Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

After posting a single photo as a preview of this newest Photo Challenge last week , here are some of the other photos. I hope you enjoy the beauty of a misty morning. As is evident, I haven't written a Photo Challenge post every week, haven't written a proper Photo Challenge post for some time now. Yes, creating a Photo Challenge for this blog was meant in part to challenge me to go out there and take photos, however I've just not felt inspired lately. Walking around with a camera, attempting to see the beauty all around, sharing that beauty - All that sounds great in theory, however doesn't always work out in real life. Sometimes you're just too tired or drained. Sometimes you have a period when seeing the beauty is hard. Sometimes you feel let down by others and taking photos takes too much emotional effort. Sometimes you look at what is happening in the world and feel like taking photos of beautiful scenes is pointless. Sometimes you wonder why you even bothe...

I have a confession to make. I didn't take many photos this week. Well, a few of the sunset and a few of some trees, but really - I didn't think that they were nice enough to share or even to edit profusely and then share. I've been busy reading books and honestly, reading has been so much fun that taking my camera out wasn't high on my list of things to do. Even looking through older photos to find some to share seemed like too much time away from my books. Seeing I decided on weekly photo challenges, I feel a little bad about not actually taking any photos, yet reading has been so much fun that I don't feel guilty or bad about not taking my camera out. So, instead of sharing more photos and works of art that aren't actually mine (yet still very awesome, cool, amazing, share-worthy and all that), this week I'm posting several older photos. Because, yes, I did look through some of my older photos after deciding that posting no photos at all would be worse ...

It's the simple things that make life worthwile. Smile. Love. Ejoy nature. Thank God / The Universe / The Powers That Be for all that you are, have, know, learn and experience each and every day. Repeat. It's the Simple Things...

This week's Photo Challenge photos are here! When posting about this week's Photo Challenge in my earlier post on Friday , I wrote about possible topics. I really should make it a habit to decide on topics earlier in the week, that would probably make these Challenges a lot easier! "While "Summer" would probably be the most logical topic for this week's Challenge, I'm considering other options as well. Options such as Rain, Sunshine, Heat Wave and Ice Cream. Although "Ice Cream" would probably be too expensive seeing I'd have to buy all the ice cream before being able to take photos of it! As you can see from this post's title, I decided on Sunshine as the topic for this week. Mostly because today's sunset was simply stunning, although not all of the photos were taken today. Either way - Enjoy this week's Challenge photos! Sunshine on the Water Sunshine through the Tree Sun shining on the Tree Sunny sky...

Who needs a hairdresser when you've got a full head of hair like this tree does... Full head of hair...

For this week's Photo Challenge I will be focusing on Trees. I like taking photos of nature and the natural world, flowers and trees , however (with regards to trees,) I tend to focus on branches as I still struggle a little when it comes to taking photos of entire trees that I actually like and want to share. After taking two (very similar!) photos of a tree that I actually liked (gasp!) and wanted to share with others, I decided that Trees would make a good Photo Challenge topic! When I started thinking about doing weekly Photo Challenges, one of the reasons was that I wanted to become a better photographer by challenging myself. As 'trees' is certainly a topic I want to work on, Trees it is! Here are the first two photos (of the same tree) - the ones I actually liked enough to want to share! More to follow soon! Trees #1a Trees #1b Update: I have no idea how, but I managed to hurt my ankle this weekend which made walking all over town to take photos...

Just saw a very inspiring post on Twitter. The Wildlife Trusts (UK) is introducing a #30DaysWild challenge for the month of June. They're encouraging people to spend more time appreciating and enjoying nature this coming month. What an awesome idea for my next Photo Challenge! Or perhaps for a month-long challenge just for me? For the thirty days of June, 30 Days Wild suggests that people commit to giving themselves some time with nature every day, even if it's just a few seconds to smell a flower or appreciate the sunshine. What a lovely idea! As today is May 31st, the challenge starts tomorrow. Devon Wildlife Trust's suggestion for Day 1 is to hug a tree. The #30DaysWild challenge starts tomorrow! What will be your first Random Act of Wildness? We'll be hugging a tree! pic.twitter.com/QLRhZMhzNE — Devon Wildlife Trust (@DevonWildlife) May 31, 2015 As I read those words, my brain thought Hey, I can do that! I've even got a photo to match the theme ...