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.

Cosmic Photo prompt.

It seems we may be in for a spot of hot weather over the weekend, so for this week’s theme on The Cosmic Photo Challenge, (with the usual caveats to those of you south of the equator) we’re going for; A summer walk in the sunshine.

It’s simple, it’s easy and it’s not terribly imaginative, but it will be enjoyable and will, I’m sure, provide the usual fabulous results from y’all.

See you on Monday for the show and tell, have a great weekend.

*****

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.

Cosmic Photo prompt.

A limited prompt for The Cosmic Photo Challenge today, as I’ve been laid up with Covid for the last week; Indoor freestyle.

Basically you can take photos of whatever you like this week, but to level the playing field, as I’ll still be isolating over the weekend, your images must be captured inside.

That’s it, see you on Monday.

*****

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.

Cosmic Photo prompt.

For this week’s theme on The Cosmic Photo Challenge, I’m continuing the thread of flora and fauna, but in monochrome, with; Nature in black and white.

That’s about as simple as it gets, so no explanation required, just get out there and capture the natural world in shades of grey and meet back here on Monday for the big reveal.

Have a great weekend, y’all.

*****

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: Night and day.

This week’s entry for The Cosmic Photo Challenge took possibly the longest time it’s ever taken to produce a single image, based on the prompt; Night and day.

I had no idea what I was going to do when I set the theme on Saturday and by the time I’d worked out how to get the shot I wanted, I’d already missed one opportunity.

Yesterday I set up a tripod in the garden, so I could take a few photos from the same place throughout the day, hoping that when it came to last night I’d have the images I needed to complete the big picture you hopefully see below (at the time of writing, I have yet to take the final photo)

…Yay, I did it, this composite image is made up of five separate photos taken on the same spot across 12 hours.

Morning to night, left to right.

What did your nightly excursions reveal..?

*****

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.

Cosmic Photo prompt.

Finally, it’s the weekend, yay! And that means it’s time for me to give you a gentle prod in the vague direction of an idea for The Cosmic Photo Challenge.

With any luck it’s going to be a nice day tomorrow, so I thought I’d give myself a reason to go out and about to capture some; Country landscapes.

Define that however you like and I’ll see you back here on Monday to compare photographic notes.

*****

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.