Amy hosts this week’s Len’s Artists Photo Challenge and she has selected the topic Under the Sun, meaning literally, “anything under the sun.” In her post, Amy points out the commonly held rule that shooting under a bright sun or towards the sun is often a photographic no-no that causes high contrast, blown out highlights, lens flare. To see Amy’s post on Everything Under the Sun click the link.
My take is that the sun often produces drama, spectacular lighting, and lens flare can often add some flare.
Washington DC.

These soldiers at the Vietnam War Memorial appear to be looking to the sun’s light
Alpenglow
That special time of day when indirect sunlight reflected off of clouds after sunset or direct sunlight right near sunset or sunrise adds a rare red, pink or orange glow to the image.

From my backyard patio

Clouds from my backyard patio

Otherwise drab grass glows golden in the setting sun
Sunrise, Sunset
Sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laiden with happiness and tears. ~ Sunrise, Sunset. Composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick.

Sunrise, Marshall Point Light, Maine

Sunset. San Pablo Bay, California

The setting sun lights up the baseball crowd entering Oracle Stadium, San Francisco
Flare adds some flare

Montreal. Oratoire St Joseph

Marine Corps Memorial

Pescadero Marsh, California
Farewell to the evening sun

Windblown Lexi looks towards the evening sun
Love, love, love your photos, Paulie. You have yet to disappoint!
Thank you Jane. I need to get out with the camera a lot more. I’m actually running out of archives for some of these photo post.
Great photos! Sometimes the sun doesn’t have to be perfect to create the perfect photo 🌞
Thank you Lisa. The sun can be fickle when it comes to photos. Thankfully LR and PS can recover some losses.
Yes I am slowly learning some editing skills. Slowly!
“Flare adds some flare” looks really cool! Clouds from your backyard patio is amazing.
Thank you so much, Paulie for joining in. So glad to see your awesome photos again. 🙂
Thank you Amy. I have to credit my grandson Jackson for the clouds. I was in the house reading when he came in and said, “Look at the colors in the sky.”
Wow Paulie, some wonderful images taking full advantage of the sun’s light. Nicely done!
Thank you Tina!
Love these images! My favorite is the Mariine Corps Memorial.
Thank you so much and thank you for visiting. When we visited DC/Virginia the Marine Corps Memorial was one of the must sees for us.
A great collection of images, Paulie. Your shots with flare are wonderful. I need to work more on that. I especially like your shot of the marshes. I wonder what they’d look like up close. And of course, Lexie stole “the show” for me. A great shot.
Thank you Patti. That whole area around the Pescadero Marsh is a wonderful place to visit. It’s part of a large preserve that includes a beach and tide pools, tidal estuary, freshwater marsh, brackish water marsh, dense riparian woods, and northern coastal scrub. There are miles of trails that wind through the marsh itself. Just off the beach there’s a large rocky island that attracts pelicans and other shore birds.
If you drive inland a couple of miles there’s the little town of Pescadero which has a large (for it’s small size) Portuguese population. There’s a wonderful restaurant in Pescadero called Duarte’s Tavern. The specialty is an artichoke soup (this coastal area is known for artichokes). A small general store offers house baked breads (artichoke bread is delicious) and has a classic old school deli. There’s an old church and a few curio shops in town. I just hope they’re surviving the pandemic.
Just inland from the town is Harley Farms which has a goat ranch. You can take a tour of Harley Farms which also sells their products. If you drive even further inland you’ll enter a redwood forest.
That sounds marvelous, Paulie. I’ll keep that in mind for our next trip out west.
Beautiful pics, but nothing beats a sweet dog!
Lexi is my four legged AMEX. I don’t leave home without her.
As it should be.
Those are very good and nice examples of your comments about using the sun for photographic effect.
Excellent series, all. I like Lexi!
Thank you John. Yes, she is the crowd pleaser.
These are all so amazing, it’s hard for me to even pick a favorite! <3
Thank you so much.
Wonderful photos!
Thank you Luisa.
💙