Lens-Artists Challenge # 91: Simplicity

[Categories: Photography, Photography 101 Forever]

[A right-click might allow you to open a photo in a separate tab or window.]

The Lens Artists Challenge is hosted this week by Patti.

I’m not very wordy in these challenges. Click ‘Literature’ in the menu bar above to see VOLUMES of my summaries and musings on Lapham’s Quarterly historical journal.

I’m led to my photo contributions this week by perhaps 3 degrees of separation. When I opened my photo library it was still looking at sand dunes, which I used in last weeks DISTANCE challenge. I took those photos in Oct. 2016 while traveling south through Colorado into New Mexico.

I scrolled past the dunes photos and saw several I took of the Rio Grande Gorge in New Mexico. (A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, Amy’s challenge two weeks ago).

Finally, I came to my destination on the trip, the annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Some of those photos struck me as Simplicity, such as the following early morning liftoff, a single balloon ornamenting the darkness like a lighted Christmas ornament, a beacon to follow:

A group of balloons were still simple beacons to me, lighting the way, such as beacons we all keep an eye out for in these times:

The following dark silhouette of a somewhat complex balloon was still simple in outline. I think that is a one- or two-person basket hanging below it:

Look up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… SKY! (With a cow?)

A word to the wise, the annual balloon festival is NOT Simplicity personified:

There are hundreds of balloons and hundreds of thousands of attendees. It is a SIGHT to behold, at least once, perhaps.

One needs to step back and take it in ‘from a Distance’ to appreciate the Simplicity:

If next weeks theme is balloons, I am soooo screwed. I do have many more festival photos, however.

I leave you with a quote seen at the ABQ Biological Park:

I like it.

Stay safe, be well.

Kudos to the tireless leaders of the weekly Lens-Artists challenge.

Weekly Challenge info from Tina:

“Each Saturday at noon EST we will publish a photo challenge similar in form to the now-defunct WPC. If you choose to participate, please make sure to tag your post with the name of our group LENS-ARTISTS so that all of the responses can be found together in the WP Reader. Please also include a link to the challenge moderator’s post. One of our 4 moderators will host the challenge each week.”

Week 1 – Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya of https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/

Week 3 – Amy of https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/

Week 4 – Tina of https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/

Check them out.  Also search for Lens-Artists to find posts.

Per Patti this week:

Here’s our schedule for the rest of April:

• April 11: # 92  John Steiner of Journeys with Johnbo.
• April 18: # 93  Ann Christine of Leya
• April 25: # 94: Amy of The World is a Book