Take Time To Look

What is it? Where is it? Leave your opinions here for others to see.

You can see the most beautiful, and sometimes strange, things in nature if you just take the time to look. Be sure to look around you to see what you can find. Life's more fun if you slow down to smell the roses. Have a great hump day.

Simplicity

Sometimes the simple things make the best photographs. As you go through life, take time to enjoy them.

Eagle Chick

This is Yellowstone's Madison River eagle chick for the year. I don't know if they only laid one egg or if this is the only chick that survived, but there's only one this year. As you probably know, eagles don't get their white heads and tails until they're about 4 years old. They can hide better that way, so it helps them survive to maturity. We had the opportunity to observe the eagle family several times while we were in Yellowstone on vacation last week. The chick, which is 3-6 months old, is nearly as big as the parents & is a very scrappy little critter. The parents are still hunting for it, but if they come back to try to eat some of the food, which they caught, the chick tries to run them off. It doesn't succeed, but it tries. In this picture, it was sitting in the tree waiting for its' parents to catch some fish. As you can see, it was squawking at them. In addition to being scrappy, it's also noisy and impatient. I guess it has to be that way to survive, though. Anyway, we enjoyed watching them and got several good pictures. I hope you enjoy the pictures almost as much as we enjoyed watching the activities of these wonderful birds. I've posted several pics on my web site, but will be adding more, so be sure to check back often.

Fall is a beautiful time in the Tetons. Smoke from a fire spread a haze over the area, though, that temporarily masked some of the Fall splendor. See a picture of the area on my web site.

When I see an eagle, I think of honor, beauty and freedom. What do you think of? Please leave your comments and let me know.

Happy Friday!

Not much time for posting today, so I'll just say that I hope you have a GREAT Friday. Catch you later.

Think big. There are unforeseen forces ready to support your dreams. Cheryl Richardson

Simplicity. Beauty. Serenity.

These are the words I thought of when I viewed this scene. What words come to your mind when you see the picture?

Scrapping Bulls

Boys fighting over girls seems to be Nature's way, so we might as well enjoy it.

Take a close look and you'll see some morning visitors. These are just a few of the creatures that inhabit this planet with us. Let's protect them and the beauty they live in. Enjoy!

Take a close look and you'll see some morning visitors. These are just a few of the creatures that inhabit this planet with us. Let's protect them and the beauty they live in. Enjoy!

Nature & Man

Nature and man (human-kind), can they continue to co-exist? What's your opinion?

Like A River

Like water flowing over the rocks in a river, our lives touch all who are near us. Let your life leave good marks on those you touch.

The supreme act of forgiveness is when you can forgive yourself for all the wounds you've created in your own life. Forgiveness is an act of self-love. When you forgive yourself self-acceptance begins and self-love grows. Don Miguel Ruiz

I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy this image.

Do Something

If you feel bored do something, for there is always something to do, see or explore in this world. Keep in mind that boredom can also cause depression, so get out there and live now. Sylvia Browne

Take only pictures, leave only footprints. In other words, when you're enjoying our wonderful natural world, don't disturb its' beauty. Enjoy it, photograph it, love it, but don't leave anything behind and don't take anything away, except your photos and your memories. That will let others enjoy it too. Have a great day!

Simple things bring beauty to our world.

Life is just a bowl of cheeries. You just have to make them last. Have a great day.

Too Short

Remember, don't sweat the small stuff. Life's too short, and the older I get, the shorter it gets. So, just enjoy your life, do the best you can, live according to the Golden Rule and LIVE, LOVE & LAUGH. Have a GREAT day!

Human History

"The course of human history is determined, not by what happens in the skies, but by what takes place in our hearts." Sir Arthur Keith

As we remember the events of Sept. 11th, once again, lets think about this quote & what it means to us. Our history is filled with good events and very sad ones. All we can do is remember lost loved ones & use memories of the good times to carry us forward. I hope you have a nice day.

I Hope You Dance Because

I Hope You Dance Because

Time.

Time is a wheel.

Time is a wheel in constant motion

always rolling us along.

Tell me, who wants to look back on

their years and wonder . . .

where their years have gone.

This is from the little book I Hope You Dance by Mark D. Sanders & Tia Sillers

I think we all look back at our lives and wonder where the years have gone. They go by so quickly. I guess, what is important, though, is to look back at them and realize that they meant something, that we have contributed something to this world and to humanity, that we didn't waste them.

No Limits

Your limits are defined by the agreement you've made about what's possible. Change that agreement and you can dissolve all limits. By: Dr. Wayne Dyer

This is a photo I've had for several months, but hadn't messed with until a few days ago. I downloaded a trial version of Snap Art and applied the oil painting option. I thought it gave the picture an interesting texture. You'll probably need to click on the picture to see the details. What do you think!

Painted Pictures

This is yesterday's pic of the day for the photo challenge. As you can tell, I modified it by applying a PhotoShop plug-in. I'll probably get tired of this look pretty soon, but for right now, I like it. I hope you do too.

Now, here's a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer's little book Everyday Wisdom. "You're the result of all the previous pictures you've painted for yourself . . . and you can always paint new ones."

I hope you have a wonderful day & a great week. I'll be back tomorrow & hopefully, you'll stop by again.

Live for Today

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last." Marcus Aurelius

Here's yesterday's picture in the challenge of taking a picture every day for a year. By the way, that's harder than you would think. Although this isn't a fantastic picture, I kind of liked the way the light was coming through the trees in my backyard. It was shot on Manual mode at f/8, 1/10 of a second, handheld. I'm sure if I had looked at it at 100%, it would have been blurry, but instead I just applied a Topaz Simplify plug-in to give it a painterly effect. I'll try to come up with something more creative today.

Have a great Labor Day and come back soon. If you leave a message, I'll know you were here. That makes leaving posts much more fun. :)

Determination of Spirit

This is another poem written by my mom, Geneva Martin. It's from her poetry book, Poems From The Heart. I hope you enjoy it.

A green gold magic rested on the summer prairie grass,

as it bent in stressed submission,

letting covered wagons pass.

They crushed its' gentle beauty for so very many years,

these determined, able people, these adventurous pioneers.

They suffered mighty hardships, which proved their sterling worth,

And many a young American knew the prairie at his birth.

Some travelers lost a needed wheel, as long hot days rolled by,

While others nursed sick loved ones, then watched them slowly die.

They buried them and left them, in the prairie grass somewhere,

with no headstone, and no minister, just tears, and a heartfelt prayer.

The mountains challenged their pioneer strength, but their fortitude didn't bend.

It's a miracle any of them made it. It could have been the pioneers' end.

But these early Americans had tenacity, more than most of us have inside,

To them it was a matter of making it, these pioneers of American pride.

By: Geneve M. Martin

The Path

"A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front of the other." M. C. Richards

Remember that sometimes the most ordinary things make the most interesting pictures. So, when you're out taking pictures, remember to not just focus on the main subject of your photos, but to look around to see what other interesting subjects you can find to photograph.

The Journey

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end." Ursala K. Guin

PhotoShop tip: If you want to convert a color picture to black & white, go to Channel Mixer, click on the Monochromatic box and then play with the different colors to get the look you want. If you increase the red enough, for instance, you can give your photo an Ansel Adams type look. This method is much more effective than just converting your pictures to the greyscale.

Happiness

You get two quotes today, because I just couldn't choose between them. I also couldn't find a picture that expressed the sentiments of the quotes, so I just attached a couple of bison pictures. There will be a photo tip about those pics at the end of the post.

"Count your blessings. A grateful heart attracts more joy, love and prosperity. " Cheryl Richardson

"The key to happiness is realizing that it's not what happens to you that matters, it's how you choose to respond." Keith D.Harrell

When you're photographing people or animals take a close up shot, but also take a picture that gives the viewer a "sense of place". It helps your photos to "tell a story". We were driving through Yellowstone in May & encountered a HUGE traffic jam. It didn't take us long to discover the reason for the problem. Rangers & cowboys were herding a large herd of bison from the western part of Yellowstone to the Old Faithful area. They were on the road and off the road, depending on the terraine. We've been to Yellowstone many times, but had never seen this before. With such young calves, I'm not sure if it was good or bad, though. Often, if they are moved to fast, the calves can't keep up without getting hurt & an injured bison calf will not survive in this wild environment. The treatment of bison in and around Yellowstone is a very controversial topic right now, because environmentalists believe that, for the wild bison to survive, we have to protect the bloodlines of the original bison & not treat them like domestic cattle.

Faith

"When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly." -----------------Edward Teller

I think this is a wonderful quote. After all, isn't this what faith is all about?