Two nights ago this was the last image I snapped as I walked from a nearby lake to my car. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again:
NEVER TURN YOUR CAMERA OFF
UNTIL YOU’RE KEY IS IN THE IGNITION.
I took my new Canon 70-200mm f/4 L lens for a spin today, trying to see what all it could do. I think I’m going to need a 300mm or 400mm telephoto if I’m going to get really serious about taking bird images in the wild but, considering this lens is lightweight enough that I can handhold it in good light, I’m really not complaining. Besides, look at the pattern of the tree reflection on the water that this baby created.
Be still my beating heart…
These geese were on a nearby lake over the weekend, enjoying the warming temperatures by taking advantage of the melting lake water. I have to admit, it does seem a bit odd to see them all walking across the lake instead of actually swimming but the day was so beautiful it really didn’t seem to matter after awhile.
It seems that many of the photobloggers I read are putting out their “Top Ten” this morning so I thought I’d give it a shot. I bought my Canon Powershot S3 IS back in January, getting me as close to a DSLR as I could afford at the time and it has definitely done its job at helping me take my images to the next level. Then, in late summer, I bought a copy of Photoshop Elements 5, took an online course and bought the indespensible book, “Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual” and that also helped me take another step forward by changing how I post-process my images. By the end of the year I was adding actions and presets into the mix and now I’m just beginning to see all the different ways I can creatively take an image I see in my head and make it come out looking uniquely my own.
This next year I am going to do everything I can to get my hands on the Canon 40D and a few prime lenses and continue to delve into learning Photoshop layers.
Here, then, are my pick of my top ten images of 2007. (To see my top 100 shots for 2007, head over to my Flickr page and view the slideshow!) *Click on images to see the full size photographs.*
My favorite macro shot of all my flower images, this one just filled the frame with upclose detail.
My favorite butterfly image from the 200+ I shot at the Butterfly festival in Powell Gardens on an August afternoon. I cannot wait to go again next year!
This has to be my best cloud photo of the year. It was used by Stanford University for their brochure announcing a new weather major at their school.
Gotta be my best sunrise image for 2007. The golden tones just blew me away that morning and it’s luminosity shined through in this photograph.
My favorite plant photo of the year. Love the bokeh on this one and the contrast between the soft leaf and the hard-as-nails thorns.
This has to be one of my best insect macros of the year. I love the bokeh on this one as well as the detail of the tiny hairs along his legs.
I hate snakes…but this one got me over my fear as he posed for my camera in the driveway of my home. This is the first snake photo I’ve ever taken where I didn’t cringe when I first saw it.
I’m a leaf girl…no doubt about it. It was a three-way tie for my favorite leaf image this year but this one won, hands down. The texture of the mud against the texture of the leaf sealed the deal as I found it lying in the parking lot of one of my nearby state parks.
This one is probably more sentimental than anything else. I have access to squirrels 24/7 what with the 16 trees in my immediate backyard and this image really did it for me this fall. I was so happy with his expression, the angle of the shot and the great bokeh in the background.
My favorite black and white of the year, this was my second favorite leaf image of the year. It was my first attempt at taking a color image and converting it to black and white using PSE and I was very happy how it turned out.
And there they are…the ten best of 2007.
I pulled out an old CD the other day with the Joni Mitchell song, The River, on it. I had heard the song being played on one of the radio stations and it reminded me that I had purchased the CD a few short years ago when I was so depressed that I could barely get out of bed each day.
I remember playing that song over and over again that Christmas because all I could imagine for my life was leaving it all behind - to “find me a river so long that I could skate away on.”
This year, as I was listening to the haunting words of that song it dawned on me that three short years later, I have everything to live for - and then some. I no longer want to skate away but, instead, to skate towards something…something bigger and brighter than I could ever have imagined back when that depression clouded my every thought.
Tonight I listened to a friend tell me that she gets to this time of year and she wants to do the same - to skate away - only on a more permanent basis. She wants to be done with all this hullabaloo of presents and trees and colored lights once and for all because none of it holds anything of any real value for her anymore.
I know how she feels because I’ve lived through some of those same feelings. And when there was nothing left for me to do but to try to permanently “skate away,” I was met, instead, with an unboundable dose of mercy and grace. His mercy and grace.
Tonight, I wish I had a river so long that I could carry those troubles and hurt feelings and pain and struggle for her, far away; so far away she’d never remember what they felt like in the first place. Lord, let it be so. Help her cross this river in her life safely.
Amen.
This time of year the light of dawn and dusk take on special qualities that you really only find between November and February (at least in my neck of the woods). November proved to be a beautiful month for both sunrises and sunsets and I added many new images to my collection just watching the sun do its thing.
This was the last sunrise of November; I took it on my way into the office. It was a really nice way to start the morning…
Here’s another image from my afternoon at the ranch with my friend and her new horse, Glory. What a beautiful autumnal afternoon it was that day!
After two nights of walking along the river’s edge to catch the autumn sunset I realized there might be something to see from the other side of things. So, Friday, I hit the north end of the park and shot the sunset through the small grove of trees. What I got was a collection of some of the best silhouette shots of my life.
Looking at the same scene in a totally different way…it’s a good thing.
I stood at the river’s edge again tonight when a man and his dog walked down to the riverbank. I saw him make the sign of the cross, then he picked up a rock, held it in his hand for a moment, and then hurled it into the river. He crouched down as if the weight of his burdens were too much to carry until his dog finally nudged him into motion again. With that, they turned and walked away.
I felt like I had witnessed a very private, very painful moment so as we both moved towards the parking lot at about the same time, I walked near him and his dog and whispered a “God bless you” below my breath - then passed him with a hint of a smile.
I hope throwing that rock into the river tonight helped him to let go of something painful. Tonight, that is my prayer.
