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Photo Challenge

Graceful

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.

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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!

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    1. 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.

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  27. 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/

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    1. 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!

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