It's Your Life - Live It!

I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.  I don't know who wrote this, but I saw it on Facebook today and thought it was worth sharing.

Are you living the life you want?   Are you proud of what you're doing?  Do you wish things were different?  Do you think you can do a better job?   Only you are in control of those things.  Only you can change your life and make it want YOU want.  If you're not living a life you're proud of, only you can make a difference.   If you're not happy with the way things are, why not start making changes today that will give you the life you were meant to live?  Until you do, nothing will change.  So, if you need to make changes, start making them today.  Live the life you want.  Don't settle for anything less! 

I wish these things for you and hope you have a wonderful day.

The Art of Photography

"I want to expose people to nature and wilderness and wildlife, and make a difference, but also do it in a way that has all the elements of what we consider traditional art: the creativity, the composition, the light, design, texture, whatever it might be, and the moment."  Conor Risch
I found this quote in PDN Magazine yesterday and thought it was worth sharing.  All of the things Conor mentions are important to good photography.  You can take pictures of a scene, but without the proper lighting it's not going to be as dramatic as it would be otherwise.  The same thing applies to "capturing the moment" when you're photographing wildlife or people.  You can take wonderful pictures, but if your subject is not doing something interesting, it's just not going to have the impact that you want. So, be patient, wait for the right light, compose creatively and capture the moment.

Have a great day and Happy Shooting!

Great Blue"

"I asked the earth, I asked the seas and the deeps, among the living animals, the things that creep.  I asked the winds that blow,  I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars and all things that stand at the doors of my flesh . . .
My question was the gaze I turned to them.
Their answer was their beauty."
St. Augustine of Hippo  (354-430), North Africa

This is another version of the heron shot I posted a couple of days ago.  I almost deleted the original picture, because the heron was so far away.  Instead, I decided to keep it and see what I could come up with by using some filters, plug-ins, etc.  This is one of the results.  You may like it and you may not, but I'm glad I kept it. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week-end and a Happy Easter with friends and family.

Light

"Light is not so much something that reveals, as it is itself, a revelation." James Turrell (b.1943), USA

The Eagle

"When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head." William Blake (1757-1827), England

I love eagles and take photos of them every chance I get.  I got this shot as we were going from Yellowstone to Jackson Hole last month.  There were three eagles, two adults and one young one, sitting in trees aways off the road.  This one took off as we were watching them and I was fortunate enough to get a few pics of him.  I hope you enjoy it.

A Little Piece of Nature

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." Thomas Merton


I don't know if you consider this art or not but, as far as I'm concerned, each time you capture a piece of nature, you create a type of art. When I'm out photographing nature, I completely lose track of the time. My focus is on my subject, on the light, on the beauty of what's before me. I hope you enjoy this little piece of the beauty I found yesterday.

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.

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.

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

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.