In My Town - 4 Ways Photography Challenge

 

 

We live in the suburbs of Copenhagen - it takes about 20 minutes to bike to downtown. I'm fond of the 3 lakes, that are situated about a stonecast away from our home - surrounded by parks, trees and bushes. That's where I often times go for a walk - and where we went together with the boys to play hide and seek, catch me if you can and just climb up to the trees etc., when they were small.

 

 

In the summertime the weather can get pretty warm. It is in the green areas, by the lakes and by the sea, that you feel the breeze. The biking lanes are very well organized all over Denmark - you can basically bike from here to Gotland, following the lanes through the country (well - you need to take either a train / bridge or a ferry to sail from Zealand to Jutland). The water is clean and suitable for swimming in the Canals of the city, where you find swimming facilities in different parts of the city.  

 



In the fall the town is clothed in red and yellow ... the leaves decorate the surroundings, and the bright autumn air is fresh. I like all seasons, but autumn is lovely in a special way. Time for apples and chesnuts, fresh walks and bike trips, and cozy gatherings.

 

 

Winters can be very cold, even if we don't get snow every year. The humid cold seeps into your bones ... So you need both gloves and hats to stay warm. The light is very special in the winter months. I like to bike to the City Lakes, meet up with a friend of mine and her dog, and walk around the lakes and enjoy the pale, bright light ... and a cup of tea-to-go :)

With these 4 collages I welcome you to the

4 Ways Photography Challenge:

Our theme in June is In My Town

4 Ways Photography Challenge is a monthly creative meme, 

where we wish to challenge you and one another in finding

4 ways of photographing the monthly themes:

 

June 24th: In My Town
August 15th: Capturing Negative Space

4 Ways is hosted by 4 friends - all photo enthusiasts,

who wish to share the joy of finding new insights and skew angles

in photographing the world around us,

embracing everyday life with a camera at hand.

4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone!

What are the things you appreciate in your town / your rural area -
Share your snapshots with us:

 

<a href="http://thoughtsandimagesalongtheway.blogspot.dk/"><img border="0" src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y483/NinaBille/Portrait/4Photos4WaysButtonNinaWEB_zpsfa67be35.jpg"/></a>

If you wish to share the blog hop on your blog,

you find the link to the HTML-code here:

get the InLinkz code

Motherhood - 4 Ways Photography Challenge

When I think about Motherhood, the words bonding, unconditional love, responsibility and Once a mom, always a mom, are echoing in my mind. I am a mother of two lovely boys (well, to be more specific, a tween and a teenager), and I have the sweetest mom in the world, whom I cherish and look up to.

Motherhood - being a mom, establishing an emotional relationship to your child, loving him / her unconditionally, is a continuous process of growing and maturing, as we go along. Our childhood experiences are shaping our expectations of motherhood - How do we percieve the role of a mom?
 
During pregnancy everything is getting more real, and all of a sudden you are holding this precious baby in your arms, overwhelmed with the feeling of responsibility - wondering how on earth are you're going to take care of this unique gift you're given?

 

As the days go by, you experience that motherhood is about learning to know your child and learning to know yourself as a mom for this specific child. And the process keeps going on - your child and you're developing side by side. Each child is unique and has specific gifts, needs and challenges.



 

 

When I've been talking with adoptive mothers, their experiences are much alike - besides that the process of getting approved as an adoptive parent can be hard and overwhelming because of the doubt and the fear of not meeting the qualifications, and due to other unknown factors in the process. But when the daily life with the long-awaited child has begun, they're also in the same boat - learning to know their precious child, and learning to be a mom.

 

 

 

Motherhood is also about letting go - giving place for your child to become more independent, starting with the "terrible two's" ... I remember the spring when our oldest son was about to start pre-school and our youngest son was starting in the kindergarden - I was feeling blue, like a hen, whose chicks we're about to fly from the nest.

On the other hand, it was a pleasure to be able to say to a 4 year old son once in a while: "Just wait a minute, I need to think about that - vividly remembering  that the needs of a baby and a toddler are to be met right away. 

 

Well, it is a pleasure to experience that as the children grow, your relationship and the things you do together with them changes as well. Moreover, you're beginning to appreciate the fact that you're getting more time to do things as a couple and also more time for yourself.

 

After the teenager years, when your child has learned to be more independent  and when you as a mother have let your child manage more and more by him / herself, the relationship between a mom and a child is about to change to a more equal friendship, with a special emotional affection and respect,  on the fundament of all the shared moments - as a mom and a child.

 

To sum up my thoughts on Motherhood,

I'd like to share with you a favourite poem of mine:

 

 

On Children

 

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

 

Kahlil Gibran

 

 

Which words or images come to your mind,

when you hear the word Motherhood?

 

Share them with us on our mothly blog hop, details below,

 

Nina

 

:::   :::   ::: 

 

Welcome to the 4 Ways Photography Challenge:

Our theme in May is Motherhood

4 Ways Photography Challenge is a monthly creative meme, 

where we wish to challenge you and one another in finding

4 ways of photographing the monthly themes:

June 20th: In My Town
August 15th: Capturing Negative Space

4 Ways is hosted by 4 friends - all photo enthusiasts,

who wish to share the joy of finding new insights and skew angles

in photographing the world around us,

embracing everyday life with a camera at hand.

4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone!

 

 

<a href="http://thoughtsandimagesalongtheway.blogspot.dk/"><img border="0" src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y483/NinaBille/Portrait/4Photos4WaysButtonNinaWEB_zpsfa67be35.jpg"/></a>

I'm sharing with
 {Random 5 Friday} :::  Freedom Fridays ::: Fun Friday Blog Hop

4 Self-Portraits - 4 Ways {Photography Challenge}

On our way to a get together, my husband needed to stop by a gas station to get something. As I was sitting in the car and putting on lip gloss I saw that the mirror works as  a fine frame: There I was, diving into my purse, looking for the camera -  a snap hot!

Welcome to the first 4 Ways Photography Challenge!

4 Ways Photography Challenge is a monthly creative meme, 

where we wish to challenge you and one another in finding

4 ways of photographing the monthly themes:

April 25th:  4 Self-Portaits - 4 Ways
May 23rd: Motherhood
June 20th: In My Town
August 15th: Capturing Negative Space

4 Ways is hosted by 4 friends - all photo enthusiasts,

who wish to share the joy of finding new insights and skew angles

in photographing the world around us,

embracing everyday life with a camera at hand.

4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone!

The April theme is
4 Self-Portraits - 4 Ways

Baking mud cake and tasting the frosting - well - a few times ... yum! Having the round taste of chocolate in my mouth - that brings a subtle smile on my face! I edited the photo using the posterize-function in PicMonkey, and adding a vintage effect on Pixrl Express.

Evening tea and some quiet time ... dwelling in the dreamy landscapes far away ...

4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone:

 Come and join us by linking your self-portraits
in a blog post or Flickr-link below.

PS. Self-portait can be anything
- a shadow, a foot;
any representation of you

<div align="center"> <a href="http://thoughtsandimagesalongtheway.blogspot.dk/" title="Thoughts and Images Along the Way"><img src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y483/NinaBille/Portrait/4Photos4WaysButtonNinaWEB_zpsfa67be35.jpg" alt="Thoughts and Images Along the Way" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Exciting news - 4 Ways Photography Challenge!

Yes, you did read correct - a new photography challenge is about to be born!

4 Ways Photography Challenge is a creative photography meme, which I'll be co-hosting together with my friends Diana from the Studio 56, Liz from Belles Belongings and Margie from Nihao, Cupcake!. We met one another via Art of Composition online photography course. You might remember that we held a mini-blog hop a month ago, to cherish the good time we had in the class - learning of composition and photography, shooting a whole lot of pictures and sharing them with one another.

We've been talking about finding a way to keep the flame alive, that was awakened during the photography course. Our wish is to keep on taking pictures of new themes, looking at the world around us with curiosity - seing things in our everyday environment in a new light. 

The fruit of this wish is "4 Ways Photography Challenge", which will be launched this Thursday.

4 Ways Photography Challenge is a monthly creative meme, where we wish to challenge you and one another in finding 4 ways of photographing the monthly theme, which in April is

Self Portraits in 4 Ways

4 Ways Photography Challenge is open to everyone!

No experience is needed, every sort of camera is usable - both cell phones and iPhones have good quality cameras today. I wouldn't know how to take pictures with an SLR-camera, since I'm used to take photos with my little and handy  Canon IXUS point & shoot camera and iPhone. (An SLR is on my wish list ...  I hope to get one and learn to use it one day :)

If you wish to sharpen your photos or adjust the light or saturation, there's plenty of free programs to do it with, I use PicMonkey and Pixrl - I've heard that Photobucket and Picasa are also easy to use.

The theme self portraits arose from our inexperience - self portraits was actually the assignment, which I found as the most difficult one ...  I still don't think it's easy. Therefore - more pictures, more practice, more experience ...

The themes will change from month to month, we'll let you know on Thirsday the themes for May to August.

The afternoon sun made such a nice reflection on the red onion ... it caught my eyes and I caught my camera, taking 4 different pictures of it

- this is my pre- 4 Ways Photography Challenge :)

A warm welcome to my new blog friends Anne and Kelekia!

I hope to see many of you on Thurdsay!

Nina

PS: We've decided that 4 is the maximum amount of views / photos - not a minimum - so you're more than welcome to join also with one self portrait