I was just in the mood today to share whatever came to my mind. The first thing  that did come to mind was how much I want to publish the two outstanding images you see below, created by two great photographers. The quality, the color and amount of light is as important a part of both images, as are the great subjects.

Our first photographer is a Facebook connection and her name is Cheyenne Rouse and she is a superb photographer/artist. I know not whether the image below was taken at sunrise or sunset, or in what part of America’s desert southwest she was in when she created it, but WOW!! It is not only spectacular but notice how she has kept the light in those beautiful skies low and moody, while still maintaining nice detail in the foreground. It is also compositionally excellent. 

Well done!!

This second image is from wildlife photography superstar David Hemmings. I believe David resides in Canada and that gorgeous Silver Fox was found somewhere near David’s home. Lucky guy! Of course it helps to be a great photographer. The low winter’s light on the background, along with that beautiful winter sun illuminating the subject, makes this photo extra, extra, special.

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Just a little insurance.

Is there anything today you cannot insure?  Of course, general health, life, car and house. Now it’s appliances, car repairs, and on and on and on.

If it’s a reputable company and it seems worth it, there is certainly nothing wrong with that. The commercials they run for things like car repair insurance, and appliance repairs, always have a client/user telling you how they got a new engine in their car (worth five grand) replaced for nothing.  Of course the client paid the company six thousand over the years  for that insurance  The engine was hardly free for the client.

Insurance companies of any sort, do not get rich by paying out more money than they take in. One plus one equals one here.

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It will not be long before the spring’s first migratory birds will be appearing.  Male Red-headed Blackbirds, Robins, Killdeer, and on. With more open water, ducks, in particular diving ducks, will become more active, and more plentiful.

Soon after that the woodland flowers will begin to bloom. To me, spring was always a wonderful but exhausting time of year. Not enough hours in the day to keep up with the changes. A time for “re-birth” for both nature and photographers.

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As electric cars become the norm, and I believe they will, I know many of those who champion the environment, both sincerely and only to grab political power, should be pleased.

Hmmmmm!

Many of the bad features of electric cars have been defeated. They now accelerate faster than gas cars. They have higher top speeds as well. No need for things like antifreeze, and motor oil. They still need to achieve recharging as conveniently and quickly as gas cars can refill. That will happen eventually.

The problem is, environmentalists (the real and the fake ones), will eventually become enraged when they realize that we will be using 1,000 times more electricity. That means using more oil, coal, and natural gas to fuel the power plants. Of course, the pretend ( for political purposes) environmentalists, will just make excuses and move on. Those who truly care, may finally learn a lesson about who they listen to and vote for. We still need fossil fuels, and will need them for a while.

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The 50 foot deep snow ( okay that’s a little exaggeration ) that’s been living in my yard and along the street, is almost gone now. I am guessing one more heavy snowfall is yet to come, but the follow up weather should be warm enough to make shoveling brief or unnecessary.

Getting older truly does suck.

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I’ll close with a few of my own pictures. Nothing as great as what I shared previous in today’s article, but they make a point.

Light is the essence of photography. Without it, there would be no photography. That doesn’t mean that all sorts of light, weak and strong, warm or cool, cannot be put to good use. It does mean that the  mood may change, and the information revealed or not revealed by the quantity of light can transform an image as well.

This sunset image of mine is a bit different than many of my lowlight photos of rock formations. Normally I search for either large or multiple formations within a more complex landscape. I loved the way this single rock stood out from the world around it. I equally loved the warm moody sunset light.

The photo was made in The Badlands of South Dakota.

The morning broke. This image was made in the Colorado Rockies and while the light was not quite as intense and colorful as the previous shot, the peak was above the clouds and that helped make this scene powerful. There is nothing like being at elevations where the land is above the clouds.

Most seasoned landscape photographers run from high contrast light.

The tall shadows of the So Tall plant in this photo, add drama and feeling to a scene that was already nice and interesting.  The day grew short as the shadows grew long, as is evidenced in the picture.

This was made on film in White Sands New Mexico more years ago that I care to remember.

No matter how much photography has and will continue to change, the visual/mental exercise of sharing both what you see and what you feel, will hopefully always remain the same.

God Bless,
Wayne