Cable Bridge – This is exactly what it looked like as we were walking across this old cable bridge. On the other side it was completely dark at the end of the bridge, the forest was so thick. It was a bit spooky as we neared the end of the bridge and our eyes did not adjust to the darkness until you actually walked into the forest.
This bridge is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail, if you wanted to, you can walk this trail that goes from New York to North Dakota. That would be quite the hike.
Can You See the Light – as I am walking in the forest the Light is trying to get my attention ever so softly. Peaking around the trees, flashing in my eyes every now and then. As if it is trying to get my attention, but I just keep on going.
How about now, the Light says, do you see me?
As I squint looking in the direction of the light beams dancing amongst the leaves.
But I turn my head and keep walking.
How about Now? I stop and look and am amazed at all the beams of light, as if like arms reaching out towards me. The Light begins to warm the forest with bright beautiful light. But I have an agenda, I have to keep walking to get to the end of the trail.
How About NOW
I stop in my tracks as I cannot stop looking at this beautiful Light reaching out to all of nature around me and warming my heart. Yes, I see the Light, I feel the Light. The end of the trail is right here. I don’t have to keep searching. 💕😉
Oh What a Tangled – Do you remember the rest of the quote?
But nature isn’t tangled, these spiders seem to know what they are doing.
Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive’ means that when you lie or act dishonestly you are initiating problems and a domino structure of complications which eventually run out of control.
One has to be careful walking through the forest, especially this time of year. The webs are everywhere and can be deceiving, all pretty and shinny. But understanding the Light and where it comes from, It can protect you from entering the webs they weave.
Wide Eyed Look which is referred to as Doe Eyes, literally in this case. 🙂
Well, this one does not have doe eyes, she has been hanging around with the deer. Just one turkey, the fawns are having fun running around trying to figure out what this bird is though.
August is Coming to an End and depending on what part of the country you live in, cooler weather and warm colors are on our doorsteps. I have not seen any geese flying over all summer and now, at the end of August they fly East every morning. I went out this morning to take a few photos of them, but I was not out there early enough. I will have some photos by the end of the week though. 🙂
The Light of Life, He has a way of reminding us that we are the Light of Him. Even when we are surrounded by darkness, as I was when I was walking through the forest of no name.
The forest was dark as I made my way along the river bank, when all of a sudden, just up ahead, sunlight was shining through the trees, as if a spot light was only shining on these beautiful ferns. A reminder of who we are, vibrant, radiant all that we are, a Light to Others as He is to Us
Sunsets Are Coming Back, the smoke has been clearing in the sky around my area so the sunset are becoming colorful again. I love a sunset when there are some clouds along with. Gives it a little more texture and depth.
I mentioned awhile ago about my brother out in Montana next to the fire called, Yaak Fire. He said it is down to a smolder, but still burning and creeping across the land. So they have not been given the all clear yet, I hope they get more rain and it goes out completely.
On this particular night, I walked down to the pond, knowing there would be a reflection in the water of the clouds all lit up as the sun dropped below the horizon.
The Snow Shoe Hare Snowshoe hares have an interesting adaptation that helps protect them against predators. Depending on the season, their fur can be a different color. During the winter, snowshoe hares are white, which helps them blend in with the snow. When the seasons change to spring and summer, snowshoe hares turn a reddish-brown. This color helps them camouflage with dirt and rocks.
Not every part of the snowshoe hare changes color throughout the year. An important identification trick is to look at a snowshoe hare’s ears. The tips of the ears are always black no matter the season.
The hind legs of a snowshoe hare are noticeably larger, and have more fur and larger toes than those of other rabbits or hares. These adaptations provide additional surface area and support for walking on snow. The hind legs are what give the hare its common name.
I never did get a photo of this rabbit last winter when it was all white. I saw it a few times, but only when it moved, they have excellent camouflage. I took this photo below early this spring when its feet are still white as it makes the change over to brown.
Now this one is a cotton tail Rabbit below, there is a difference between a hare and a rabbit. Mostly the hare is quite a bit larger and not as tame. Hence so much harder to get a photo of.
What Camera Lens I Use, I love photographing up close and most of the time I use my smaller bridge camera with the macro lens. But, I have found that my biggest lens actually does very well with close up shots also. I use the 600 mm lens mostly for bird photography, but to my surprise I really like it with close ups as well. You can see more samples and the camera I use at this link Here; 600mm Tamron Lens
Shooting For the Moon, This weekend was perfect weather for sitting outside in the evening and watch the moon travel across the sky. Mosquitos tried to make a comeback early in the evening, but then the wind picked up and they did not have a chance after that. This time of year I love to go outside at night to take photo’s of our beautiful planets above, come winter, the cameras don’t do well at night, nor do I.
Trying to get a crisp clear photo of the moon is just a little difficult with a regular camera. I use a 600 mm lens and it does pretty well. But when you think of how much space is between my lens and the moon, I am in awe at what I see every time.
When you photograph something outside of our atmosphere, there is a fair amount of air between you and the subject. The thickness of Earth’s atmosphere is approximately 300 miles, with most of the dense air in the lower altitudes (obviously). Light is transmitted from the sun (or stars) or reflected from the moon (and planets) and it travels through the vacuum of space until it reaches earth. Once it arrives in the atmosphere, all your sharpness bets are off.
Then add some motion like clouds rolling in and trees blowing in the wind. I am just grateful that earth has a protective shield around it that gives us air to breath and protects us from the harshness of outer space. It is mind boggling to me sometimes to sit here and look up into the heavens at night and just wonder how big it really is and how small we really are.
This shot looks like the moon is on fire and rolling across the clouds to me.
What Day is It – Varietay Friday, Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay cool, it is warm in my neck of the woods. Enjoy the Great Outdoors if You Can. 💕
Orange is the Color of Autumn, this is my first sighting of the Monarch Butterfly this year, it is late in the season, so I am surprised to see it but thankful I got to see at least one this year. Early this spring I saw a few butterfly’s or moths and their wings were pretty scraped up from the long flight up here. But this one looks pretty healthy.
I hope he makes the long journey to its winter home. It is written in their design, from the moment they are alive, to go to the same place, even though some have never been there before. They just know.
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow;
I Can See How Hard You Work, for You Are Covered in Sparkling Yellow Snow ——- No wait, that doesn’t sound right.
You Are Covered in Yellow Pollen Snow ; Alright I am not a poet for sure, I could not think what rhymes with grow.
Feel free to add some suggestions below, WAIT, that rhymes,
Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, Oh How You Help My Garden Grow, I See How Hard You Work From All the Pollen on You in the Photo Below. Whew, I think Daryl Madden or Mr. Ohh might have a few ideas as well. 😊
Manipulating the Perception of Distance, is possible with forced perspective in photography. It is about making your subject look larger or smaller than it really is.
Perspective in photography is created by the spatial relationship between objects in an image. It’s this relationship between objects that helps us perceive depth, distances, and the size of different elements.
For example, this pink flower looks like a normal size flower because of the angle I took the photograph.
But in reality, it is actually smaller than an eraser on a pencil. Matter of fact, I would not have even seen it if it was not for the bright purple flowers petals that caught my eye.
Forced perspective happens all around us everyday. Not just in photography, sometimes people make things out to be bigger than they really are. How we perceive it is the key to understanding the size of any situation, knowing the facts is crucial. Never be forced to only see the perspective to what others are putting in front of you.
One of My Favorite Spots, This is a small hill made out of sand, I love this spot along Lake Superior. From the parking lot you can not see what the water looks like until you walk up this little hill. I love places like this. It is like opening a door not knowing for sure what I might see, but the anticipation is exciting and the view always takes my breath away.
It is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.
Something a Little Different, I don’t know what these flowers are but they were growing along the beach of Lake Superior. Sometimes I don’t know if I need to know a name to some of these wildflowers. I just like to enjoy them and know that they will be a surprise next year when I see them again.
I believe I mentioned awhile ago about framing your own photographs and art work. I enjoy sharing them on the web, but I do like to print them and hang them in my home. I have taken up digital painting of my photographs. Where you actually take a paint brush and paint on your photos. Very relaxing to do and amazing what technology can do as well.
Thinking outside of the box, create what your heart and mind sees.
Twins The White Tail Deer, this is my first sighting of twin White Tail Deer and the only time they both came out of the forest so I could witness this extraordinary beauty of wild life. The Mother is very watchful over these two, I have heard her in the woods now and then, giving her loud snort to warn the babies of any danger.
But Mom is used to me, I put some bird food out in the mornings and she comes by everyday to check out the food. It isn’t much food, because I don’t want a lot there at night when Junior bear walks through. I put together a video of these two running and playing in the tall grass, you can see this video here; White Tail Deer Mother and Twins.
This is also the first buck I have seen here in years. He stops by once a week. He doesn’t stay long. You can see his horns have the soft velvet on them still.
Happy Friday, it is the end of July already. I have two trees in my yard that have started to change color. That seems to early, but I do love the change of seasons and fall is my favorite one. I love the cooler temperatures and all the warm colors and sitting by the campfire on a cool evening. Have a wonderful weekend.
Nature Speaks to Us, I spend a lot of time outdoors, sometimes just listening to the sounds of creation around me. Now I have a lot of ringing in my ears, sometimes it is really bad, but it is always there. It never really goes away. When I am outside, I get distracted very easy. I begin to notice everything from the leaves rustling in the trees, the butterflies going from flower to flower.
The sights and sounds of nature, begins to replace the ringing in my ears. For a few moments in time I can tune out the constant noise in my ears and I can feel the calmness that nature provides. I can see and hear a beautiful symphony of soft spoken words, from the sounds of birds singing and seeing the beautiful colors of the butterflies as they go by.
When I focus on all of these things, it pushes the noise away.
It reminds me of this song;
I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright (bright) Bright (bright) sunshiny day
Lightning in the Night, my first photos of lightning. A fast moving storm rolled in with only heat lightning at first and then I saw a few lightning bolts in the night sky. It was about 11:30 pm and I decided to go out onto the porch and see if I could get a few shots of the night lights covering the sky.
I wasn’t sure if the camera was picking it up at first. All of these photos were taken with a Go Pro camera, I did not get any on my regular camera. There is another storm rolling in today, so I will be trying it again though.
Ka-ty-did, this is the sound the Katydids make. Katydids are related to crickets and grasshoppers, with large back legs for jumping.
Unlike grasshoppers, Katydids have extremely long, thin antennae. Unlike crickets, their bodies are more rhomboidal, like a kite with four equal lengths. They have wings and will fly away from danger. Most sightings occur when they land on an object and linger. Some have even gone on car rides, clinging to the hood of the vehicle.
I have never see this particular critter before. They blend in so well with leaves. It flew onto the porch, stuck on the wall for a little bit and then was gone. Amazing critters.
Varietay Friday II – includes taking a photo from the back of a Queen Anne’s Lace Flower. I love looking at the back of flowers. This particular flower closes up at night, these green shoots fold up around the flower as like protection over night. Along with a tiny red bug in the left corner of the flower.
I do not know what this is, but it had not opened up yet early this morning and you could really see the details of the fine hair that protects the stem of this flower.
42 degrees F. this morning, finally cooling off a bit and water droplets resting in the base of these leaves in the morning light.
Along with, some art work I made on the computer today. Art comes in many different forms, computer generated and outdoor objects, both of which are applied on this photo.
Pretty in Pink, not the movie, just the flowers blooming in my garden today. Even though I saw that movie many years ago. I love these little flowers called Cosmos that always seem to bloom in July. Such a soft hue of pink.
My husband and I were talking about the state of the world today. Which is a huge subject to say the least. For me, I do not follow the left or the right, I listen to what they say and the language is very confusing, it is as if none of them can understand each other as well. There are so many different sounds coming from all directions.
I can only speak of what I know and bear witness to what I see. For me, what I know is, there is a straight path to the One who makes perfect sense, which in turn opens my eyes to where I am at today. It is a journey, to get to this place that I see.
Little Wonders of theWorld – The Flowers and theTrees, Places Where I Find Peace andTranquility
Time Keeps Moving Along, Changing of the Way, Places of Reflection of Where I am Today
AttheLadders Top, The Older Generation, At the Golden Age, A Humbling Realization
I see where I’m going, and Past That’s Behind Me, I Have Reached the Light, When Younger Couldn’t See
Which Gives Me Peaceof Mind, Of Searching to Engage, That Wisdom Only Comes, Attainable by Age
Wisdom is only attainable by age, there are no shortcuts, Inheriting the wealth of Knowledge, from the quality of Experience becomes Wisdom. Owning nothing but yet owning everything.
Amazing Are The Wings that Fly – Sometimes to really see nature, one has to become one with nature. I have never seen a dragonfly’s wings quite like these. I was watching this one particular dragon fly land on this same rock over and over. Finally realizing it was sunning itself on this rock and as I would step closer to it for a photo it would fly away.
So I figured I need to lay down in the grass with my camera and just sit still. This dragonfly was between me and the sun and what a surprise it was to see the sun reflecting in its wings when I looked at the photos later. I did not see this as I was laying there watching it. What a view from their level. You can see my video; A Walk With Nature in My Back Yard Here.
I remember the days as a child, when laying in the grass was so much fun. I never worried about all the bugs and critters back then. I usually avoid doing that now because the thought of wood ticks and spiders. But I thought, just do it. I surprised myself on the results with this beautiful creature.
Rock Camouflage, In nature, some animals are built with the perfect camouflage to blend in with their surroundings. Which helps to avoid becoming something else’s snack. This particular dragon fly is one of those animals. Those transparent wings really throws me off, you can see the rocks right through them.
