Landscape Photography

 If you want to visit the beautiful places of the world without ever leaving the comfort of your armchair, or if you happen to live right beside one and want to share its magical allure, this group is tailor made for you. Whether it's natural features, remote lighthouses, modern architecture, endless highways or enigmatic phenomena, there is simply so much that will fill you with awe and wonder. The mighty and mysterious Dolomites. The historic towers of Prague. Island Lake offset against the backdrop of the San Juan Mountains. Sun-kissed valleys in Slovakia. A dreamy sunset in Buffalo, Minnesota. A spectacle of clouds over Austria. Celestial pathways. Swamplands. Since this group showcases the work of serious photographers - whether amateur or professional - the images are all jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Enjoy the moods, the reflections, the lights and the beauty. 

Members: 590.7k at time of writing

Trigger Warnings: None. 

Go here to visit or join. 

Related posts:

Sunrises and Sunsets of the World

Google Earth, Structures and Anomalies

Snapshots of the World

Photo Restoration Group

 I love history. I also love looking at pictures. Not just paintings. Photographs too. I love the way they capture random moments. Special times. And love lost. Somewhere in a box beneath my mother's bed there's a sepia tinged photograph of my grandfather as a baby. That photograph is more than a hundred years old, and - thank goodness - it remains in fairly good shape, for its age. Scrolling through the posts here made me think my own keepsakes - and those of family members. Each photo shared here is irreplaceable. Some are weathered, creased, faded or sun stained. Some are just blurry - poor representations of the memories they hold. Some are spoiled by accidental photo-bombs. Whatever may be that niggling reason for a snapshot being less than perfect, the wonderfully generous members of this Facebook group lovingly apply their skill and their magic to retouch and repair all those special photos that tell stories of a thousand words or more. Some of the resulting images are nothing short of amazing. If nothing else, this space is also a welcome antidote to the soulless manifestations of AI generation apps. 

Members: 314k, at the time of writing

Trigger Warnings: None.

Go here to visit or join.

Related posts:

Weird (and wonderful) secondhand Finds That Just Need to Be Shared

Snapshots of the World

Urban Street Photography

Sunrises and Sunsets of the World

Whether it be the silvery slithers of new light that signify the start of another day, or the golden, sun-drenched glory that marks the end of it, there is something romantic and special about sunrise and sunset. Both prompt you equally towards self-reflection with their beauty. When travelling, a sunset infuses the watcher with the magic of transitions - be they temporal or geographical. But they also touch of the timelessness of our shared appreciation of beauty. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's wise Little Prince exalted in the sunsets of his tiny home planet and mourned the fact that Earth's sunsets were a whole twenty-four hours apart. He might have loved this group, where you can experience a thousand sunsets around the world, simply by scrolling further. Goodnight, beautiful planet. Here's looking at you. 

Members: 114.1k, at the time of writing.

Trigger Warnings: None.

Go here to visit or join. 

Related Posts:

The View From My Window

Snapshots of the World

The Cloud Appreciation Society

Sketch in Travel

Photo Credit: dakzxz on Pixabay.

Steps and Stairs appreciation society

Let's go places. Let's climb up, up, up and see where that gets us. Every image is a gateway. A way to get on the eternal staircase. And while you are traversing the steps, pause and look around you. See azure bays from the windows of whitewashed island villas. Explore the backrooms and underbelly of an auditorium. Overgrown steps of stone. Quaint porch gardens. Ancient places where you would have to watch where you go, lest you stumble. Staircases that lead to little pockets of wonder. If you hear the call to adventure, step outside yourself. You'll never know where it might lead. Thanks to the creator of this Facebook group for opening the door to thousands of steps that lead anywhere. 

Members: 11.7k, at the time of writing

Trigger warnings: None

Go here to visit or join.

Image credit: NakNakNak on Pixabay. 

Beautiful Mountains

Calling all hikers and nature lovers. The great outdoors doesn't get any greater than a mountain (or two), but what makes mountains great are not only their physical nature, but also the iconic status they occupy in the consciousness of those who reside in their shadow. The presence and stature of a mountain offers a unique way to orient, a protective barrier and a focus for weather systems. But most of all mountains are easy on the eye. Reassuring. Mountains are the backbone of the planet and, as such, they remain some of the most mysterious places to be found, hiding unique features, caves, ruins and holy places. Most posts share the name and location of the featured mountain. You will see mountains from Canada, New Zealand, South America, and Switzerland (of course!). 

Members: 601.8k, at the time of writing

Trigger Warnings: AI-generated images. Not enough (in my opinion) to be problematic, but in a group like this, there would be an expectation to see mountains that actually exist. 

Go here to visit or join.

Assateague Island Pony Pictures

The Assateague Island off the east coast of America is world famous for its herds of feral ponies that were immortalized in the much-loved children's book Misty of Chincoteague written by Marguerite Henry and published almost eighty years ago. This barrier island comprises of several national parks - the Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague State Park on the Maryland side and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the Virginia side, and the topic of whether the feral equines of the island should be named Assateugue horses or Chincoteague ponies is a matter of debate, but this Facebook group is more interested in sharing the photographs of visitors and residents to the island. The cute foals, of course take center stage, but there are also photographs of adult horses interacting. According to legend, the horses of Assateague are descended from a shipment of Spanish horses that were shipwrecked here. If you love horses, you would really enjoy this space. I did.

Members 60.5k, at the time of writing

Trigger warnings: None 

Go here to visit or join. 

Photography Icons

 As you may have noticed from some of my other posts, I really, really like looking at pictures. And this facebook group has a wealth of them. Especially black and white photography documenting moments from the past or offering social or societal commentary.  Portraits of everyday folk from the Weimar Republic. Punk bands captured on their home turf. Supermodels, caught in the wild. The devestation of World War Two documented. Stills from a David Lynch movie. A 1950s snapshot of Elvis visiting a record store. A tatooed beauty from the 1930s. A behind the scenes look at a Bombay circus. Street photography in different cities, on different continents. There's even a lens reversal which shows a 1945 photographer with his gear. Posts include details about the photographer, date and any interesting details of the shot that are available. 

Members 54.3k, at the time of writing.

Trigger Warnings: The past is a different country.

Go here to visit or join. 

Peeling Paint Appreciation Society

Yeah, why not. Let's take a peek at a group about not doing anything. About leaving things as they are. Instead of consciously making art, let's look for accidental art, and leave it where it happens. I found myself pleasantly surprised by this gallery of the incidental, which seems very much to put the rust into rustic. Since many of the images are close-ups, the captions feature a description, and sometimes even a location - which makes it even more interesting. Feast your eyes. Then, with these photos still freshly formed in the back of your opsins, go out, armed with your camera or smartphone and find your own. Anyone can do this. Trust me. 

Members: 46.8k, at the time of writing.

Trigger warnings: None.

Go here to visit or join. 

Urban Street Photography

 Street photographers have the wonderful ability to freeze moments and capture slices of life. Famous street photographers such as William Klein, Helen Levitt, Vivian Maiar, Dorothea Lange and Eugène Atget offered us tantalizing glimpses of bygone worlds and characters, as seen through their lenses and provided social commentary with their images. While the internet era has brought new concerns regarding ethics and how people can be portrayed, it is good to know that street photography has not quite gone away just yet. The photographs posted show urban settings and city dwellers from around the world, frozen in moments of solitude or connection. It is both fascinating and thought-provoking.

Members: 586.9k, at the time of writing.

Trigger warnings: None

Go here to visit or join. 

Wight Life Photography - Wildlife & Landscape Photography

I'm in the mood for looking at pictures again, preferably somewhere far away from a sweltering hot Cape Town, so follow me, as I follow the path of photographer Paul Buckley's lens and explore the Isle of Wight, its beautiful scenery and wildlife ranging from squirrels, foxes and red deer to geese, kingfishers, woodpeckers and even a humpback whale. There are 200 images in the gallery and links to 64 video clips of wildlife on Wight.

What's great about this group: explore the beauty of nature.

Update (26 October 2023)

It looks as if this group does not exist anymore. I could not find any other site connected to photographer Paul Buckley either. 

Wild Moments

Anyone who's visited this blog before, must know that I love looking at beautiful photographs. Here is yet another group that showcases what nature has to offer in wild places and wild life. See images of beautiful sunsets, unusual light effects, birds, flowers, insects... There are also links to the individual websites of various contributing photographers.

What's great about this group: witness the beauty of nature.

Update (28 October 2023)

There is a Facebook account for Wild Moments photography, a Facebook page called Wild Moments (which seems unrelated to the FB account, because they are on different continents), as well as a Facebook group called Wild & Free Moments. 

Mystery Photo Game

The game is very simply. Every day an extreme close-up of an image is posted. Members are invited to guess what it is and on the next day, the answer is supplied. Challenge yourself and see whether you can guess what the featured close-up really is.

What's great about this group: A daily visual brain-teaser.

Update (28 October 2023)

This Facebook group does not seem to exist anymore. 

MY ME

The advent of digital cameras, cell phones and the photo-editing software such as Photoshop has added a whole new meaning to the concept of self portrait. With the aid of a mirror or an extra little screen, you can happily take amazing photographs of yourself and just delete the duds to make space for more. If you are ready to showcase yourself, check this group out. The theme is very simple. Images must be of 'Self by Self', i.e. the photographer is also the model. Although the group could see a bit more activity, it's got a great concept and there are definitely some creative and funny photographs to check out in the gallery.

What's great about this group: Get creative with your self-image in 2010

Update (22 April 2024)

I could not find a Facebook group with this name. 

Black and White Photography

To share beauty through the eyes of another, is always a rare and special thing. In the art of black and white photography, the dramatic effect of light and shadow is often enhanced, creating startling wonder in seemingly ordinary things. A woman's smile. Trees in a forest. An apple, a diamond ring, a mushroom or the underside of a bridge. If you love to feast your eyes regularly, then do afford yourself the time to be inspired by the 19,000 images in the gallery of this group. There are no discussions, but who needs only words to stimulate the mind? The wall features links to some other photographic resources.

What's great about this group: A wealth of thought-provoking images.

Click here to go directly to: 'Black and White Photography'.