The challenge for this week is Beautiful View!
We took my mother-in-law out on a lobster boat. This was one of the pictures that I grabbed.
The pulley hangs from a brace on the lobster boat. In the background is the Portland Headlight lighthouse.
Educator, Thinker, Consultant
The challenge for this week is Beautiful View!
We took my mother-in-law out on a lobster boat. This was one of the pictures that I grabbed.
The pulley hangs from a brace on the lobster boat. In the background is the Portland Headlight lighthouse.
I’ve been participating in the 52Frames photo challenge. So far, I’ve been able to post a picture every week. This has led to some good learning and experiences for me.
This past week, the challenge was a “door”. The “Extra Challenge” was to tell a story. Here is my submission
I really like the way the picture turned out. It was a tough decision on whether to use the original color or the black and white version, but I think the black and white conveys the mood better.
The door is one that I reclaimed. It didn’t have any hinges, catches, or handles. Plus, a couple of the window panes were broken or missing.
I posted this to 52Frames as my submission with the following description:
The door is one that I built from a door panel. The model is my beautiful, fantastic wife. The older style suitcase and mood seemed to call for a monochromatic treatment.
We did just get back from a vacation (holiday).
Much to my surprise, and delight, I received the following comments:
Amazing build and great to see part of your story in a ‘tell a story’ EC week. You’ve nailed the retro vibe with what to me at least feels like early tv. Nicely done.
This was posted by a photographer that I very much admire.
And:
Well done! I like the inclusion of your wife to create a story for the image.
From another creator.
These little things can feel really nice.
This week’s challenge is “negative space”. My first thought was about creating the negative space with black as the negative space. Hm. I thought about it some more and realized that maybe not black was needed, but a plain color. I like a local lighthouse, so maybe a shot of the lighthouse and sky.
Off I head to the lighthouse.
On my way in, I see a sign “Fresh Lobster Rolls”. Something about the sign grabbed my attention. I also looked at the American flag blowing in the breeze. But I was there to take the lighthouse picture. I parked and headed off to take a picture of the flag and the lighthouse. I took several of the lighthouse.
I took several shots of the lighthouse. I think that this one worked well for the negative space challenge. The sky is pretty consistent coloring with just a hint of the clouds on the far right.
I liked this one as it includes more of the lighthouse. Including the water adds a bit to the picture as well.
I took a few shots of the flag. I like the balance of the clouds and the flag with this one. However, I worry that the clouds are a bit distracting for the negative space aspect.
On my way in, I saw the “Fresh Lobster Rolls!” sign. I thought that it might work well for the challenge. Even though I had my lighthouse pictures, something about the sign stayed with me. On my way out, I stopped and took a few images.
I liked the coloring of the sign. I like the handwritten aspect of it. In the end, there was just something about it that struck me. So, this is the entry for this week.
The challenge this week is for a photo that describes a line from a song.
This week’s challenge is Line From a Song, and it might strike a chord with music lovers and visual storytellers alike. Dive into your favorite tunes and pick a line that resonates or sparks your imagination. Your task is to create a scene that embodies this specific lyric, capturing its mood, story, or message through your lens.
Whether it’s a dramatic scene inspired by a powerful ballad, a serene landscape that echoes a soft melody, or a bustling street scene that fits a rocking pop lyric, let the music guide your creative process. It can be a literal representation or a metaphorical one.
Naturally, please write a little in the description so your fellow Framers can know the actual line (maybe include the name of the song!) and have an idea about how the image and the song lyric speak to you. Rock on!
52Frames PHoto Challenge #23 of 2024 – Line from a song
After thinking about a bunch of lyrics, I decide to go with “Black Coffee in Bed” by Squeeze. I figured that I could actually accomplish this one.
The above was my original shot. I wanted it just slightly underexposed and with a bit of bokeh. After thinking about it, I decided to try switching to monotone.
I decided that I preferred the monotone version as it conveys more of the mood and feeling that I was going for.
The challenge for this week was “wide aperture”. I usually shoot with a pretty wide aperture, so this was a “normal” challenge for me. I kind of wanted to shoot an image with a variety of lenses to really learn about the differences, but I didn’t get the time.
I did get to think about it though. That is something that helps me. I do plan on taking an image (with the widest aperture) with a variety of lenses in the future.
In the meantime, my photo submission for this week is below.
This week was minimalism. I took a couple of pictures early in the week when we got some snow. I’m glad I did as the best picture that I got this week was one of those.

I did take some other pictures, a couple of them I like, but they didn’t meet the criteria as well. The other ones that I took were on a very overcast day. I like the way that they turned out, they just didn’t meet the challenge for this week.
This week’s Photo Challenge is Symmetrical Composition. It was a nice exercise to look for symmetry around me. Thus, I enjoyed this challenge. I took a few “backup” pictures with my phone during the week.
However, I visited the park across from the State House (capital building of Maine). I went there as I noticed the nice symmetry of the trees lining the path.
What struck me was the benches. I get a sense of longing, of waiting from the benches.
My second choice was a similar picture of a couple walking. This one ALMOST did it for me.
I think that if the dog wasn’t in the picture blocking the bench, it may have been the choice. I like the balance of the couple walking, both with black coats and jeans. Interestingly to me, the focus of the picture is completely different.
Did I make the correct choice?
The Photo Challenge for this week is intentional camera movement (ICM). I watched the resource on creating an ICM image and the main point seemed to be the wonders of creating an “abstract image”.
I came down to two pictures that I liked for this challenge. I’ve submitted the top picture (and titled it “Ghosted Piers”). The second image was more abstract, but at the end of the day, I liked the first one a bit more.

This was my second choice. This was also taken at Casco Bay.
Unexplored is the theme for this week. The bonus challenge was to involve a stranger. My choice this week didn’t include the bonus challenge.
Here was my choice for the submission.
Here are the other considerations.
I was going to title this one, “Cupid Missed”. I found a random arrow embedded in a tree.
While at the park, a group of ducks came swimming up the river. I got a few shots of them, but I like one of a couple of them taking off best.
I’m not sure which church this is. I like the steeple, but am less thrilled with the storage container in front. Maybe when the trees fill in this can be a better shot.
© 2026 Troy Patterson
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑