Tag Archives: lens-artistschallenge

Local Vistas – are your hidden gems next door: my entry to LAPC#203

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What I like about joining photo challenges based on a theme is that it always gets me to reflect beyond its literal meaning. For this weeks LAPC#203 posted by Anne, it is about Local Vistas. As Amy puts it nicely on what this week’s challenge want us to explore:

“What are your local vistas? Where do you photograph when you don’t have a lot of time or are not on vacation? What about your hometown excites you?…”

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/552947/posts/4070253334

If there is anything the pandemic taught us is to look within and enjoy the local vicinity. I for one, coming from the Philippines, enjoy being in Europe much because the quality of life is already good – that a simple stroll along forest parks scattered around the city like Munich, or along a clean river like Isar or a simple breakfast outside in your garden, or in the balcony, etc.etc. – can easily be enjoyed.

Please do not get me wrong. My beloved Philippines is a beautiful country with nice white beaches, rich with natural resources, and the Filipinos are the most warmed people I know, who sings a lot even or smiles a lot even when they have tons of problems. My gift of being able to enjoy the simple pleasures of life is rooted to my being a Filipino. However, we are also poverty stricken and are nagged with environmental challenges like pollution especially in the cities. But this is not what this blog is about. This is about how I experience simple but good life in Munich – those that can be considered as life’s simple/little pleasures that do not cost a penny.

Kids and kids-at-heart can always enjoy being refreshed by this fountain in Karlsplatz Stachus during the summer period. This is one area in the City Center of Munich.
The same spot from the photo above but from a different view. It is simply lovely.
One local secret to enjoying Munich during the summer: target activity, sit with friends at the banks of Isar,
(1) first you guys need to buy a drink (beer or soft drinks, but this is Germany, so maybe beer is the more the appropriate choice – as long as you are of legal age to drink alcohol), (2) bring breze and obazda – buy all these at a local grocery so it is cheaper. (3) Don’t forget to bring your own picnic mat. (4) And lastly, enjoy! P.S. (5) if the water is already warm enough, don’t forget to bring your swimsuit and have a dip. Dipping your feet is also possible. Either way, there are many ways to enjoy.
Enjoy the local beer garden! Beer gardens can be found all over the city or in any part of Germany. They are opening toward summer, late spring.
The best spot to see Marienplatz from a higher angle, away from the crowd is to sit in the sofas provided in Hugendubel Bookstore. Get a book (without buying it yet) and find a nice spot to sit. If you are just there for the view, pretend you are reading a book (giggles) or if you are there for both, read and enjoy the view at the same time.

You see, local vistas (for me) is also about enjoying what you already have. It is about exploring the things you may have disregarded because of close proximity – the so called “right under your nose” (in a positive context). It is also about discovering the hidden gems in a pretty mundane or ordinary scene. It is about seeing beauty beyond the ordinary and unlocking the content heart of a child – within us – that enjoying life does not mean only expensive or grandeous things but also in the simplest and purest form of things.

So that’s it for this entry. If you want to know more about LAPC, check this out https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/. And if you like my content, do not forget to consider liking and subscribing my blog. You may also find me in IG and YT. And hope to see you or hear from you here or in my next entry. Have a great day/evening wherever your in the world. Auf wiedersehen!

“A Photo Walk” to remember – Lens-Artists-Photo-Challenge #117

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This week’s LAPC takes me to actually do the actual task (because before I just checked my photos and see if something will pass for the said challenge). I’m glad though because it encouraged me to have a walk around the Hood. Since it is Sunday, I brought the whole family with me. While my husband Jay is pushing the baby pram, I snapped with my iPhone (since I forgot my camera at home and I did almost forget about this task) the following photos:

“Der Felix ist da!” (Felix is here, in English) This is a tradition in Southern Germany (and I have seen this also in Switzerland) that everytime a new baby is born, they hang something like this in the photo outside the house of the newly born kid. We did not do this though when my daughter was born in April this year. We are a pretty rebellious non confirmist pair. Shhhh!
The morning mist has left its mark in these beautiful flowers, the things you can only witness during early morning walks, when the Sun’s rays are not yet so intense. Taken in Fürstenried neighborhood in Munich.
What a lovely and refreshing sight!
Such a tall building not to notice, no wonder it is called a Hochhaus (hoch is high in German). And I still need to figure out, and maybe ask the locals why it is called “Sparkassenhochhaus” (sparkasse meaning savings bank in German). Hmmmm,…
This is where the Citizens or residents meet, organized by the City. They offer a lot of acitivities like meet-ups for kids, mothers, etc. I will try one of their offerings one of these days. You may see a lot of meeting places like this all over the cities and towns in Germany.
Remnants of the Easter Egg Hunting? Looks like! As it is already Autumn in Germany, the leaves are turning orangy and yellow – really a magical scene to witness!
Who would not miss this humungous view of the Kare Building. These “twin towers” is our compass going back home as we just live nearby. Kare is a furniture store mostly offering one of a kind and colorful designed home items. There is a nice cafe/resto at the 4th floor (if I remember it correctly) with a big wonderful terrace where you can see (on clear skies) the Frauenkirche and the Alps.
This colorfully-designed bike was park outside of Kare and me and my husband were wondering if this is part of marketing, just art or that someone stole the seat of this bike. Hahah! You decide!

It was indeed a nice and productive walk and I am glad that I took part in this challenge hosted by Amy If you are new to this and wants to participate, check out this link .

So goodbye for now and have a great Sunday and new week ahead!

Lens-Artists-Photo-Challenge #116 on Symmetry but I would call this post: Symmetrically Beautiful

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Capturing “Symmetry” in your photos is a conscious effort for a photographer, especially for a hobbyist like me. Thanks to Pati for this challenge that I come to realize as I checked my photos that I have not been really conscious about “symmetry” at all. Haha! I have so many should-have-been-the-one photos for this challenge but it was not captured fully or symmetrically. Gottseidank I still have some that can qualify and here they are…

As you go up the Planetarium in Deutsches Museum in Munich, you will notice this staircase spiraling down/up. It was one sunny afternoon and I was fascinated by this so I took a shot. To be honest, I do not know that this could be an example of a radial symmetry. Thanks to Patti again for the education.
You will see these buildings around Munich Lehel – this kind was very famous during the Founding Time or Gründerzeit in German – which happened at the end of the 19th century wherein there was a rapid industrial expansion.
The windows in this Church in Munich shows so many horizontal symmetry.

I see symmetry all over in old but magical cities in Europe like Paris

So that’s it for my participation on this week’s LAPC#116. If you are new to this and wants to participate https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/come-join-us-a-new-weekly-photo-challenge/

Ciao and keep safe everyone!

“Inspiration” – Lens-Artists-Challenge #115

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TRAVEL. VACATION. WANDER. These words bring joy to the heart if only we are not facing this pandemic. And that although we have been longing to have finally a contagion-free travel wandering the streets of New York (for example), or discover old medieval towns of Europe, or be sun-kissed in a tropical island while sipping Peña Colada, etc.- it is still not 100% possible to date without being hassled with wearing masks, social distancing, and worse getting the virus itself.

So in the meantime, looking at old travel photos like below, will do. It somehow creates that promise that one day, all these chaos will be over and that we will be able to at last, travel free: to meet family and lovedones located at the other side of the world or just simply be lost in the marvels of places you have not yet conquered.

a remnant of an old church in Sestri Levante, taken in 2018 during my vacation there.
Nothing is more wonderful than a breakfast delivered in your hotel room. Being served – is one of the true essence of vacation. I just love it all the time. I took this photo in our hotel room balcony in Sestri Levante, Italy. It is worth mentioning that the hotel used to be a palace.
People from all over the world travel to Munich to attend the Octoberfest but due to the pandemic, this is cancelled for this year. For sure, we all are looking forward to the next possible Octoberfest. Let this photo taken in 2018 be an inspiration to the next possible OctFest, hopefully next year already!
at the Louvre in Paris. Discovering museums of arts fascninates always a traveller. Someday, discovering museums and art will continue freely.

Lastly, I would like to end this post by higlighting the photo below. In the end, we will be triumphant against this pandemic and we can freely roam the streets shouting any cause we have to fight for.

I took this during the CSD Parade 2019. I have another post about this on the kind of courage that glitters.

That Kind of Bravery that Glitters

Very lastly, thanks to Tina for posting this week’s challenge. Check her post on this https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/2577833/posts/2920975075

If you are new to this and wants to participate https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/come-join-us-a-new-weekly-photo-challenge/

my response to lens-artist-challenge #114 negative space

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so this is it, after a year of hiatus due to pregnancy and now mommy-hood, I am back! Scouring over my portfolio of old photos, here is my response to this week’s LAC#114…

in Romo shore, Denmark taken a year ago, a day before my wedding….
still in Romo shore, Denmark taken a year ago, a day before my wedding….
on the way to Denmark from Hamburg….travelled for my wedding last year
am not sure if this fits to the theme but here it is… taken in Karlsplatz Stachus in Munich during one hot fine day…

thanks for this challenge Amy: https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/

and that’s it for now and looking forward to the next challenge…

in between naps and supervised plays…

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It has been a long while since I posted something here. Motherhood has taken over my time and energy this past year and now I am thirsty for making art. As as a jumpstart into artdom, in between my kid’s nap and independent supervised playtime, I get to edit these photos (double exposure, thanks to snapseed) which pretty represents my life at the moment.

Motherhood is a mixture of all emotions – joyful yet tiring, rewarding yet patient-evoking and so many others. But all in all happy. It is amazing to see your own kin grow everyday or every other day or so. This Netflix Docu titled “Baby” said babies do not grow everyday but instead they have growth spurt here and there.

So that’s it for now. I have been also really thirsty to go back to participating the Lens-Artist-Photo-Challenge and guess what, this post actually is very timely for the #62 challenge – Silhouettes. So this is my entry to that….although late challenge already but anything to jump start back into art is good.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #62: Silhouettes

and finally, that’s it because my baby is crying now. Mamahood is calling…

Lens-Artists-Challenge #60 – Framing the Shot

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Framing a shot is one of the things I learned in my photography class and it has become one of my favorite photography techniques ever since.

“A peek into the Holy” – I usually like framing religious subjects like this. It feels like I am having a glimpse into the lives of the Holy while waiting at the gates of the Sacred.
#notredamecathedralparis
“Fun at work” – when one starts to have fun at work, it becomes not work anymore but pleasure. It is nice and contagious to witness people who are enjoying at work.
#christmasmarketmunich
I visited today a Glassmaker located in the Bavarian Forest and this is part of their exhibit.
Another glass art exhibit at the
http://www.glasscherben-koeck.de/
Framing allows you to look at the subject at a different, positive level and this is the reason why I like this technique.
#eisbach #isar

That’s it for now for me. Thank you Amy https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/12952901/posts/70119 for posting this challenge this week. If you are new to this and wants to participate https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/come-join-us-a-new-weekly-photo-challenge/

Lens-Artists Challenge #59 – “angles”

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At thought at first when I learned about this week’s challenge posted by Leya https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2019/08/17/lens-artists-photo-challenge-59-angles/ – that I need to shot different angles of one subject. However, as I went through all my photos, I came to realize that in order to portray “angle”, I just need to show my perspective – or what I saw or how I saw the world around me through my lens. Here is my take on this week’s challenge:

“Meta” – Looking at things from an outer perspective and there are many perspective within a perspective – for instance, mine as the photographer, the tourists on whatever they are focusing on. In this angle, I can only interpret what the tourist’s perspective might be upon seeing them viewing whatever they saw during at this very moment that I came to froze in this photo. (Photo is taken inside Louvre, Paris, France)

I have two photos with the same subject. This one above is looking at it from far, seems like just observing and not really digging deeper into it. and then…
…this, which I already posted in my IG account and I said there and will say here:
two ways to look at this and maybe also to look at this & reflect about our lives in general: (1) how does it feel to be the center of attraction and yet headless? (2) can you see beauty beyond and despite of the missing parts? #thewingedvictoryofsamothrace #nikeofsamothrace #louvre #canonm100 #artappreciation #contemplation
at this angle, I am toying with the idea that the sculture character in the foreground can be “envious” or “mesmerized” of the other in front of him. What do you think? Is he envious? or mesmerized?

These photos above are taken from different angles but all depicts “showmanship”, “taking the stage and owning it”, “I am the star”, “I am having fun”. And indeed People around her were affected from the fun-ness of her like a positive contagion to the spirit, which is the very essence of the Fasching (Carnival). (Taken at Fasching 2019 in Munich, Germany)

So that’s it for me this week. If you are new to this challenge and wants to join, see this link on how: https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/come-join-us-a-new-weekly-photo-challenge/ and thank Leya for featuring me on your post.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #58: Something Old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue

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These are very familiar phrases, especially if you grow up watching Hollywood movies about the fairy tale of falling in love and getting married. There is nothing wrong with it, except the lavish notion people put into the idea of weddings but this post is not about that. I myself got married this year. So to the idea of something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue, here is my response to this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge No. 58:

something old, as this church in Sestri Levante and something as blue as this Northern Italian sky one April evening.
#oldchurches #blueskies #somethingblue #somethingold
Something old as this ruin of a building, which I really don’t know what it was before, maybe an old chapel, but it was captivating enough that I cannot helped myself but took this photo. This was taken in Sestri Levante a year ago.

As I said that I got married this year. I definitely got something new, my new marital status, a husband, a new ring and a new married life ahead of me and my family. Notice the golden horse shoe, this is my “something borrowed” as this was borrowed to us by our wedding officiator saying that if newlyweds hold this, this will bring prosperity and good luck! Inshallah! God willing!

Lastly, I just created this painting which depicts “tough love”. I am passionate about this topic. Tough love is needed for yourself, for your kids, for whoever you claim to love truly. At first, “Tough love” seemingly looks rough, rude, dark on the surface or on the outside but if you really examine it, it is one of the greatest love one can offer. Hope you give tough love when it is deemed needed.

That’s it for me. If you are inspired to participate in this weekly challenge and be allowed to tickle your creative spots regularly, stay tuned using this link on how to do it https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/lens-artists-photo-challenge/ and this week’s challenge was posted by Patti https://pilotfishblog.com/2019/08/10/lens-artists-photo-challenge-58-something-old-new-borrowed-and-blue/

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Lens-Artists Challenge #57 – “Taking a Break”

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My take on this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge #57 – “Taking a Break” is – having fun! Some of us takes a break by pleasure.

“pause machen” as we say it here in Germany. Pauses and breaks are important to make everything in your life sustainable. Do not be guilty to indulge yourselves when needed. You deserve it!
#eisbach #surfinginthecity #munich
Dancing in the park like no one is watching – sparks so much joy that it becomes refreshing. When the opportunity comes, dance every chance you have. It is like a happy pill!
#dancing #dancinginthepark
listening to music! – one way of recreating to recover from the hustle and bustle of life, so the next time around, you will be ready again to face life head on.
#concertinthepark
“adrenalin rush” is somehow anti-break or anti-relaxing but to some people, this is how to get relaxed.
#funatoctoberfest #octoberfestrides

However you want to take a break, always go for it and never feel guilty about it – because we owe that to ourselves. We cannot give what we do not have so we need to love ourselves first in order to love others. We need to be full first before we can be fully of service to others. You need to take the oxygen first before your kid’s and so and so forth.

This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge is not easy, at least for me, because I need to search if I have the right photos. But my journey for choosing the above photos made me reflect about the topic instead and I love this exercise even more.

If you are new to this challenge, see Tina’s post to know more about this week’s challenge: https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2019/08/03/lens-artists-challenge-57-taking-a-break/

Stay tuned every Saturday (as it gets addicting) to find about the next challenge and see the guidelines using the link below: https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/lens-artists-photo-challenge/

Lens-Artists Challenge #56, Seascapes

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Another week, another challenge and thank you Tina https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/ for posting this challenge. Here is my response to this one:

#seascapes #LingurianBay #SestriLevante #Italy
simply beautiful! take me back there please!!!
#seascapes #LingurianBay #SestriLevante #Italy
Serene, calming, lovely…this is what I feel every time I am in front of any body of water. Maybe, it is the island girl in me coming from a country with 7,017 islands.
#seascapes #LingurianBay #SestriLevante #Italy
I cannot remember anymore if this was sunrise or sunset. But it does not matter because to me – it always bring that positive feeling of hope and beauty. If it is a sunset, it reminds you that whatever happens during the day, if it is not good – it tells you to have a pause and that there could be something good that the tomorrow can promise or if it sunrise, it can give you that source of hope and chance that you can still make this day right or better.
#seascapes #LingurianBay #SestriLevante #Italy

Stay tuned every Saturday to find about the next challenge and see the guidelines using the link below: https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/lens-artists-photo-challenge/