Weekly Challenge #156 - Hope

It's this time of year, when the days are short and the weather is often grey, I always have melancholy feelings.
Especially this time, the new year brings a lot of uncertainty.

That's why I want to see pictures that express hope!
So this week it’s all about capturing this specific mood!
It can be anything: a person, a landscape, an object, it doesn’t matter as long as it gives me hope!
Be creative, perhaps you have to explain why it express hope! Good luck and have fun!!


Challenge ends on Sunday, January 9 at midnight!

The fine print....
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread, and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose 1 of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus a day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax camera will do or a Samsung DSLR.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.


Previous Challenge Subjects:
1-Statues, 2-Wheels, 3-Speed, 4-Peace, 5-Survival, 6-Macro, 7-Mountains, 8-Children, 9-Post Processing, 10- Windows & Doors, 11-Sport, 12-Urban Landscape, 13-Wisdom, 14-Power, 15-Music, 16-Pathways, 17-Lines, 18-Storm, 19-Boats, 20-Water, 21 - Golden Hour, 22 - Natural Lighting, Portraits, 23-Motion Blur, 24-Simplicity, 25-Color, 26-Cars, 27-Repetition, 28-Wildlife, 29-Epiphany, 30-Contrast, 31-Pets, 32-Landscapes, 33-Coastal, 34-Churches, 35-Bridges, 36-Creation, 37-Still Life: Food, 38-At the Zoo, 39-Wide Aperture, 40-Merry Christmas, 41- Sunsets, 42-Action, 43-Fireworks, 44-Manipulated Light Portraits, 45- Advertising/Product Shot, 46- B&W Street Shooting, people/buildings, 47-Vanishing Point, 48-Reflection, 49-Tranquility, 50-Expressions, 51-S Curve, 52-Hands, 53-Shadows, 54-Your Favorite Beverage, 55-Barriers, 56-Perspective, 57-Night Scenes, 58-Zen-like...Water and Stone 59-Modern architecture, 60-Sunrises, 61-Red, 62-Action on water, 63-Bodies in Motion, 64-Ruins, 65-Blue and green, 66-Iridescence, 67-Anthropomorpha, 68–Sound, 69-Backlight, 70-Group Shot, 71-Railway Scenes, 72-Technology, 73-Color on Color, 74-History, 75-Autumn/Harvest 76-working men and women, 77-Silhouettes, 78 Stranger Portrait, 79-Transportation, 80 - Lonely, 81 - Holidays, 82 - Toys 'n Games, 83 - Machines, 84 - Ice, 85 - Cats, 86 - Stories, 87 - Cultures, 88 - Absence, 89 - Weather, 90 - Old roads, 91 - The River, 92 - The Seventies, 93 - Beautiful Bokeh, 94 - Balance, 95 - Crop a miniature landscape, 96 - Opposing gravity, 97- Feet, 98 - Sacred Grounds, 99 - Extraordinarily Ordinary, 100-added textures, 101-still life, 102-bicycles, 103 - Broken, 104- Flowers (B&W), 105 Backlighting, 106-Water. 107-Wind, 108-Parent/Child candids, 109-Passion, 110-Events, 111-Streets, 112-The Aged, 113-Fire and Heat, 114-Nature vs. Culture, 115 - Letters or Numbers, 116 - Self-Portrait, 117 - The Tree, 118 - Minimalism, 119 - Rust, 120 - Before & After, 121 - Negative Space, 122 - Decay & Dereliction, 123 - Cold, 124 - Melancholy, 125 - The Element of Time, 126 - Public Transportation, 127 - Yin Yang, 128 - Sepia or Dual Tone, 129 - Hand Coloring, 130 - Light Trails, 131-Once in a lifetime, 132 - Moms & Motherhood, 133 - Beautiful Blur, 134 - B&W Abstract, 135 - History, 136 - In and around the kitchen, 137 - Habit, 138 - Perspective: From the Ground Up, 139- Mist/fog, 140 – No faces, 141-Bubbly, 142- The 'hood, 143-Green, 144-Garbage, 145-Emotion, 146 - Events, 147-Seasons. 148-Building and/or Construction 149-Chiarouscuro, 150-A Day In The Life, 151 - Religion, 152 - Home, 153 - The Decisive Moment, 154 - People in uniform, 155 - Sound, 156 - Hope

[casil403]

The start of a new day brings hope for me.

[Iris]

Great start Lisa!

[Rense]

Wow Lisa! That will be hard to beat!!!
Nice theme Iris! Will see what I can come up with....

[slowpez]

Cripes Lisa, that is a real discouragement for the rest of us mere mortals. One heck of a fantastic shot.
I refuse to not to play because I am a glutton for punishment. So here goes. Early spring brings the rebirth of all things and hope along with it.

[Tamia]

Whoa, good ones, ladies! Excellent subject for this time of year in particular, Iris.

Intelligent, Contemplative, Observant, & Thoughtful... Hope

[bbluesman]

Babies in bunny outfits always give me the warm fuzzies...

[JeffJS]

Can you See the hope in his eyes? Only one thing makes him sit still while I have a camera in my hands.

[NaClH2O]

Great shots everybody. Great theme Iris.

Here's mine.


I always enjoy one of the first signs of spring around here, the lowly Skunk Cabbage melting it's way thru the snow. They can actually generate enough heat to melt their way thru 6 inches (@ 15cm) or more. When you are walking thru swampy areas in mid to late March around here you can come across spots that have seveal dozens of round 3" (@7.5 cm) holes in the snow, each with it's small skunk cabbage valiantly melting and pushing its way upward.
Ist DS, Tamron 90 F/2.8, 1/125 sec @ f/13.

NaCl(skunk cabbages are hot!)H2O

[slowpez]

I can even smell that skunk cabbage.

[NaClH2O]

Thanks Susan, not for nothing is its scientific name "Symplocarpus foetidus" They aren't too bad in early spring, but walking thru a skunk cabbage swamp in mid June when the leaves are huge can be a decidedly unpleasant experience.

NaCl(but at least it keeps the mosquitos down)H2O

[casil403]

Thanks for the kind words gang. Like the skunk cabbage shot...reminds me of back home although ours out in the west coast look a little different. The poppy bud is pretty neat as well.

[Voytech]

To me, hope is in the child's eyes. Your whole world can be crumbling down, but that one look from a child can give you the power to keep going despite the odds.

[Iris]

I hope to see some more pictures

[wllm]

Hoping on a kid, to pick me up and play with me.