Rainy view across to Panglao Island
On December 21st, 2019, from a window seat at the Lantaw Native Restaurant in Tagbilaran on the Philippine island of Bohol we looked across the water to Panglao Island. Rain softened the view.
© 2020 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Beautiful minimalist photo.
rabirius
February 14, 2020 at 5:33 PM
Thanks. This low-key view is different from my typical minimalism, which generally has an in-focus subject or two but not a lot else in the photograph.
Steve Schwartzman
February 14, 2020 at 5:38 PM
A real departure from your usual style. It makes an intriguing scene.
I might have believed you, if you’d labeled it as a snowy scene in Wisconsin. Those sticks might be radio antennae on top of the U.S. Bank Center in Milwaukee, sticking out of the snow.
Robert Parker
February 14, 2020 at 6:09 PM
And I could’ve put a bottle of San Miguel beer out there to stand in for Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Yes, this is a departure from my usual style. I even hesitated to show it here, not knowing if there’d be much interest in this sort of minimalism.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 8:02 AM
Love the soft colours and the faint line between where sky ends and sea begins.
WanderingCanadians
February 14, 2020 at 6:46 PM
Soft indeed, and a departure from the kinds of landscapes I normally show here.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 8:05 AM
Like a soft pastel abstract painting.
Birder's Journey
February 14, 2020 at 7:24 PM
I hadn’t thought of this as a painting till you said so.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 8:13 AM
It’s surreal.
circadianreflections
February 14, 2020 at 8:25 PM
So is real life at times.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 8:13 AM
It must have been heavy rain or mist that caused the contours of the landscape to disappear almost completely.
Peter Klopp
February 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM
You’re right: it was the rain.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 10:40 AM
It’s interesting that, while the image certainly is minimalist, it’s far from monochromatic. On my monitor, I see the palest shades possible of green and pink: a pleasing and wholly unexpected transformation of land and water.
shoreacres
February 15, 2020 at 9:16 AM
Hooray for transformations.
I see the pale blue-green of the water; shades of pink elude me.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 10:43 AM
Melissa (below) joins you in seeing pink.
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 12:11 PM
I’m with Linda, as usual. I really find the soft pink and green and white pleasing. Nice for this morning. We had the coldest night of the year here. I’m not entirely sure how cold it got but, very far below freezing. And our furnace went out. Came the dawn-I love that phrase- and I’m greeted by this serene image of yours.
melissabluefineart
February 15, 2020 at 9:39 AM
It’s easy to see why you’d welcome serenity after the coldest night of the year and a non-functioning furnace. I hope you had plenty of blankets or some good sleeping bags.
The oldest occurrence I could find of “came the dawn” with “came” as the first word of a sentence was from 1932:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Rattle_of_Theta_Chi/Jc_nAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22came+the+dawn%22&pg=PA9&printsec=frontcover
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 12:10 PM
I wondered about that. Thanks for the link.
melissabluefineart
February 16, 2020 at 8:36 AM
I expected to find occurrences from much earlier, so the relatively recent year of 1932 surprised me.
Steve Schwartzman
February 16, 2020 at 9:35 AM
Same here. Also, it seemed to be buried in the text, not set apart as such a glorious phrase demands!
melissabluefineart
February 17, 2020 at 8:21 AM
Maybe you’ll use Came the Day as a title for one of your paintings.
Steve Schwartzman
February 17, 2020 at 9:30 AM
I like that. I notice you have honored my inability to greet most dawns by changing it to Day. I will definitely look for a way to do that. You have inspired me!
melissabluefineart
February 18, 2020 at 5:11 AM
Happy inspiration.
Steve Schwartzman
February 18, 2020 at 9:54 AM
This has a nice soft pastel feel that would appear abstract were it not for the plants on the near shore. Definitely a different sort of rainy landscape.
Steve Gingold
February 15, 2020 at 10:05 AM
As you know so well, it’s hard after years and years to come up with new ways of looking at things. This was one.
You’re the second commenter to use the word “pastel.”
Steve Schwartzman
February 15, 2020 at 12:16 PM
I like the spare, minimalist view in this image very much.
tomwhelan
February 17, 2020 at 1:21 PM
It was a different sort of minimalism for me, so I was glad to hear from people who found it effective.
Steve Schwartzman
February 17, 2020 at 4:06 PM
I think this is daring, Steve. I like it. 🙂
bluebrightly
February 23, 2020 at 2:21 PM
Ah, that make me the daring young (?) man on the seat at his ease.
Steve Schwartzman
February 23, 2020 at 5:48 PM