Happy Sunday! This week, Beth from Wandering Dawgs is the lovely hostess for Lens-Artists Challenge #395 and we are looking back! We are looking back to Lens-Artists Challenge #151 from July 2021, which was hosted by John and the topic was On the Water. It was intriguing to see what I wrote the last time and I hope you enjoy my new interpretation.

On the water, the first thing I could think of was this. I remember this was 2022, it was early in the year, it was cold, and I just had to get out of the house as cabin fever was driving me insane. I gave my mom an excuse and went for a drive. The place I went was the local park. In the winter, ducks, mallards, and geese love to come for a visit. Most of them come from the north, which is something that made me laugh because I’ve lived in northern Utah for almost 20 years and still feel cold every winter, yet, these birds came to get away from the cold.

Anyway, the walk and seeing these guys in action seemed to be just what I just needed because I remember feeling much less anxious that day.

I tried to recreate that first photo when I visited the park last summer. It was definitely not the same when there’s only one variety.

In September 2023, during my trip to Japan, as my mom, her friend, and I were walking back to the hotel in Kawaguchiko, I saw these boats docked. Instantly, I knew what they were. They’re pedal boats. They move when you pedal them like a bicycle and you control the direction with the steering wheel. These were very popular when I was a child in China and I have long wanted to try them. The only other time I’ve seen boats like these was in a movie shot in India.

Unfortunately, we were only staying for the night and it was late when I saw these boats. Oh well, another time.

I will end with this photo, which is a literal garden on the water. I saw this island at the Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto, Japan and had a vision of how I wanted the photo to look. I wanted the island to take center-stage by upping the luminance on the trees and darken the background. I also upped the luminance slightly on the rocks to make the reflection stand out.

I believe the result was achieved, what do you think?