Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category

"A Tree in the Snow"

| Sony A700 | Sony 11-18mm | 11mm/f16 | 1/125 sec | ISO 160 |

“If you’re going to catch fish, you have to go fishing.  If you’re going to catch a lot of fish, you have to go fishing a lot!”  This holds true for photography, as well.  Because I have a full time job, I miss many opportunities to be out in nature during some of the most opportune times.  Nearly all of my photography is limited to weekends and holidays.  This means that I’m betting on having optimum conditions for creating memorable images only 2 out of 7 days every week.  These are not good odds.  Sometimes I need to hedge my bets; snow is a condition for which I hedge.

It doesn’t snow a lot in Southwest Oklahoma.  Some years there’s only a dusting of the white stuff.  In other years we may get a blizzard, driven by winds up to 25mph, resulting in drifts.  Slow falling snow,the kind that builds up on top of tree limbs and creates fluffy mounds on top of everything else, in uncommon and may only occur every few years.  Regardless of whichever kind of snow we get one thing is pretty certain…it won’t be around for long.  Where I work, my bosses know that if we get the kind of snow I like, the slow falling fluffy stuff, I won’t be coming to work! Read the rest of this entry »

Everything has a season.

Post Oak Creek

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

[Sony A700 w/Minolta 50mm 1.7 | 50mm | f/3.2 | 1/80s | ISO 400 | pop-up flash -0.7 EV]

This day, I was hiking with one lens, a Minolta 50mm 1.7, prime.  For many years it was the only lens I owned and therefore the only lens I used; it enjoyed a long season.  As I accumulated more lenses, its use became less frequent.  It had been a while since its last use and I chose it this day because it is light, fast, pretty sharp, renders great color, and has a very nice bokeh.  Its only drawback is my legs are its only “zoom”.

When I made this image, I was on the return leg of a hike from the Treasure Lake parking lot to the base of Elk Mountain, just below the Apple and Pear.  I was following Post Oak Creek and had just passed Little Post Oak Falls.  The canyon carved by the creek is very narrow with vertical walls of solid granite on both sides.  It was late in the afternoon and the canyon was in total shade.  For whatever reason, the above seen caught my eye.  Without light the rich colors of the granite were very muted but I liked the composition.  The only light source I had was the pop-up flash on my camera.  I don’t care much for flash but it can produce very pleasing results if it’s controlled.  I dialed it down to what I thought might produce the desired result.  I think it turned out okay.

What struck me about this scene is the contrast between the grasses of summer, lasting only a few short months and the seemingly eternal granite wall.  However, the idea of granite being eternal is betrayed by the granite gravel that lines the creek bank.  Eventually, it will decompose into even smaller particles, becoming the grains of  sand washed farther down the stream.  This picture speaks of the irony of the short season that accompanies shallow roots sank in sand vs. granite, the rock of ages.  Yes, everything has its season; but some are shorter than others.

I'm Never Alone!

My loneliest moments have not been when I’m alone; I’ve been very lonely in crowds.  I’ve had some wonderful times with friends and family; times I’ll always cherish.  But my absolute best times are when I meet HIM in HIS garden.  It’s not that he’s not with me at other times; HE’s always with me.  I take that for granted and that’s the difference.

Sunday afternoon, we walked in HIS garden, I felt HIS breeze on my face, HIS rocks under my feet, heard HIS birds sing, and the warmth of HIS glow in my soul.  I stood in awe of HIS artistry as HE painted the canvas of granite walls with HIS ever changing Light.  If he can paint hardened granite with HIS Light and create beauty, surely he can paint the hardest of hearts, too; maybe even mine.

Tomorrow, at 7:30 AM, I go for my third attempt to complete an MRI.  My lifelong battle with claustrophobia has beaten me twice.  How stupid is that?  Tomorrow morning I’ll remember our Sunday afternoon walk, think of the picture above and know HE’s in the tube with me; I’ll know no fear.

Parallel Forest

I love the Parallel Forest; I especially love it when I’m by myself!  The equal spacing and parallel plantings present a picture of calm, silence, and peace.  Planted in the the spring of 1912, the cedars are nearing 100 years old.  They’ve stood witness to many things now history and long forgotten.  They’ve stood and flourished through years of plenty and have withstood times of hardship, too.  The ice storm of January 28, 2010, was one that hit hard and left its mark.  Living in Lawton and seeing the destruction left in the wake of that storm kept me away from the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge for months.  It was April before I made my first trip there since the storm and I was heartbroken by the scene.  However, even then I avoided going by the Parallel Forest for fear of what I might see there.  Even though I have made numerous trips back since then, it was only this past Thursday that I was able to pull off Hwy 115, and into the small black-topped parking lot belonging to this grove of native red cedar trees.  I think the reason that brought me here now, was the reality of an approaching surgery and the desire to experience the peace and calm I always found here.  I needed that and I needed to slow down, be still, and know GOD.  This is a good place for that.

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The Sun Rises Early!

I never know what I’m going to get with a sunrise.  I’ve enjoyed countless sunrises over the years:  the majority from getting up early, not coming in late, although there’s been a few of those, too.  For the past decade, or so, the sun risings I’ve witnessed follow on the heels of simple planning.  But in spite of the planning there’s no way I can know what scene will unfold in the eastern sky.  I’m always in the dark on that and leaving home at dark-thirty doesn’t help, either!  Sunsets are different and I can anticipate and see the event unfold;  I’m waiting on it to happen.  Sunrises are so different!

Best Made Plans?

It’s an easy matter to catch the nightly weather forecasts to get an idea of what the weather is predicted to be five to seven days in advance.  But gee whiz, I live in Southwest Oklahoma where moist warm air rising from the Gulf and dry arctic air sweeping down the Plains from Canada can ruin the best meteorologist’s forecast in a matter of hours.   Experience has taught me to check the forecast late the night before and then don’t bet any money on what it’s going to do.  It’s also easy to get the forecast for things like the times for Nautical Twilight, Civil Twilight, and actual time of sunrise, percent of cloud cover, probability of precipitation, direction and velocity of wind, and temperature at any given hour.  There are also plenty of simple software programs that will tell you the precise degree from North that the sun will actually rise on the horizon based on your geographical location.  I use a free one called “Ephemeris.  I plug in the angle of declination for Lawton, or any other location, and then every time I open it I have the time and angles for the rising and setting of the sun and moon on that particular day.  It’s very handy.  Now, with all that in hand a reasonable person would think it’s just a matter of getting out of bed.  “Not so Sherlock!” Read the rest of this entry »

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

I visit the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge frequently; I’m somewhere on the WMWR most weekends throughout the year.  When I go, my Sawyer Snake Bite Kit is never far away and the photo above is the reason why.  Yesterday, I went to the WMWR late in the evening looking for two good places to make to totally different images.  One was going to be of the  sunset happening at 8:50 PM, and 293° WNW.  The other was going to be of the moonrise at 9:14 PM and 114° ESE.  My first thought was to check out Crater Lake for the moonrise so I entered the Refuge from Hwy. 115, north of Cache.  I parked in the parking lot and took a trail north up the west side of the lake.  There was a fisherman fishing off the dam and a family of geese swimming close to the western shore.  Every 100 feet, or so, I’d stop and use my compass to see just where the moon would rise in relation to the lake.  I had gone almost to the northern end of the lake before deciding I wasn’t going to get the picture I had in my mind.  It was only then I noticed the high number of dragonflies Read the rest of this entry »

"In Your Own Backyard"

Early spring is certainly one of my favorite times to live in Southwest Oklahoma.  It is especially so after the very destructive ice storm we had on January 28th, 2010.  Evidence of the damage from the massive ice storm is still very visible around the area.  Because of this, I was delighted to see the first sign of Henbit sprouting amidst the dead brown leaves of the bermuda grass and the green leafy curlydock.  I patiently watched as both the henbit and wild lettuce grew taller and taller.  The curlydock began providing a wonderfully rich green background and, already, I was making plans to capture images at the first opportunity.  An opportunity when the wind is not blowing too strong for macro work is rare during a Southwest Oklahoma spring day.  It’s even more rare when one occurs on the weekend when I can actually take advantage of it.  East Sunday was such a day, and rose before sunup and actually waiting patiently in my backyard to begin just as soon as it was light enough.  For the next 1 1/2 hours I had a great time, but even then, as time passed the breeze was gradually becoming more troublesome.  I had a great time in my own backyard until I finally conceded to the wind.