bodacious adj. (Southern) Outright; unmistakable
banter v.t. To address with light, playful, good-natured remarks
Welcome to my blog! I pray the images and ideas will be pleasing to God, and a blessing to you.
In joy,
king
Moon River meets Mars
Saturday five happy-stances came together to fulfill a desire of several years: being able to photograph the Shoals Spider Lilies on the Flint River by moonlight. Precious time off from work, a full moon, lilies in bloom, a clear sky following days of clouds and rain, and dear friends Pam and Fred, who allowed me to hang out unsupervised in their yard during the night, all worked together to bless my socks off.
Mars was one night away from opposition, when it would be the brightest this year. So bright, even a nearby full moon couldn’t muscle it out of view. In the first image, Mars is the dot to the right of the moon; in the image above, it's the tiny dot in the bottom right of the picture (looking like a period after my name : ) Here it is by itself:
Further along in the sky was big brother, Jupiter. In the shot below one can see the four Galilean moons, (L to R): Callisto, Io, Europa, and Gamynede
In the image below, good eyes (and monitor) will see two dots way below the glare of the moon. The one on the left is Saturn, and on the right is the red giant, Antares--the 'heart' in the constellation Scorpio. (Again, Mars is the bright object to the right of the moon.)
But let us consider the lilies of the Flint. Whether by day or night, they can be a source of delight : )
Luke 12:27
Tia & Taylor time
Having never encountered Tia or her friend, Taylor, i wasn’t sure what to expect on our photoshoot. A day or two before, we had talked briefly on the phone and Tia said she was “up for most anything.” (That turned out to be a good clue : )
Our day was cool and rainy, but that in no way discouraged Tia from living her role as a ‘forest maiden.’ With the help of her mom Melissa, little brother Ronny, and best friend Taylor, we foraged my friends’ forest, finding fun features for fulfilling foto-op fantasies…while getting frickin’ wet.
After rocking the rocky hillside and shoals, Tia and Taylor rocked The Rock Ranch in all its wetness.
Once feeling sufficiently rained out, Tia and Taylor let it be known they were ready to move inside and get wet with paint.
As if we hadn't already had an exciting shoot, these mischievous fun-loving gals decided to bless me with my first paint session. If you've never been able to grasp the concept of the second law of thermodynamics, (the natural tendency of increasing disorder), my new friends seemed happy to provide a visual demonstration:
For the coup de grace, the ladies gave proof that 'all that glitters is not gold.' (Sometimes, it's glitter : ) This, probably in response to my saying something about my not being able to imagine this getting any better.
To say this was a mess is an understatement, and to say this was fun would be even more of one. Thanks to my friends Michele and Mark, and my friends at The Rock Ranch...to Melissa, Ronny and my new uber models Tia and Taylor! (You are a mess...and i love it! : )
(Tons of Tia and Taylor at this link)
water-blogged
As typical in my life, i was up the creek and without a paddle. Thankfully, i didn’t need one...
The rain came down and the bodies of water went up. This happens from time to time. As with earth, wind and fire (etc.), we often prefer a Goldilocks balance: not too much, and not too little. But the last few days have given us much water…so here’s to a thirsty Earth!
Thanks to friends Michele and Mark, i was able to get up close and personal with part of Potato Creek.
(Peruse a plethora of Potato Creek pics parked at this place)
in joy,
king
Gabrielle
The most affirming thing in my life is making images that please God and man. I go into shoots, and come away hoping that is accomplished. Gabby gave me good reason to believe the goal was achieved.
We met recently, and spent the day playing...
Knowing i wouldn't be much fun, Gabby brought her mom along for company.
There were some serious moments, such as when we had to do the modeling thing, or read from the Bible--some of which she's already memorized : )
But whether serious or otherwise, it was a day full of joy. I'm thankful God used Gabby and her mom to provide that!
(Gobs of Gabby can be gotten here : )
Lizzie
Though it matters, we’ll set aside the fact my maternal grandmother was called ‘Lizzie.’ This newer model is now making the rounds, and made my camera’s acquaintance the other day.
We were afforded an opportunity to play work by my friends, Michele and Mark, at their work play place. My default philosophy is, if God sets a plate of fun in front of you, say ‘thanks’ and accept it…rather than pretending to be ‘not hungry.’
Through the twists and turns of dance and gymnastics, Lizzie provided quite a stretch for my camera, and way more fun than can be rightly digested in one morning of play work, so we will hopefully have a second serving soon. (Even the sky was crying when we decided to stop.) In the meantime, look at lots of Lizzie here.
I appreciate Michele & Mark working to provide a place for folks to play, and Lizzie and her mom Betsy playing along with the work. (In this case, it wasn't all child’s play : )
Crista’s Copper Penny
I was at Wally’s gas station one evening when Craig Stubbs called my name. He pointed to the inside of his car, where i saw a waving hand pop up. He said, “This is my wife, Crista. She also enjoys photography.”
Following those ten seconds many moons ago, i’ve enjoyed seeing scads of posts of Crista's images on facebook. Her photographs are excellent, and are often accompanied by informative comments.
This spring the idea of getting together to shoot came up, and i was invited to visit the old home place, known as Copper Penny Ranch.
Our visit finally happened a few days ago, and i enjoyed spending a morning meeting many of Crista’s friends. Here are some of them...
More Copper Pennies on deposit here. (Buzz on over : )
While strolling by the woods, we saw a brand new baby accompanied by its mamma.
The resident air patrol saluted the new arrival with a fly-over.
And speaking of flying, the time did. It was noon before we knew it, and so before parting company we watched some baby barn swallows having lunch.
Though inside my attitude wasn't too different from the whiny birds, i politely pretended i was ready to leave, (but genuinely grateful for the good experience and gracious host : )
I think i can truthfully say (hatchlings notwithstanding), a good time was had by all. Thanks much, Crista (and Craig! : )
Missing it
The confluence was two-fold: our solar system, and my schedule. It was a weekend off from work, and there was no place or thing i had to be or do. As for our celestial neighborhood, the two brightest planets were (from our vantage point) getting close together, and on that very night, a cool, crescent moon would join with them in tight formation.
Checking the forecast every so often, i had an almost child-like giddiness thinking ‘the stars’ were lining up so well. There should be a few clouds around to make for a nice sunset, but the sky in general should be clear.
My neighbor, James, (eager to try out his new camera) and i grabbed some fast food and headed west…looking right into the face of a massive line of dark gray coming from the northwest. “It’s early…that’ll pass right on through and we’ll be done with it before the show starts.”
As younger folk are want to say, “Yeah, right.”
It didn’t pass. We got to the overlook near Sprewell Bluff as the demarcation of cloud had just passed the sun. I started a gopro time lapse, but after a while, the rain made its way to our vantage point, and i saw no point in tempting fate.
Of course, once i dismantled the time lapse setup, the 127 drops of rain i encountered were done, and so James and i stood around on the platform, thinking our evening was a waste, and wondering which of us would be first to order a retreat.
With naïve hopes there might be sufficient parting of the clouds later that evening before our targets dropped below the horizon, we waited around, greeting occasional tourists stopping by long enough to snap their ‘we-were-at-the-Sprewell-Bluff-overlook-and-here’s-our-selfie-to-prove-it picture.’
After the ambient light had begun falling off in earnest, we noticed a piece of the western sky was beginning to pink up. With this, my impression was, “i’m not impressed…this isn’t worth setting the gopro back up for a few moments of token color.” As i kept watching, and James kept shooting, the color eventually burst forth over a huge chunk of sky, and so as i’ve done many times before, i rolled my eyes and questioned why i was so foolish as to [yet, again!] not have made the right decision. At this point, all i could do was grab a few shots with the 5D…time was lapsing such that there was no time to resume the time lapse.
The glorious display quickly ebbed into some little lines of color, and we began seeing a bit of heat lightning over the other side of the western ridge. So since the 5D was warmed up and on deck, i decided to finish the evening with a few long exposures to see if any bolts were catchable.
The resulting score for the night was clouds won, king zero. James and i hung around for a while more, but it became clear that the part of the sky we wanted to see…wasn’t going to be.
And so, here is my lame shot from the following night. Venus in the very bottom right corner, dimmer Jupiter is a little ways diagonally toward the moon from Venus, and the (one day older) moon in the upper left. Twenty-four hours can change a spectacular rendezvous into a ‘not-all-that-close encounter of the less exciting kind.’
Still, let there be no question i’m thankful for my Weatherman, and His dominion over all there is. To cite a quote i heard my dad make when i was a kid, “Mankind, despite thousands of years of advancement, still owes his existence to six inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”
Grateful for His reign,
king
