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October 15, 2018 • 32

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge: #16 Big Is Beautiful

Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.~David Joseph Schwartz

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Tina asks us to think BIG.

As I scrolled through my photos this week, I collected a few shots–some old, some new.  Ready?  Here we go.

Big in Art

This first shot is one of my favorites.  It captures a massive 24-foot sculpture in Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI.  Artist Nina Akamu’s project The American Horse realizes Leonardo da Vinci’s dream.  His original sculpture of the horse was planned for the city of Milan, but never cast.

Leonardo’s Horse, Meijer Gardens, MI. Shot with a Canon 40D.

The artist Dale Chihuly created a massive glass sculpture for the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  The Lime Green Icicle Tower is 42 1/2 feet high and is located in the Shapiro Family Courtyard.  When I’m in Boston, I like to eat lunch at the cafe nearby.  (The waitress might be carrying my lunch!)

The Lime Green Icicle Sculpture, MFA Boston. Shot with a Canon 40D.

Big in Nature

The scale of this massive waterfall is breathtaking.   Niagara Falls on the US/Canadian border dwarfs the surrounding trees and makes a thunderous sound.

Facing America at Niagara Falls. Shot with an iPhone.

These cliffs at Lands End, Los Cabos, Mexico may not seem that high, until you notice the small boat alongside the rocks.

Land’s End. Los Cabos, Mexico.  Shot with a Canon 70D.

Big in Architecture

These spectacular stained glass windows from Sainte Chapelle in Paris are breathtaking.  Fifteen windows, 49 feet high, illustrate 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testament.

Sainte Chapelle, Paris. Shot with a Fuji X-T2.

I’ll end this post on a personal note.  I’m not a stereotypical American in love with big cars, big Macs, and big houses.  My personal definition of BIG is best described by this quote from C.S. Lewis:

You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.~C. S. Lewis

Thank you, Tina, for leading this week’s BIG challenge and to all of our participants for their responses.  It will be my turn to post the next challenge on Saturday, October 27th at noon.  I hope you will join us!

For more information on how to join the photo challenges, click here. Most importantly, remember to TAG your post ” Lens-Artists ” so it appears in the Reader.

And finally, have a light-filled and inspiring week!

Categories: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Photography

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32 replies »

    • Hi, Tina. Thanks so much! That’s what I was trying to do in each shot. I’m glad it “worked”!! The windows are spectacular. I stood there staring at them for a long while before I attempted to capture them. Simply amazing.

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  3. I featured Canadian bigness today. but I forgot Niagara Falls!
    I am a huge fan of Chihuly, even detoured last year (thanks to my husband) to see the museum in Seattle.

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  5. The lime green icicle tower stopped me in my tracks, maybe because it was unexpectedly lime green. Once again your pictures are fantastic and the quote by C. S. Lewis is going in my quote book. Great going Patti!

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  8. Wow, those stained glass windows are gorgeous! It can be challenging to get a good photo, and you did a terrific job.

    I love the Chihuly sculpture. He had a lovely installation at the botanical garden in the Bronx with about 20 pieces sprinkled all around the grounds. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the flora from the glass! 🙂

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    • Hi, Jackie. I love Chihuly’s work. Amazing glass. It was challenging to capture the stained glass in Sainte Chapelle. I just stared at it for a while before figuring out how to take the shot. Those windows are gorgeous…among the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

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  10. Pingback: Lens-Artist-Photo-Big-Can-Be-Beautiful-Too – WoollyMuses

  13. Love your Lands end photo! If I should fall asleep in Sainte Chapelle and forgot I fell asleep in Sainte Chapelle it will be quite discombobulating waking up is Sainte Chapelle.

    By the way my I still wanted to mention it but my ostrich photos were taken in the farming community of Volmoed – you may recognize your surname in that.. It means full of courage, but in this context it can also mean full of hope

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    • Thanks, Abrie! I love that our family name appears in Afrikaans and Dutch too, as well as Hebrew. Some of my husband’s family lived in So. Africa, but I believe they all emigrated to the U.K.

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  16. Hi Patti, your big photos are stunning. You must have the latest version of iPhone to shoot the Niagara Fall. We went to the Canadian side and it was in winter longtime ago. It was so cold that the battery of the camcorder froze and I thought it was dead. I love all the big shots!!

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