Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity
This week’s Photo Challenge from The Daily Post asked us to post an image that conveys Serenity. My first instinct was to think about the many temples and religious destinations we have visited; these places often can’t help but to convey a sense of serenity.
Beams of light shining into the spectacular St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. Despite the crowds of tourists and pilgrims this basilica evokes a calm serene environment.
According to the online dictionary Serenity describes the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled. For me this describes what I try to seek out when we travel, I always look for little pockets of calm even amongst crowded busy hectic places. In my mind Serenity is an internal state of mind a way of embracing what we experience and how we react to things.
Bali and in particular the beach. Sitting back and relaxing watching sunset. I can feel the stress and tension leaving my body. It is an incredible experience.
Bali evokes this feeling in me, there is something extremely serene about watching the sunset in Bali, sitting in a lounge on the beach, despite the tourists, despite the beach sellers trying to ply their trade I find nothing better than closing my eyes and just enjoying the sounds and the smells of the beach. Watching the sun set below the horizon marking the end of another day in this island paradise. There is something about this island that just melts my stress away, the tension and anxiety of work and home life just melts away.
Po Lin Monastery on Lan Tau Island. The magical Big Buddha stands atop the mountain and is flanked by a number of symbolic Buddhist statues. Even if you are not religious or spiritual spending some time in this Monastery even just walking the grounds creates a genuine sense of calm and serenity.
A short journey from the crazy chaos that is Hong Kong is the Po Lim Monastery, which features the famous “Big Buddha” statue. This island evokes serenity, from the Po Lim Monastery you can take a bus down the mountain to the sleepy fishing village of Tai O. Walking the little streets and alleys of Tai O – being serenaded by the twittering of the birds from the Mahjong Tables – life seems to slow down, the world spins a little bit slower here and time seems to matter less.
What is your definition of Serenity? What image jumps into your mind when you think Serenity? Please feel free to leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts.
Beautiful lighting. And lovely choice for the theme
Real Good!
Thumbs Up!
Beautiful pictures! Great topic for this challenge!
Great images for the challenge. 🙂
Fantastic pictures! I especially love the shot from Bali…the colors there are awe-inspiring!
Thanks Britta, the sunset can be stunning. Some afternoons not so good, so we came back every day (very relaxing)
Love the light in the first two images. I recognize the statues in the third shot — nice!
Excellent shots. I really like the Bali sunset one, absolutely stunning. The sun looks like an angry fireball going down into the calm ocean. When I think of serenity, I certainly think of sunsets. Sitting down and watching the world go by 🙂
Exposure in the basilica is perfect! Love it!
Thanks Rebecca, I was so blessed with that light – just perfect. Combined with the fact the main aisle was totally cleared to prepare for the arrival of the French President so was the perfect setting for this image.
Excellent captures! First one is mind blowing.