Partners

Generous

Cruise

One of the members of the Jellies exhibit at the Baltimore Aquarium.

Earth III

Earth II

This is how God looks at the world.

Skyscape

Another view from the Bahamas.

Jackson

Another installment in my collection of North Carolina Strays.

Visitor

In the Bahamas, there aren't very many animals. I guess there are wild pigs, but we didn't see any. On the last day of Andros Bible Camp, when we were taking down tents, this frog leaped from one of the tent poled to my elbow. He seemed content just to rest there until I showed him a tree that he could call home instead.

Earth I

While we look up to see Heaven, maybe the angels are looking down to see Earth.

Heaven III

Heaven II

Heaven I

I spent the last week on Andros Island, in the Bahamas!
But expel the thoughts of luxury resorts and water slides and exotic drinks. All of those things are in Nassau, or Paradise Island. Andros island is the largest of all 700-odd islands, but it is also the most underdeveloped. I went there on a mission trip with my church's youth group, to teach young people the good character qualities of Daniel. I spent most of the week in Nicholl's Town, teaching the teenage girls at the local high school.
I found myself looking up with my camera, because the clouds were so beautiful. I kept thinking that it was like seeing the doorstep of Heaven.

The Visitor

The Lady

I figurine I found in Old Town Ellicott City.

Shadow Screen

I love the texture of palmetto fronds. There's so many values in one little picture, the colour version just didn't capture it as well.

Been There, Dun That

Breyer Horse models are the coolest things ever. I have about 7. Sadly, some of them have to be passed to other hands in the next yardsale, but I wish I had an entire room dedicated to these totally awesome models. There are two retired models of similar horses to this one, named 'Hollywood Dun It' and 'Dun Got a Gun.' This horse was so handsome, I had to take a picture. I love horses that are this colour. If you have a Facebook, I highly recommend the addictive game Horse Saga. And when I started this post, I wasn't planning on advertising horse-related things. I was not paid to say this. All I'm saying is, horses are cool, I like Breyer horses, I play horse saga, this horse is pretty. I didn't have anything particularly graceful or concise to say this time.

Dairy Darlings

It's so good to see healthy cows living a good cow lifestyle. I hate mass-produced meat, and how horribly the animals are treated. I'm not saying so throw paint on people's expensive fur coats, but just be conscientious of how your food was raised. Did it ever see sunlight? Was it cloned? Did it receive hormone shots to make it grow unnaturally large? Ask yourself these questions. You are what you eat.

Pollify

I love these red lilies.

Lily

Pollen time is past - now it's time for thunderstorms and new beginnings.
Feel free to leave comments, by the way.

Veinus

I love short depth of field.

Sun Shine Through

My favourite colour is light through leaves.

Caterpillar Caper

Autumn 2009? I think? I don't remember the year. I've been sitting on this picture for a while now.

Who Am I?

This makes me think of Masquerade from Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical The Phantom of the Opera, where everyone is dressed in costumes with masks. There's a dance routine set on a flight on stairs where everyone is using a fan as a prop.
Can you guess what this pattern is?

Why?

This image is part of a brick pattern in a stone road in Charleston, SC.

Wingtip

Sometimes it's better to look at one small detail than to try and swallow the big picture.

Hockney: Elk River Falls 2

This is another Hockey collage of Elk park falls. This time, instead of being under the falls, I'm on the big rock to the right of the falls. 1960s Effect produced on Picnik.

Hello, Best Friend

Horses are my favourite animal. I love fish, and dogs, but horses will always have a special place in my heart. They always have. I've never had the privilege of owning a horse, but I did take riding lessons for a while at a local barn. The moment when a horse turns its head and acknowledges you is one of the happiest things you can see. It's such a simple motion. Their eyes will widen and they will regard you with one side of their face, until they turn their whole body to get closer so you can give them a pet or a snack. That look always seems to say, 'Hello, Best Friend!'

Mountain Daisy

Yet another citizen of the secret valley. The closest daisy has beetles clustered over it. I wonder were they there to eat the plant or to pollinate? Friend or Foe?

Onion Twist

Here is another example of what I found in the secret valley. Wild Onions grow all over the place and are essentially a weed with a very pungent smell. The bulbs are very small but the stalks can get very tall. The smaller stalk was wrapped around the larger stalk for suppourt, almost like a kid holding their mom's hand.

Seven Spots Sipping

I found this butterfly in the secret valley my dad and I found. I think it had never seen a person before, because it never flinched when I got up close to it. I laid down on the ground as close as i could get. The camera focused at 9 inches away, and made a great depth of field effect. What I think is the most interesting about this butterfly is that it is sitting down. I have never seen a butterfly do that. It was using it's long curly 'tongue,' technically a proboscis, to drink water from the waterlogged soil.

Tired

I found this along a riverside in the mountains of south Virginia, along the creeper trail. It's a wheel hub for a car, rusted almost beyond recognition. It was probably carried down the mountain by the river and left on the bank after a flood.

Hockney: Elk River Falls

This is an example of the photography style of Hockney. It is made by taking multiple pictures and then arranging them so that they fit together, like a patchwork panoramic. You may recognise this waterfall from one of my first posts. I put this together using the collage feature on Picasa, which is free,simple, and downloadable from Google.

Mountain Daffodil

I found this flower in the middle of a field in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. My dad and I walked along a trail for maintenance vehicles almost to the Tennessee state line. Suddenly, the trail opened up into a valley hidden away in the trees. It was about 30 acres of cleared grassland and the river ran along the right side. I found this solitary daffodil by itself in the grass.

I Wish...

After a very VERY long break between posts, I finally have loads of new material from spring break up at the cabin. I've been experimenting with Hockney style photography, but for now, here's another installation in the macro category.

Magnolia Matchsticks

Shreds of Summer

It's preposterously cold outside. I miss the warmth of summer; the feeling of your skin drying out from laying out in the sun for too long, sweating from the heat when you're not doing anything, forgetting what day of the week it is, not wearing shoes.

Davie

Near Botany Bay, South Carolina.
There was a dove hunt scheduled for this day and the beach was closed. Dad stopped the car so I could take some pics of a heron (which flew away). This dog came trotting down the road and paused before we encouraged him to join us. His collar had a tag and a person's name on it: David Washington. I named him Davie because it sounded more like a hound dog name.