The Collie is a graceful, intelligent, and loyal dog breed. It is known for its elegant appearance. It has a thick double coat and a distinctive long, narrow nose. There are two main varieties of Collies. The Rough Collie has long, flowing fur, like Lassie. The Smooth Collie has a shorter, dense coat.
Why the Collie Has a Long Nose:
The Collie’s long nose, or dolichocephalic head shape, enhances its function as a herding dog. This elongated snout improves airflow during sustained physical activity. It may also enhance vision, especially peripheral vision. This helps them keep an eye on livestock over wide fields. Additionally, the streamlined head contributes to the breed’s refined and alert expression, one of its most iconic features.
This dog is my nieces dog. A very smart dog as well. They are beautiful dogs for sure. Have a great weekend. 🙂
A hush of dawn, the world held still, Mist curls soft o’er water’s chill. Bare trees stretch high, then bow below, Reflections dance in morning’s glow.
Golden light through silence streams, A canvas brushed from painter’s dreams. Time forgets to move or race— Peace has found its quiet place.
Sunrise over the water, well we have left the deep south. We are on the road again. But, I still have some photo that I will be sharing from the past winter and from our travels as we head north.
Thank you for coming along with me, warmer days are ahead of us all. Spring is in the air.
I was kindly invited onto private land by a man whose quiet generosity lingered long after our meeting. He had an old dead tree with an Eagles nest in it, that I asked if I can photograph.
Later, I saw him sitting in the open garage light with another man—maybe a friend, maybe kin—sharing silence and conversation in equal measure.
An old Chevy rested beside them like a memory parked in the shadows. The scene felt like a frame from a forgotten black-and-white film—honest, unhurried, and full of story. I asked if I could capture it, and he nodded. I’m grateful he did.
There’s a quiet, profound beauty in the way a child connects with the world—pure, unfiltered, and full of wonder.
In this tender moment between a young girl and her lamb, we witness something rare: the innocence of trust and the silent language of love.
Her small hands gently cradle the lamb’s head, eyes locked in a gaze that says more than words ever could. Adults often rush past these moments, too busy to notice, but a child—she lingers, she feels, she sees.
And in doing so, she reminds us of a gentler way to be.
The Spirit of Creation – “In the dawn of all things, the Creator pressed spirit into flesh. Strength was shaped into form. The horse was set to run with the winds. It became a living echo of heaven’s first breath.”
“Not all masterpieces hang in galleries. Some run free beneath the endless sky.”
There are moments when the wind stills, and the world leans in.
High in the pines, where the sky folds softly into needles and light, I met a pair of great blue herons who seemed untouched by time.
I had seen them before from afar—graceful silhouettes skimming the water’s edge, sentinels of the marsh.
But that day, they flew right beside me. Not away. Not afraid. Just there, like I was part of the story. And in that moment, I was.
He came first, bold and brushed in indigo, his wings cutting wide through the blue. I call him Indigo Jack, a name that feels just wild enough to belong to a creature of wind and water. He carried a stick in his beak, not for himself, but for her. The one who waited.
Her name is Sora, meaning “sky,” and she wears it like a crown. There is a hush about her, a quiet knowing. She is moonlight in feathers. Not soft, but sacred.
Together, they built a nest—twig by twig, moment by moment. And I watched, breath held, as Jack passed a branch to Sora, their bills touching not in hunger, but in offering. A ritual older than memory.
Small Rookery – I found a small rookery by accident actually. My first time getting to see herons up close as they build their nest.
They were so busy finding sticks that they did not seem to even notice me. Most of the time herons fly off the minute one moves.
I took lots of photos and I will share my video on Friday, I decided to name two of them. Because the male looks like he has a crooked leg and the majority of my photos contained this bird flying back and forth to the nest with sticks.
It is not easy to tell the difference between the males and females. Except that research states the males usually brings the nesting material as the female builds it. So that is what I am going on.
King of the Sky – I photographed this eagle in Kentucky. We have some friends who knew about a place where we can park off the edge of the road. It’s not far from an eagle’s nest along a riverbank.
The nest is in a dead tree, in the middle of some farm land. But there is a nice size lake not to far away. These eagles come back to this nest every year. They had one eaglet this year as you can see it looking at the parent.
Nice to Have Sunshine Again and get to go on some hikes. We found some small waterfalls in the area we had to evacuate to. Would have never found these if that had not happened. A blessing in disguise.
Well, after looking into the shut down of this blog. I was on line with WordPress discussing what happened with my decision to shut this site down.
They automatically changed my site to the Premium plus group. This change put a snag in my travels. They tried to charge my card without my approval. As a result, it went to a fraud alert. So intern, I had to cancel my site so as I could use my card again, by the way, I was at a gas station when this all happened.
We also have been driving and trying to escape this huge rain storm that has been going throughout the Midwest. We have been right in the middle of it for 5 days now.
I have talked to WordPress. They did see that the auto renewal was not checked and did not know how this happened. But, would put my site back on my original plan, if I wanted to. So I chose to reopen it again. I have actually missed posting over the last few days. I have been doing this for 6 years now. I love sharing my photos with all of you.
Thank you for all the encouraging comments. A few of which stated that other folks are thinking of leaving WordPress blogging because of the price.
My suggestion is to call them first and ask what other options are there. They were actually very helpful. Definitely check your subscription yearly. To make sure they don’t automatically charge you for something you are not signed up for.
We are currently on the northern edge of this storm, the rain is easing off today. There is massive flooding all around us. We are thankful to this campground we are at now that let us arrive yesterday at the last moment as we had to evacuate another campground that was down by the Ohio river.
Thank you all, I do appreciate all your comments over the years and I hope to keep blogging and sharing photos for as long as I can.
SS United States – you may have heard about this old ship that was towed to Mobile Alabama. We were fortunate enough to be in an area where we got to see this historic old ship.
It says that it is bigger than the Titanic, and was quite the ship back in the day. But it is going to be sunk over by Destin Florida somewhere for a reef. It has to be cleaned first. They will be doing the cleaning in Mobile Al for about 6 to 9 months.
While I was taking these photos, a gentleman came up to us and said they flew here from Ireland just to see this ship.
Peaceful Scenes – The peaceful calm of a morning, with the soft light gently kissing the horizon, brings a sense of stillness and reflection. As the water mirrors the landscape, it invites us to pause, breathe, and appreciate the beauty of simplicity.
This quiet moment serves as a reminder that each new day holds endless possibilities. Embrace it with gratitude and an open heart, for today is a fresh opportunity to grow, create, and find joy in every step you take.
German Shepard – It is about his eyes. This dog is in the camp spot next to us. He is only one years old. Beautiful dog and very friendly, but he has a bark that will make you think twice about going up to him.
Busy With Dog Portraits, I have been so busy with doing puppy portraits and people portraits this winter. I just wanted to say thank you for all of you that stop by this blog page to look at my photos. I truly appreciate it, along with the comments that you leave.
I hope my photos bring a smile to your faces and maybe gives you a warm feeling to start your days.
I have not had time to read all of your blogs, but on occasion I do get to open up some of them to look at your photos and read your stories.
Thank you again.
I am learning a lot about using flash with my photography now. That is a new genre I have not worked with much. I really like it though. What a difference it can make with portraits.
Blue Angels – if you are ever at Panama beach, more than likely you will get to see the blue angels practicing from most places along the coast line.
This was actually their last day of practice when we got there. They did not fly down by where we were at. I just happened to look to the east and saw them flying by this building. They were pretty far away.
You can see the coast guard helicopter practicing most days as well when you are by the gulf coast.
Beach Fishing – this is just a random guy fishing on the beach. He ran over to his fishing pole when I quick got my camera out to see what he might have caught.
It looks like a pompano fish, even folks walking by had to stop and take a photo.
Fly Over by a Blue Heron, I finally got the shot. I have always wanted to get a shot of a heron flying directly above me, but normally they keep their distance from people.
Truly an amazing wingspan.
I have gotten the white pelican fly over. So I have two on my list. 🙂
Nesting Herons – We have found a location where a few Blue Herons are in the process of building nest. It is such a treat to get to see these beautiful birds so close. They swoop down right by me as they are looking for sticks to pick up and take to the tops of the trees as they build their nest.
Fun to watch, one takes the stick up to their mate, hands it to the one in the nest as he or she places where it needs to go.
Campground Cat – This cat has grown up here at this particular campground that we are at. People take care of it all year. She lives outdoors and the campground has boxes made for the cats to sleep in and get out of the bad weather.
All the cats here have been fixed and they get flee and tick medicine. They also catch rats and snakes. This cat caught a huge rat and left it by our camper. Good Kitty. 🙂
Patience – Herons are known for their incredible patience when hunting for fish. While standing on the dock, I watched one intently, camera in hand, waiting for the perfect moment to capture its strike.
I missed several shots before finally catching this one — a moment that felt almost like looking into a mirror during the editing process.
Low Angle Shots – Sometimes you just have to get to ground level to take the shot. I know it is hard to do especially as we get older. Getting back up is the hard part. 🙂
Dog Agility Event February – I have completed my editing for the 2nd dog agility event that we photographed. The folks will have plenty of photos to look through. I had to take a crash course on using Lightroom batch editing, that really helped.
I had used it years ago and never really looked into it again until this month. Now I have time to do some other things again. I look ahead to photographing next years event as well.
New Campground, well not new but being remodeled since the last hurricane. We had a great time here, I do recommend this park. They were under construction when we were there.
They are doing a great job at rebuilding the area and keeping the natural habitats available as well as building new construction.
Lots of beaches to walk, new campground spots with full hookups.
New sidewalks, roads and utility buildings.
But also keeping a lot of the natural landscapes for wildlife and trails for people to walk on.
Panama City Beach – We stayed at St Andrews State Park right down the beach from Panama City. There is a nice long pier that we stood on to take the photo of the beach. Most all of those buildings on the beach are rentals, condos and a couple of hotels.
We were there during the off season, so it was pretty quiet.
She is 18 This Year – I can’t hardly believe this little dog of our is this old. She is still going strong as well.
She eats a lot, sleeps alot, but still loves going for walks and is doing great.
Besides just losing most of her teeth, I feed her soft food. She can not see so well anymore. But we guide her every where with her lead rope when outside. Her world must be a big blur right now. But we always talk to her and hold her, which she loves being held.
I will enjoy every minute I have with her for as long as she is here.
Remember, her name is d-o-g. The letters not the word. 🙂
Older Snow Photos – my niece wanted some snow photo to print for herself. I had to dig into the archives to find some for her.
This first one is Lake Superior a few years ago, I think 5 years ago. Almost completely froze over. That doesn’t happen to often.
Road trip we took 3 years ago heading to Montana to visit my brother. I like this shot because the road looks like a dead end at the base of the mountain.
Challenging Obstacles – not challenging for the dogs but for the photographer yes. 🙂
This series was a little more difficult to make because the jumps were so close together. A lot of layers and brushing in the dogs on each layer.
The dogs seem to love the tunnels, they come out of there so quick. I had a few blurry shots because I tried to time the click of the shutter button just as they come out of the tunnel.
I could start the burst earlier, but that is more photos I have to go through and throw away. Mainly because I am photographing every dog that I can. I am talking about a couple thousand photos during a 3 day event.
Combine Multiple Photos in what I call series photography. I have never made a print like this and thought it would be a good way to showcase their dogs jumping all in one photo.
It has to be at the right angle and dogs that start the jump farther back from the poles.
Art in Snow Drifts – there is just something about snow drifts that I think is artistic. Mostly from the shadows they make. Giving a hint of blue tones in the dark areas against the sun lit areas.
Ears Are Flying High – Photographing a dog agility event has its challenges. But, viewing the photos after the event, is just so much fun. When it comes to photos like these, it is hard not to smile.
We visited this area for about a week. I have to say, it is one of the best spots for so many different things to do. Beaches, birds, boats and walking.
But, you will be seeing a few dog portraits coming up this week instead. As I was the photographer at a dog agility 3 day event in Mississippi. So I have been busy editing dog photos. The next couple of weeks I will be all over the map with my photos. 🙂
Nesting Herons at our next stop which is St Andrews State Park.
I definitely recommend this park as well. They are still remodeling the park since one of the last hurricanes. But they are doing a great job of it. The campsites are level and full hook ups. With all the amenities. Trails to walk on, lots of birds, deer and beaches.
We happened to be there when some Blue Herons were starting to make nest on this little island in the middle of a small lake.
You might want to book a spot ahead of time, it is a very busy park. People coming and going everyday.
Alligator Place – There are some really old alligators here, the tour guide was telling us.
The alligator in the back is a female who is at the top of the seniority list in this area. They said her front leg is jacked up from battling with other gators protecting her young.
I hope to be back to this park again one day. Maybe during migration. They said the bird count is double to what I saw today.
Birds and Alligators – so many birds. This by far is one of the best nature parks I have been to. The birds are everywhere. They are so used to the tour boats going up and down the river that they don’t fly away when you go by in the boats.
But the Alligators, the most I have ever seen in one spot. The tour guide says the birds eat the baby alligators and the alligators eat the birds. Some balance there, because there are plenty of both around.
I have had this spot marked on my maps for a couple of years to visit. We finally made it this past year. It is south of Tallahassee.
I highly recommend this area to visit.
Wakulla Springs is a place where history stretches back thousands of years, from early Native Americans who lived in shoreline villages to filmmakers who recognized the primeval quality of the park’s swamps and wildlife when they decided to film Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) here
Depth: The spring’s vent is 185 feet below the water’s surface.
Size: The spring pool is 315 feet in diameter.
Cave system: The spring connects to an underwater cave system with over 26 miles of passageways.
Temperature: The water is near-constant 69 degrees
One of America’s largest springs is protected within Silver Springs State Park. We took a boat ride down river to see all the birds and manatees enjoying the tranquility of this area.
There are plenty of manatees enjoying the warm water.
Pelican Close Up – this gorgeous bird just happened to be perched on a railing near some fisherman of course. Lots of folks were taking his photo as did I. When one has a chance to get this close to a wild bird, it is an amazing experience.
A walk in the park is a quiet escape, where nature gently whispers its secrets. You find yourself surrounded by the serenity of rustling leaves and birdsong. It’s a moment to disconnect from the chaos. Reconnect with the stillness within.
In this peaceful space, the world slows down, and the simple beauty of nature reminds us to breathe, listen, and find calm amidst the noise.
As we embrace the Christmas season, whether we celebrate with faith or simply with the spirit of kindness and connection, may this time bring hope, love, and joy to all.
It’s a moment to appreciate the small blessings, cherish time with loved ones, and find peace in the togetherness we share.
Have a wonderful day, and hopefully a long weekend filled with family and the joy of being together.
Christmas Eve signifies a time of anticipation and reflection. It’s the evening before Christmas, filled with moments of togetherness, quiet joy, and often a sense of peace as people prepare to celebrate the holiday.
For many, it symbolizes hope, love, and the spirit of giving, as families gather, traditions are observed, and the excitement for Christmas Day grows. It’s a time to pause, appreciate the moment, and share warmth with loved ones.
Light House Number Six, we went for a drive down to the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge area. Where we found Light House number 6, to add to my list.
This one was right on the water’s edge. So the best shot would be out in the water looking back. But, that wasn’t going to happen, unless it was low tide.
Tomorrow I will show the other 5 that I have photograph. There has actually been a couple more, but some of them one just can’t get to. They are in some pretty remote places or you could only see them by boat.
Sights From the Dock – Every morning I would walk down to the docks at this lake to check things out.
One morning this air boat was going back and forth way across the lake. From the photos he was spraying something from a hose it looks like. Not sure what he was doing. That air boat was sure loud.
There actually was not a lot of birds around here besides all those turkey vultures I mentioned earlier.
This little guy was fluttering around the low branches over the water.
One Egret was always spotted doing some fishing every morning. Just the one.
As day fades into night and night melts into day, the clouds tell a story of transformation. Golden sunsets paint the sky in rich hues, while soft blue sunrises bring a fresh promise of hope.
These serene, photogenic moments are reminders of the beauty that surrounds us—beauty only found when we step outside and immerse ourselves in the world’s natural wonders, right before our eyes.
Fog reflections at the lake. Beautiful mornings in Florida as the temperature begins to drop here in late November creating fog over the warmer lake waters. Makes for great reflective photography.
Imagine standing at the edge of a long, weathered dock, stretching out toward a still, calm lake. The water is smooth as glass. It reflects the pale, ethereal fog rolling across its surface. The fog obscures the view of the far shore. It feels as though the dock leads directly into the unknown.
It seems to extend into a misty abyss where the world disappears into the distance. Each step forward seems uncertain, as though the wooden planks beneath your feet might vanish into the haze.
But then, as you walk toward the end of the dock, the faint glow of sunrise begins to emerge through the fog. Soft, golden light breaks through the mist, casting a warm, steady glow across the scene. The dock ahead, covered in a delicate carpet of autumn leaves, feels inviting, grounded, offering a sense of safety amidst the uncertainty.
In that moment, the fog no longer seems frightening. Instead, it becomes a gentle reminder of the journey ahead, with each step feeling like a step closer to peace, to hope, and to the embrace of something greater.
The light at the end of the dock feels like the presence of the Lord, guiding you forward, giving you the strength to take that first step into the unknown, assured that you are walking into His comforting, unwavering safety.
Mirror Image – Amazing views this past week here at this lake just south of Tallahassee. The fog has been quite something to see on the lake.
I would wander down to the lake before the first light of dawn, standing on the dock in silence, awaiting the moment when the sun would gently pierce the mist.
In those quiet hours, the water lies as still as a forgotten dream, its surface so serene it feels as if it might hold the secrets of another realm.
It is in this ethereal light that the world seems to pause, and the lake becomes a portal—one could almost step onto its surface, walking effortlessly into the horizon, vanishing into a world beyond the edges of time.
New Bird at the Campground – A New Bird at the Campground – Out of nowhere, this stunning rooster appeared, strutting around our RV at this small campground. I thought I heard one crowing at 5 a.m. this morning, and sure enough, there he was.
He’s the most vibrant rooster I’ve ever seen, with feathers that looked incredibly soft and shiny as the sunlight danced across them.
I took lots of photos of him. He did not seem to mind. Probably gets this attention everyday from all the campers coming and going.
Interesting Reflections – I had a lovely morning walk to this beautiful little lake, where I was greeted by some fascinating cloud reflections on the water. As the sun began to rise, it slowly illuminated the sky, adding to the magic of the moment.
The cloud reflections were just the beginning of some truly beautiful mornings at the lake.
As the temperatures finally started to cool, foggy mornings became a regular sight. It turns out that fog rising from a calm autumn lake creates even more stunning reflections.
The image below captures this beauty— as the fog drifts across the water, it creates the illusion of another world unfolding on the horizon, with shapes and patterns reminiscent of a kaleidoscope.
The trees have mostly turned brown, but the lush grasses and lily pads are still clinging to their deep green hues, adding a touch of elegance to the otherwise gloomy lake view.
Turtles – I don’t take photos of turtles to often. Most of the time I just don’t see them or they are to far away and plop into the water the minute I move.
This one decided to just keep an eye on my from afar. So I was able to get a couple shots in.
This one below almost looks like the turtle is on top of an alligator or some kind of strange beast in the water. 🙂
Kestrel – American Kestrels occupy habitats ranging from deserts and grasslands to alpine meadows. You’re most likely to see them perching on telephone wires along roadsides, in open country with short vegetation and few trees.
My first sighting of one of these colorful birds.
My shutter speed on the camera wasn’t nearly fast enough to stop motion of this quick bird.
Florida Panhandle – there are lots of great campgrounds along the panhandle of Florida. I found this little campground next to a nice lake just south of Tallahassee.
It only had about a dozen spots, this photo below shows our quiet little nook in the campground.
A great lake for fishing as the boats came and went most every day. The fisherman said they catch mostly bass here and speckled perch.
The first morning walk down to the lake, I saw the largest group of turkey vultures I have ever seen.
They were all in the trees in the distance and as the sun was rising they all took off at once and headed north.
One morning this colorful boat was cruising across the lake and the sun was shinning on it just perfect. We started to leave and these folks pulled up to the dock, so we went up to the gentleman as he got out of the boat and showed him the photo.
Asked him if he would like a copy so we text it to right on the spot. He really liked the shot.
Tybee Island Lighthouse – I have photographed this light house before. There are just so many different ways to photograph it. It is in such a pretty location with lots of beach grass and sand piles.
I like this angle with the old building in front of it.
Now this is a different kind of shot. We were walking back to the parking lot and noticed two Grackles perched on this truck right in front of the light house. Well, they are such a colorful bird in the sunlight, it made for a fun photo.
Then I had to replace the truck with a branch, that was a lot of red. They were sitting all over this persons truck. 🙂
Our Last Stop we walked down a short path that opened up to a beautiful waterway. With one egret standing in the water. I love the blues and greens surrounding the bird.
The moon was visible during the day on this trip so I had to take a photo of it as well. This is straight out of the camera using a 6oo mm lens.
This is all for this nature preserve.
We crossed the bridge back over to Georgia.
The shipping yard looked empty when we looked down river. No container ships at all in the water.
I will leave you with a couple of photos of Ships I have photographed in different places. Have a great weekend.
Road Through the Preserve – At every turn there is something to see. From the beautiful moss covered trees to birds perched on logs drying their feathers.
Take the time to find out if there are any nature preserves in your area. Makes for a fun drive if nothing else.
Birds in the Nature Preserve – Just a few of the birds I saw while driving around the nature preserve. A lot of the usual ones like the herons and a few ducks now and than. We are a little late for migration time so there were not as many birds as earlier in the year I am sure.
Most of them were quite far away from where we were standing. I found this photo below interesting as the alligator swam past the Anhinga bird perched on the dead tree.
We did find at one end of the lake a lot of bird feathers. The alligators do eat birds.
Looks like this bird blind got hit by a storm and ripped the roof right off of it. Closed for the season.
Next to the Nature Park, it is next to the Savannah river, right off from the North Atlantic Ocean. So as one looks towards the left anywhere from within in the park. You will see the Georgia Ports Authority Shipping Container Yards.
Literally yards and yards of shipping containers. But, one will see places like this all along the coast. I forgot about them as we drove deeper into the preserve and started seeing birds.
I saw this very interesting lone tree along one of the waterways. I had to edit it a bit, by cutting out the shipping containers in the background.
Gus the Alligator – There was a giant alligator named Gus who lived in the murky swamp, notorious for his immense size. He was enormous. When he slid into the water, a wave formed. It could knock over a tree. Most people thought Gus was slow because he spent most of his time floating in the swamp. He looked like a floating log, with eyes barely visible above the surface.
One day, a curious human wandered along the edge of the swamp, casually walking by with a sandwich in hand. Gus watched from the water, thinking, Ah, a snack walks by. Perfect. I’ll just stay here and wait…
But as the human strolled closer, Gus got an idea. He was tired of people thinking he was slow. They always see me in the water, Gus thought. They never see me on land.
With a sudden burst of speed, Gus shot out of the water like a torpedo, launching himself onto the shore with a thud that shook the trees. The human turned just in time to see a 20-foot alligator charging at him, jaws wide open.
The human, completely startled, froze. Gus, with his massive legs now moving surprisingly fast on land, was in full sprint mode, his tail swinging like a wrecking ball. He zoomed past the human in a blur, kicking up mud and leaves as he raced by, and disappeared into the trees.
The human blinked, looking around. “Wait, what just happened?”
From the bushes, Gus’s voice echoed, “Don’t ever underestimate an alligator with a good sprint workout, buddy. I’m faster than your Wi-Fi connection!”
Yesterday’s Spoon bills were so far away, I could not get a decent photo of them. But today we were driving along a dirt road and all of a sudden I looked down this small ditch of water and there was one spoonbill.
So I got a better look at one and now I am happy. 🙂
I finally spotted two new bird species and one I’ve been hoping to see for years at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge!
Whenever I’m traveling, I always pull up Google Maps to check for nearby wildlife areas. In the Southeast, especially along the coast, there are tons of them, thanks to the vast marshlands.
Lately, I’ve been discovering more wildlife refuge areas that let you drive through the landscape. These parks have roads winding through the marshes, giving you deeper access to the area and better chances of spotting wildlife.
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge is one of those special places!
We didn’t spot many bird species as we drove through the area, but I did add two new ones to my list.
My first exciting sighting was a wood stork. They were distant, but I still got a good look with my binoculars.
Then, as we walked down a narrow trail alongside a waterway, a hint of pink caught my eye. Sure enough, there they were!
The spoon bill bird. I finally got to see them. A pink bird. Quite amazing. So different from all the other birds. We are in South Carolina where I finally got to see these. I thought I would have to go to Florida to see them.
Georgia – We made it to Georgia. Some road construction along the way really shows how much clay they have in this part of the country. Amazing how the world is made up of so many soil types and landscapes that go with them.
I heard a comic talking about the earth, something like this below.
Okay, folks, let’s take a moment to appreciate just how hilariously absurd our lives are! Here we are, trudging through our daily grind—stuck in traffic, scrolling through cat memes, and obsessing over whether we should order pizza or sushi for dinner. Meanwhile, we’re standing on a giant spinning rock, hurtling through the cosmos at a dizzying 67,000 miles per hour!
Seriously, 67,000 miles per hour! That’s faster than your last attempt to get out of a family dinner! And we’re doing all this while orbiting a massive ball of fire that’s about 93 million miles away. I mean, come on, talk about a cosmic game of dodgeball!
Free Overnight Parking – I keep certain places marked on my maps so I can find them easy if I ever need to. This is one of those spots.
A casino in Alabama with free parking for RVs. It is well lit and security cameras everywhere. A good place to stop when you need to take a break.
We got there just before sunset and as you can see, the hotel part of the casino is all glass. I looked out our window and the building was lit up like a giant outdoor movie screen. So I had to go out and snap a couple of photos.
Than the moon was rising over the building, I only used the camera on the phone, so this is the best it could do.
We had a good nights sleep and hit the road the next morning.
Some Fall Colors , We left a little earlier than usual this year. So we did not get to see much for fall colors. As we travel south, it seems like things are just turning brown. It is very dry through out the mid west.
The winding path through the woods is shrouded in an enchanting mystery, where sunlight dances through the leaves, casting playful shadows on the forest floor.
As you follow the path, the air thickens with the scent of pine and earth, and the world outside fades away.
November in Mississippi – The word “Mississippi” comes from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) word “misi-ziibi,” which means “great river.” It reflects the significance of the Mississippi River to the Native American tribes in the region. The name was adopted by French explorers in the 17th century and has remained ever since
The photos capture the serene backwaters of a campground we visited, accessible by a winding trail. The grass here is as vibrantly green as it appears in the images.
Just a Little Hiccup – Meaning as one travels the highways, one can meet up with debris falling from other vehicles. Things that can hit your vehicles windows and possibly creating chips in the glass.
We have had a few chips in the big RV window over the years. Chips that can be easily fixed by trained technicians.
But, not this one. I am not sure what hit us, but it was big and loud. I know I jumped when the window cracked. It was a big truck of some kind that went past us and then BAM. A nice fish eye in the window of the RV.
Come to find out, not many people like to replace RV windows these days. Especially when traveling. We were not able to find someone to fix the glass until we get down to Georgia. We hoped the glass wouldn’t crack more as we traveled on all the bumpy roads before then.
Husband did some research. He found out that putting super glue over the area on the outside might help keep it from getting worse. So he did that.
We made it to Georgia with no further damage.
Thanks to the internet, we found a team of guys that have their own business and all they do is replace windshields on RV and Semi Trucks.
Great guys and they did a fantastic job. It was a hard job, they said this glass weighed over 200 lbs. So they needed 3 to set the window in place. It takes about a week to cure and they did it right on site where we were camping.
So I put the cat in the bathroom and sat outside with the dogs and watched them do their thing. I will be keeping their phone number just in case.
Leaving Iowa for the Winter – I do love being in Iowa, the farm land, family and the wonderful people we always meet in Iowa. I am proud to call it my home state, where I grew up and went to high school.
Bridge Across the Cedar River – One of my favorite spots to visit in a small town in Iowa. This is a walking bridge for people to cross the river. Makes for a great landscape photo.
Birds – Starting to see some birds other than the blue jays from home.
First the Double Crested Cormorant known for those striking blue eyes. One of these days I would like to get a close up photo of this birds eye. So unique.
The Little Killdeer bird. Always fun to see in the spring time.
But very fast birds, it was very hard to get a shot of this one flying.
This photo below was from last spring, just cute as is. Two goslings.
Reflections of Divine Guidance -A Journey Through Creation
The Earth from a Drone
In this image, one might see the heavens and the earth as they coexist, reminiscent of Genesis 1:1-2, where God created the heavens and the earth. The vastness of space above symbolizes God’s divine realm, while the earth represents His creation.
Just as the drone captures a broader perspective, so too does Scripture remind us that God’s ways are higher than our ways, inviting us to consider the divine plan that spans beyond our immediate view.
Sunlight and Mist
This scene evokes Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The mist represents the uncertainties of life, with the trees—akin to lost souls—yearning for direction.
Yet, the penetrating sunlight symbolizes God’s guidance and grace, illuminating the way through the darkness of doubt and confusion.
The Calm Lake
In the tranquil lake, we find a reflection reminiscent of James 1:23-24. Here, the Word of God serves as a mirror and invites introspection. The still waters echo Psalm 23:2, where God leads us beside still waters, restoring our souls.
This serene setting is a place for contemplation. It encourages us to reflect on our journey and the peace from resting in God’s presence. Philippians 4:7 notes that the peace of God guards our hearts and minds.
These scenes collectively invite us to contemplate our relationship with the Creator, our path in life, and the peace found in His presence.
Cat vs Dog – I have taken lots of pet photos over the years. Including my own pets. My dog Chloee has a thing about the camera, usually when I point it at her she turns around. Or she gets close trying to sniff the camera.
Which I think makes for fun photos, close up of a dogs nose.
But, cats can be just as funny at times. I took this photo below with a wide angle lens on a phone camera. It made her ear closest to the camera look cartoonist big.
Kit Kit enjoying the outdoors video below or click HERE
So then I took some photo up close to the cats fur. Quite the different colors when you look real close.
I am guessing it is the oils in the fur and the light shinning on it.
After pestering my cat with taking her photo over and over. She then gives me this look telling me that is enough. 🙂
Oh but it is never enough for me. 🙂 there will be more.
Glowing Eyes Cat Digital Art by Sandra J’s Photography
Kit Kit the Cat – when I don’t have a lot of things to photograph, my cat gets her picture taken a lot. I mean a lot. Mainly because she has so much more patience than the dogs. She will sit perfectly still, which makes for much better photos.
When the temperature starts to drop. I find her sitting like this. She wraps her tail around her little paws trying to keep them warm.
A cats tail seems to have a mind of its own and is quite flexible compared to a dogs.
Kit Kit and Red Light Game Video below or click HERE
Life often teaches us in the most unexpected ways, and sometimes, it takes the simplest moments to reveal profound truths. Recently, I experienced a beautiful metaphor for resilience and grace. I want to share this lesson from a little seed I planted and then forgot.
A few months ago, I planted a few sunflower seeds. I nurtured it for a while, watering and tending to it with hope and excitement. But as time went on, I grew disheartened. The seed showed no signs of life, and eventually, my attention waned. I stopped watering it, convinced that it had failed. I gave up on it completely.
Imagine my surprise when I returned to the garden weeks later. There, midst the weeds and the remnants of my neglect, stood a stunning flower, vibrant and full of life. The colors were brilliant, and its presence was nothing short of miraculous. How could something I had abandoned flourish in my absence?
In that moment, I couldn’t help but reflect on how similar this is to our own lives and faith journeys. We often plant seeds of hope, love, and dreams. However, we sometimes see them wither due to doubt. Despair or the daily grind can also cause them to wither.
We find ourselves overwhelmed, wondering if anything we’ve nurtured will ever bloom. Just like my neglected seed, we feel like our efforts have gone unnoticed, forgotten in the chaos of life.
This experience with the flower taught me a powerful truth. Even when we give up, God is still at work. There are times we feel our prayers are unanswered. We believe our efforts are fruitless. But, like that seed, growth often occurs beneath the surface. It remains unseen and unfelt.
God’s timing is perfect, and His plans are often beyond our comprehension. My flower emerged when I least expected it. Similarly, we find that our moments of struggle and doubt can lead to unexpected beauty. Sometimes, what seems like an end is merely a pause, allowing God to work in ways we can’t imagine.
As Dawn Breaks, the world begins to stir. From the vantage point of an old bridge, the river below lays perfectly still, a sheet of glass reflecting the sky above.
The water is a mirror, capturing fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the horizon. It’s a moment where time seems to pause, inviting deep breaths and quiet contemplation.
Standing on the bridge, the view is breathtaking. The river winds gracefully through the landscape, flanked by trees adorned in the vibrant greens of late summer.
The silence is soothing. It is broken only by the occasional rustle of a breeze. There is also the soft splash of a fish breaking the surface.
In this serene setting, worries drift away like the clouds above. Here, on this bridge, amidst the stillness, one can find clarity and tranquility. It’s a perfect morning, a fleeting glimpse of nature’s serenity, reminding us of the beauty that exists in quiet moments.
First Snow Up North, I wrote on my calendar that the first snow in 2023 was in November. But it isn’t anything that is going to collect on the ground, yet.
John Deere the company would not have been possible without the determination of John Deere the man. From the time he created the first steel plow in 1837, Deere worked hard. He was committed to helping farmers handle their daily tasks with ease.
Demand for these plows increased. Deere moved the business from Grand Detour to Moline, IL in 1848. He chose this new location due to the power and transportation benefits it offered.
Iowa isn’t just farmland, it is made up of beautiful rolling hills and lots of state parks and lakes.
Harvesting Beans in Iowa. Harvest was in full swing when we were in Iowa, it is hard to get a photo of combines in the field without some windmills in the background.
Husband has a quick mind for coming up with funny statements. He saw this photo and said, ” So that is how they dry beans in Iowa.” Get it, the big turbines, they are spinning and drying the bean fields. :0 Ha, Love his sense of humor.
I took these photos with a cell phone camera, so the windmills look kind of funny when the camera does not have a fast enough shutter speed.
Standard Long Hair Collie. Such a beautiful and unique looking dog. This dog is one of the smartest dogs I have been around. Very good dog around the family and he actually won grand champion at the dog show that my nieces daughter took him to.
Below is a photo of how much he has changed since his puppy picture from last year.
Beautiful Morning at one of the campgrounds as we head south. It is very dry here in Iowa, as most areas in the mid-west. Harvest season is in full motion. The combines are out everywhere. They are working on the bean fields first and then moving to the corn fields.
Finally some cool nights this month, long time coming I say. I like the evenings when they are in the 50’s.
Last of the Summer Flowers full of color. Bees and hummingbirds were enjoying them all month, but we have had a couple of frost already. So they are about done now.
Thanks to my husband, I had the best gardening year ever. Below is a photo of my old garden area.
This summer he built this for me. So much easier to work in and keep.
Who knew dill plants can grow as tall as corn. When I finally pulled them out they were almost 6 feet long.
This plant below is Eggplant. I have never grown them before. It is very interesting to watch this plant grow. But I have to start them much earlier in the season. They never produced completely because they take over 100 days to mature. There are dozens of fruit on each plant as well. Next year I will try again.
Overall it was a very productive garden. We were picking vegetables everyday, adding them to our meals. Such a delight to grow your own food. Can’t wait until spring.
We Learn From Nature. Look at this amazing dragon fly up close.
Awhile ago I mentioned something interesting. Engineers observed birds in flight to figure out the design of airplanes. Feathers on bird wings have different purposes that help them land and take off.
Well, I am going out on a limb here. I am thinking they may have gotten the design of pilots helmets from these little guys. Look at the next few photos and you will see what I mean. As I keep zooming in closer to the eyes of this one.
On pine tree needles, dew drops lie, In soft, glistening light beneath the sky. Each pearl of dawn, so pure and bright, Reflects the grace of morning light.
In their shimmer, a silent prayer, A testament to love and care. A whisper of our Savior’s grace, In nature’s touch, we see His face.
Graceful Pelican Landing A Mesmerizing Display of Nature’s Precision
Witnessing a white pelican land on water is a mesmerizing spectacle of nature’s artistry and precision. As the pelican descends, its majestic wings spread wide, creating a grand, sweeping arc against the sky. The powerful beats of its wings gradually soften, guiding the bird into a graceful and controlled descent
The air currents interact with the pelican’s wings. This creates a delicate balance. It allows the bird to approach the water with both elegance and precision.
The pelican in the water, glances to its right, clearly uncertain about the landing abilities of the other bird.
As the pelican touches down, the air currents from its landing ruffle the feathers of the second pelican nearby.
This graceful landing is marked by the pelican’s aerodynamic glide. It skillfully uses its feet as natural skis. This is a testament to the remarkable interplay of power and poise in nature.
It’s a moment where every element—from the sweeping wingspan to the delicate touch on the water—comes together. It results in a harmonious show of beauty and precision.
The white pelican is a majestic marvel of nature, embodying a blend of grace, power, and beauty in its wingspan. As it spreads its wings, the sheer expanse is nothing short of breathtaking. With a wingspan that can reach up to nine feet, the white pelican commands the sky. Its presence is almost regal.
The beauty of the white pelican’s wingspan is remarkable. The contrast of its pristine white feathers against the vast sky accentuates this beauty even more.
As sunlight filters through the feathers, they can shimmer with a soft, iridescent glow. When the pelican soars, it casts a striking silhouette against the horizon. Its wings form a dramatic, sweeping arc. This captures the eye.
Cooper’s Hawk – here it is. A small hawk, but he can move. He was chasing the blue jays in and out of the trees so fast. It was hard to get a photo of it.
He would chase one and then it would escape through the trees. It would wait for one to move and at it again.
The blue jays are just as fast and can zip in and out of the tree branches as well.
I never did see the hawk catch one bird. I did see the blue jays chase it off many times. But it would come back a few days later and try again.
Nature taking its course. Oh, and when the blue jays are warning everyone around that the hawk is here. All the bird species take cover. The chickadees stay hidden until the coast is clear.
Little Known Fact about the Blue Jays, or maybe others do know this about this colorful bird.
They work together when danger is close by. I have heard others say that blue jays are a pest. Mainly because they kind of hog the bird feeders. Well, they do that, yes. I have seen them, but other birds can be pushy as well, like the grackles and morning doves.
I saw for the first time a Coopers Hawk hanging around my bird feeders this year. It just doesn’t seem right that a bird will eat another bird. Coopers hawks do just that.
We knew when the hawk was in the area because all the blue jays give out warning calls. All of a sudden the hawk is flying after one, as the blue jay gets away. All the blue jays start chasing the hawk.
I will have photos of that tomorrow. I was pretty impressed how these blue jays stuck together to try and chase it off. More tomorrow.
There are 4 species of nuthatches found in North America. They are the red-breasted nuthatch, the white-breasted nuthatch, the brown-headed nuthatch, and the pygmy nuthatch.
While they have distinct physical features, these tree-climbing birds share habitat, food, nesting, and foraging behaviors in common.
I photographed two of them this fall here at my place. The white breasted and the red one.
Plus I included some more Chickadee photos. I can’t resist taking their photos when they practically come right up to me.
5 Ds of Dodge Ball – Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge
These blue jays have the moves of the old Dodge Ball Game. Do you remember that game. I do, we played it in gym class. I don’t think they play that one anymore.
I just bought that old movie Dodge Ball, it is a classic for me.
Go Pro Photos. I was experimenting with the go pro camera at my bird feeding table last week. I normally just use the camera for videos. But I thought I would try the photo menus and see what happens.
It is not bad if the subject isn’t moving to much. Mainly because you can not control the shutter speed when you have the camera running on auto.
There is a little blur with wing movement, which I knew would happen. A fun little experiment though.
The Horse Show. My favorite class to watch at horse shows is the halter class. Where they mostly just show the composition of the horse compared to the others in the class.
The judge is in the pink shirt heading over to this 4 H girl showing her horse. I think her horse has done this a few times. Its eyes are closed, taking a nap I believe. 🙂
This next one has a bit more energy. But the girl has no problem with her horse and lets him warm up a bit before the class.
Short video below of the horse and riders at the beginning of the show carrying the flags.
Glowing Spots – I love this shot, as if this fawns white fur is glowing in the morning light. The sun is just coming up over the trees, and with a faster shutter speed. The white really stands out as the background is darker.
Discovering the New Bird Sanctuary near Paducah KN. I just looked at the map and saw a green area not far from us. So we took a drive to see what it was.
This area had a nice size man made lake with a road that you can drive all around it. Plenty of habitat for a lot of birds and people out fishing on the lake as well.
We discovered this new bird walking along the shore line.
Dozens of Egrets in the trees and on land. I will definitely be visiting this park again to see more birds.
Horses at the Fair. I have a couple more photos to share. They are from my visit to the small town fair in Iowa. I went to the fair recently.
I showed horses in my younger days. It was so much fun getting together with other like-minded people. We enjoyed a day or two of hanging around with some very beautiful horses.
They spent some time working on this horses mane below. Lots of rubber bands. Very pretty.
Just One Shot is all I get of these sand hill cranes. They landed in the field next to our place. You can hear them easily in the mornings, as they make their bird calls.
This particular morning they flew right over my head and landed the next field over. I went out there to get a photo of them and only snapped this one before they took off. They were quite far away as well.
I never realized they have red eyes like the black swans until I looked at this photo.
Next Generation. I am so excited, my oldest niece is interested in photography. I have been helping her learn how to use a DSLR camera and the camera on her phone. But she wants to learn with a camera which is so exciting to me.
I love talking photography and teaching her everything I know. Photography is fun and gets you to slow down a bit. It helps you look at everything around you more closely.
Even though I live 8 hours away from her, with today’s technology, she sends me photos that she takes. I give her advice on how to change the composition to make an eye catching photo. She likes to enter her photos into the fair in her town.
Take for example this photo below, She took this with her phone and sent it to me. As she was standing there by the river and it was getting close to sunset.
So I had just a couple of suggestions for her. First there is too much in the foreground with that cement pad there. I can tell the river curves to the left in front of her. The sun is dropping off to the right in the background.
I text her back. I said to go right down to the edge of the river. She needed to turn her cell phone upside down so that the camera was right at the water’s edge. Then put the camera on its widest angle, which is .6 with a Samsung. She said ok and give her a minute and she will try it.
This is what she sent me next. So much better. I love the clouds reflecting in the water and the trees on both sides. By the time she took the shot, the sun was adding a bit of color.
It looks like she is in the water and the viewer has a leading line to look down the river.
I edited it just a bit to straighten up the horizon and sent it back. Amazing that she and I can do this all through texting.
I gave her my old DSLR bridge camera that she will learn from. We will be working with that this fall when I get down there.
I took this photo on drift wood beach in Georgia, An example of using a wide angle lens. With the right landscape, I love how it elongates the scene. It draws the eye down to that tree in the middle of the shot.
When They Look right at you. I love shots like this. When it looks like I have made eye contact with the animals I photograph. As if the animal is posing just for the shot.
I also love the fact that this horses main is framing its face. Definitely going into my favorite folder and I am printing this one.
This one is just the opposite, they are all looking at something down the street. 🙂 Well, except for two who look like they are napping.
Blue Top Hat. Molting seems to be done with the blue jays. They have their crown of blue feathers back. There are always plenty of them to photograph this time of year.
I took this video below with my phone camera through a window. It is not the clearest video. I saw mother and fawn playing in a water puddle out in the yard.
On The Road Again. That is all for Paducah Kentucky, I am sure we will be back there. I do have a couple of new spots we are going to camp at this winter. So much to see, nature is calling.
The Old 1518. A Mikado steam engine, the last “Iron Horse” used by the I.C.R.R., serves as a memorial to the passage of the Steam Age.
Located on Water Street in Historic Downtown, the memorial and marker are dedicated to the Illinois Central Railroad Company. They emphasize the importance of the railroad to Paducah’s history and commerce.
I am truly fascinated with the old steam locomotives. The power of them, the sound and the engineering itself.
There is one locomotive that I would love to see one day, it is the Big Boy 4014. It does tour the states, the last couple of years it sat still during the covid. But this year it is back on tour.
I found the schedule. It is going through Iowa. I think it is next week. I just can’t make it there right now.
A Summer’s Warmth. Gently recedes, autumn steps in with its own distinct charm. It drapes the world in a stunning tapestry of golden hues.
There’s a certain magic in this season. Nature’s palette shifts from the vibrant greens of summer to a more mellow, sunlit symphony of golds, ambers, and ochres.
The leaves have started to turn in my neck of the woods.
CN’s Autonomous Track Inspection. CN’s ATIP is a fleet of fully automated rail cars. They use wireless communications to test and check real-time geometric track measurements. They also conduct track asset condition assessments without interrupting normal railroad operations.
With its ATIP cars powered by solar panels and a generator, CN achieves 24/7/365 track inspections. The cars travel at revenue service track speed. These completely self-sustaining and autonomous test platforms make it possible.
I had no idea what this train car was until I looked it up. We were sitting at a park and I looked up and it was crossing this bridge. I just assumed it was a passenger rail car but I noticed it did not have an engine.
Exploring the National Quilt Museum. A Visual Delight
Well, I never knew there was a museum for quilts. But a museum it should be because the quilts were amazing. I have never seen anything like them.
This museum is in Paducah Kentucky. Each quilt has a card next to it with a bar code. You can scan it and read all about the making of the quilt. You can see how long it took to make and where it was from.
This one below is my favorite quilt, the picture does not do it justice. It has hundreds of sequence on it that just sparkle no matter what angle you view the quilt at.
I am not a quilt maker, I do not have the patience for that at all. I truly enjoyed looking at these as did my husband. Amazing what people can make.
Murals Depicting Real Time. The painter picked photographs to paint on the wall of actual scenes from back in the day in Paducah Kentucky. You get to walk along the wall and see how the area changed from his murals.
Days Are Getting Shorter – As I sit at my computer on this serene early morning, I watch the daylight gradually stretch its arrival, casting a gentle glow through my window. I wait patiently, eager to see the birds make their appearance at the feeders.
The blue jays have arrived, bringing their young along to learn the art of foraging. The fledglings, fluttering around with eagerness, receive gentle guidance from their parents as they practice eating on their own.
I have been taking photos of these colorful birds, trying to get shots of them in flights to see their colorful feathers.
As most of you have probably heard, AI is here to stay and it is making an impact on our photography world as well.
Yes, I have been dabbling into the art of AI with my photos as I have extra time these days. Exploring this new technology to make greeting cards for the upcoming seasons apon us.
I only use photoshop and they have incorporated a new AI into its program this month. I quite enjoy using it and creating art by using my photos as the generative reference images.
I have two samples below showing the difference between using your own reference photos and using text to image program.
This first photo below I used my blue jay photos to make this wintery greeting card. It does pretty well I think. I also list on all of my work when it is AI generated or not and how I made the piece.
Now this print below is using the text to image system. Where you describe what you want the photo to look like. I do not prefer this type of imagery. But I can see where some folks might like to use this, for creating children’s books or something like that.
There is a place for art using this new technology I believe, it does not replace photography at all, but it is definitely here to stay and being used throughout industries of all kinds, from advertising to creating movies.
Right now I can still tell the difference between AI and Real, but that may change as the software keeps improving.
I believe there will always be a place for genuine photographs because computers can’t replicate the human touch. While technology can imitate creativity, it can never replace the authentic essence of human expression.
Night Sky Phenomena – I cannot explain these photos as all. I took some photos in the middle of last week as I noticed the night sky was clear and the stars were shinning bright.
I set my camera up for time lapse again, I then went inside and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Woke up and went outside to retrieve my camera and put the SD card in my computer and this is what I saw.
There were a few shooting stars mostly going south west. This light appears on the left side of the shot and it is moving NE with the two lights in the middle of the larger lights. All three were moving together north.
It took 10 consecutive shots as the light moved from the tree line and then went out of frame. It held the same shape the entire distance, Now I don’t know what it was, but my imagination says it could be angel wings, which is a hopeful thought for me. These lights are extremely large as well.
I have photographed many stars over the years and have never seen anything like this. I will never know probably what it is, but I know what I would like it to be. 🙂
Perseid Meteor Shower – you may have heard that last weekend was the highlight of the Perseid Meteor shower. I had my camera gear ready and we had a clear night for the even last Sunday.
I got up around 2 am and looked out the window first and noticed the sky seemed kind of bright for viewing stars. I went outside and low and behold the Northern lights were dancing across the sky as well, that is why it was brighter than normal.
Bad news, I saw a few shooting stars but not as many as they said there were because of the northern lights where I live.
This photo below shows the northern lights plus I stacked about 100 photos to show you the star trails. I had my camera set to time lapse photos, 15 sec shutter speed, WB 4500K, ISO 4000, F2.8 with a wide- angle lens.
This next photo, I was able to capture just a bit of the milky way with the northern lights, this photo was taken with a small little Go Pro Camera. Set to time lapse photos.
I did notice that these photos facing SW showed more pink and green lights
Whereas this photo below, I was facing north and the lights were greener and more vibrant. I have a lot of trees lining my driveway, so I had to walk down the driveway, which is very dark and kind of spooky because there are a lot of wolves, bears, fox, and coyotes, oh my, 🙂
So, I walked down the driveway, took 2 photos quick and hurried back to the cabin. But, not one photo with a shooting star. Maybe next time.
She is Sneaky this little fawn, she is just starting to come out of the woods with mom in this first photo, the minute I come out with the camera she high tails it back to the woods.
Everyday she is getting more brave to not run when she sees me, she is curious and mom keeps a close eye on her.
The Infinity Mirror – as the tour guide took us upstairs and by the way, the railing on this staircase is so short. Because people were shorter back then. It was only about 3 ft tall, my husband is 6’3″ and the railing came up just above his knee. The tour guide told us that because a lot of people trip on the stairs being the railing is misleading for support.
A beautiful hallway that holds a remake of the infinity mirror.
Which is 2 mirrors right across from each other so it goes on forever.
So this is it for this tour, if you are ever crossing the border by Paducah Kentucky, make sure to stop at this welcome center. They still have lots of pretty flowers growing all around the home as well. Wonderful place to take a break on your journey.
Some People Returned Items – some of the stolen items were returned when they found out they were restoring this home. A lot of it was also just donated that was not original to the home. But it fit the time period and looks amazing in there now.
There are constant repairs that need to be done, like cracks in the walls and ceilings. But overall they did an amazing job restoring this old place.
Kentucky Rest Area – This week I am going to show you a place that I have wanted to stop at for years and we finally did a few months ago. We drove by it so many times, it is a rest area in Kentucky, probably one of the best rest areas I have ever stopped at.
This unique historical rest area/welcome center is, Whitehaven. It is a Victorian home built in the 1860’s and has quite the story as to how it became a rest area.
This home is steeped in KY history from former Vice President Alben Barkley to many influential figures in the formation of Kentucky’s history.
This mansion was once destined to be destroyed, but was saved by the KY Transportation Cabinet.
The Sly Fox – I photographed this beautiful animal on the gulf coast. I don’t see fox very often, they are around where I live, but never see them during the day. I did catch one on my trail camera last week passing by.
Beautiful animals, have a wonderful weekend.
This is AI’s version of my fox photo painted. I kind of like it. In any of my digital work, I always list it as digital. I am a photographer before being a digital artist. But I always use photos I take to get this look with the help of technology.
Heading Out to Sea – what a job this must be. Staying out on the water for days or weeks. I know I could not do it. I am pretty sure I would get sea sick. I like to boat, but I have never been on really big boats or big waves.
Treasures on the Gulf Coast – The Gulf Coast is a treasure trove of vibrant seascapes, and the shrimp boats there add a special splash of color to the scene.
Picture a cluster of these boats lined up along the dock or gently bobbing on the water, each one a canvas of bold hues. Bright blues, vivid reds, sunny yellows, and deep greens paint a lively mosaic against the backdrop of the shimmering Gulf.
I love seeing the shrimp boats on the water when we visit the coast down south. I photographed these boats at Bayou La Batre in LA when we were there.
A Dazzling Jewel – The male cardinal’s brilliant red plumage is nothing short of breathtaking, resembling a vivid splash of crimson against the soft green foliage backdrop. His striking color radiates with an almost fiery intensity, making him a dazzling jewel amidst the muted tones of his surroundings.
The Eye of a Cat, this is my cat. Kit Kit is her name. I sit at my dinning room table to do all my computer work and this table is right by a nice large window. I like to watch the birds outdoors as I am doing my work.
My cat loves to sit right next to my computer, sometimes looking out the window and if it is a little cooler in the house. She likes to curl up on the transformer box that I use to charge the computer. It is like her own little warming station.
Anyway, on this day she was looking out the window and I was looking at her eyes. An amazing thing to see up close, a cats eye. So I had to take a few photos close up. I had my phone camera right next to her face and she just sat there perfectly still. Liking the attention.
The Storm Clouds Gather, dark and dense, A tumult roars, the heavens tense, Lightning cracks the twilight’s veil, A furious dance, a tempest’s wail.
The sky ignites with electric fire, Each flash a fierce, consuming pyre, Thunder’s voice, a booming cry, Echoes through the bruised night sky.
Yet in the chaos, midst the rage, A fleeting light begins to wage, As torrents drench the world below, A secret promise starts to show.
The storm, though wild, begins to fade, Its fierce embrace now softly swayed, And through the tears of shattered rain, A ribbon forms, a hopeful chain.
Colors break through, soft and bright, A spectral arc against the night, A rainbow blooms, a quiet cheer, A bridge of peace in storm’s austere.
Nature’s Fury: The Dramatic Beauty of Shelf Clouds
Last month brought some stormy weather where I live, two shelf clouds this year so far. They move very fast being pushed by some horrific winds. The clouds roll at you in so many different shapes.
The first one here, it was a big shelf cloud with some cloud movements like nothing I have ever seen. Video Below.
Video Below; or click this title here to see the video on my You Tube Channel, Natures Fury
The Second Shelf cloud storm was more straight lined right across, rolling like pie dough in a tight line. Both with winds and rain that almost made me run back into the house. 🙂
The Old Windmill – In the 18th century, the Great Plains were considered unfit for cultivation. The area was termed the “Great American Desert.” Droughts would follow rainy spells and the sun and wind would dry up surface moisture.
In 1854, Daniel Halladay developed the American-type windmill. It was smaller, less expensive and could be shipped and built easily. Its sails were held into the wind by a weight, which would rise slowing to reduce the area of the sails when the wind was too fast. Traditional cloth covered sails were soon replaced with smaller wooden blades.
These new windmills were ideal for settlers on the plains. They could pump water from great depths at a steady rate. They could shift into the prevailing winds and functioned well in fast and slow winds. And to top it off, they required little maintenance.
You can still find a few of these scattered across the states. Iowa still has a few, I took this photo from the RV window. There is just something nostalgic about these windmills.
I don’t know how many of these old windmills are in Iowa these days.
But it does say there are 6000 of these wind turbines in Iowa alone as of today. The giant thing in the background of the photo below. A big difference in windmills from the old days.
I won’t get into the efficiency of these or all the controversy about them all over the country. I know at this little horse show I went to, I photographed a lot of children with their horses and had to delete a lot of windmills from the background. Which is not that hard to do in photoshop these days.
In Twilight’s Hush, where whispers drift, The storm clouds weave a gentle shift, Like ghosts in realms of azure seas, They float with soft, enigmatic ease.
With edges brushed in shades of grey, They roam the sky in a fleeting ballet, Their wispy tendrils tease the night, An ethereal dance of shadowed light.
They gather slow with sighs of lore, A murmured tale of tempest’s core, Yet in their grace, a calm prevails, An artful play where calmness sails.
No thunder’s roar or lightning’s claim, Just drifting clouds with no ill aim, They kiss the heavens, drift and part, An endless play of storm and heart.
Their fleeting forms in twilight blend, A moment’s breath that does transcend, In wispy trails, their stories told, Of storms unbound and skies unrolled.
Silhouettes and Sunsets – In the quiet of dusk, where day meets night, Silhouettes dance in the fading light, Outlined figures against the golden blaze, A moment suspended in the sun’s last gaze.
Trees stretch their limbs like ink on the sky, Birds soar in patterns, bidding day goodbye, Silhouettes of wings, elegant and free, Caught in the hues of a painted reverie.
And when the night arrives, with stars aglow, Silhouettes fade where memories flow, But in the heart’s canvas, they remain, Silhouettes and sunsets, eternally framed.
Spring Bird Family Vacations – or lets call it the bird resort here at our place. This is the baby update of these 4 birds who have nested around our place.
The Raven is here every year all year. This couple had 2 babies this year. I have been trying to get a photo of all 4 of them together, but not easy to do. The 2 babies follow mom and dad everywhere still wanting to be fed by them. I just love watching how birds take care of their families.
I had mentioned in an earlier post that the Eastern Bluebirds had 4 babies. They have all left the nest and I am really going to miss these because they eat a lot of bugs. One baby somehow landed in a bucket I had outside, I took him over by the bird house and he wondered out of the bucket and than flew off.
I hope they come back next year.
The beautiful Tree Swallows had 4 or 5 babies. It is hard to count these because they fly so fast. They have all left as well. I looked up on the internet to find out where do they go after fledging. It said they usually find a group of their own and all hang out together until they fly south for the winter.
My northern Flicker residence are still here and they had 2 babies as well. I still see them flying around as a family for now.
If I can get any new photos of the kids, I will surely share them with you.
Love of Bird Photography – Some of my favorite shots this summer so far.
Eastern Bluebird on the Fly, update on these birds nesting in my purple martin house. They had 4 babies and I saw one fly out of the bird house with its parent. The other 3 would take turns coming out of the nesting box and sit on the little porch. That is a small space for 4 baby birds so they are all probably about ready to test their wings and fly to a tree.
Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird stopping by the feeder.
Shore bird after a dip in the water
Oh and my favorite, the White Pelican in flight. Nothing I love more than photographing these beautiful birds as they fly right over top of me. It is very hard to hold the camera in a complete vertical position but so worth the efforts. 🙂
Part of the Farm – My niece not only has horses, pigs are a part of the farm during the summer months. Her two children and their cousins show pigs, sheep and rabbits at their local fair. Which we are going to this year.
It is a great way for children to learn how to take care of animals and the importance of feeding and grooming them, even pigs. I don’t know much about pigs, but it is fun to watch the children work with them and take care of them.
They are a very curious animal, I was standing at their fence trying to get a photo and this one kept wanting to get close, looking for more food I reckon.
What Keeps You Busy in the summer months? Well, I love to work in the garden. But as I am getting older, it gets harder to weed the garden and plant it when it is at ground level. I have been reading a lot about raised garden beds. So this is what is going on here.
This photo is my garden from last year. It has to be fenced because of the deer. But imagine this spot covered with grass that is at least 4 ft tall and intertwined into the fence around it in the spring.
It is so discouraging to start a garden when you have to clean up the weeds first.
My husband is an amazing guy, he rototilled the garden for me and it looks ready, but I asked him if he could maybe build me a raised garden area in this spot. I showed him a picture of what I was thinking of, and by the way, he can build anything. I am quite impressed at what all he does for us, from fixing our cars to caring for our home and RV.
So he started with one box, than the dirt had to be moved.
Then he built another box, so on and so forth.
We did not have enough dirt to fill the boxes so husband cut up a bunch of dead trees to fill the boxes up half way.
We put a fence around the garden that the birds love to perch on.
Plus, they are helping me weed the garden I think and picking out bugs.
This is the final project. So much easier on my back when it comes to planting and weeding. The entire thing is planted and now I just have to maintain it. Thank you dear husband. 😉
Horse Art – nothing prettier than a team of draft horses in harness I think. I raised draft horses for years. But never did drive them. I only raised them just because they are beautiful animals. I had one that I rode which was a blast. He weighed in at almost 1 ton. His name was Big Mac.
Draft horses and mules seem to go together. They sometimes use mules to train young horses to lead. This mule below is a cutie, also belonging to my niece.
Whistle the Paint Horse – this is my niece’s horse, I made this first photo for her this year. Showing Whistle when she was just a youngster and how she has grown into a beautiful 3 year old mare this year. She does have one blue eye as well. Beautiful horse indeed.
The paint horse is a very popular breed, thanks to its flashy coloring, genial temperament, and versatility. In fact, the American Paint Horse Association counts around 100,000 members in roughly 40 countries around the world.
The Ruby’s – Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, Ruby, Emerald, Touch of Safire. This tiny bird has all the royal colors from creation. In such a small package, a tiny little heart that keeps this bird going. I am always amazed to watch hummingbirds, how fast they are and to know how many miles they fly a year is a wonderous thing. Truly a gift to witness the strength and tenacity of this living thing.
Portrait of a Hummingbird, the female Ruby throated hummingbird. Beautiful in its smallest form, creation.
A Colorful Surprise this year at home. Eastern Bluebirds have decided to use my bird house this year to raise their babies. I have never seen an eastern bluebird up here. Matter of fact I have only seen a couple of them over the years, so I feel that it is a treat to see them at all.
Their beautiful colors of blue and tan and a wonderful song they have as well.
I put two bird houses up to try and attract Purple Martins. Over the last couple of years, the only birds using this house are tree swallows. They are interesting birds because they will put nesting material in every spot so other birds think this home is occupied.
Come to find out, eastern bluebirds do the same thing. There was a slight battle between the bluebirds and tree swallows. But they seem to come to an agreement. Tree swallows took one house and bluebirds took the other.
This could have been a great shot of the tree swallow in flight, they are super fast birds. Very hard to photograph in flight. This couple had 3 or 4 babies this years. Yesterday they all came out of the house for a fly around the place. I counted 5 or 6 flying around.
Both birds eat lots of bugs, so they are a wonderful addition to our home this year.
Stormy Weather here lately. From Iowa and up where I live. Iowa is known for a lot of stormy weather. Seems like their tornado warnings go off quite often there during the summer months.
The Rose Garden – Not my rose garden, I have never actually planted a rose bush in my flower garden. Not sure why not, I guess I have heard they need a lot of care and I don’t have the greenest of thumbs. 🙂
But I love photographing roses, so many different kinds. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Feathers From Heaven – In many spiritual traditions, feathers are also associated with the concept of spiritual ascension and the idea of rising above one’s earthly troubles. For example, in some traditions, feathers are thought to represent the connection between the physical world and the spiritual world and are seen as symbols of spiritual growth and enlightenment.
I do pick up feathers when I find them. On this particular day, I actually saw this fall out of the Northern Flicker bird as it flew overhead. Last week I posted a photo of the Flicker flying and showed what pretty yellow feathers it has. Than it flew over me and one landed right in front of me. So I had to pick it up.
Quite extraordinary it is. Such a beautiful yellow.
This is the tree the bird flew to, you can barely see him at the top of the pine tree.
The red on the back of the head is a good way to identify it. I have a pair that nest here in my yard. They also love taking dirt baths in my garden. So fun to watch.
Hanoverian and Thoroughbred – I just love horses. Most of you know I raised many of them in my younger years and now I love photographing them. I actually wasn’t into photography back when I had horses. That is when I should have started though, that would have been fun.
These two beautiful animals are from the Mobile Al mounted police department. I made a portrait of these two and sent it to the department. They loved it and said thank you, plus they told me the horse on the left is a Hanoverian, and his name is Avalon. He retired this year. The one on the right is named Papa and he is a thoroughbred Percheron mix.
They were in a parade where I took these photos. I was watching these two horses and they seemed like buddies and were just hanging out in line with the other horses and their police officers.
When it comes to getting just the right shot, I take a lot of photos waiting for just that right look, and these two gave it to me as they were touching noses in my last photo. That is the one I picked to make the portrait.
As if they have a language all their own, a moment of beauty.
Iowa Storm This Year – The day started out normal, the sun was shining. We
were in Iowa visiting my sister. I am one that checks the weather often on my
phone. There was mention of a storm brewing and heading our way. But that was
not until later in the day. So, in the morning, on this day, my sister and I got in the car and headed
to the grocery store. Wanting to get some errands done before the rain sets in
later in the day. We rounded the corner to turn into the parking lot and my sister stopped and
said, ” Well, there is a tornado”. I looked up and was startled to
see it right in front of us, about 1 mile away. We sat there for a moment and
watched it. I took a quick photo and then it touched down to the ground but did
not stay there long. It was moving quite fast eastward. More like a funnel cloud I think they
call them. Tornado sirens started and we headed back to her house. I quickly
left to go out to the campground where husband and our 2 dogs and cat are to
check on the situation and the weather updates. In the photo below, the first camper is ours, with the jeep behind it. The one next to us is my brothers, who came here from Montana to visit while we were there. A nice little family reunion. The weather said the storm was coming straight out of the south, which means it was going to come right at our rv, being my brother is on the north west side of us. Well, as I was watching the weather, I told my brother I think we might move to the other side of him, because there wasn’t any wind breaks on the south side of us. Thinking his trailer might break some of the winds heading our way. They were predicting 60 mile an hour wind gust starting by 5 pm. The clouds are starting to roll, the weather said the winds had changed and would be coming out of the south east. More behind us where there is a line of trees. So, we decided not to move our RV to the other side of my brother. But, 60 mph winds are a lot when you are in an RV, we have been in 40 mph winds and that was scary. I told my husband I am heading into town to go to my sister’s house who has a basement. He said he was going to stay there and my brother was holding out as well. I took our little dog with me and I told him to head over too their house if it gets to bad out. So off I went. The winds hit right on schedule, all of 60 mph. Husband kept calling and checking in. He was fine. We were all watching out the windows of my sister’s house. The rain is coming down in sheets, the wind keeps changing. Spinning round and round, going east and then west. My husband called, he heard a big crack outside the RV, he looked out the side window and branches were braking off of the trees. After about an hour, the storm was over. The sun came out, the river was raging and coming out of its banks. I drove back out to the camper to see the damage and check on everyone. For as long as I can remember, my intuitions have saved me many times. Intuitions or the small voice that has led me through many of hard times to a safer place. I never ignore these voices, I never ignore the nudges that I get, I believe they are from a higher place. I will show you why next.
For as I was saying earlier. We had talked about moving to this spot here, but at the last minute something told me to just stay where we were.
If we would have moved this branch, which was just as heavy as a tree itself, would have fallen right on top of our RV, I can imagine the damage it would have done, not to say what might have happened being my husband was in there as well. Gives me goose bumps looking at the photos to this day. By later in the day, the owner of the campground had the tree all cleaned up. He had his chainsaw out and one person helping him load all the wood onto it and the spot was level and ready for business again. Moral of this story, a gut feeling is worth listening to. A gut feeling to me is someone giving you a nudge. It’s a kind of inner voice, a nudge that seems to guide us towards a decision or away from danger. Have a great weekend. 🙂 Iowa Storm This Year Sandra J’s Into the Light AdventuresSandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts By Sandra J
Raindrops from Heaven – gentle reminders of His power and presence.
In the quiet of twilight, they begin to fall, Silver tears from heaven’s gentle call. Raindrops, soft and fleeting, grace the earth, A symphony of whispers, a timeless rebirth.
This is the last of our stops in Columbus Ms. This cemetery was founded in 1839.
This location is the burial site of four Confederate generals, more than two thousand Confederate soldiers, veterans from every war the United States has fought, as well as distinguished authors, legislators, and people from all walks of life. It is the site of America’s first Decoration Day (1866), inspiring the writing of the poem “The Blue and the Gray.” This site also represents the reconciliation after the Civil War, as the Ladies of Columbus put flowers on the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers who had been buried there.
Many of the tree roots have grown around the markers.
Every spring a group of high school students conduct a tales from the crypt program in the cemetery. We went to it one night as I have never been to one. The students had to choose a person who was buried in the cemetery and study the person and his or her life.
They gave a speech as that person and dressed in the proper clothing of the time. It was very informative and all the students did very well.
Blues Musicians playing in Catfish Alley, Columbus Ms. I don’t know a lot about blues music. I never listened to it much. But I have to say these bands were very good, it was a treat to sit and enjoy the talents of these musicians.
Mr. Sipp – Grammy award winning artist below
Terry Big T Williams
And Blind Mississippi Morris
Below is a snippet of the musicians playing, or click here; Blues Music
July Flowers and Gardens – July is known for being the hottest part of summer in some areas. Flowers are blooming, birds are nesting. Colors are bright and vibrant.
Here is to a wonderful month of July in your area, a time to enjoy the wonderful outdoors, along with quite a few mosquitos in our area. But the good news is, I have not found one wood tick yet this year on me or my dogs. That is so unusual, but I don’t mind that at all.
Inside the Home of Tennessee Williams. I love looking at antiques, the sad thing is, most of the stuff I grew up with, are antiques now as well. When did that happen. ☺️
He had a simple house with simple furnishings. I love the large windows in some of these older homes.
This was the entertainment room.
After leaving his house and having lunch on the lawn there. We listened to a gentleman named Blind Mississippi Morris, one of the country’s greatest blues harmonicist. He was exceptional, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to some live music.
Next we went over to Catfish Alley for more live music, which I will show you next week. Have a great weekend. 😉
Next Tennessee Williams Home – Who I thought was a singer, but I have him mixed up with someone else. This gentleman was one of the greatest American playwrights. I don’t know him that well, I have heard of some of his plays, like Street Car Named Desire. But I don’t know if I have ever seen it.
He had a regular old home, nothing like the antebellum homes. But unique by itself. The most interesting thing about going into this museum, which is free, was the woman we met that was volunteering there on that day.
She was the nicest lady who has lived in Columbus for many years and knew a lot of its history. She told us stories and historical facts for quite awhile. I sure appreciated her taking the time to share all of that with us.
Also the day we were there they were celebrating the start of Cat Fish Alley Music Festival. They had a pork roast on the lawn which we sat down and enjoyed with a lot of other folks. Listened to some wonderful blues music which I will show more of next week.
Such a fun little town, with lots of history and good people.
Antebellum Homes – meaning before a particular war, especially the American Civil War.
Columbus, Mississippi, boasts a rich heritage deeply rooted in the antebellum period, evidenced by its stunning architectural landscape. The city’s antebellum architecture provides a fascinating window into the past, reflecting the grandeur and cultural history of the American South before the Civil War.
Many of these historic homes have been meticulously restored and are open to the public, offering a glimpse into the past. The annual Columbus Spring Pilgrimage is a notable event where several antebellum homes open their doors to visitors, providing guided tours and insights into the historical and architectural significance of each property.
We happened to be camping near Columbus during the Spring Pilgrimage. We went down town to learn more about that while we were there.
We did not take the tour to go inside any of these homes this time. I will next time we visit. Everyone of these homes on the tour, people live in. But they open there homes up just during this pilgrimage to the public.
I can’t even imaging living in a home this large. The upkeep must be costly for sure. I live in a 400 sq ft cabin and that suits me just fine. But I still love seeing old homes like this. It is fun to imagine the life back then at places like this. Something right out of the history books before us. So fun.
Out For a Walk – We headed downtown Columbus to see what we could find next. Like most towns, they have the newer, shopping type areas. Which we try to avoid, it is the old part of town we like to see and Columbus has a beautiful area of old town.
The homes in this area are quite beautiful, with lots of flowers blooming everywhere.
With lots of historical homes, some of which you can go into on certain days that they are doing tours.
Of course a beautiful river walk that we came apon, with this old bridge that does not get used anymore according to the signs saying it may collapse.
Columbus Mississippi – One of the first things I do when I get to a new town that we are camping near, is to look up what there is to see in each town. Columbus has a lot of history and very unique homes, or should I say mansions.
I always check out google maps for historic areas of a town. The first thing that showed up was this old diesel locomotive. The actual first diesel locomotive, it ran for 38 years and retired in 1984. I do love trains and learning about them. They changed
From their start in England in 1830, railroads spread like kudzu across the globe. They unified countries, created great fortunes, enabled the growth of new industries, and thoroughly revolutionized life in every place they ran.
It is nice when they put signs up explaining what we are looking at. I will have more of my favorite trains on tomorrows post.
Rose Tinted Glasses – The idiom “rose-tinted glasses” signifies a perspective that is overly optimistic, highlighting the positive while often ignoring the negative aspects of a situation.
This phrase popped into my head when I look at this Rose Breasted Grosbeak bird and the flower below. I am a very positive person, for me it is because I trust in our Lord.
I hope this splash of color brightens your day and have a wonderful weekend. 🙂
Trying Something New with pet portraits. I love photographing animals, especially pets, horses, dogs, cats, pretty much anything someone needs done.
I always like trying new things with photo editing. I see samples in my feed on social media platforms showing some pretty cool ideas on editing techniques. So I have to try it when I see a new one, just to see if I can do it on the computer.
Below is the first thing I saw on a feed demonstration. This is a ruff draft, I had to make a table and try and make a photo frame. So nothing really matches or looks real of course. This type of art is called pop out.
Making the subject look like they are popping out of the picture, or picture frame.
This one she is popping out of another picture. I will have a couple more tomorrow of dog pop out photos.
A New Boat to Me – Not the first photo, I just thought that one was such a bright pretty red color.
I have not heard of these boats below, apparently called Mud Boats. I do know they are fast and loud. Good for going in swamp type areas. Interesting, I learned something new on this day.
River Locks and Dams – This is the small lock on the Tombigbee river, you will find locks on many rivers especially if there are Corp of Engineer parks in the area.
I have never seen a tug boat quite like this one, it was coming out of the locks here when I was taking photos of the dam.
Lock and Dam No. 15 below, is one of my favorite places to stop and watch pelicans on the Mississippi River.
Its dam is 1,203 feet (366.7 m) long and consists of nine 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible, non-overflow roller gates and two 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible overflow roller gates. It is unusual among the upper Mississippi River dams in that it has only roller gates
I took this photo below of the white pelican landing on the river when we stopped by there this spring.
Below is lock and dam 14 on the Mississippi river, another great place to watch birds and tug boats.
New Bird in Mississippi – this little one is named a Warbling Vireo. I have lost count exactly how many birds I have photographed. I do know it is over 250. I might have to start a new list.
Northern Flicker – capturing birds in flight photography is a way to see birds in a entire new light. I did not notice all the yellow on these birds until I saw this photo I took of this gorgeous bird.
The Back Waters of the Tombigbee river is where you can find some very peaceful landscapes. This campground called the Dewayne Hayes Campground has a very nice trail that leads to a viewing dock in the calm backwaters from the river.
The reflections are just gorgeous early in the morning and lots of wildlife.
This is a great campground, but it is also right next to the Columbus Air Force Base where they train pilots every day in these air craft below. So you do hear them going all day, but I didn’t not mind it. They were fun to see as well.
These training planes I see a lot down on the gulf coast, the only difference is, the ones down there go extremely fast compared to these here in Columbus. So the newbies must start in Columbus and then they graduate to flying over the ocean as fast as they can.
World of Maritime Enthusiasts – There’s something magical about watching a ship glide gracefully across the water, leaving a trail of gentle waves in its wake. For some people, this fascination goes beyond casual admiration and becomes a passionate hobby: shipspotting.
I don’t actually record ships like those hobbyist that are into shipspotting. I just like watching them and photographing them. Below are 3 different rivers with different tugboats.
Not Your Normal Barges on the river, most of the ones I see carry coal, or farm goods like corn. A couple on this river have barges of a different kind. Lots of gadgets and signs that say warning.
The two below are named Deborah and Corey. As I was doing some research on tug boats, I found out that shipspotting is a hobby for many people. I get that, because I do love being by the water and seeing ships and boats go by and finding out more about them and what they are hauling.
There are websites that track every ship on all the waters. Very interesting stuff.
The Tombigbee River- The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is a 234-mile system of canals, locks, and dams that connect the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers. It links commercial navigation from the nation’s midsection to the Gulf of Mexico and is administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
This river is commonly known as the Tenn-Tom, it was controversial from its inception, and optimistic predictions of its economic benefits by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers never materialized. Originally estimated to cost $323 million in 1970, the total cost at completion in 1984 was almost $2 billion.
They were not sure if creating a waterway consisting of 65 dams and lift locks was feasible. But, eventually the funding was approved.
The waterway was completed two years ahead of schedule on December 12, 1984, and on January 10, 1985, the towboat Eddie Wexler was the first commercial boat to sail upon it.
I did not know this history of the river when we were camping right next to it. But one morning I woke up to the sound of a loud motor coming towards us. I went outside and here coming down the river was a tug boat.
Well, I lived near the Mississippi river for years, and I loved watching the tug boats and barges cruising up and down the river. But the Mississippi river is so large, one can’t really get a close up look at the barges because they are so far away.
Not these. We pulled up our chairs and watched the boat traffic go by on and off everyday. Love this campground.
Corp of Engineer Campgrounds – As we left the south a few weeks ago, we decided to start exploring some new areas again on our travels. Sometimes one gets comfortable staying in a routine, the familiarity of it makes things simple and faster.
Especially when it comes to traveling. Finding new campgrounds can be a challenge, but if I plan far enough ahead, it usually results in finding new beautiful places that we have driven by so many times but never stopped because of the routine.
So Columbus Mississippi is our first stop off the beaten path. When you turn 62, you can get the Federal recreation pass that gives discounts on campgrounds, getting in free and discounts on overnight camping.
The Corp of Engineer campground are included with this pass. They have great recreational parks, with lots of room, similar to state parks.
While we often hear about the COE campgrounds, the Corps of Engineers has a much broader mission other than just providing beautiful camping spaces. The Corp’s true mission is “to deliver vital public and military engineering services; partnering in peace and war to strengthen our nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters.”
So, how did the Corps get into the business of building campgrounds? The Corps manages land along a number of lakes and rivers, as part of the mission to operate dams. This land is protected from private development. Luckily, the Corps opted to make it possible for our nation to use these prime landscapes for recreation.
Columbus MS is a very historic area, we love to explore places like this. The history of the people who have gone before us, living during times that are so different than today. These small towns have some wonderful folks who love to share this history, many museums with volunteers who take the time to teach anyone who wants to hear about the past.
Lighting and Pet Portraits – both of these photos are of the same mule. Lighting can make such a difference for your subject. Soft warm colors, or shinny bright colors.
Photography has a world of opportunities to create different looks. That is what I love about it. Everyday is a new challenge and new opportunities to create art with just one click.
Bokeh Lights Photography – Bokeh, also known as “Boke” is one of the most popular subjects in photography. The reason why it is so popular, is because Bokeh makes photographs visually appealing, forcing us to focus our attention on a particular area of the image.
Basically, bokeh is the quality of out-of-focus or “blurry” parts of the image rendered by a camera lens – it is NOT the blur itself or the amount of blur in the foreground or the background of a subject. The blur that you are so used to seeing in photography that separates a subject from the background is the result of shallow “depth of field” and is generally simply called “background blur”. The quality and feel of the background/foreground blur and reflected points of light, however, is what photographers call Bokeh. Confused yet? Take a look at the following image:
This flower stem covered with dew is in focus, (which means that it is inside the depth of field), while the background is out of focus (which means that the background is outside the depth of field). The small or “shallow” depth of field is the result of standing relatively close to the subject, while using a large aperture.
What is Aperture?
Aperture can be defined as the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera. It is an easy concept to understand if you just think about how your eyes work. As you move between bright and dark environments, the iris in your eyes either expands or shrinks, controlling the size of your pupil.
In photography, the “pupil” of your lens is called aperture. You can shrink or enlarge the size of the aperture to allow more or less light to reach your camera sensor. The image below shows an aperture in a lens:
Just remember to put your subject between you and the light source and shoot away to get bright bokeh lights in the background.
Wisteria, a beautiful flowering hanging plant, similar to the lilac group. I love seeing these plants, and down south they look like they grow everywhere.
I planted one where I live, but it might just be a little cold up here. It has not bloomed yet and I have had it a couple of years.
Spring Art Wildflowers – in the spring you can find wild flowers growing in the strangest places. The earth is waking up and the plants rise to meet the sunshine.
This small flower below is growing right through a fire pit grate at a campground. It made for an interesting photo.
Dandelions are quite amazing when you look at them really close. Designed to fly in the wind, the seeds are like tiny fireworks busting with silk feathers.
What’s Up – with a little head tilt up as this heron fly’s by looking at me. I can just picture it doing the heads up nod that people do to say hay.
That is what I did to him. 🙂
You know what the head nod is? We do it a lot when driving out on country roads. When a car approaches and the person waves at you, you either raise your first finger up as a wave back or the head nod. The shorter version of a wave.
The Blob – did you ever see the movie, the Blob, I think it came out back in the 70’s. This first photo reminded me of that movie as these little birds are trying to run away from the foam in the water.
These little sand pipers are made for running, they are such a fast little bird running on the beach.
These feet are made for standing, knobby knees and all. The gulls don’t do a lot of running on the beach. They can stand for a long time, just watching and looking for a an opportunity to find some food.
Northern Lights, the northern lights are an atmospheric phenomenon that is regarded as the Holy Grail of skywatching. are beautiful dancing ribbons of light that have captivated people for millennia. But for all its beauty, this spectacular light show is a rather violent event.
The northern lights are created when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our planet’s magnetic field protects us from the onslaught.
Northern Lights in Iowa – Is this Heaven? No, this is Iowa.
That phrase is from the movie Field of Dreams. I have been very busy lately visiting family in Iowa on our way back north. The one thing I was not expecting this trip was to see Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights in Iowa. People all over the country witnessed this sighting all the way down to Alabama.
I almost missed seeing them entirely. Just so happened my little dog had to go outside at 3 am. I took her out and looked up and saw that the northern lights were still visible, as I had gone to sleep early and missed them when everyone else was out looking at them.
Actually at 3 am, they were not very colorful at all, but I went back in and decided to get my camera out and set it up outside. It is mesmerizing to say the least, to witness this event.
About an hour later, all of a sudden, the colors started to show up and they were lighting up the night sky. Shooting stars along with dancing lights.
I stood in the middle of this country road, no traffic and only the sound of coyotes howling in the distance.
These photos are straight out of the camera, I could see the pinks and greens with the naked eye. But a camera set with a long shutter speed will pick up even more of the colors. I was using 3 to 5 second shutter speed. ISO 4000, f2.8, and a wide angle lens.
Patience is a Virtue, The Eastern Bluebird – this colorful bird seems to be all over the Midwest, but I have only recently started seeing it more and more.
This first photo I took of this colorful bird over 10 years ago as I was on a walk and it just happened to land on this sign. One takes a picture no matter what the background is or the perch the bird is sitting on, when you get to see a new bird like this one.
Well, over the years of practice and improving my photography skills. I have learned to be more patient and learned more about birds and their behaviors so I can work at getting just the right shot to highlight the species and not have to many distractions in the photo, when possible.
That is not always possible with wildlife. But we do get lucky now and then.
I kept an eye on this Eastern Bluebird as it went from branch to branch. It was perched deep in the tree at first, as new leaves on the branches were blocking my view from getting a nice clear photo.
UNTIL
It finally landed on a branch that was hanging low under the tree. This is what I was waiting for, a clear view of this beautiful bird on just one branch.
I love it when my patience gives way to a beautiful photo like this. Showcasing the beauty of this little bird. 🙂
Hooded Merganser – Last of the birds from the Mississippi Aquarium. I almost missed these two. The Hooded merganser you can find at many places throughout the states. Such an interesting duck, it is a fish eating duck.
This one is decked out in its breeding colors. The white areas are so bright, it really catches the eye of the females.
This one is the Speckled Mousebird.
This family was named for their soft fluffy, mousy grey-brown plumage and long, thin tails, and their mouse-like habit of scurrying around in brush as they search for food.
Due to their low-calorie, fruit-based diet, these birds go into torpor (temporary or semi-hibernation) on cold nights to conserve energy. During this time, their heart rate slows down, their body temperature decreases and they remain in a so-called “suspended animation” until it is time for them to wake up and feed again.
The only other groups of birds known to go into temporary hibernation are hummingbirds and nighthawks. These mousebirds generally roost in tight groups of 20 or more birds to prevent heat loss and also to deter nocturnal predators.
Speckled Mousebirds occur naturally in Africa – from Cameroon east through the Central African Republic, southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and south Somalia, south through Kenya (except for the arid northern and eastern lowland areas of Kenya), eastern Africa to southern South Africa.
Eastern Towhee Bird – this bird was fun to see here in the mid west. I have only seen one of these before and it was out west in Texas. So to see one in Missouri was so fun.
I only saw the one and it was staying put on this log as I looked out the door of the RV, so I quick went and got my camera and opened the door slowly and took the photo.
This one below is the one I photographed in Texas.
Pet Portraits – I took a lot of pet portraits for folks this past winter. Lots of dogs, a few cats and one bird. We are traveling now, so when I want to take pet photos, my pets are the models. I never get tired of adding photos of my own pets to my collection.
The one thing we all know is that our pets just don’t live long enough. So I love taking their photos and enjoying every minute with them.
Chloee is a great model for still shots. She loves to just sit and look around when we are outside. She has such a beautiful face and expression in her eyes. She is 11 years old this year.
This is my little dog named, D-0-G, let me review what her name is. Her name is d o g, not the word dog, the letters d o g. Say it like, d oooo g, a little longer sound on the 0. Or if this spelling helps. Deohgee, I use that spelling at the vets because they don’t understand, d o g. 🙂
They ask me, ” is her name dog?”, I say, ” no, d o g“. They say, ” I know how to spell it”, I say, ” There you go”,
They say, ” Ohhhh, now I get it”,
We got her from a shelter when she was 4 years old. She is 17 years old this year. She is still doing really well for that age. She does sleep a lot more, but she still eats great and loves going for walks.
Then there is our cat, her name is Kit Cat, 🙂
What can I say, she is a great cat, gets along great with the dogs and she loves to travel. She does like to punch the dogs now and then when they walk by her. She gives them a wack on the head and hisses at them and takes off running.
Chloee Having Fun – Last month my dog Chloee had some dental work done. She had a broken tooth in the back, one of those big teeth in the back. It needed to come out, it was loose. I called a made an appointment for her and the day before she was to go in, the tooth fell out.
But only part of it did, so she went in anyway and had a couple teeth pulled and all her teeth cleaned. She is like a new pup again, playing fetch and running around.
Dogs can get tooth aches as well as we do, never any fun with a tooth ache.
The Red Headed Woodpecker – I am still working on getting a good photo of this bird. I only see this one when I am in Illinois. They are a fast bird and easy to spot with the bright red and white feathers.
Of course, I was walking one morning, without a camera, which I have always told myself never to do. This woodpecker landed on a tree right in front of my at eye level. I can only shake my head at how that would have been a great shot.
Normally I am pointing my camera straight up into the trees to photograph this bird. Birding is always a challenge, a fun one at that.
All About the Birds – Spring migration, another thing to enjoy during this time of year. The flowers and trees are beginning to bud and the birds are right here to enjoy the bountiful harvest of seedlings and bugs as well.
The nut hatch bird, or as I like to call them, tree walkers. They are finding a feast of small bugs to eat as they need food for energy to start building nest and raising babies.
April Showers – Flowers are blooming and the smell of fresh cut lawns is in the air. May is a time of new birth in nature. The world is waking up after a long winters nap.
Below is the before photo, then I softened it up a little bit and blurred the background to make the photo print above.
The Ibis Group – There are a number of different birds belonging to the ibis group spread across the planet. In each place where they dwell, ibis make a lasting impression. Their distinctive decurved bill shape sets them apart from similar wading birds and makes them an instantly recognizable artistic motif.
Good Ole Song Birds, lets start the week with some good ole song birds from the mid west here. One can never go wrong with the cardinals. Spring time means bright red colors for these male cardinals. I have taken many, many photos of these birds, so what keeps me taking more of him?
Well, trying to find a different background to add to the photo. The bird looks about the same in every shot, but it is the background that can be a challenge to change up the photo.
There are lots of different trees these birds land in, so I look for a shot where the trees or branches will make for a new and interesting print.
The scarlet ibis, sometimes called red ibis (Eudocimus ruber), is a species of ibis in the bird family Threskiornithidae. It inhabits tropical South America and part of the Caribbean. In form, it resembles most of the other twenty-seven extant species of ibis, but its remarkably brilliant scarletcoloration makes it unmistakable.
This picture below is a photo that I took in Louisiana, the white Ibis. My first time seeing an Ibis bird.
The pied imperial pigeon (Ducula bicolor) is a relatively large, pied species of pigeon. It is found in forest, woodland, mangrove, plantations and scrub in Southeast Asia, ranging from Myanmar and Thailand, throughout Indonesia and east to the Philippines
Nicobar Pigeon – the most brilliant colors I think I have ever seen on a bird.
One of the most beautiful breeds of Columbidae, the Nicobar pigeon is the only remaining living member of the genus Caleonas.
This might not mean anything to a casual bird lover, but it means that the Nicobar pigeon is believed to be the closest living relative of the dodo, the extinct bird that has come to be a symbol of extinct animals all over the world.
These islands are a union territory of India along with the Andaman Islands (home of the rare Andaman wood pigeon) and lie in the eastern Indian Ocean.
The Nicobar pigeon is known not only in Nicobar but also Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
Guira Cuckoos are omnivores and groups will forage together for insects, frogs, eggs, large arthropods such as spiders, crabs, etc., and small mammals such as mice, as well as the nestlings of small birds. Their beak is thick and has a downward curve, which is designed for eating meat. They belong to the same family as the Roadrunner.
They are very noisy birds and make a wide variety of noises, including yodels, guttural calls, gargled trills, and whistles. And, like other cuckoos, they give off a very strong odor.
Unique Cool Birds – My first bird I am going to show you is from Australia, it is called a Masked Lapwing.
The Masked Lapwing gets its name from the bright yellow wattles (the fleshy bit of skin that roosters and turkeys also have) on its face and the ‘lapping’ sound its slow wing beats make.
The Masked Lapwing, also known as a plover, has an eerie call most often heard at night – ‘kekekekekekekek’.
I picked this bird first because I follow a blogger named, aussiebirder
I love reading is blogs. He is a birder with his wife and he shows the most colorful birds I have ever seen. We have a lot here in the states. But, I think they might have quite a few more over there. Check out his site to see his photos, creative writings and videos of birds from Australia.
These birds coming up next week are from the Mississippi Aquarium, they have an Aviary there, which means all the birds can fly around and swim in the pond, and forage in the grasses. They are not free of course, but they are well fed and taken care of so that they stay healthy and live long lives.
Birds in the wild have more risk of fatality these days with being hit by cars, windmills and bad weather. Migration routes are in danger because of all the light noise at night. The majority of birds fly at night when they migrate and all the lights on the earth make it harder for them to get where they are going.
Last year I noticed a huge decrease in song birds in the area where I live. Which is one of the farthest regions for a lot of birds to migrate. I hope this summer more song birds will come back to my area.
Well Cared For and well fed these dolphins at the Mississippi Aquarium. They get lots of attention from the trainers and lots of activities to keep them in great shape.
People are always excited to see dolphins. I am thinking because they look like they are smiling all the time and having fun in the water.
Here the only photo I took from inside the aquarium. Sometimes one has to put the camera down and just enjoy what it is front of us. Plus shooting through thick glass doesn’t make the best photos. 🙂
Dolphins in the Wild – I see dolphins a lot when I am on the gulf coast. But, never jumping out of the water when I am just walking on the beach. I mostly see their fin and part of the body is all.
Below is a quick video I took of a couple of dolphins rounding up fish next to the beach as a Blue Heron paced back and forth watching them, as if it was trying to tell the dolphins to move the fish just a little closer so he could have one also.
Mississippi Aquarium – Last week I ended with a post telling you about some very colorful birds coming up next. First I must show you where I saw these birds, because most of them are from other country’s.
I am talking about a fairly new Aquarium in Gulfport Mississippi, right next to the coast. A fellow camper told us about this place so we headed on over. It is a wonderful drive along the coast line to get to this aquarium.
Mississippi Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium located in Gulfport, Mississippi; it opened August 29, 2020. The 5.8-acre, complex incorporates both indoor and outdoor habitats with more than 200 species of animals and 50 species of native plants.
First the star of the aquarium is the dolphins for sure. They have lots of fish inside and these two beautiful guys outside.
Panorama Photos – sometimes I forget I have the panorama setting on my phone and cameras. They make for very interesting photos. The first photo was taken with that setting at sunset on the Gulf Coast.
I always want to try new things with photography. So much out there to see in so many different ways when it comes to the artist perspective.
One More New Bird – I wasn’t sure what this bird was. A duck or something else. It took awhile to find it in my bird book.
But it is a Clapper Rail, it looks half duck and half something else. Even when I looked up information on this bird, this is what it says.
This bird is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the eastern United States, eastern Mexico and some Caribbean islands.
Group Art Project – at a campground we stayed at this winter, one of the local artist ask me if I would help her with a project she wanted to do. Which would involve having a dozen people help with the project. I said sure, sounds like fun.
So, step one. She drew on a piece of paper her idea of a painting she wanted to do. The photo below shows her rough draft of a bridge in the background, some of the local birds, water, sand, sea grass. She asked me if I could put all these items onto a photos that can be printed.
I made the print below. It is just what she was thinking about. I used photos that I had taken and made a composite of all the images into one.
I then applied grid lines to the image and printed a 20×30 copy. She cut the image into the 6×6 squares I made and had the volunteers pick a square, they in turn painted that square onto a 6×6 piece of canvas.
They wanted me to paint one, and I am not a painter at all. So I chose the top left square that only had some clouds in it.
The top left square in this picture below is my attempt to paint the piece I chose. This was actually a very fun project. The idea is that the final art piece will look more like a mosaic piece of art. The teacher of the project said she did not want the painted pieces to be perfect. It was just for fun.
Below is the final piece of art. 24 different people painted the squares. This project is now hanging in the club house at the campground. I am glad I was able to make the template for the project to bring this idea to life.
Heat Distortion – this light house is about 5 miles out into the gulf, I took this photo from the beach, it almost looks like the light house is floating out there. That is what heat distortion does to a photo.
The further away from the subject of your photograph, the more heat distortion will be present. The further distance means the light travels through more air before reaching you. Therefore, it gets refracted more in areas where heat distortion is present.
A long zoom lens usually means photographing subjects at a greater distance. That greater distance increases the chance that heat distortion can ruin your images. Heat distortion is most prevalent at ground level.
We have a friend that has a smaller boat and has offered to give us a ride out to the light house. But, not for me. He would have to have a much bigger boat. The waves and the tide can change dramatically 5 miles out into the gulf of Mexico. I really don’t need a good picture of this light house that badly.
Besides, there are plenty of photos of this light house on the world wide web, here are a few below so you can see what it looks like.
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin — only a narrow connection to the Atlantic exists as the gulf is surrounded by North America and Cuba.
It is the ninth largest body of water in the world, covering about 600,000 square miles, and is bordered by five US states in the north, five Mexican states in the west, and Cuba in the southeast.
Almost half of the gulf basin is shallow waters over continental shelves, though it contains a trough that measures as deep as 14,383 feet.
Ship Traffic Density Map of GULF OF MEXICO
They estimate that over 4,000 shipwrecks rest on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico from its nearshore shallows to its deepest abyss.
Springtime With Birds – springtime means mating season and fighting for territory. It may look like they are just doing a dance according to these photos.
But, they are scraping and chasing each other trying to keep their spot on the river.
Spring has sprung in some areas, have a wonderful day.
Snow White Feathers – These birds are not hard to find with their snow white feathers, especially in a grassy marsh. I am sharing some of my favorite Egret photos this week.
The Egret – Snowy white feathers that can be seen all over the country. Well, except up in the north country. I have never seen one up in Michigan. Such beautiful birds.
Little Blue Heron – A new bird for the year. Someone had told me they saw this blue heron and today I went for a walk, and their it was high up in the tree. I wasn’t sure what it was until I got home and looked at the photos.
Adult Little Blue Herons are very dark all over. At close range or in good light, they have a rich purple-maroon head and neck and dark slaty-blue body.
Sheepshead Fish – One glance at the picture of a sheepshead fish might make you assume this fish has stolen a sailor’s lost pair of dentures from the seafloor! Yes, there is a fish whose teeth are eerily similar to humans.
The teeth are composed of highly mineralized enamel and dentin, two components that also make up human teeth.
There are two rows of molars on the lower jaw and three rows on the upper jaw. This heavy dentition allows sheepshead fish to crush and grind the shelled creatures that these fish prefer to feed on.
The Sheepshead fish are finally coming inland, so the fishermen are out. There is a limit of 10 of these fish per person.
Sand Dunes or Snow Piles, well the trees in the background might give it away. But, these are sand dunes, but when I am missing snow, just a little bit. I sure can picture that these are snow piles by a lake.
Today it is 45 degrees down here on the gulf coast. So I can easily picture snow.
Who Has the Longest Wingspan – well the longest wingspan of all birds goes to the Albatross, a wing span of 12 feet. But they fly over the southern oceans and breed on islands just to the north of the Antarctic Circle. So it is a bird I will probably never see.
So lets look at the birds that I have photographed here in the states. My favorite large bird of all is the White Pelican. It’s wingspan comes in at – drum roll please –
Sea Glass – I have only found a couple pieces of sea glass. I have added them to my collection and am always looking for more.
Sea glass are naturally weathered pieces of glass, which often have the appearance oftumbled stones. Sea glass is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering processes produce natural frosted glass.
Imagination, photography lets one’s imagination go in all different directions. Take for example this photo here. I took this photo from the Jeep’s window as we were driving along the coast.
I saw this pier coming up on my right and the water is so calm around it, plus the clouds have a hint of blue in the background. But I thought right away, if the beach and the people and the logs were gone, it would really highlight the calm water and the tranquility of the lone pier.
Yes, I thought all of this as this pier was approaching, driving down a road. So I snapped a photo with my phone camera.
So then I had to change the vertical format of the photo to a horizontal format for composition with a horizontal pier. Next to remove the distractions in the foreground.
And this is what I saw in my mind when I saw this lone pier out in the calm water.
Artistry in Nature, The Wing, it never ceases to amaze me, the intricate detail and design of the wing on all of the birds. I count at least 10 different lengths of feathers on this white pelicans wing. But they look so perfectly in line and a master of art itself from our creator.
Each feather with a purpose that only the designer knows exactly why and how it works. If someone asked me to design a wing. I would just make all the feathers the same because I don’t actually know the true purpose of all the different lengths.
Ocean Vessels on the Gulf Coast. Shipping containers are spotted quite often heading south on the gulf coast. Occasional dredgers being pulled across the bay and barges going back and forth.
Always makes for some interesting sights when out walking on the beaches.
Mocha Latte is the name of this little dog. It is one of the cutest little dogs I have had the pleasure to photograph this past week. When it was a new born, it fit in the palm of your hand. Now it is a fiery ball of fur that is constantly on the go.
It is at the campground here and just another pup I have photographed this past month. Happy Monday. 🙂
My Pet Photography Board for February, and this is not all of them yet. I could not fit them all on one page.
These 3 cats are quite the buddies. I was watching these three for their owner while they were away. The owner was in the hospital and I took lots of pictures of her cats while she was recuperating. Yes, all 3 are one persons cats.
Well, I wanted to try and get all 3 together for one photo, but that is not easy with cats. So I did have to photoshop this one together. I happened to get each one to look up at me as I was holding some treats.
The owner loves this photo, she did ask how I got them all to sit together like that. I said it was impossible. But photoshop helped a lot. 🙂
Parade Horses Team Belgians, my second favorite photo from the parade. Northing pretty then a working team of Belgian horses. Their harness shimmering in the sunlight.
This is my most favorite photo that I took this winter.
There was a small parade where we were camping and a group of horses were headed my way as I stood on the side of the road with lots of other folks watching the procession of horses and festive floats.
When it comes to photographing animals, dogs, cats, or horses. I take a lot of shots because I am looking for that one photo that stands out from the rest. When the animal is moving, the more shots the better to get that right look.
Well, this shot below was exactly was I was looking for. The two horses in front both looked at me at the same time. The are draft horse mix breeds, the one on the right front is a Belgian mix and the one on the left is a Percheron Thoroughbred mix. Beautiful horses.
But the magic comes when I crop in to see only the horses face. I just love this shot. Both horses have their ears forward, which makes for a great shot as well. I have printed this one to hang on my wall. 🙂
Tiny Bird with Big Shrimp, Sand Pipers are just such cute birds. This winter the fishing was not good at all on the beach. We threw this piece of shrimp onto the beach when we were packing up to leave.
This little piper came over to see if it could grab a morsel of this shrimp for his meal. But, in the video below, it will show he had to scramble away as a Oystercatcher bird was coming to investigate what he had found. They are so cute when they run.
Good Morning March 1st, Hello all, how was everyone’s month of February? I had a wonderful couple weeks off, visiting with friends and family. I look forward to catching up with all of your blogs over the next few weeks.
Spring is in the air, flowers are starting to bloom down here in the south. I have been so busy photographing pets the last couple of weeks. Word got out from folks sharing their pet portraits and I have them calling me everyday to do more. Which I love to do, I will be sharing some of those in the coming weeks.
We only have a few more weeks down here in the south, and then it is time to start traveling again. Heading north for the summer months. Have a great weekend. 🙂
Good Morning March 1st
Stay well, RJ. Blessings to you, may our Lord guide you in all your days. 🙂 thank you.
Taking a Break – It is time for a little break from the world wide web. Here are some of my favorite photos that I have taken this year so far.
I like to take time off from the internet now and then. It is so refreshing to not be connected for awhile. We are bombarded with advertising and news that never seems to be uplifting at all. Except for sites like all of ours here in the blogging world.
But, I remember the days before there was any internet. Days were filled with activities and being in nature. Connecting with humans face to face. Spring time is a beautiful time to turn the electronics off for me. There is a lot to explore out there, and I am ready to dive right in.
I will be back next month, have a great weekend and see you all soon. 🙂
Birds and Bright Colors – When it comes to bird mating and breeding, colors play a significant role in attracting a mate and establishing dominance. During the breeding season, male birds often display bright and bold colors to attract females. The brighter and more vibrant the colors, the more likely they are to catch the attention of a potential mate.
Like this Reddish Egret below. Their bill is quite colorful during the mating season.
The Road Runner – What an appropriate name for this bird. I mostly saw it running down the side of a road when we were out west.
I am posting this because someone the other day was asking if I had a photo of a road runner. Which I do, so I thought I would share it here. During the breeding season you will see a bright blue and orange patch behind the eyes.
Seeing Double – Well, this is my Chloee below. She is a mixed breed dog that we got over 10 years ago from a shelter. I just love her markings on her face. She is the best dog, she makes me smile and laugh and she leaves puppy glitter all over the place.
Puppy glitter is what we call her dog hair, it is everywhere at times like glitter can be.
Well, we were at a campground out for a walk and here comes another dog that is almost identical to our Chloee.
The dog on the left is named Georgia, and I just had to take some photos for the owner and for me to see the comparisons.
Georgia is only 3 years old, and Chloee was all white like that when she was that age. The left side of the face is a little different.
But here is their right side comparisons. How unique is this, maybe her long lost sister.
Image cropping is an integral part of photo retouching and product retouching services. It can change the look and feel of an image and its meaning.
Image cropping can be used to improve the composition of an image, remove distractions, or focus on a particular subject. It can also create a more powerful image by emphasizing certain elements.
This photo below is a wonderful illustration of the need for cropping. One might never guess that the background of this photo is a truck window. The bird is sitting on a truck mirror.
When I first look at the photo below, I see the orange light and the mirror and the bird poop on the mirror. So cropping was definitely needed on this photo.
Cropping is easy to do, but you also need a good photo to start with.
If your original image had a high resolution, cropping might not significantly impact the overall quality.
Interesting Wing Spans markings on these brown pelicans flying overhead. I noticed the white marks under the wings which looks like their bone structure. It was more prominent in the one pelican.
When you think you have seen it all, something new pops up when watching birds.
Little Birds Taking Cover where ever they can find it on the beach before a storm. As these little guys try and hide behind this rock as the winds blow sand and debris across the beach. They hover together and hide their faces in their feathers to protect their eyes.
They learn to adapt. Amazing birds. Have a great weekend.
Bird & Fishing Pole, beach fishing is a popular thing along the ocean waters. I looked at this photo and it looks like this gull is fishing with its own little fishing pole. See the little stick in front of the bird? Looks like his own personal fishing pole just like the people have.
Brother and Sister Pups – These two pups are so pretty with their long flowing hair. It was really fun taking their photos and making prints for their people.
I have talked before about one thing that I like to have in my pet portraits, and that is Specular Highlights in the eyes.
The specular highlight appears on shiny objects. It normally appears on a mirror-like surface. Its appearance is often found on the top of a rounded surface. The incident light hits the object and creates the specular highlight and the light is reflected off the object toward the viewers eye.
Some people think the light reflection in the eye can be distracting in a photo. But, I find it necessary to have to give the eye more life. A bright spot that draws the viewer to the eyes. Eyes are always my focal point with pet and people photography.
Example. The photo on the left, I have removed the specular highlight. I find the eye looks less cheery, darker, lifeless to be more accurate. But the photo on the right, when the light spot is visible gives a much better overall photo for me.
It is much harder to achieve specular highlights in bird photography, because the birds movements can put them in the shadows at times. But it makes a big difference with birds as well.
Water and Light – I found this Blue Heron doing some fishing the other morning. I found the light reflecting off of the water onto the bird was quite cool looking. Almost like strobe lights dancing across its feathers.
Southern Trees – I love looking at trees and plants. Just so many different kinds from state to state. Southern trees are just so unique compared to where I live in the north country.
From beautiful palm trees reaching high into the air.
To twisted and bumpy, branches going every which way.
Oh, the lemon trees. The fragrance alone is quite a nice addition to any garden.
Bamboo, I have never seen a grove of bamboo until we found these at a botanical garden.
Last but not least, the trees found on beaches. Parts and pieces, worn and weathered. But still standing for years to come.
St. Simons Island Light – Now this little island was just across the bridge from Jykell island. A wonderful festive little town surrounding this light house. Plenty of shops, board walks along the coast and plenty to see.
The beach community of St. Simon’s Island is home to the St. Simon’s Island Lighthouse, which was first built in 1810. It is one of five in the state with its restored Fresnel lens and still operates in guiding ships.
The island is an easy day trip from Savannah and other islands like Jekyll. Visitors can climb the 129 cast iron steps to the top. It’s also rumored to be haunted.
I just love porches on homes. They are so inviting I think. We have a porch on our cabin, nothing like these, but it is my favorite place to sit at home and enjoy the views.
We did not go into this museum, but I love the architecture and the gardens around the building.
Perfect Bird for January – The Snowy Egret, a beautiful display of flowing snow white feathers on this bird. Being there is a lot of cold and blizzard type weather moving across the states. Even down south here along the coast, the temps are cold and high winds.
Sydney Lanier Bridge – the longest bridge in Georgia. We crossed this bridge heading to Jykell Island.
Its outstretched arms linking Brunswick to the rest of the Golden Isles, the Sidney Lanier Bridge soars over the Brunswick River. This, the longest-spanning bridge in Georgia, stretches 7,779 feet across and reaches 480 feet at its highest point. The sleek design creates a sense of lightness that belies the 95,283 cubic yards of concrete and 14,810,095 pounds of reinforcing steel used to construct the massive structure.
Leaving Jykell Island – a unique place we visited and yet never to return. But my photographs are a way for us to remember this place, a place in passing, as we stood on this beach looking at the eerie shadows of the trees with no life. There lies our shadows as well, a moment in time, an eerie feeling that we left something behind.
Gus the Pup – another campground pup. A never ending array of colors and sizes of dogs to photograph. The little ones are fun to do, as long as I drop to one knee to get down to their level to take their photo.
Beach Bird Art – all my art work starts with a photograph. I use my own photos that I have taken when I decide to make a piece of art work for a composite or a digital painting.
This first photo is a composite of 3 different photos that I have taken. Blending them all in so that the colors are similar is the trick. Not always easy to find, but fun to make none the less.
Gulls in Flight – Gulls are a very unique bird, some may say they are pest and some may say they are extremely smart.
They are definitely good at finding food or stealing food. But, if you are new at photography and want to learn how to photography birds in flight. Gulls are the perfect subject.
I learned so many better techniques by photographing gulls, because they glide and hover which makes it easier to track them with your camera.
It is fun to get a photo with their maximum wingspan and tail feathers spread out.
Plus they sit still for long periods of time so you can practice your still shots as well.
You may not know this, but they do dive head first into the water to catch a fish now and then.
Hidden Gems in the Background – guess what. One cannot be on the pacific ocean without finding one Light House.
Look past the tree to the other shore line, there stands a light house on One of four barrier islands comprising the Golden Isles of Georgia,
St. Simons Island, the largest of the Golden Isles, captivates visitors with its fascinating blend of history and natural beauty. Steeped in a rich heritage, the island is home to historical sites like the St. Simons Lighthouse,
So Many Photo Opts – the driftwood itself is very interesting and artistic all on its own. But here at drift wood beach, you have so many different compositions you can pick for your photo.
The waves are never very big and the clouds can add some dramatic movement to your photo.
But the best thing to capture are the shadows of the trees on the beach. I will show that next week from the drone photos. Kind of eerie with the long limbs of the branches reaching out like they are arms moving in the shadows.
A photograph of now and then. They tell me life is a journey, that which we must all take. Moments like this is where I am in awe of creation.
As I stand before this vastness of water, where it seems like I can see forever into the unknown, it reminds me of the light of the future ahead of me, yet behind me is my past of many roads resembled by this tree. All of which brought me to this place in time, a teaching moment that only creation can explain.
Our paths take so many different twist and turns, but the light that shines before us is calling us to continue, even though the past is always right behind us, it slowly disappears and gets lost in time and buried by the sands of creation.
Jykell Island – the one thing the gentleman told us to see when visiting this island, is drift wood beach. I looked on the satellite image from google maps and it looks like a few branches and such scattered along the beach. So I thought, maybe it will look better when walking on the beach. So off we went.
Jykell island has a lot of history of who founded the island and how it has changed over the years. It is known for the secret meeting of 6 men who decided they needed to change the federal reserve system.
The Meeting at Jekyll Island
November 20, 1910–November 30, 1910
The state of Georgia purchased Jekyll Island from the Jekyll Island Club through condemnation proceedings for $675,000. Then it was opened to the public as a State Park
Now one must pay a daily fee to enter the island. It is $10.00 a day now.
Drift wood beach is at the far end of the island and we drove there first. Parking all along the main stretch of road. We chose a spot with a short walk to the beach. At first glance as we got closer to the beach, it was beginning to look very interesting.
According to my research, photographers love showing up here at sunrise or sunset and you will see why on my next couple of post. We arrived mid morning as it was a long drive from our campground.
Scattered with the sun-bleached remains of gnarled and weathered trees, stepping onto Driftwood Beach in Jekyll Island, is like stepping into an alternate reality. It feels like what you’d imagine a post-apocalyptic world to feel like – signs of a life that once was intertwined with a life that now is, all under the watchful and commanding eye of Mother Nature.
Over the last 120+ years, erosion has claimed more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) of Jekyll Island’s coastline, the consequences of which are no more evident or more visually dramatic than they are on Driftwood Beach.
Due to the effects of decades of erosion, what was once a lush, maritime forest has become a boneyard for ancient oak trees and pine trees that have fallen victim to Mother Nature. Over time, as the ocean crept its way into the forest and strong winds and saltwater ate away at tree roots, the soil cover needed to keep it alive became stripped away.
This caused the trees to uproot or to die, some of which miraculously remain standing while others lay half-buried in the sand. And because the tides along this part of the coastline aren’t strong enough to sweep them out to sea, the trees remain. Together forming the hauntingly beautiful landscape that Driftwood Beach is known for today.
A New Place – Happy New Year to everyone. May this year be bountiful and full of adventure and joy, I wish everyone a wonderful new year ahead of us. Full of opportunities, love, and a giving heart for all those we meet on our journey’s of this thing called life. A gift beyond all gifts.
So I start the year with crossing a new bridge. Literally and physically, as I get another year older and hopefully wiser as I make my way to that final chapter in life. My elder years makes me more aware of where I have been and where I am going. It is so much more clear than any other time in my life. Now is a time of adventure and wonderment as I seek to find all the beauty in this world that has been given to us, as I continue my path taking photos and sharing what I find for as long as I can, it starts with this trip across a new bridge. A wonderful way to start the new year.
We went to visit a new place, because of another camper that told us about this island not far from where we were staying. I really need to explore the maps more when we are visiting an area. I would never have thought to go here if they had not mentioned it.
First you have to cross the Sidney Lanier Bridge to get to this location.
The Sidney Lanier Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Brunswick River in Brunswick, Georgia, carrying four lanes of U.S. Route 17. The current bridge was built as a replacement to the original vertical-lift bridge, which was twice struck by ships. It is currently the longest-spanning bridge in Georgia and is 480 feet (150 m) tall. It was named for poet Sidney Lanier.
I will have some better photos of the bridge as we leave the island
We are visiting Jekyll Island in Georgia. A place I have never heard of, except for the name Jekyll from that scary movie. This week I will be sharing what we found on this island and the beauty and history that it holds.
How Many Doodles in a Poodle – So cute, I was out for a walk and here comes this long legged beautiful black and white dog with his owner. So one has to ask what kind of dog it is and how old and may I take his picture.
Well, come to find out the owner was telling me that this Poodle Doodle has 4 or 5 different doodles in it. They did a DNA test to find out what exactly kind of dog it is.
It has Labradoodle of course, and some Doodleman, Golden Doodle and just a poodle doodle and one other doodle they were not sure of. Whew, that is a lot of doodles, but wait.
Come to find out there are as of now over 52 different kinds of doodle dogs.
Poodles are one of the most popular breeds in the world, coming in as the seventh most popular dog in the United States. These fantastically fluffy friends are known for often being best in show across all categories. And it’s no wonder why– Poodles are super dang cute with their curly low-shedding coats, sparkling eyes, and animated expressions. This is one of the reasons breeders started crossbreeding them for some of these awesome hybrid pups!
Here are just a few of the names they have; Foodle, Sheepadoodles, Bernedoodle, Ausiedoodles, Irish doodle, Yorkie Poo Doodle. That last one is a good one.
No this one is a great name, Schnoodles
Have yourselves a fun doodle day. 🙂 and a great weekend.
A Beautiful Setting – Southern Charm. I can just picture back in the day with this barn full of horses and lush pastures in the background with moss hanging on the trees as the horses stand in the shade on the hot summer days.
This is quite the horse barn for sure.
A horse persons dream to have stalls and a hay loft with a nice center walk way to bring your horses through the barn.
But, it is no longer a horse farm but a city park and the public restrooms are in this building. The city has grown up around this farm and the nice thing about it all is that the owners made it into a park instead of letting the city demolish it and put stores here instead. I like that and lots of people use this park.
This place is in Hinesville Georgia, a military town that we visited for awhile. It is about the only green space left in this town and we went here a lot as well to walk the dogs and enjoy the greenery.
Her Name is Cindy and she has what they call the brindle color. Her person’s name is Hunter, yes that is right. Seems like the names should be switched around, I thought I heard her wrong when she introduced herself to me. But I asked again, just to make sure. Hunter is the person and Cindy is her dog.
Brindle is caused by the accumulation of melanin in the hair shafts, which give the fur a reddish hue. Brindle can occur anywhere on the body, but is most commonly found on the head and hindquarters. The gene responsible for this color change is recessive, so it needs two copies of the mutant gene to be expressed for a dog to develop brindle.
It is a very unique and beautiful color pattern I think.
Love Live Oak Trees – every year I take new photos of these beautiful trees. Amazing how the branches grow horizontal to the ground. Some branches touch the ground and keep growing, these trees you will mostly find in the warmer climate areas.
The moss is like tinsel hangin on a Christmas tree. I don’t know if they make tinsel anymore, but my grandfather loved covering our Christmas tree with lots of tinsel after the other decorations were put on.
Pup Portraits – I have been taking a lot of photos of folks pets, mostly dogs. This is truly one of my favorite things to do. I can make a portrait out of any photo, some folks just send me one of their pets but when I can I like to take the photo myself and then make a portrait for the people that ask me to do this for them.
I take a lot of photos at a session just to get that right look. Any shots where the dog is looking up, like the second one. That is where the pup is looking at their person as they try to get them to sit or to get those ears to go forward. That makes for a great shot.
Unique Semi Truck – You all may know that I mostly take photos of nature, animals, wildlife. But, on occasion I see something like this that catches my attention. Modern marvels in engineering and building. Plus I drove a semi for a couple of years and there are some pretty cool looking tractor trailers out there.
We were driving down the interstate and husbands says to me, ” Look what is about to pass us”. This beautiful truck rolled on by. But I did not get the best look because it was passing us. Well I watched it disappear up ahead and a rest stop was coming up, so I said lets pull over because the dogs needed to get out.
And what do I see but this truck parked at the rest stop, so I had to take a couple of photos.
Video below of truck passing or click this link – Cool Truck
I am taking photos of folks dogs here at one of the campgrounds we are staying at and thought I would share some of the different breeds I am making portraits of for the pups owners.
This dog here is an Australian shepard, I had a couple of Australian Shepard’s many years ago. Wonderful dogs. They are known for having at least one blue eye, and this one here has two. Very unique.
Wide Angle Lens – I love shooting with my wide angle lens. It can give a landscape photo wonderful depth and if you have some fluffy clouds, it can give the appearance of movement.
I used the rule of thirds for this shot. I have the barn almost center and took the photo facing the corner of the barn. This allows for more depth, the barn angle makes my eye follow the line of the barn to the left of the photo and makes the barn look bigger then it is.
But I also left plenty of blank space on the right of the photo so you can see the clouds all the way back and gives the appearance of movement.
Blank space is important in many ways, if you are selling your work for commercial use, they want blank space for advertising.
Depending on the scene, it also gives you a glimpse of the background to the subject. This being farmland that goes with this old barn.
This photo below, I did not leave blank space on the right because I am on a hill taking this photo and with the corn field in the background, there is not enough open space to draw the eye to look all the way to the horizon. So the tree fits perfectly for this composition.
As the Light Shines – that simple head line I wrote sounds like a soap opera title. A beautiful orange butterfly enjoys the sweet nectar of a tiny flower in the morning light. But, little does it know, a camera lens keeps getting closer to it, trying to get that perfect shot.
Stay tuned to see what happens next, after this commercial break. dun, dun, dunnnnnn. 🙂
I am not sure how the ending music goes when it cuts to a commercial. We have not watched regular TV in many years. We gave up network television a long time ago, the only thing we have are DVD movies to watch on those rainy or cold days. It is so nice not to have to see commercials anymore.
Sepia Toned – Sepia is a reddish-brown color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.
I like to use the sepia finish on some of my flower or insect photos, so I had to look up what the word actually means and surprised myself finding the answer.
Fun Facts
What is a cuttlefish you might ask 🙂 – Cuttlefish ink was formerly an important dye, called sepia. That is where the name of this color comes from. I did not know that myself.
I like how the white on the tip of the wings of this butterfly did not change much when changing this photo to sepia tones.
Unique Round Barn – This is Ryan’s Round Barn in Illinois, it is one of 42 round barns in existence. They have a great campground by this barn. We visited here quite a few years ago.
Nestled on a knoll near the entrance of the 1,361-acre Johnson Sauk Trail State Park, Ryan’s Round Barn was the brainstorm and pet project of a turn-of-the-century Chicago brain surgeon named Lawrence P. Ryan.
The industrious doctor deviated from the standard square barn design that dotted the countryside and built a round barn.
Ryan’s barn is a three-level, domed-ceiling structure built on a slope so that the first and second floors are easily accessible from the outside at ground level. Built by carpenters who specialized in round barn construction, it measures 80 feet tall and 85 feet in diameter.
Rainy Day in August – I almost missed this photo. It is such a picturesque spot and the leaves were just starting to turn color back in August up by Lake Superior.
It gives me the feeling of calmness and peace.
Video Below showing the light rain falling as I was standing there looking at this beautiful landscape in front of me.
Speaking of Clouds – from yesterday’s post. It reminded me of this place called White Cloud NM. A beautiful place one should stop and see if in the New Mexico area. We were here a couple of years ago right after they had a nice snow fall.
Mountain views with snow are a beautiful sight to see. I still have not been to Colorado, that is on the agenda though.
Clouds – Cloud watching is something I never get tired of. Remember back when you were a child and would see what kind of animal or something the clouds looked like. Well I still do that to this day.
What a fun cloud formation this one is. I looked up and was so surprised as to what the opening in the clouds looks like to me. Can you guess? What state is it?
The Unique Mule – my niece has a few mules as well. Such a unique animal.
They become extremely loyal and trustworthy and their personalities are so enjoyable. Their surefootedness and brains under saddle will ease you even in the trickiest of trails. They will keep you laughing and bring a smile to your face even if you’re having a terrible day. Plus, who can resist their ears.
Always take a photo of a mule with a wide angle lens, makes their ears really stand out. So cute.
Mule Facts
First, let’s clarify what a mule is. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). A horse has 64 chromosomes, and a donkey has 62. The mule ends up with 63. Mules can be either male or female, but, because of the odd number of chromosomes, they can’t reproduce.
The term “mule” is used for either the cross of male donkey on female horse, or the cross of female donkey on male horse, although the latter cross is more correctly known as a “hinny.” Mules and hinnies each have one horse and one donkey parent,
The Horse of Course – I don’t have horses any more, but I am so thankful one of my nieces loves them and she has a few on her farm in Iowa. So I can get my horse fix on when visiting family every year.
December is Here – time to say good bye to all the fall colors in some parts of the world. It is that time of year when the leaves have fallen and walking in the woods is one of my favorite things to do.
The sound of crunchy leaves beneath your feet and this is the time of year to get a good look at trees when the leaves are all gone. There are so many unique shaped trees that one doesn’t always notice in the summer when they are hidden by a forest of green leaves.
New Painting Style – I am working on perfecting a new type of painting that I do on the computer. Which always starts with a photograph. This is using the smudge tool and actually painting across the face of the subject.
I really like it, it is fun to do and I have a couple of orders for customers to make with this new look. It works great with dogs and cats. I am still perfecting the horse portrait with this technique.
I have my first Art Craft show coming up soon that I am participating in. I will let you know how that goes in a few weeks. I just love visiting with folks and talking about photography and pets. A craft show is the perfect place for that.
I do a very light painting with the horses, just to give it some soft edges here and there. I don’t want to soften the harness, I want to keep that sharp.
The horse above is taken from the photo below, the horse on the right. If I see an animal that would make a good portrait like this one, I separate the subject from the entire scene and change the background to get rid of the distracting green leaves behind the horse.
I like that the horse on the right was looking right at me, that is why I chose that horse over the other one for a portrait.
New Flag for the RV – We stopped at a camping world which is a store with all things about RV’s and camping. They are known for their giant flag. I got to the door of the store and turned around to look at the RV and that was the shot.
Trees and Composition – As I am looking through some of my landscapes photos and waterscape photos, I realize how often I have a tree placed in the shot. Normally to the left or right of the composition because I do like how it frames the shot.
I like to have a foreground, middle and background in landscape shots when possible. For example this first photo. The rocks are the foreground, then the water and then the land in the back. This shot could have been even better without the tree branches on the right.
I did not have that much room to move around to avoid those branches, the rocks were pretty tuff to navigate.
This photo below has a look that I am standing on top of a mountain above the clouds in the distance. I like the perspective of that, but actually that is Lake Superior in the distance. It was an amazing view from there.
For the Love of Draft Horses – Some of you may know that I have a special place in my heart for horses. I received my first horse when I was a young girl. It was my best friend and I spent a life time raising them and taking care of them.
But when I was out on my own, I decided to start raising draft horses. They are amazing animals, just the sheer size of them and the ability to have them and just watch them up close was one of the thrills of my lifetime.
So any chance I get now, I to to horse shows or visit draft horse farms. Now I can take their photos and enjoy their beauty without having to clean the barn every day. That is a plus. 🙂
This draft horse below was in a parade that I was watching, these are Belgians and so pretty under harness.
I sell a lot of my photography on different sites on the internet. The draft horse prints sell quite often.
Here are three of my favorite sites I use to sell Prints;
500 px – This site is a great one, you can sell licenses to your work or just a digital download. I sold a photo of a lightning strike to someone overseas for $65.00. One just never knows what might sell. It is always a surprise and just fun to see that my love for photography will be used by someone else.
Fine Art America – I like this site because you can sell merchandise that they make for you and they accept art work as well as photography. It is like having your own store.
Adobe Stock – Adobe stock is the most popular one. People use this one a lot for downloading photos.
Plus I started my own website, Sandra J’s Photography, so I could sell pet portraits to my customers. Much easier then going through a third party. Plus folks can communicate what their needs are when ordering portraits to be done.
So if you are looking for some sites for yourself to sell on. These are a few that I like. There are plenty of them out there now a days. I belonged to one site for many years, but they finally went out of business. They could not keep up with all the new technology cutting their sales in half. One just has to do some research as to what works for you.
Unusual Sighting – I went for a walk yesterday morning and noticed some turkey vultures flying low and this one in the first photo landed on this street pole and opened its wings up and stayed like this for quite awhile.
So I walked up to it as close as I could and snapped a couple of photos, he is just airing out his pits I think. 🙂
As I rounded the corner this is what I saw. Turkey vultures and stray cats sharing the cat food. They were eating out of the cat bowls right along with the cats.
Not one cat went after one, I imagine they know these birds would be quite a match to take down being they are so large. So they all just share the food and co-exist.
Snow Covered Barn – I love this one covered in beautiful white snow. On a sunny day after a fresh snow fall, this makes for a wonderful photo.
Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
I had a great barn on my horse farm back in the day, with a hay loft like this one. Nothing better then bringing in the horses on a cold winters day, putting fresh hay in their stalls and watching them as they enjoy their food, just sit there and take in the peacefulness of the moment. Great memories.
Old Barns – There is nothing better then seeing old barns still standing on farmsteads around the country. I love looking for them and taking photos of them. This first one here is in Iowa, there isn’t a house there and more, but I can just imagine what this old farmstead must have been like back in the day.
With its windmill pumping water and the barn full of cows or horses. Children running and playing outdoors. These old buildings can tell a story just by their appearance.
I wrote about this barn a long time ago, I found this one in Washington at the Nisqually National Wildlife refuge. One of the biggest barns I have every seen.
And there was two of them.
During the holidays I like to take the photo of a barn and make Christmas cards out of them by doing a little photo manipulation.
Swan Dive – Look at the size of those flippers. I took these photos in Iowa a couple of years ago. I just had to bring them back up being I have been posting about swans.
We were walking along the edge of a small lake surrounded by tall vegetation and we could here this loud noise and the sound of water splashing. We walked over to a clearing and looked across the water and found the source of all this commotion.
Seeing a swan taking a bath is quite something. They have a wing span of 6 to 10 feet long. The longest wingspan recorded is 10 feet 2 inches.
The trumpeter swan is the largest extant species of waterfowl, and both the heaviest and longest native bird of North America. They come in at 15 to 30 lbs.
These swans need at least a 100 meter-long “runway” of open water: running hard across the surface, they almost sound like galloping horses as they generate speed for take off. About as long as a soccer field.
Hopefully I will photograph that one day, landing and taking off.
The Black Swan – Normally it was only found in Australia, but with the transporting of rare birds, these swans can be found in the states as well.
This swan I photographed at a campground in New Mexico called Rusty’s RV Ranch where Rusty, who is a woman, had quite a few exotic birds that she took care of. Two black swans included with their own pond, which was nice.
Like most swans, this species has a characteristic “S” shaped neck and a large body. Black swans have one of the longest necks of all swan species relative to their size. They are large birds, with a wingspan of 6 feet or more, and a maximum weight of 20 pounds.
Photo Manipulation also called composites. which means two or more photos put together as one. I occasionally make composites, when my imagination seems to be sparking an idea.
Take for instance these two swans. When I look at a photo, I always crop in 100% to check the quality of the photo and check to see if there are any defects that need attention.
When I crop in on a photo, my mind will wonder off as I picture the subject in a different light
I cropped in even further on this photo so I can actually see how clear the face is and the eyes. I always want to see if the eyes are crisp sharp, in this case they are just to dark, but the feathers around the face look pretty sharp.
Then I crop in one more time and the water in the background makes my imagination start to turn, it looks as though the swan is sticking its head up out of the water as if its body is underwater.
So then I just have to see if I can make it look like it is peaking out of the water at me and because it appears that the swan is looking right at me, the words Navy Seal runs through my mind.
Well, all I could do is add some goggles that I found on the internet, just for a fun photo. Now I know why it takes me forever to edit photos, I can’t help but to try and create what my imagination is throwing at me. Then I just turn the computer off and go outside for awhile, laughing of course. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
Oh, on Monday I will show you the other swan I photographed when we were out west, a swan that is only suppose to be found in Australia.
The Trumpeter Swan – There are 6 swans species and I have photographed two of them. This one here being the trumpeter swan.
I went for years never seeing a swan anywhere, but now do to conservation efforts these swans have been taken off of the endangered species list and are found in many states including Iowa. Where I photographed these here.
I added the snow effect on this bottom photo.
This photo below has a soft white vignette.
This photo below has some sparkling water effects around the swans. I do like this one below.
Light House #5 is Copper Harbor Lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We could not get to this light house as the road was closed by the owner. There are some lighthouses that people have bought and refurbished and actually live in them. I took this photo with my phone actually from a look out point west of the small island.
Copper Harbor Lighthouse, the second lighthouse to be built on Lake Superior, commenced operation in the spring of 1849, and on June 20, 1860, Congress appropriated $3,500 for range lights to better mark the entrance to Copper Harbor. To determine the necessity of these and other proposed lights, the Lighthouse Board assigned a committee to visit the Great Lakes during the summer of 1863. The following information on Copper Harbor was included in the committee’s report:
This is the finest harbor on this part of the coast. It possesses good water, affords a perfect protection, and has sufficient depth on the bar for all vessels navigating the lakes, fifteen feet.
Some history of Copper Harbor below. Copper mining in the Upper Peninsula boomed, and from 1845 until 1887 (when it was exceeded by Butte, Montana) the Michigan Copper Country was the nation’s leading producer of copper. In most years from 1850 through 1881,
During the summer of 1840, Douglass Houghton, Michigan’s first state geologist, led a small party on an expedition to explore that area of the Upper Peninsula bordered by Lake Superior. On July 3, the party reached Copper Harbor, where it spent several days exploring the surrounding country and blasting for ores. After discovering veins of copper that varied in width from a few inches to fourteen feet, Houghton wrote, “I hope to see the day when instead of importing the whole immense amount of copper and brass used in our country, we may become exporters of both.”
Houghton wouldn’t live to see that day, as he drowned when his boat capsized off Eagle River during a gale on October 13, 1845, but he rightly foretold that the rich mineral deposits of the Upper Peninsula would only be developed with “many difficulties and embarrassments.”
In 1842, the Ojibwe signed the Treaty of La Pointe, ceding their mineral-rich territory and triggering a land rush that saw miners and investors buying up what they hoped was copper-rich real estate. The following year, the federal government opened a Mineral Land Agency at Copper Harbor to issue exploration permits and land leases, and Fort Wilkins was built in 1844 to maintain law and order.
Eagle Harbor Light is an operational lighthouse at Eagle Harbor in Keweenaw County, in Michigan. It sits on the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor and is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
This light house is a beautiful well maintained house. A wonderful museum and very picturesque to say the least. Especially looking at it from over the water of the great Lake Superior.
In 1999 the Congress of the United States transferred ownership of the Eagle Harbor Light Station to the Keweenaw County Historical Society. The Coast Guard continues to operate the light at the top of the tower.
Video of the Eagle Harbor Light house and its surrounding area below or click this link; Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Video
Farming at Sunset – I had a couple more photos to post from the evening that we went out and watched the corn being harvested in Iowa. It is a busy time of year for the farmers as they finish up the field work.
Leaving Our Forested Home – Well, we are on the road again. I grew up in this area of forest and lakes and it is where I am most at home and where I can go to relax within creation, with an abundance of solitude and beauty.
When I was younger, I never got to travel much at all. I started working at the age of 13 and after the age of 18, I never missed a day of work. The only time I took off was the 3 weeks I went to truck driving school to learn how to drive a Semi Truck.
I have to say, I was so nervous those 3 weeks, not having a paycheck coming in. Even though I had planned for it. It was so strange not being at a job.
I was fortunate enough to retire from working early in my life and we have been traveling ever since. I love that I can take photos of all these beautiful places and share them with anyone who happens to pass by on this thing called the internet.
We are living in some very strange and dangerous times right now, nothing like I have ever seen in my life time.
But, I will continue doing what I know how to do best. Living life to the fullest as best as possible, enjoying that which is created for us, the beauty of creation that surrounds us everyday. Life goes by so fast, I spent my entire life working and now I will relax and enjoy whatever time I have left, not to destroy but to create, photos that will float around the old internet way pass when I leave this earth.
For every click of a camera, history is being recorded of what was and what can be.
Turning Water into Electricity – Calm lakes surrounded by colorful forest only visible from above. These photos were taken mid September, just as the colors were starting to turn.
A beautiful lake surrounded by forest here at Victoria Dam in Michigan.
Side note: looks like a few bloggers including my site, are having issues with comments and the like button being blocked. So incase you are reading this and the comment sectioned is closed, word press is at fault for this. I have not turned them off. Hopefully it can be fixed, I will let you know if I find anything out about this situation. 😊
At Victoria, water from the diversion dam flows through the intake structure at the dam into wood-stave pipeline and steel penstock to the turbines. The force of the water passing through the blades of the 65-inch diameter cast steel wheels drives the turbine and generators to produce electricity.
The Victoria units operate at 300 rpm with a maximum operating head of 215 feet. (Head—the difference in water elevation at the dam and the tailrace or discharge elevation.) With maximum head, a pressure of 93 pounds per square inch (psi) exists at the turbine water wheels.
After the water passes through the turbines, it is discharged into the west branch of the Ontonagon River, then into the main Ontonagon River, and finally into Lake Superior at the Village of Ontonagon.
Rainfall and melting snow throughout the 801-square-mile watershed upstream of the Victoria eventually end up as water at Victoria Dam. Some of this water is held in storage at UPPCO’s Bond Falls Reservoir, Bergland Dam, or Cisco Dam, and flows as river-run directly to Victoria. (UPPCO refers to the Upper Peninsula Power Company.)
At Victoria, this water is used for power generation. However, if the river-run exceeds the storage capacity of the Victoria Dam and the 850 cubic feet per second utilized by the turbines while operating at a full load, it is necessary to spill the excess water through the radial spill gates. Normally the greatest amount of water is spilled during the spring snow-melt or runoff.
Because water can be stored upstream of Victoria for release and use during dry periods, UPPCO is able to operate the power station about 80 percent of the time during the average year. The least amount of generation occurs during July and August when the river-runs are sometimes down to 150 cubic feet per second.
Taking the Back Roads – Sometimes life takes us down back roads, for me, back roads are my way of life. They can take us on adventures we may have missed if we only take the roads everyone else travels on.
When we’re traveling down those back roads we can experience some of life’s greatest lessons and blessings.
See things that God intended for us to see. Things we might not have seen otherwise. Sure the Interstate that everyone else is taking looks much easier. It is faster and predictable. But those on the Interstate will experience the same thing that everyone else is.
They will not see the beauty that you see. They will not have a story to tell.
The excitement of taking the road less travelled resembles taking that narrow path that will lead us home.
AI Generated vs Digital Painting vs photography. Well, we are being submersed in the AI world, adds popping up and sites that you need to pay for to use the AI generated systems.
So I clicked on one sight that lets you have one free photo generated AI photograph. The complete image is below of my two dogs. I have to admit, the photo is as cute as it can be, especially my little dog down in the bottom corner. She isn’t as fuzzy as the image implies, but so cute I think. This would be great if I were into writing children’s books or animated movies.
This type of generation is photo generative, there is also word generative images that are actually quite beautiful as well. They look like something right our of a movie, an imaginative world of soft, gorgeous colors. All of which I believe is an expression of art. Art has no limitations.
This next one is what I like to do. Create a painting from one of my photographs. This I actually use my mouse and brush over the image one area at a time. Along with other editing layers that I apply to my liking. It is relaxing to do and just plain fun for me.
This is the photo I took of my Chloee to create the art print.
But, the photo print below is what I really like to do. We are camped at a spot with a lot of family’s stationed at the army base here. The woman next to us has this beautiful Great Dane, her husband has been deploy to Israel.
So I went out and photographed her dog and made a couple of paintings for her and gave them to her with out her knowing that I took the photos. It is a wonderful way to give back and I just love photographing pets, so I am glad I can do this. He is such a beautiful dog.
In Search Of Historical Bridges, I just happened to come across this one last month. As a photographer, shots like this is what makes being a photographer so much fun. I am always in search of scenic views when I am not out looking for wildlife to photograph.
Google maps has become my new source to help find lost treasures like this one. I was in an area and typed in the search bar on my phone, bridges and arched bridges. One showed up in this tiny little town not far from where I was at. So off I went in search of this little arched bridge.
It is called the Historic Ramsay Keystone Arched Bridge. The Ramsay Bridge is 130 feet long and was built over the Black River in 1922.
So we arrived at the bridge on a rainy morning, from this side of the bridge it did not look like much of a view, a lot of over growth surrounding the bridge and it was hard to get to and I thought, well the bridge itself is pretty cool looking.
So we left and thought we would go look at one more thing and on the way back, maybe the rain will have stopped and we will look one more time.
We went back to the bridge on our way home and the surprise to this location, was to go to the other side of the bridge. That is where the shot was, a perfect amount of shrubs and colored leaves surrounding the bridge as if it was framed right out of a story book.
With its babbling brook running slowly underneath the bridge, it is a true picturesque view.
Needless to say when I stumble apon an area like this, I am smiling.
At 57 feet, the height of this bridge is also quite impressive, but it is the impressive stonework’s ability to stand the test of time that truly wows.
And what is a keystone you might ask (or capstone) – it is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch or vault to bear weight.
I had to delete my site because of the rising cost with wordpress. Plus charging me for the Premium plus package that I did not order. But, working with wordpress, they were able to change my plan back to what I started with. More information on that next week.
