Egidio from Through Brazilian Eyes is our host this week, and as you can see, he has set the challenge LONGING. This was a challenge where nothing came to mind, so I went to his post to find out what he wanted us to.
I’m going to copy part of his post here,
an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent someone or something.
My first thoughts after this were maybe regret or disappointment at being able to go somewhere, but not necessarily being able to get the images I would have liked. While I might long to go back and get a do-over, I know that will never happen, especially now. For these places anyway.
I decided to talk about some of the places I went to when I was in the US and what I’m longing for. Perhaps I should say long for, past tense.
Yosemite National Park
I had no idea I would be going to Yosemite until the day I arrived in the States. I was so excited to be going there. I absolutely loved it, but sadly, I only got to spend one night there. It would have been amazing to have had the time to spend a few days there to really explore, but that wasn’t to be.
If I did have the chance to go back, I would spend a lot more time there and really explore it. Maybe do some of the hikes as well. I would love to have the chance to take a lot more photos there.
Bodie ghost town
This is a pretty amazing place, and the only thing I was disappointed with was the weather. It was so sunny, and I don’t like taking photos in the sun. I think it would be hard to predict the type of weather I would have liked, so while I long for cloudy overcast days, it is something I don’t think I probably would get.
Sometimes when you go to a place like this, you have to accept what you get. If I went again, I would try and get there as early as possible when the sun wasn’t up so high. It wasn’t really something I had any control over, but I can’t complain because I got to go.
Jellyfish at Monterey Aquarium
Now, this place, I loved these jellyfish so much, and I loved photographing them. I really do long to photograph more jellyfish, and I’m always looking for places here where I could do that.
I liked the photos I took, but I would love to just keep photographing them. Maybe used a tripod or something to get even better photos.
Interesting challenge from Egidio this week, and I would like to say thank you for being our host. Please go and check out his post.
If you would like to participate in this great challenge, then go to the following link to find out how to join the Lens-Artists Challenge. Click here for more info. Don’t forget to put a link in your post back to the host.
Beautiful – and the longing I understand! Loved especially the jellyfish in all these wonderful photos. “…you have to accept what you get” is so true. When travelling you cannot always be at the right time in every place.
Thank you Ann-Christine. That’s for sure, I think the hardest photography is travel photography.
Great selections. Ghost towns. People come and gone. And jellyfish. If only they could talk. Thank of the plankton they’ve seen. 😜
Thank you so much John.
Your images are amazing, Yosemite I can totally get the longing to revisit and the remarks about weather. True, sometimes we just have to adapt, and you did
Thank you Ritva. Yeah, that was a big lesson on that trip, just accept how it is.
Bodie looks amazing and I can see how a moodier weather would make for other type of images, still, I think your photos are stunning, Leanne.
It was quite amazing. Yeah moody weather would have been amazing. Thank you Sofia.
Some great images here, Leanne, despite constraints you had! l.ove Bodie 3736…
Thank you so much Sue.
I empathise with you about the constraints surrounding photography when travelling, but I also find that I tend to embrace them. If I know I have to take my photos now because there will be no second chance, no return visit, then I enjoy trying to come up with ideas that will work in the conditions I have. You struggled with the strong sunlight at Bodie while I have problems elsewhere with very poor weather, but it can be rewarding when we get some good photos despite these challenges, and you’ve certainly done that with your examples here 🙂
I look at it a different way Sarah, for I like to travel to get photos, but I also realise that rarely will I get the best photos. I know that the best opportunities are going to be where I am. So I travel knowing that. Though I usually try and plan so I have the best possible chances to get the shots I want or hope to get. When I did the trip to the US it was paid for by some great friends, who wanted me to see their country. She liked photography, him not so much, so I knew after a day or say that I had to accept it was not going to be a photography trip, and I would just have to get what I could. I was always very grateful to them for the opportunity, but if I had planned the trip myself, and paid for it, I would have done things a little differently. Thanks
Beautiful work (as always). Aren’t the jellies great? We used to live about a mile from the aquarium and I always gravitated to shooting images of them.
Thank you Chad. Yeah the jellies are so fascinating. OMG I think if I lived that close I would spend so much time there taking photos.
Great examples. That ghost town is amazing. I’d love to both see and photograph that deserted old town.
The jellyfish were pretty exciting to see too.
Thanks for sharing, Leanne.
The ghost town was really amazing, in many ways. I am so glad I got to go. Thank you Vicki.
Wonderful photos Leanne. I just love the jellyfish
Thank you Brian.
I think the jellyfish will be favorites this week. But I completely understand your longing for Yosemite. There are so many hidden places to enjoy with a camera and take in all that beauty. Very nice.
I think you might be right Donna, they seem to be popular. Yeah, one night at Yosemite was not enough, but I’m lucky to have got that at least. Thank you.
Leanne, I’m glad this was a real challenge at first. You came out with an amazing response. This is a beautiful gallery from start to finish. I feel like you about a lot of places. All those what if I had a better camera or lens or a tripod come to mind from time to time. If you liked Yosemite, you should check out the Netflix series Untamed. It’s filmed there. The scenery is breathtaking.
Thank you Egidio. Glad you like it. Exactly, I guess it is never perfect enough, even if you do get great photos you can still long to go back and repeat the experience. I haven’t heard of that show, I will have to look it up.
Longing for photos of jellies is something I can understand
Yeah, so cool, thank you IJ.
Beautiful shots of Yosemite and the Ghost Town. It is the jellyfish who are truly sublime, tremendous captures.
Thank you Rebecca. I love the jellyfish too, I wish I could do more.
I love it when they are swimming in the glass cylinders in aquariums.
Me too because then I don’t have to get in the water to take photos. lol
Leeanne, these are all wonderful images. I love the jellyfish. I can relate to your longing to return to a special place to try for more photographs.
Thank you Beth. Jellyfish are so cool, I wouldn’t want to swim with them, but they are pretty cool.
Interesting. Yosemite is somewhere I’d love to visit. It’ll never happen now, so I’ll just enjoy the images I see from visitors like you!
Yeah it is Margaret, like you I will never see it again, not now. Thank you.
Leanne, it always seems the weather isn’t perfect for the type of photography I’ve got in mind, so I know exactly how you feel. I like the blue skies punctuated by fair weather clouds, but most of the time, it’s all blue or all gray. Ah, the vagaries of weather.
I can see why you like to photograph jellyfish. They are so graceful and transparent.
I know what you mean John. It is so annoying how the weather man won’t give us what we want. lol.
The jellyfish are so amazing, I loved them so much, in case you didn’t work that out. Thank you John.
Lovely photos of all three places. I hope you get back some day. I also want to get back to Australia. One week wasn’t enough! And since you’ve teased me with Tasmania, I’d like to go there also.
Thank you so much Anne, sadly I want be back especially as things stand right now, but also my passport has run out. If you come back I will go with you to Tasmania.
These are all lovely, Leanne. You hit on the of my favorite places. We visited Bodie when the kids were little, maybe 150 years ago. 😋 I could spend the rest of my days in Yosemite.
Bodie was quite an amazing place, glad I got to go, even if I didn’t get the photos I wanted. Yeah Yosemite is incredible. Thank you Mike.
Despite not having had time to fully explore, you definitely made the most of your visits Leanne! I know what you mean about wanting to go back for more, especially at different times of day. But sometimes just having seen interesting places lets our mind’s eye create what they’d have looked like if we could have planned them as photo shoots! And I know yours would have been glorious!
Thank you Tina. That can be true, I am so grateful that I got to go in the first place, and in the end I had to accept what I got.