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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #110 – Creativity in the Time of Covid

Here is my entry into Tina’s of Lens-Artists Photo A Week Challenge with the topic of Creativity in the Time of Covid.

Lily from my yard.

This has been an extremely hard time for me.  Covid hit right as Spring was coming into full bloom.  As many of you know I am a passionate floral photographer.   I am lucky to live in an area where I have access to many flower farms and fields.  99% percent of my flowers are taken in the fields or nurseries where they grow and are still live on their stems.  This Spring everyone closed the flower fields.  I have chronic lung issues, a carry over of having had lymes disease, which puts me in the at risk group for Covid.

So I’ve been fighting a lot of depression this year.  I believe I am not the only person who is feeling the effect of the pandemic so, I decided to get a little more creative with my blog.  I figured this is a time that many of us can enjoy pretty photos and stay active blogging.

The first thing I did was start uploading flowers with the color yellow for my Flower of the Day FOTD challenge.  I encouraged bloggers to look through their archives and use old photos if they couldn’t take new photos.

This is an old archived lotus flower.

Even the dandelions in my yard got photographed this year.

Then I started to doing what I call Pick Me Up posters with happy, inspiring or motivation quotes daily.  I use my photography as a jumping to go along with a quote I like.  I enjoy putting them together.

Here we are in the middle of August and life is returning to a semi-new normal.  And last but not least, the dahlia fields are open.  They have limited hours, but I can once again get out in my flower fields where I feel so alive and at home.

Part of Swan Island Dahlia gardens.

I’ve put together a list of challenges and their hosts.  So if you know a challenge host, please direct them to my blog.  Feel free to contact me anytime.  I hope everyone will be able to use my lists.

Qi (energy) hugs

Cee

70 replies »

  5. I’m so glad you can get out to the flower fields now, Cee. Nature is a huge uplift and a joy. I’m so glad that it’s your respite from the craziness swirling around us. Take care and stay well.

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    • Tomorrow it will be cooler and cloudy … Chris and I are planning on going back out to the dahlias. Perfect for photography. The sun is nice, but sometimes hard to shoot around.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I think we share a fondness for photographing flowers and, I’m afraid, also that depression caused by this situation that we are living. I like your inspiring posters. 🙂

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  8. Wow. GREAT photos. Love O’Keeffe’s iris! Fortunately/unfortunately, you have a lot of company with depression. We will get through this.

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  11. Since March, it’s been a challenge of its own, hasn’t it? I know how you love flowers and I am glad the gardens are starting to allow visitors again.

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  13. Fantastic photos! I am so tired of all of this. It’s so darn hot where I live that getting outdoors is hard. But I’m doing it early on the weekends. And I’m eating and sitting around too much! UGH 😣 (persevering face) but we will get through this!! So glad your flower gardens are opening up!

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  15. These photos cheer me up, Cee. I have had down times… I avoid the daily news and listen to more music and read WP posts.
    Glad you made the trip.

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    • WP posts to cheer us up. I do stay away from the news for the most. I’ve done that for years now. I shall continue to do so. I have to admit we have kept up with Covid more than I care to think about though.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Hi Cee, and thank you for being bravely honest. Being outside is one of the best things for mind, body & soul, and I’m happy to hear the dahlia fields have finally reopened there! Blessings to you, my blogging friend! 🌞🙏🦋

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  19. A beautiful post, Cee. You are certainly not alone in feeling depressed. We haven’t had any lock down, but severe restrictions we have still. I have been low almost all these months, but was saved by my daughter coming home for summer. Now she has left again, and I am no longer smiling.
    So glad the flower fields have opened for you!

    Liked by 1 person

    • I am so happy your daughter could spend the summer with you. I try and look for something to smile about every day. Even the couple seconds a smile lasts can go a long way. Your photography always makes me smile.

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      • Cee – you are so tight about smiles too…and there I agree with you about Your photography! Always makes me smile. I want to participate again, but this has been too much for me this summer. You are always very inspiring, even from the start when I first tried to join in. Your flowers are astonishing – real treats to learn from. When everything calms down – I will come back!

        And, Totti is still fine!

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        • I think of you and Totti every once in awhile. I’m so happy to hear all is fine. Our dogs bring us so much joy.
          I know I am relying on my old photos alot this summer. I’m so glad when I get some new ones.

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          • I understand your little ones are OK as well? I had to shave off everything on Milo because of the heat. His coat is double, triple and like a sheep…
            And we all have to rely on old photos mostly, don’t we! They are worth seeing more than once.

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            • Yes, my girls are doing just fine. Maddie’s eye healed up wonderfully well. We keep the pugs inside most of the time, but pugs are bred for indoor dogs. Needless to say, they love the air conditioning. They shed constantly and have 600 hairs per square inch which is like double and triple the average dog.

              Your photos are definitely worth seeing more than once.

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  20. You are not at all even CLOSE to the only one feeling this way. We are all either totally bummed or depressed, depending on how we cope with this kind of thing. If I weren’t lucky enough to have birds right outside on my deck, I probably would have lost my mind, I miss my rivers and parks and woods and bridges. I miss just the sense of movement. It’s why i’ve done as much “creative” photography as I have. It’s something to do, some way to take some pictures and make them unique.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I hear you. I’m not one to play a lot with a photo, so photoshope really doesn’t interest me. I do keep tweaking my work though. We all have such unique and wonderful ways to cope. 😀

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  21. A beautiful post Cee, thanks so much for sharing your beautiful images and your approach while things were shut down. I think we all suffer a bit of depression although of course there are so many in much worse conditions than ours. We are taking lockdown seriously as my husband suffers from an auto-immune disease. It’s so frustrating that so many are so cavalier when others are at risk. Ah well, hopefully we’ll cone through the worst of it soon. Stay safe and keep enjoying the blossoms – even the lowly dandelion is beautiful. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Difficult not to feel like a prisoner this year. I’m glad the flower fields are now open, Cee. Our local public garden with its thousands of flowers planted each year has been my island of sanity in the Covid storm.

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  25. I love dandelions. Must be the color and their resilience! Somehow they just seem to pop with excitement – like in your pic! How could you resist?!😀

    Liked by 1 person

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