Nature – Tranature

Haiku: Pond Meditation

view of a small pond flanked by trees leaning across the water

these memories
leaning across the pond
in the leaves

We’re delighted that this haiku is featured in Haiku Dialogue – Willow and Intro to Poet’s Choice, Troutswirl, The Haiku Foundation Blog, 31 July 2019. A very big thank you to Kathy Munro for putting this edition together.

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Settings: f/2.8 – 1/40 s – ISO 200, f/4 – 1/60 s – ISO 200 and f/3.4 – 1/200 s – ISO 400.

Sunday Stills: The Essence of Zen

Word of the Day Challenge: Gesture

Silent Sunday: Seeing You, Seeing Me

a female merganser standing on exposed seaweed and stones in tidal river

a female merganser looking straight up at the camera from the riverbank

Ann-Christine invites us to take photographs from different angles and this sweet female goosander was looking at me from different angles too.

Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday from the river bank,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/200 s – ISO 200 and f/6.3 – 1/250 s – ISO 200.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #59: Angles

Your Daily Word Prompt: Review

Tanka: Mountain Frog

a golden striped frog sitting between stones, grass and wildflowers

side by side
letting each other be
the frog and I
his eyes a lake of gold
high up in the mountains

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/125 s – ISO 100 and f/2.8 – 1/320 s – ISO 100.

Sunday Stills: Close Up

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Spacious

Haiku: Loch Broom

a small yacht anchored behind two old fishing boats in Loch Broom

side by side
anchor balls and fishing boats
a glimpse of the west

two old fishing boats anchored among leisure boats and rowing boats by Ullapool

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/1000 s – ISO 160, f/5 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100 and f/5.6 – 1/320 s – ISO 100.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #58: Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Intrepid

Word of the Day Challenge: Glimpse

Haibun: A Day for Peace

In the city of seven rivers, doves are released into the sky as a symbol for peace. We remember how more than one hundred and forty thousand people lost their lives. Every year on 6th August, we remember.

The main river that feeds the others springs from the Chugoku mountains. The water is crystal clear and full of nutrients. There are crabs on the mud flats at low tide, cormorants fishing. In the middle of one of the rivers sits an island where herons nest. A survivor tells us, he loves to come here and watch the birds, fill his heart with hope for the future.

from the sky
on Hiroshima Day
a white feather

Wishing you all a peaceful day and our thoughts are with our friends in Hiroshima.

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/3.5 – 1/250 s – ISO 100, f/3.5 – 1/125 s – ISO 100 and f/3.5 – 1/160 s – ISO 100.

dVerse Poets Haibun Monday: Hiroshima Day 2019 – A Reflection on Peace

Dutch Goes the Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Overhead

Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Intent

Silent Sunday: A Break by the Pond

a cob and his three month old cygnet on a small island in the pond

a cob preening on a small island beside his cygnet

Wishing you all a blessed Sunday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Canon Powershot SX60 HS, Settings: f/5.6 – 1/400 s – ISO 200, f/5.6 – 1/250 s – ISO 160 and f/6.5 – 1/320 s – ISO 200.

Silent Sunday

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #57: Taking a Break

Wordless Wednesday: Painted Lady Butterfly

a painted lady butterfly on top of lilac blossom

macro shot of a painted lady butterfly on top of lilac blossom

In case you missed them, Karina shared two beautiful photographs of a Common Blue butterfly in Ireland and Dwight shared images of some wonderful flowers, bees and a variety of butterflies in North Carolina.

It is lovely to see that they, like us here in the Highlands, are seeing more butterflies this year than last year.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/4 – 1/1000 s – ISO 100, f/4 – 1/640 s – ISO 100 and f/4 – 1/500 s – ISO 100.

Wordless Wednesday

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Your Daily Word Prompt: Sublimity