Nature

Remember to Bring the Camera

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Yesterday was my day to go to my accountant. It’s about a 45 minute drive, and as any 45 minute drive in this part of the state will assure you, there were many beautiful vistas of farmland, woods, ponds, small towns, etc. I hadn’t expected the lovely fog I encountered, the mist lying low on acres of land threaded with rows of trees. I really need to remember to bring my camera.

The land is just so beautiful in all seasons, and although I may have been late by a moment or two, I would have loved to capture some of yesterday morning’s soft edges. Years ago, when I was in art school we had an ongoing assignment – always have your sketchbook with you. When that morphed into my majoring in photography, the assignment was to always have your camera with you. It was meant to keep our artistic tools as integral parts of our lives, and is something that fell by the wayside. It would be a good habit to revive. Both, actually … my sketchbook and my camera.

So having failed to capture any of the lovely scenery I passed yesterday, and unable to photograph the goodies I picked up from the Italian bakery in my accountant’s town, (because I ate them), I have included a photo I took of the Delaware in the fall, taken from the almost-PA side of the bridge.

Tomorrow they’re predicting rain, but I’ll be in a quaint town, and who knows where a photo may be waiting.

Light Snow at Dusk

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Let me say, as I post this, that I am well aware that this is not a brilliant photograph. Why I wandered outside to take a few shots was because of the magical, blue-cast light. We haven’t had much snow lately, and they’d predicted a dusting to an inch. But it was more than just these light, airy snowflakes at dusk that drew me outside; they were illuminated by a rising full moon. What part did my flash going off have to do with it? Something, no doubt, and that is most evident on the white porch elements at left, but the rest is what it looked like … a theme in blue, lightly speckled with snow.

I was awakened this morning about 4 by that beautiful full-moonlight streaming in my window. A part of me wanted to throw on my robe, climb out the window, and range the back porch roof for fabulous shots. Now that would have been foolish for oh-so-many reasons. So I bathed in her light for awhile and went back to bed, happy that I had taken a few photos of the moon dreaming herself skyward hours earlier, if only indirectly.

 

Always A Bright Spot

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They say every cloud has a silver lining, that even in our darkest moments there is always a bright spot. Having recently lost an animal so very dear to my heart, I wasn’t seeing too many bright spots just yet. Some unanticipated glimmers here and there, but that was about it.

Who would have thought that my bright spot would truly BE a bright spot? I happened to glance out my side door earlier this morning, and there he was … a veritable bright spot of red among the drab winter bushes. I grabbed my camera and, figuring the male Cardinal would fly away if I opened the door, took him through my window, but with a screen, I knew I was kidding myself. Ever so slowly, I opened the inner door and then the storm door, and eased out on the porch. There he stayed while I photographed him. Again and again.

I felt as if he knew I needed a bright spot in my day and had decided to indulge me until I got the shot I wanted. I believe animals communicate with us and are far more in tune than we give them credit for, and today, he had a small, joyful message to bring. Above you see him, not nearly as vibrant as he looked in reality, but brilliant nonetheless. A small blessing, a reminder, of how many bright spots we have in our lives. Even if we don’t always see them.

The Joy of Images

/ still a dreamer

One of my friends laughs at me when he stops by and looks at my computer. Why? Because my desktop is always different.

For the same reason that I have at least 6 calendars around the house, I change my desktop daily or have images rotating on an hourly basis. And usually on a theme. It’s a continual art show, and for whatever reason, it makes me happy. Right now, not surprisingly, my desktop theme is fall, and here is one of my favorite images from the photo folder of the same name.

Because my mind seems already primed to want to look at beautiful images, and I’ve spent a fair amount of my life engaged in photography, I am also quick to grab fantastic photos,  (copyright free, of course), and squirrel them away. But it’s not as time-consuming as it sounds. It’s really more of a drive-by kind of experience.

I have folders on all kinds of subjects. The only one that is potentially problematic is food. When I have that dark chocolate bark with almonds on my desktop … well, you can only imagine what happens.  Mmmmm … maybe I’ll put that up tomorrow.