I began a search of my old files for an image or two for today’s post, and I wound up with just a large bunch of “this and that” so I finally sort of just closed my eyes and threw a few metaphorical darts and came up with the fairly eclectic bunch you see below. Most, are old film (transparency) images. In many ways I enjoy sharing those the most.

I got up early one morning, grabbed my camera gear, and headed downtown to a boat, or better said a ship show (that’s hard to say) taking place in the harbor of my hometown. Why did I go so early? I knew that most visitors including photographers would still be in bed, maybe contemplating the chore of getting up and heading to the display. I was thrilled to see the mast and sails were up and ready to greet the new day.

A few silhouettes and I became anxious for the sun to shine. Anybody can and I am sure would, make images of entire ships. I made some too but I had more fun and often sold more images when I worked in a “piece work” sort of fashion.

On to other things.

I love the interiors of old buildings as much as I do exteriors. I loved the stained glass window of this old church, and I did my best to come up with an exposure that would show that window without “blowing out” the details via overexposure. There was just enough light gracing some parts of the interior of the building surrounding the window, to show exactly where the window lived.

Context can be a good thing unless maybe you are after a total abstract.

I love things that go fast, and I love things that fly. I also have a thing for precision formations. Often those desires lead me to my avian friends with feathers, but on occasions, it had brought me to jets swishing through the atmosphere in frighteningly close aerobatic moves.

Spotting your subject well in the distance, and panning at the exact speed that matches the subject’s, is the answer to success. My years of photographing auto racing helped me on occasions like this.

I was actually at a state park photographing birds in flight, when this formation, which was at an air show at a county airport, came over.

Back to the natural world.

Everything and I mean everything in nature was my subject. That certainly included wild mushrooms and other forms of fungi. The dark forest background, which is often the case with subjects like this, made a perfect backdrop to add contrast to the subject, which in tern helped to divulge the texture that lived on the mushroom.

Macros in general have always been a large part of my photography.

This spider with its translucent legs, combined with dew drops which of course are also translucent, made this just the sort of subject I looked for in the morning. Even with backlight, I managed to show the striping on the subject’s body. I guess, sometimes you just get lucky.

There’s nothing better than sitting near a body of water, and photographing what ever pops up.

Even the introduced from Europe, and sometimes disliked Mute Swans, make for elegant and wonderful subjects.

Two shots are better than one, and these guys will give you several great poses if you give them a chance.

Foxes, especially Red Foxes, can be beautiful, cute, and interesting.

Two siblings romp and play along the top of a bank on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Dad, never rests until he brings home breakfast. Mmmmm, squirrel in the morning.

I photographed this bird which is a part of the alpine race of the Water Pipit, at above 12,000 feet of elevation. Both male and female took turns searching for food, Luckily it was summer and even up that high there were small flying critters for them to hunt down. If memory serves me and sometimes it does not, I attempted several times to capture a bird catching an insect in midair without success. I settled for images like the one you see below, and moved on.

Purple Martins often live in manmade apartment buildings if you will They are built with perches outside their apartments. I caught this male as he began to take off.

His wife, again if you will, soon came along and did the same. These are easy pictures because you just keep your focus on the perch, and wait for them to raise their wings.

I always loved doing things different than others. Good or bad, that seems to come naturally to me.

I went to the shores of lake Michigan to photograph the sunrise. As it all began, I realized that I was mesmerized at how the sunrise affected the sand and especially the surf or waves if you will.

I zoomed in close and found I enjoyed the abstracts that appeared with that zoom even more than the shots with sand.

Never put your imagination away. Always look for more than what you first see.

Finally, let’s finish with the beginning. Of a new day.

This is a meadow at sunrise in the northern Wisconsin wilderness. It provided a catalyst for a wonderful day for me. Let it do the same for you.

May God Bless, and I will see you next time,
Wayne