Day 178 (26 June 2012) Silence, or The End

At the end
There is silence
Silence in place of all that was
What does the silence say?
It echoes the voice of the past
Forever lost to Earth
Forever singing in Eternity

Ok, so I’m not a poet, at least not when I’m trying to put thoughts down at a quarter to eleven at night 🙂  The inspiration for today was the photo challenge hosed by Shannon and Nick.  When I read the list provided for this photo scavenger hunt and saw silence, my first thought was of death and the earthly resting place of our bodies, and how it contrasts with the eternal resting place for our souls.  As a Christian, I believe in both Heaven and Hell; and in neither of those places will one’s soul be quiet.

30 mm, 30 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 (Silence)

This photo has some good color in the sky, but I felt that it distracted from the image and the story it’s supposed to tell.  For me this shows that while our bodies may be buried under the Earth, out souls exist in the Heavens 🙂

Here is the list I’m shooting from for the photo scavenger hunt.  I’m supposed to “find” 15 of these, 10 down, 5 to go!

• Chuck Norris Was Here
• “Big Foot Footprint”
• Reflected Love
• Abstract Self Portrait
• Framed Moon
• “Whats your sign”
• Anti-gravity
• Unusual Perspective
• Abandoned
• Silence
• Pride and Joy
• Emerging Star
• Buried Treasure
• Sparkler fun
• Clownin Around Upside-down
• Lyric Quotograph
• Summer
• Patriotism
• Night

Day 149 (28 May 2012) . . . and some gave all.

Here in the US we are celebrating Memorial Day.  Today is the day we honor all those who gave their life for our freedom.  From Wikipedia:
“Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. ”

Please remember to take a moment and honor those who gave all, and those that they left behind.  Please teach your children the true meaning of this holiday; that it is not about BBQs, parties, etc.

Day 39 (8 Feb 2012) The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

There are those to go through this life always striving for more; more pay, a bigger house, a nicer car, more ‘power’, higher social status, that legendary pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  When they do finally do reach the end goal, and find that pot, this is what they end up with:

18 mm, 4 min, f/3.5, ISO 100 (Pot of Gold)

They end up dead with nothing to show, except a tombstone and an empty, broken, rusty pot.

And yet, “Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:6

Remember what is important in life: God, family, friends, and helping others.  Don’t forgot to take time to enjoy life, this is where you will find your true treasure!

Day 26 (26 Jan 2012) Dead Tree

I have this tree in my house that should never have been left out during the first frost.  I’m pretty sure I killed it, but I haven’t had time to ‘dispose’ of it yet, so it’s still in my living room.  When I laid down on my couch and looked up, the entry-way light shining above the tree on the ceiling looked pretty neat.  I changed the white balance to make it a little more dramatic (the yellow-orange color you see).

With the weather being a bit dreary and it being dark by the time I get home, I’m feeling like there isn’t much to shoot, so if you would like to suggest a subject, please do!  I will try to fulfill your suggestion 🙂

50 mm, 1/2 sec, f/8.0, ISO 1000, EF 50mm f/1.8 II (Dead Tree)

Day 7 (7 Jan 2012) Devil’s Hopyard State Park

Today I spend hiking and shooting a few hundred pics (just shy of 300!) at Devil’s Hopyard State Park in East Haddam, CT.  It’s a beautiful area with plenty of trails and a constantly changing scenery.  It was very hard to belive it was January in New England, as it was almost 50F!  This time last year it was 20F.  But it made for a perfect day to get outside and enjoy God’s creation!

This first pic was of water dripping from an icicle.  My next piece of camera gear will be a macro lens (or close up filter or extension tubes) so I can get real closeups.

55 mm, 1/50 sec, f/5/6, ISO 800 (water drop in icicle)

Nearing the end of the hike, I looked up from the ridge line as the sun was setting and saw this:

18mm, 1/160 sec, f/13, ISO 100 (tree against sky)