• insects

    Todays Work

    Grasshopper in morning dew, Great Smoky Mountains

    “All you can work on today is directly in front of you. Your job is to develop an imagination of the possible.”

    Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

    While on a trip to the Smoky Mountains I dropped and broke my Nikon 80-400mm VR lens, a $1400 loss. Ouch! Needles to say I spent the last 3 days of our 7 day trip with nothing but two other Nikon lens, a 16-35mm and 24-85mm. Now my longest focal range dropped from 400mm to 85mm, what was I going to shoot?

    The first morning we were able to shoot in Cades Cove we were met with fog, wonderful fog. Along with the fog comes the heaviness of the morning dew, so needles to say we were pretty wet by the time we returned to the hotel. I noticed a barb wire fence covered with dew near the Tipton Place and wandered over to have a look-see. I discovered this grasshopper hanging upside down and patiently waiting for the morning sun to dry his body for the days activities. Since the 24-85mm also had macro capabilities it worked great for me to get some nice images. The fog was burning off and you can see the sun approaching in the background. This image was one of my first attempts at macro photography and spurred the purchase a nice macro lens. So, I ended up working on what was in front of me.

  • Holiday Seasons

    Thankful and stuffed

    Chocolate (Dark)

    It seems a lot of people come up with a list of things they are thankful for during this time of year. There are so many things I’m thankful for but I’m only going to throw out this short and sweet list:

    • Spirituality  – A lifelong journey of discovery for me. I’ve come to believe the search for God will introduce us to ourselves and I’m liking what I’m finding
    • Health – Physical and mental (which some may question) health. 2010 will be my 60th birthday so I do feel the stiff joints and hear the loud popping sounds from those same joints as I get up from a chair a little slower, but I still get up
    • Family – Grandchildren who are now driving, hard to believe they have grown up so fast. My children, sisters and parents who all are gifts in my life. I love them dearly!
    • Photography – At this point in my life, it’s a love affair. It’s one medium I use to express myself and helps me to see the world with new eyes. LightRoom 2 🙂 I’ll also include the community of photographers who enrich my life as a photographer and as a person, that’s you!
    • Friends – I am blessed to have many, some who have been there to help lift me up when I’ve fallen and some who I have helped get back up. Distance and time have not deterred those friendships
    • Work – Which provides a comfortable lifestyle and an extended family
    • Chocolate – What more can I say, one of my crutches. I guess you can also include Thai food

    I do wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope your day is filled with family, friends, turkey, stuffing,pumpkin pie and chocolate.

  • People/Portraits

    Self

    Self-portrait

    Since I purchased the AF-S Nikon 35mm f1.8 G lens, it has become my travel lens while I work as a flight attendant.It’s small size and light weight make it easy to pack in my roller board . I no longer carry a camera bag but wrap my camera, with lens attached, in some clothing and fly the blue skies. And, in my opinion it takes some pretty sharp images. I do not carry a tripod so any images taken will be handheld, as in this self-portrait. The light for this image is from my hotel window just as the sun is going down.