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Tote Bags on Display

A wall of tote bags on display in a gift shop in Dunedin, FL

I'm grateful today for:

good books

Today Is...

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"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, 

"plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you

hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

I LOVE this verse.  It's such a comfort to know that God is in control.  I have choices but He ultimately knows what's in store for my life, so when I'm floundering and wondering what to do, I can be comforted that it's already decided and that it will be for my good and God's glory.

Whew, that's a load of my mind.

I just finished month #1 of taking and posting a photo a day.  I feel like I've accomplished something. Several years ago a couple of friends and I decided to do a 365 photo-a-day challenge. 

 It sounded so overwhelming, and it was.  

Although I did it, I missed a few days (maybe 3) 

and even though there were no "photo police" to chastise me, I felt guilty.

At the start of this year I thought I'd try it for the month of Jan. 

Just one month. 

Now it's the first day of Feb and I think I'll try it for another month. 

One of the last assignments for January was "nature".  I'm not a big fan of outdoor winter photography, so I photographed my little house plant which I enjoy so much 

and which puts a smile on my face every time I look at it.

NATURE

The assignment for Feb 1 is "Today is...".  

Well today is a dreary, cloudy, snowy & cold day but spring is on the way.

I'm staying home A.G.A.I.N because I don't want to deal with the roads

and nastiness, but I think I'll choose to be productive and appreciate

the blessings I have and not dwell on the restrictions imposed by

the weather.

TODAY IS....

It's a New Year and I'm Late Already

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My last post was on Dec 30. It's been 5 days.  My goal for the new year is to post twice a week on specific days~~the days for this month being Thursday and Saturday.

Well, here it is Tuesday, so not only has it been a long time, but I'm late and it's the wrong day.  Hmmmm, is any day really the "wrong" day?  I guess not, but if one makes a schedule and then breaks it immediately by stalling and not following the schedule, does that constitute "wrongness".

Volumes could be written about that, so let's just move on.

By my sloppy calculations we've only had between 12-18 hours of total sunlight since before Thanksgiving.  That's about 40 days....  That's a lot of dreary weather.  I'm taking Vit D and have considered upping the dose.  So the other day (Sunday to be exact) I looked out the window and saw even drearier, foggier, cloudier and depressing-er (I know that's not a word, but it fit well with the sentence) conditions than previously.  I sighed and went about the business of getting ready for church. Then the lightbulb went on and I realized I should get some photos of it.

With very little time left, I stepped outside my door and made a few images.  I'm glad I did, I got a few keepers, even if they're just for the record.

Then yesterday, while I was in the midst of about 4 chores I decided to make myself a bagel with cream cheese and then I got the urge to photograph food.  It's ridiculous, I'm really bad not very good at it, mostly because I don't cook anything exotic enough to make a good image, but there's just something in me that wants to pursue food photography.

So I decided to photograph the bagel.  I dropped all the other half-finished chores I was working on, set up the table, ironed the placemat, made a cup of coffee, grabbed the tripod, camera, reflectors, toasted the bagel and attempted to Work-The-Subject.

The bagel and coffee tasted better than the picture turned out.  I once read the book "Art & Fear" that stated many times over that an artist's good work is born out of the artist's bad work.  I often feel like I should be creating some R.E.A.L.L.Y. good work pretty soon considering how much bad work I've done in my photographic career, hahaha

I guess I should cut myself some slack though.  If I had taken this picture 15 years ago it would have been truly pathetic.  Anyway, I will persevere!~!

 Not Much to Say...

Last Friday a group of us from the Oahu photography meetup ventured down to Magic Island.  The goal was to photograph sunset, fireworks and full moon.  Well, the sunset didn't inspire me, and the full moon never made it's appearance while I was there--mostly, I think, because there was a huge bank of clouds at the eastern horizon, and I didn't want to stay long (late) enough for the moon to rise over the clouds.  Besides, by the time it was up over the clouds, it would have looked too small and the sky would have been too dark.

But we did manage to capture the fireworks.  The Hawaiian Hilton puts on a fireworks display every Friday night.  It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it's very nice and there are a lot of oooohs & aaaaahs. 

Photographing fireworks is always an exercise in experimentation, even if you really do know what you're doing, which, by the way, I don't.  So, hopefully, I'll get back there another Friday night and have another go at it.   Bring a chair, something to drink and a friend and you're good to go. It's not a bad way to spend the evening.

Deception

Many years ago, when I cared, I planted a small flower garden in my front yard. Over the years it has gone to wrack-and-ruin and each year I vow to remove the wooden border and mow it down. I haven't managed to do that yet.

When I pulled into my driveway this afternoon, I noticed that some daffodils had bloomed--tenacious little things! So I decided to get some shots of them. Most of the images are really bad, and the one I posted is pretty pathetic too, but bear with me, there's a point to this.

It's long been known that photography can tell whatever story you want it to depending on the way the photo is taken, ie. the perspective, the lighting, the lens used, what's included in the frame, or omitted, etc. (I'm not even talking about the deception one can create with Photoshop)

So if this first image were the only one I posted, it would appear that I had either planted a great garden, or come upon a nice flower bed.

But just to show the truth of the situation, I took a wider view of what used to be my nice flower bed. Unraked, weedy, grungy, unkempt...

All of this to say that things are not always as they seem. A good lesson for me, as well as for all of us. Don't judge without all the facts. Don't jump to conclusions without all the facts.

On the other hand, the lesson could be--make lemonade out of lemons. So what if my ex-garden is a mess--I can still enjoy the beauty that blooms in its midst.

What's the moral? Don't know! Glean what you will and what you need.