see the fruits of your photographic labours of love, show us whatcha got…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: A summer walk in the sunshine.

Well, it’s Monday again, but at least here on The Cosmic Photo Challenge we have a weekend of sunny pictures to look back on, as the prompt was to take; A summer walk in the sunshine.

I chose to take my stroll in the woods at Venn Quarries, as it was really hot on Saturday and the dappled shade cast by the trees was a welcome relief from the early afternoon glare.

Here’s a small selection from all the photos I took, you can see the rest HERE

I like the fact I could only work out what was going on here, from the stone at the bottom of the picture.

How was your balmy weekend walk? Do share your pictures with us, it’s so easy to do…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Nature in black and white.

On Friday I set you the task of finding images for this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge which would satisfy the prompt; Nature in black and white.

I chose half a dozen shots from the ones I took on an early Saturday morning drive, in the countryside just outside Barnstaple.

Now it’s time to reveal your monochromatic masterpieces to the world, come on, don’t be shy…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Close up on nature.

This week on The Cosmic Photo Challenge, we’re getting up close and personal with the natural world, following Friday’s prompt; Close up on nature.

I chose to capture some of the more flamboyant examples of local horticulture, along with a busy bumble bee and an impressively antlered but badly coordinated flying beetle which lumbered into the fennel in our garden.

How did your nature trail develop? Share the results with us and join in the fun…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Country landscapes.

Hello wherever you are and welcome to another Monday edition of The Cosmic Photo Challenge, which is brought to you this week by the prompt; Country landscapes.

As I was rudely awakened at 6am on Saturday, by our antisocial upstairs neighbours having one of their early morning screaming matches, I thought I may as well make the most of it. So I drove up onto Exmoor and captured the start of another glorious day in the Devon countryside.

How did your rural idyll develop? Show us what wonders you discovered and let us all enjoy them…

*****

To get involved with the challenge; check out the Cosmic Photo Prompt each Friday, then post a photo (or photos) on your blog the following Monday, with a pingback link to my Monday post.

Tag your posts with  #CosPhoChal.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages, animation, gifs, or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.