March 21, 2009

Photo Challenge: The Eyes Have It

Time for a new Brenda Photo Challenge! The theme is The Eyes Have It, picked by the current challenge hostess, Brenda of What's UP down South. Thank you, Brenda, for choosing an interesting subject!

You would never win a staring contest with the fellow posing below. This is a totem pole in the Northwest section of the Memphis Zoo. (I think Brenda may recognize it!) The photo was taken at f/8 and 1/250 second.

what eyes! what nose! what lips!
It didn’t take much coaxing to get Cosmos, my sweet horse neighbor, to come over to the fence and model for me. To show the texture of her coat, I applied a poster edges filter to the digital image. The camera settings were f/8 and 1/1000 second.

here is a look of contentment
I was lucky to catch Cosmos turning her head to look at me directly, and I quickly framed up this lovely image with her mane in the out-of-focus background. The photo was taken at f/9 and 1/1250 second.

the sweetness of this horse is seen in her eyes
I also decided to add a little goofiness and springtime cheer to the challenge by snapping a photo of one of my stitched ornaments. (Marty was going to arm wrestle me if I didn’t include it, LOL.) This ornament graces a doorway handle in our solarium. I created this little rabbit several years ago with wool felt and embellished it with silk ribbon embroidery and seed beads. The hare is popping out of a bed of flowers and the double-stacked button eyes add to its comical expression. The camera settings were f/5.6 and 1/25 second.

it's a good thing that Marty doesn't have allergies!

21 comments:

  1. Awwww..you got me hooked with Cosmos! Isn't he adorable?!!! I know Marty helped you with your photos sweetie!!!Hahahaaa...Well Done!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Donna,

    Great eye photos. I love the ones of Cosmos and what you did with them. She looks like a sweetie!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great pictures, Donna. I love the first one and your right, I don't think I could win a staring contets either!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Awesome, Donna! Cosmos~what a great subject. I've always thought horses have the most soulful eyes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the close up shot of Cosmos! Nice job on the focus.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh My, Cosmos is a beauty! Those eyes look into a sweet soul. The totem is very familiar, I love that part of the zoo! The sweet little bunny is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love these. That's a mighty fine poster edge... most of mine look much thicker... well done! Great shots! (I do like the top one a lot!and you're right, I wouldn't try and stare it down.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great pictures, Donna! The totem looks great! And the horse's eyes are so soft and beautiful!
    I'm happy that you loved my Dame Edna! Her eyes beat everything, for sure :)))

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the totem Donna and don't horses have such beautiful soulful eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm following the eyes around. I love this challenge and I'm not even in it. These are great and I love the horse's eye the best :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Donna
    What great pics. Congrats on being such a great photographer. I can't even hold the camera still for one pic. LOL. Love Cosmos. What a ham.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You always have wonderful pictures and are so knowledgeable about photography. Being an animal lover, I really like the pictures of Cosmos.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ah, very clever Donna...well done!
    I managed to get a lizard's eye!

    ReplyDelete
  14. "That fish is so big and ugly, he's scarey! "


    hahahahaha-- nah.. bass are beautiful. well, unless they're on a plate. :))
    we catch and release.

    anyhow--- i love your pix-- the totem is really cool. great imagination.

    have a great sunday

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the totem! The only REAL totem's I've seen were in Alaska, when my hubby and I went on a 7-day inlet cruise and one of our stops was in Sitka. We went into one of the tribal houses and it was primarily made from cedar wood, wow, did it smell wonderful! The totem's were quite a sight to behold ... thanks for the memory jolt!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Everyone - I'm glad that all of you liked my photos, and it looks like the clear favorite was of Cosmos. How can I miss with such a great subject?

    LauraBelle - We took a small boat cruise several years ago, and I remember going through the totem park in Sitka. We also saw a tribal house, but I can't recall now where it was. We enjoyed the totem park outside of Ketchikan too. DH lived in Alaska for many years, so he has a lot of memories of his days up there in America's last wilderness.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely photos and I love the wool felt ornament!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Just checking on you! Sweet day to you!hughugs

    ReplyDelete
  19. PS- Come back over to My place and watch the video! I Love him!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Donna,

    Just checking in on you. I noticed that you hadn't updated and hope you are feeling okay(no knee problems or anything). I'll check out your twitter too.

    ReplyDelete

Marty, here! Donna loves comments, and I faithfully pass them on to her. Thank you so much for visiting!