My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
Have you ever notice how man builds things using straight lines while nature does not? Just take a walk in nature then a walk around the block in New York City. Our journey on the path of life is never a straight path. I’ve discovered experiencing the reality of life is only blocked when one expects it to be a straight line. When that happens, we can get bent out of shape.
Have been busy over the past three days as I catch up with family and friends. It’s been a year since I was back in Colorado. I’ve tried to see as many as possible and have done pretty good but way short of my goals. Seems like there is ususally never enough time to see everyone. As an example, yesterday I met Teri at 8:00, Larry at 9:30, Pat at noon then Tim and Julie at 3:00. After that I take the car back to Wayne and Kay, then I’m back at my sisters for the night and head for home early in the morning.
This is not actually a self portrait but one image Larry took with my camera as we attempted to catch up on the past year. He is a good friend and an avid photographer. Still primarily a film shooter, 4×5, and just purchased an 8×10.
I stayed with my oldest daughter, Christine and Cody, last night. After a couple of cups of coffee and some quality chat time with Cody I headed back towards town and noticed this old trail wagon with Longs Peak breaking between clouds. As any obsessed photographer, I made and illegal u-turn and then parked illegally to take 5 images. 🙂
This morning I needed to drive to Fort Collins so I took the back roads hoping for some photo opportunities. As I’ve mentioned before I notice how often the sky in the midwest is a flat gray with very little texture, pattern or color. While in Colorado the clouds paint a wonderful scene to warm the heart and help start the day. Along with these beautiful mornings comes the cold, it was in the high 40’s this morning. Strangely I did seem to notice. I do miss the morning and evening clouds in Colorado.
This image was taken last month on a walk through Inniswood Gardens. What an interesting insect and one I know very little about. After downloading this image I began to wonder what their role was in the cycle of life? So, as most of us do nowadays, I “Googled-it” and found some cool stuff. Dragonflies are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes (yea), and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as “nymphs”, are aquatic. Even though dragonflies possess 6 legs like any other insect, they are not capable of walking. In some cultures they are a source of food, considered a delicacy. They have various symbolism in cultures. For some Native American tribes they represent swiftness and activity, and for the Navajo they symbolize pure water. Vietnamese people have a traditional way to forecast rain by seeing dragonflies. In Japan dragonflies symbolize “martial success,” due to similarity in the sound of the word “dragonfly” and “victory” in Japanese. And, here I thought it was a cool insect to photograph, if it would only stop long enough.
Many people start their days with routines. Some have set patterns that must be done before leaving in the morning. Some will continue their patterns after leaving, such as stopping by a favorite coffee shop. The morning cup of coffee can be found all over the world as one of those morning traditions, their day would be incomplete. That’s where I was when I took this image of a man enjoying, relaxing while sipping on a coffee, munching on a bagel and reading the newspaper. A ritual. A tradition. What are yours?
I enjoy a slower pace when walking the streets because you just never know what you’re going to find. If that street is in a tourist area then those interesting sights will increase. This small shop had several of these watering pots along the steps leading into the store and along the sidewalk. There were frogs, cats, dogs, squirrels beckoning people to stop look and maybe walk inside. Great marketing scheme. I like this image the best as it shows the roosters and chickens standing guard at the door. I struggledwith the lighting as the front chicken had more light and is not as colorful as it really was. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Sometimes I like to find a place where I’m pretty much by myself, like this young man. It was a warm and sunny day in Portland, Maine, so we took the bus from our hotel down to the port area. The bus depot is next to Monument Square where this young man found some solitude among the crowd at the base of the statue. Hope you’ve had a good day!
Walked the streets of Portland, Maine today. Love visiting this port town. There was a cruise ship in port so the streets were busy with sightseeing visitors. With it being beautiful day and a weekend we also had the locals out. I found these green doors and just had to take a few snaps. I used my Nikon 18-200mm VR lens today rather than the 35mm f1.8 I’ve been using almost exclusively. Wow, what a difference between those two lens. The color on the 35mm is so much nicer. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
I’ve really been shooting more portraits lately and have been lucky to have lovely people for models. This is Susan, one of my co-workers, as we met at Inniswood Gardens to shoot a few images of her and her son, Matt and his dog Chaz. I am really liking the experience of meeting and spending time with people.