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
autumn leaves
Today, “cyber-Monday,” i have refrained from buying anything online. Instead of spending money i can’t spare to buy stuff i don’t need, i’m taking that most precious of commodities, [time], to rake my cyber-space so as to provide you with a collection of leaves for November…(now that it no longer is : )
I believe it more than coincidence the changing of color in leaves works as a good (if imperfect) metaphor. The green is the leaves’ “natural” state. When the sap--it’s life blood, diminishes, and the leaf in essence “dies” to being itself, then some of the more brilliant colors its Maker provided become more visible. The leaf, at least in many cases, becomes more lovely…
in joy,
king
sunrise service
Saturday i was on my way to shoot balloons at The Rock Ranch, and en route, saw a magnificent vista to the right. The dawn’s early light was greeting a low, but dense layer of fog over a clearing. As my custom, i was running late, so alas...had no time to stop and snap.
I made it to my beloved place of business in time to savor a sunrise, but by then, the mist was mostly a mere memory. Alas (again).
And then…the big, beautiful balloons began! (Please pardon if this is politically incorrect, but they were full of hot air : )
As fun as a mass of hot gas can be, i also pondered the fine fog from the first of the day, and thought to my self, “Self, you ought to go back tomorrow morning and see what you can see.”
Tomorrow arrived the very next day (predictably enough), and unpredictably, no morning mist as had so enamored me the previous dawn. Alas (yet again).
Instead, there was a monumental sky with a crescent moon, and clouds extending forever. The 24-105mm was on the camera, and so i cranked it as wide as it would go, and that was of course not wide enough to take in the view. [see image above] Knowing i didn’t have time to fool with changing lenses, i changed to the 16-35mm in hopes i was wrong (which is usually a safe bet : ) [see image below]
Naturally, the 16mm was not wide enough to take in all the fun, so i took time to change to the 14mm in hopes the sky would continue to behave politely in providing pretty, pleasing pictures. [see below]
Not even the 14mm could grasp the entire scene. So the only reasonable conclusion is this is a clear indication i need to find $3,000 to get my name in the pot for the 11-24mm lens Canon is rumored to be bringing out soon : )
While congratulating myself on having such impressive skill with reason and logic, i glanced in the opposite direction and sensed the direction to snap a few fotos in that direction. (On rare occasion, i’ve been known to take direction : )
Those thing-a-ma-hickies along the glide path seem to make pretty good models: they work cheap, stay where they’re told and don’t complain when it’s cold.
And so now for the epilogue…
(You think i’d leave this episode hanging along a glide path with no mist? : )
The following morning, (monday staff meeting not-withstanding : ) i returned to the scene to find my Weatherman playing ‘misty’ for me as He had two days prior. My head was in the clouds! (Or more truthfully, was maybe a foot or two above ; )
in joy,
king
finally finding fun fotos for fall
…or to put it more truthfully, i once again have waited to the last moment to do a blog post for the month. With that in mind (and nothing useful to say), i offer these images shot around my house:
(Snacking increases as the weather cools off : )
I am not the only one that enjoys bird watching
Before heading south, this little hummer wanted another drink...(i just don't think its tongue is going to reach that far : )
And no set of autumn images from my house would be complete without squirrely stuff--such as getting in shape for winter with chin-ups
...or making a last-minute dash for another snack while commercials are on
...or trying to see just how much one can retrieve before the commercials are over
Regardless how squirrely things are around here in the fall, there's no place like home : )
friday fotos; Sonday snapshots
I admit, this is a ‘thrown together’ post for the sake of having a post for the month of August. (Which i’m delighted to say, is now over : )
But before it was over, we had a friday…which came with a sunset. Not having to work that weekend, i of course felt obligated to record and share:
For those who like their psychedelic light shows short, here is a moving version:
Sonday also included a sunset, parts of which i missed while traveling to The Rock Ranch. Thus, short stopovers along the road, and near the airport.
Once at The Rock Ranch, i was distracted (as usual : ) by some of the lovely scenes i so often see there:
One got bonus points, as our Creator provided some fireworks in a cloud (thankfully not nearby : )
After playing ‘peek-a-boo’ for well over an hour,
i finally got a clear shot at all three objects during their conjunction: Mars, (lower left), Saturn, (lower right), and Earth’s moon above. (i don’t advise trying to see this on a small screen ; )
All in all, i’d conclude the phrase, “He don’t make ‘em like He used to” doesn’t apply to God’s handiwork in the skies.
in joy,
king
Libby
Several years ago, i used to ask [read: beg] Carman to let me photograph the long, tall drink of water that is her daughter. This year Libby turns into a high school senior, and my opportunity arrived. The caveat? “We need to do this during the end of July.”
For the unenlightened, it has been said that here in Georgia we have two seasons: Summer…and August. Those who know me understand i therefore have two least favorite seasons…
Our window of opportunity was an afternoon/evening, and the following morning. After going over our wish list of ideas and locations, i found myself vacillating about our options, and how to plan our schedule so as to be efficient and best honor the potential. (One might note ‘efficient’ is not a term usually associated with yours truly : )
Friday afternoon came, and after changing the plan as late as that morning, we sweated through a long church session, but The Rainmaker provided a shower to cool us off.
Then came more decision time: spend the evening shooting indoors? Or go to a scenic locale in hopes of a sunset (knowing we could end up with a dud of mere gray clouds…and lots more sweat : )
I chose to go for the sure bet, and so we finished the evening doing the studio shots. Upon leaving for the night, i noticed clear skies overhead, and had the (highly inappropriate) notion that perhaps this was God’s way of telling me i made the wrong choice, and even ‘rubbing my face in it.’
Here is the cue for (my repentance, and for) one to recall the Old Testament passage about ‘joy’ coming in the morning. Knowing we only had a few hours, we had planned to start early. While driving to meet my victim subject, i was reminded there is at least one advantage to having lots of nasty humidity in one’s environs: i was engulfed in fabulous, foggy atmosphere! If only this would last until we could get a shot!!!
Libby and her mom arrived through the fog, and as we took advantage of this way cool gift, i perceived God winking (and possibly even holding His hand over His mouth to hide a holy snicker) as He lovingly chided me for my bad attitude the night before. No amount of money could have bought us such a wonderful setting. To help y’all grasp a sense of His kind provision, take a look at the image below. Aside from being downsized, there is 100% zero post processing. This is the scene straight out of the camera : )
(look at lots of Libby here)
My thanks to Carman and to Libby. And my praise to our Weatherman for
in joy,
king
sunset sighting
The weekend presented with a dearth of cute gals or little kids to photograph, so…“Cue the western horizon!”
I knew of the plan to put an observation platform at the Flint River overlook, which is on the road to Sprewell Bluff. But it wasn’t until i went there Friday evening i realized the work is done. There’s even a little house next to it, but i digress…
The new platform should afford improved picture-taking of that marvelous scene—(or at least more enjoyment of the view, should there be one other person on the planet who doesn’t have a telephone for a camera : )
My cameras (which are useless as telephones) climbed out of their bag and went to work, snapping a setting sun from the nice new vantage point. One of them decided that would make a quaint little movie, but unfortunately the operator still has much to learn about keeping a consistent exposure level when shooting time-lapse. For those who can stand the flicker, here’s the flick:
While little brother was occupied with movie-making, the big camera was free to look around and enjoy various sights, such as a rising almost-full [super] moon:
funky clouds with lightning:
funky clouds without lightning:
and the cool funkyness of a moonlit vista—this one including several items of note…
In the shot above, one can see the fog rolling in from the left, the planet Mars (orange dot below the big cloud), and the star Spica slightly down and to the left of Mars. Also just over the horizon in about the center is an area of sky brighter than the rest. This reminds me of a phenomenon called zodiacal light or false dusk:
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dusk
It is usually seen more often in the spring and fall, about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. (Of course this may have simply been the city of Manchester, polluting my night sky : )
For folks with large, bright monitors, here’s a portrait of the big dipper:
The handle is on top, going to the left, and the cup part is at the bottom, facing diagonally up and to the right. As can be seen in the photo, the star in the middle of the handle is a binary (double) star. I’ve been told that in ages past, the Indians used that as a means of testing their children’s eyesight—by having them look at the middle star and telling the parent how many lights they could see. (No fair for any who try this now, you already know what to look for : )
I didn’t think to get a nice picture of the observation deck while it was light, so above is a simple shot of one corner as one is looking east, toward the rising moon.
see sweet sky shots here
So whether by sunshine or the light of the moon, i’ve observed the observation platform to perform well. My thanks to those who provided it, and to the One Who provided the creation to be observed.
king
longingly looking at lots of lovely lilies
If the question is, “do daylilies like loving looks?” i believe—(as the duly [self] appointed spokesman for fine flowers), the answer is “Yes.” They all smiled beautifully as members of the local daylily organization allowed me to roam about, snapping shots at their annual show. My thanks to them, and to the local Masonic Hall for providing us a blooming good environment.
(link to lots more luscious lilies)
in joy,
king
