Some moments are here one minute and gone the next, but that’s exactly what makes them worth capturing. This week’s Sunday Stills theme is ‘Ephemeral,’ and I’m inviting you to join the hunt for fleeting beauty, funny surprises, and anything else that refuses to stick around. Grab your camera, look closely, and let’s see what wonderfully temporary moments you can find!
Welcome to Sunday Stills, a blogging challenge open to everyone.
I first came across the word I chose for this week’s theme on social media from another photography challenge run by Sheena, who hosts the Alphabet Challenge on Bluesky. I had no clue what it meant, but when I learned, I thought it was a great subject because it took me a while to find any photos that captured it meaningfully, so I saw it as a challenge.
Let me begin with a photo that captures an ephemeral scene, then tell you a little more about its meaning.
Not one, but two rainbows!
Ephemeral means something that lasts only a short time, existing briefly before fading away.
I think the rainbow photo is an excellent example of this. Not only were those two rainbows fleeting, but they also remind me that the world is beautiful, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Some believe that seeing a double rainbow is a sign of good fortune, transformation, and a powerful connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. I didn’t find any gold, but good fortune and transformation come in many forms.
If you look closely, you’ll see that the colours of the top rainbow appear inverted, with violet on the top and red at the bottom, something I hadn’t realised happens.
‘Rainbows are nature’s promise written in light—proof that even the darkest storms carry beauty in their departure.’ – Author Unknown
When your morning coffee stares back, and the real surprise hasn’t even hit yet
Have you ever seen a hippopotamus in your coffee? It may sound like a silly question, so imagine my surprise when I found one in mine.
Can you spot him?
It was another fleeting visit, and he soon disappeared before I could ask his name. Thankfully, he disappeared before spotting the plate of biscuits next to me, something else that disappears quickly in our house.
‘Some mornings you look for meaning in the clouds. Other mornings, a tiny foam hippo reminds you to just enjoy the warmth.’ – Hugh W. Roberts
Mirror, mirror
Mirror, mirror on a metal pole, who *nopes out* the fastest?
Given what this mirror did with my height, not just my figure, it made me think just how ephemeral your reflection can be.
Does this mirror make me look like I’ve been hit with the shrink ray?
But the biggest mystery was that although I knew what this mirror did, I had no idea what it was called.
I later found out it’s a convex traffic safety mirror (also commonly called a curved road mirror or blind spot mirror). It made me look like one of those images you see in fairground fun-house mirrors.
I didn’t like how it portrayed me, so needless to say, my image wasn’t visible very long.
‘Convex traffic safety mirrors: giving you a 180-degree view of the oncoming car, while making sure you look like a wide-angle potato in the process.’ – Hugh W. Roberts
Do these belong to you?
Whenever I spot footprints in snow, sand, or even in dried concrete, I can’t help but wonder who was wandering around leaving free samples of their shoe size.
Living near the beach, I’m surrounded by more footprints than a crime scene. They show up for a short cameo before the tide sweeps in like an overzealous cleaner and wipes the evidence away.
Thankfully, no evidence of any crime remained after these footprints were washed away, but I did enjoy speculating who left them and what they’d done.
‘To leave footprints on the sands of time, it is necessary to have shoes that fit.’ — A. A. Milne
And finally…
Who doesn’t like going out with a ‘BANG’?
Although my views on fireworks have changed over the years because of the dangers they can bring and the noise stress they can cause to some people and animals, thankfully I don’t hear or witness as many fireworks as I used to. They are being replaced more often with drone light shows, which I think are far more entertaining.
However, fireworks are a great example of something ‘Ephemeral.’
‘Fireworks are the only art form where a brilliant explosion of beauty is immediately followed by a sound that makes every dog in a three-mile radius question their life choices.’ – Author Unknown
Ready to join in?
Well, that’s my first week as your temporary Sunday Stills host while Terri is on vacation. If you’re new to Sunday Stills or simply need a reminder of how it works, here are the details.
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is simple to join. You have all week to share and link your post, so you don’t need to rush or publish it on Sunday.
Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives. You’re also welcome to share original images reimagined with AI tools in post-editing.
Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
You can post entries for this theme all week (nobody is ever late to participate).
Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so other participants can read it.
I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.
I hope you will join me again next week as we explore steps and stairs!
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The featured image in this post was created using AI, which was also used to check and correct grammar and spelling mistakes.
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