Whether it’s a person, a building, or an abstract shape, show us something that exists harmoniously with its surroundings.
I love winter, but there’s something about this time of year that always feels clunky to me: all those layers. Watching for ice on the sidewalk. Keeping track of kids’ mittens and toques (a lost cause). Nature might be at its most minimalist — bare branches, pristine fields of snow — but, unless we’re trained figure skaters, we tend to navigate these landscapes far less gracefully than usual. (Disclaimer: I’m not a trained figure skater.)
Luckily, we have swans to inspire us.

Gracefulness is a tricky quality — it manifests itself as an effortless, subtle harmony between a subject and its environment. I took the photo above a few weeks ago at a seaside fish market in Richmond, British Columbia. There was a fun, messy element to the place: people shuffling about, seagulls excitedly circling fishing boats, fresh fish heaped on beds of ice shavings. The swans? They were there in the midst of the action, but you couldn’t tell by their comportment. Stately, elegant, but never stiff, they simply lounged in the water, enjoying some sun.
For this week’s challenge, share something that says “graceful” to you: from a couple dancing a smooth tango or a skyscraper soaring with ease above the skyline, to a leaf that dropped just so atop a moss-covered rock. You can focus on people, animals, architecture, or objects — or go for an abstract shot where the composition itself channels a fluid, streamlined essence.
I look forward to seeing your take on this theme!
https://plasma1999.wordpress.com/2017/01/21/the-intensity/
Here comes my opinion….
LikeLike
I have quesition, only post in english can be featured?
LikeLike
Not at all, since this a photo-based challenge, your blog (and the post) can be in any language you want, as long as you follow the other guidelines of the challenge.
LikeLike
Nice 🙂
https://mukhamani.wordpress.com/2017/01/21/the-daily-post-photo-challenge-graceful/
LikeLike
https://laraelkhoury.wordpress.com/2017/01/21/weekly-photo-challenge-graceful/
LikeLike
http://wp.me/p1hCI2-7Iz
A palm tree can be graceful as well!
LikeLike
Thanks for the opportunity to highlight the spirit and grace of our Emanuel AME survivors Ben. My response is here https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2017/01/21/charleston-sc-city-of-grace/
LikeLiked by 1 person
https://thegravelghost.com/2017/01/21/sierra-snowstorm/
LikeLike
The picture is perfect for this theme. The swans are so graceful.
LikeLike
Thank you! At first I hesitated, since matching “swans” with “graceful” felt a bit too obvious. But at the end of the day, they really do embody that quality.
LikeLike
https://robynneblack63.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/graceful-sunset-on-sand/
LikeLike
Hey legends!
Grace of the Kings; that random title is my take on Ben’s topic.
https://searchingforelsewhere.com/2017/01/22/weekly-photo-challenge-grace-of-the-kings/
Check it out and let me know if you need some feedback on your blog too!
Danke!
LikeLike
Since some time the connection to the WordPress Challenge does not work. My contribution never shows up under “Responses”. So this will be maybe my last contribution to the WordPress Photo Challenge: http://bambooblog.de/2017/01/22/wpc-graceful-grazie-und-schoenheit/
And, yes, I have acitvated Pingbacks…
Sorry
I like the Challenge, but it is too much work for nothing…
LikeLike
I’m sorry about the frustrating experience, Ulrike. We’re looking into a handful of failed pingbacks from the past couple of weeks and hope this gets resolved; but we know that pingbacks depend on so many different factors to work, it’s hard to guarantee they make it through for 100% of participants.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here is my entry…
https://thirdeyemom.com/2017/01/22/the-graceful-beauty-of-a-rainforest-flower/
LikeLike
On a trip to Aswan, Egypt, I met the most beautiful woman. She was graceful with how she moved, how she spoke, and everything about her existence just spoke to me.
https://impulsiveclicks.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/graceful/
LikeLike
Beautiful. I love swans! I miss the white ones though. Down here in Australia there are only black ones (at least I’ve only seen black ones…)
LikeLike
…gracefully making its way through tunnels and grooves…
here’s my post for this week..
https://4otomo.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/graceful/
LikeLike
Hi there,
Please check out a photo I posted for the weekly challenge at https://lovedoingmything.wordpress.com/2017/01/22/graceful-i-see-it-in-nature/
Hope you’ll enjoy. Thank you.
Yaz
LikeLike
Grace is poise. Heavenly. And what better way to represent that than with this beautiful little fairy, blowing galaxies of stars and star dust from atop the moon.
LikeLike
Grace, like beauty, is very subjective. Here’s my contribution to this week’s challenge. http://wp.me/pQ6MO-2iG
LikeLike
Lovely.
LikeLike
https://feelosophical.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/resonances-of-barcelona/
A little bit of Barcelona.
Cheers!
N
LikeLike
my contribution: https://toffipics.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/graceful/
LikeLike
Great photos. Here’s mine: https://perfectlyimperfect32com.blog/2017/01/23/grace-as-seen-in-rocks-by-the-sea/
LikeLike
I’ve always found black and white photography to have an inherent grace, so that is what I went with this week:http://wp.me/p2owKx-NJ
Cheers!
LikeLike
i want to post my weekly photo challenge post but can’t figure out to ping back. could someone help me? Thanks
LikeLike
https://themonicashastri.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/graceful-weekly-photo-challenge/
Graceful Peacocks from my trip to Srilanka last year.
LikeLike
I decided to give the one a try. Here’s my version on Stills, Words, and Motion: https://stillswordsandmotion.com/2017/01/24/graceful/
Take a look, I hope you enjoy!
LikeLike
Hello fellow photographers!
Let’s start the year with one of the most iconic place in Ireland: the Giant’s Causeway, rightfully considered one of the greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom, and a world heritage site by UNESCO, located on the north coast of Northern Ireland.
This incredibly peculiar natural structure owns its origin to the intense volcanic activity which took place in Antrim around 50 to 60 million years ago, when fluid molten basalt formed an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled, an horizontal contraction occurred, originating the fractures still visible nowadays, which shaped the hexagonal pillar-like structures, making this site almost unique in the world.
Being one of the greatest natural wonder in Ireland, it is also one of the most visited tourist attractions of the country. Therefore, if you want to get some good pictures of this gorgeous place, avoiding the hundreds of people which daily crowd it, you’d better plan your visit accordingly (don’t despair, with a few tips it is absolutely possible).
https://brunobiancardi.com/2017/01/24/the-giants-causeway-picture/
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing a beautiful shot of Giant’s Causeway. For future reference, we encourage photographers to share photos and posts that bear directly on the weekly theme; it’s a way to brings together bloggers in a more meaningful way than just sharing a recent photo (however well executed). Looking forward to your future contributions!
LikeLike
So many lovely posts this week. Thanks Ben H.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Join me in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to observe graceful manta rays while they are feeding in the bay. A majestic and fantastic encounter! 🙂 http://www.roamingabout.com/wordless-wednesday-graceful/
LikeLike
I created a post for the challenge, but it doesn’t seem to want to pingback to my site – strange 8/
LikeLike