I took this photograph a few months back on a very overcast end-of-winter day. It’s a chunk of driftwood washed up along the edge of the Missouri river down near Parkville’s English Landing Park.
June 19, 2009
June 14, 2009
Praise and Worship
Nature blows me away. All the time. Every day. I remember when I first saw this image through my viewfinder all I could think of was a church full of souls worshiping their God – hands up, hearts open. Now I’m left wondering who knew God deserved such praise first…man or plant?
June 12, 2009
Rush Hour
The 451 is packed and it’s bumper-to-bumper this morning as we head into the greater downtown area at the start of rush hour. 
Rockin’ Robin
He has been in this tree for DAYS singing up a storm. I think somebody’s lookin’ for a girlfriend!
June 8, 2009
Harold and Maude
Harold couldn’t help but laugh when Maude asked, “Harold, do these white feathers make my butt look big?”
(BTW…this is the first image with the new 400mm f/5.6L lens!)
June 6, 2009
Backlit Gerbera
My gerberas are finally blooming again. I photographed this one tonight with it pointing out towards the late afternoon sun and I was behind the plant, looking up.
May 24, 2009
Clematis
Sometimes the way the light hits and the way the wind grabs hold – it makes an ordinary plant suddenly special.
My White Web-footed Pals
Remember these two from earlier this year? They now come running whenever I get out of the car! I don’t even bring food with me and yet they still come scurrying over to have their portraits taken. Yesterday they were watching me watch the kildeer but I did stop to get a few images of them, as well. This was my favorite…him trying to ’subdue’ her for a little “morning delight” – but it made for a sweet image. (I used a portrait blur action over the image to diffuse and soften the mood.)
May 23, 2009
Adult Kildeer
And now for the really big news!!!
Last weekend I went to the big church of the great outdoors (instead of my regular church) and it was there that I tried to get some decent images of the birds at Chaumiere Lake. By the time I was heading for the car I knew I was going to have to invest in a stronger, more powerful lens at some point if I wanted to keep doing bird photography.
I got in the car and had a little one-on-one with God. I mentioned that the lens I needed cost a boat load of money but so did all my other equipment and somehow I managed to get that on a secretary’s salary so if He could just figure out a way for me to get this new lens, too, well…that would be great.
One week later and I am about to mail a check to someone from BPN (Bird Photographers.net) for the exact lens I have been drooling over…the 400mm f/5.6L. Seriously…I got it for over 30% off what I would have paid for a new one. One of the other moderators just happened to put an ad up that very day I prayed for the new lens and nobody else bid on it so I am the new recipient of said lens.
Color me incredibly happy.
And although this image is probably one of the very best bird images I have ever taken, I had to crop it so far down that I’ll never be able to print it in anything larger than a 5×7. That will NOT be the case with the new lens.
I am overjoyed. I am thrilled. I am beyond grateful for the blessings in my life and the fact that God continuously comes up with a way for me to do what I love to do – even on that secretary’s salary of mine.
Baby Kildeer
I stopped by Lake Chaumiere this morning and the kildeer were out in force. The males were preening for the females and the females were watching after the new chicks. This little one got away from his mommy long enough for me to take his portrait.
It’s times like these you have to remind yourself that these are wild animals because you could seriously grab them up and kiss on them all day long – they are just too cute!
