My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Prayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something. Prayer is to enter into that activity. … Convert your thoughts into prayer. As we are involved in unceasing thinking, so we are called to unceasing prayer. The difference is not that prayer is thinking about other things, but that prayer is thinking in dialogue, … a conversation with God.
Henri Nouwen
If we get down on our knees in nature, and not just in prayer, we will be given wonders to see.
While on a walk around my apartment complex I saw this lamp post and it’s shadow differently. I actually had walked past it when I noticed another lamp post and turned around to go back to this one. My earlier image was taken back in March with the shadow was on opposite side of the lamp post. I just had to take a photo.
So, I’m leaning my back up against a garage door, my knees are bent just slightly, camera to my eye and pointing upward. Let me tell ya, I was focused on this lamp post and it’s shadow. While I’m in this silly position, some man drives by in the parking lot, makes a quick glance at me then twists around to see what I’m trying to photograph. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tells his wife about the nut in the parking lot with a camera and wonders if they should look for a different apartment, or maybe a new town. It bet it was comical to see. If your not a photographer then this little scenario is probably meaningless but if your an avid photographer you can relate. I am at a place where I constantly look for images in everyday scenes and sometimes with new eyes.
I’m not ashamed to admit I carry my camera everywhere I go, you never know when photo opportunities will present themselves. When I head out for coffee or to the mall or to one of our nature areas, I will typically carry a shoulder bag with one camera, couple lenses and a flash. Almost feel naked if I didn’t have it with me. However, I realized this past weekend how differently I approach photo opportunities if I am with people or alone. Here’s my example.
While walking with friends to an area near our hotel in search of a restaurant for dinner, I probably stopped a half dozen times to fire off a few shots, and by a few I mean 1-2 shots. But, this stopping and firing off images, which is normal for me, can put your friends in uncomfortable place. They want to eat and you’re taking photos? There are some who think I’m crazy but we know that is just not true. At other times they keep on walking knowing I will eventually catch up. I’ve even had friends point out subjects that catch their attention, “Hey, take a picture of that.” After returning to my hotel, I realized how I can limit myself in my ability to create an image. I do not approach my subject of interest the same when shooting alone or with friends. Does that mean I will stop carrying my camera when with friends? Probably not, I’d feel naked.
Oh, and some friends will let you take snapshots of them also.
Nature has wonderful palette of colors to show us.
Nature is always changing and presenting us with surprises. This bumble bee is an example of such a surprise. I was in Blendon Woods park playing around with my white balance preset, you know the adage, practice makes perfect, when this bee decided to get in the image. As a photographer, I had no problems with that.
Life is also constantly changing. Big and little surprises enter our lives on a daily basis. How do we handle the surprises in life? do we accept them or fight against them? Do we run away from them? I kinda like surprises, myself!
This is my friend, Kimberly, the lovely Kimberly. She caught my attention in a coffee shop, stopped me in my tracks. She was struggling with some things in life at the time, physical ailments and job loss. Life is much better now, things such as a special man in her life, she now has work, which is pretty important now a days. As time moves on so did we. Her new job took her to Washington and my new job brought me to Ohio. We keep in touch through phone calls, text messages and facebook. I was lucky enough to have a couple of photo sessions with her and this is from the first session.
Today is her birthday, not sure which one and wouldn’t tell ya if I knew. Probably get in way to much trouble if I did. Oh, and her favorite drink is a soy chai. I love you, Kimberly and Happy Birthday!
Did you ever notice how bumble bees are a lot like the Energizer Rabbit, they just keep on going? They have a mission in life to pollinate and then go after it. Wish my body could keep up that pace but alas the age thing is taking its toll. I’m posting this image because it was taken with the new Nikon 35mm f1.8 lens. I got as close as I could get with the lens then I’ve done a major crop in Lightroom 2, tweaked levels and a bit of saturation. That’s it. I think the lens performs well, especially for a $200 price tag. It’s a keeper and the lens stays on the camera most of the time. It’s a lot lighter to carry around, another one of those age things. 🙂
They say walking is good exercise. I believe them. We can keep weight off, build up our cardiovascular and just feel good about ourselves. Finding the discipline to walk on a regular basis has been lacking in my life for the past few years. Now that I have this nature area behind my apartments I do get out more often and that’s good. I headed out to the park with my camera and tripod, thinking I could get a self-portrait image along with a walk.
On the way back to the car, this silly question came to mind. I bought myself a nice carbon fiber tripod a few years ago and have been really pleased with it. It’s rugged and solid. Paid a lot of money for it. But even with the three legs I still have to carry the darn thing. Anyone else have to carry theirs, also?
…will pop in to our lives and bring their smiles. I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with one of my pilots, his wife, Cindy and their son Olivier. They are good people and not because they invited me over for a BBQ the other evening. They are just good people inside. I enjoyed seeing their new home and hearing about all the things they have done to the house and what some of their plans are for the future. This is their son, Olivier, who wanted to make sure we watched as he rolled down the slope in the backyard. Can you tell he likes the new house also? Yep, good people!