View allAll Photos Tagged lashing
This Great Blue Heron looked very impressive as it displayed all of its plumes at Everglades National Park. Then it stuck its long tongue out (at me?). His bill appears to be closed, but his tongue is out. I'm not sure what he was doing, but I am sure that many viewers of this picture will have an answer :-)
A short interlude of blue sky before the wind and rain started lashing down again. Sunset at the beach near home today.
My first day back, and after doing unpacking, shopping and washing clothes, I was off down the beach.The remains of Storm Freya were still blowing through, so I had the beach all to myself. The showers were charging, and the wet sand made the dance floors shimmer. Later I made another driftwood creation as the upper beach was littered with fresh new material. Back in the Dancehalls is by The Felice Brothers, after a really calm week in North Scotland, it was great to feel the wind lashing your hair.
This is an iconic image in Connemara. Famous for fishing it is also famous for photographers as it has the 12 Bens and Mamturk Mountains as the backdrop. The first day I tried to photograph this Lough it was lashing rain - I will post one image later so you can see why I only took one.
I intend to post a few images of the Lough taken from different angles so I hope you don't get bored. By the way Connemara is littered with telegraph poles and there is three electric cables going right across the lake. I just have'nt got the patience to edit them out so ignore them if you can.
Hair by no.match ~ NO_BLA
Before lashing out at someone with hurtful words, take a moment to think of what you are saying and how it could affect someone. Bullying can have some very serious results. Something as simple as calling someone fat or ugly can trigger a person who has battled an eating disorder back into a downward spiral of fighting for their life again. When angry you just never know how much damage the words you speak could do. Treat others with love and understanding, there is always another side of a story and you never know what demons a person could be battling deep inside themselves.
An intimate moment between a courting couple, with the male (top) completing his performance with some head-wagging, tongue lashing and slow wing flapping - a delightful spectacle to behold!
With the season starting late, many still on the wing in early July in Hazelborough Forest in Northants (UK) (8809)
(Photo renamed for 5 September Happy Caturday theme: Book Titles). Both cats together. Not quite a peaceful scene though. Pepper had been sleeping, I came into the room and Tikki jumped on bed requesting pets (which she got). She started lashing the tip of her tail against the tip of his tail and the calm coexistence went away shortly. The (dis)honors seem roughly equal, I had seen him block her from coming into the house and then chase her when she tried to avoid him, earlier that evening.
More snow from last weekend, now we have heavy rain and high winds. I can hear it lashing the window beside me. Sorry no sheep to count this time :) Have a good weekend.
…… Shepherds warning! And they were not wrong! Lashing rain, 40 MPH gusts of wind so once again my #273 shot of the day was taken early this morning on my phone as usual in Apple RAW and edited in Lightroom - very little editing, it was quite vivid, but not for long!! Alan:-)
For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 127 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...
©Alan Foster.
©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……
This is one I took a while back. The rain was lashing at this point, so the lens was covered in water droplets. I did my best to clone out the worst of these in photoshop. This is a stack off the coast at Dunquin pier at the very westward tip of the Dingle peninsula.
Warnham LNR
Didn't expect much today as it was lashing with rain most of the time. Luckily it brightened up just a bit while this youngster was exercising right in front of the hide - which, unsurprisingly, I had to myself! No need for Mr. Grumpy today....
20240308-PW1_8590-001
Action shots from a recent storm lashing the statue of Sir Roger Casement at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland
New lens arrived this morning.
Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX macro.
Was dying to try it out, but we are being hit by storm Evert at the moment! Lashing rain & high winds!
Just a bit of sunshine peaked through the clouds, I was out!
Not easy hand held with gusty winds, but managed to get this at least!
I think I'm going to like this lens! 😁👍
Pentax KP
This is a 7 image stitched panorama.
I approached this shoot expecting storm clouds, strong winds and lashing rain, but found perfect light, puffy clouds and a vista all to myself. Sometimes it's really worth getting out of bed just to see what might happen
Les sculptures de Laurent Trezegnies sont en grande partie conditionnées par une prise en considération des lieux d’intervention et par une volonté de modifier la façon dont ils peuvent être appréhendés. Pour Art Public Liège, il a développé une installation au moyen de sangles d’arrimage tendues entre la base des deux piles de la passerelle Saucy et la structure de son tablier. Les traits rouges définissent ainsi deux faisceaux qui rayonnent vers le haut. Il y a des jeux avec la présence du fleuve : d’oppositions avec la noirceur de ses eaux ; de reflets avec sa surface ; de résonances avec le mouvement des vagues. « Je travaille sur la richesse expressive du trait, sur ses interprétations. Avec une pièce comme celle-là, je questionne en quoi le dessin peut être appliqué à des formes environnementales pour élargir, renouveler, enrichir la perception du lieu et en proposer une nouvelle vibration. Comme dans la plupart de mes interventions, les matériaux sont industriels, de ceux dont la puissance expressive est généralement tenue pour inexistante. En outre, les sangles modifient la fréquence du vent et apporte une dimension sonore. »
Laurent Trezegnies’s sculptures are largely conditioned by a consideration of places of intervention and by a desire to modify the way in which they may be understood. For Art Public Liège, he developed an installation using lashing straps stretched between the base of the two piers of the Saucy footbridge and the structure of its deck. The red lines thus define two beams which radiate upwards. There are games with the presence of the river: oppositions with the blackness of its waters; reflections with its surface; of resonances with the movement of waves. “I work on the expressive richness of the line, on its interpretations. With a piece like this, I question how drawing can be applied to environmental forms to expand, renew, enrich the perception of the place and offer a new vibration. As in most of my interventions, the materials are industrial, those whose expressive power is generally held to be non-existent. In addition, the straps modify the frequency of the wind and bring a sound dimension. "
Gorgeous female agile wallaby feeding on the banks of the Adelaide River, Northern Territory.
I observed many of these compact animals while in the N.T. Their long slender tails would sometimes whip from side to side when my approach was too fast or close for their comfort. A little wiggle of the butt (think cat before it pounces) and then a furious lashing of their tail would signal a hasty departure for them and those around. Coupled with grunts, snorts and growls over space, feeding rights etc. make them one of the most communicative little macropods I’ve encountered.
Whilst Storm Barbara was lashing the west country with 45knt winds, here in Teignmouth we were sheltered from the SSW fury. The armada of cruise liners anchored up and down the south coast descended on Labrador Bay to seek respite from the winds. One of the ships was Queen Victoria who dropped anchor next to her sister ship Queen Mary 2, a fine sight and a rare one I suspect.
Trying to incorporate the ships and a railway scene has proved to be a challenge, with Queen Vic in town I decided to give it a go as she was due to leave the following day.
So here it is 43301 leads the 1E63 1527 Plymouth to Leeds along the sea wall with Queen Mary Queen Vic, Ventura and many others.
The ships are normally backlit, by the time the sun illuminates the right side for land based photography the sea wall is in shade.
I heard this old chapel is now a private residence.... but what a location!
Shot from a moving steam train on a miserable summer's day... it has been alleged the sun does shine in June in Scotland sometimes but this, alas, was not one of those days .... the weather made for some moody shots, but most of the day was so darned miserable I could not shoot as the wind was lashing water against my lens and I was just getting a wet blurry mess however high the shutter speed....
A Good Tree In A Storm...
The winter had come with a feirceness this year, blowing its blustery best against the rocks and trees that lined the shore, for weeks the ice and snow smothered everything within its icy reach. Winter winds swept up lake water pelteing the coast, lashing out with a violent fury that smashed rocks and stone into sand. Pulverizing driftwood into tiny splinters, pushing and plowing ice into piles all along the harbour.
Along this frozen shoreline a single tree stands, resolute against the harsh wind and elements of the past four months. Bare of its summer foliage and grey from the bitter cold of late, it lists to one side in defiance of the onslaught of the winter winds; determined to flourish once again once the warmer weather returns.
Thank you for visiting for marking my photo as a favourite and for the kind comments,
Please do not copy my image or use it on websites, blogs or other media without my express permission.
© NICK MUNROE (MUNROE PHOTOGRAPHY)
You can contact me
by email @
karenick23@yahoo.ca
munroephotographic@gmail.com
munroedesignsphotography@gmail.com
or on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/MunroePhotography/
On Instagram
This amazing early thirteenth-century castle was founded by the construction of a large curtain-wall that enclosed much of the island. At a later date, the castle is said to have been garrisoned. All I know is that on that wonderful Saturday afternoon last November 19th, the sky turned stormy with huge swathes of water lashing down in the distance and it was very quickly heading my way.
I could not let an opportunity pass by to capture such a fantastic sky, so full of drama and excitement. The following day I would go on to witness and photograph the legendary Fogbow on Rannoch Moor. I was most certainly blessed that weekend.
I have only two places left for this November's four day workshop to Glencoe. 16th-19th November 2017 £795.00
www.melvinnicholsonphotography.co.uk/product/glencoe-work...
Canon 5Ds
Canon 16-35mm f4 @ 35mm
f13
1/10 secs
ISO100
LEE 105mm Landscape Polariser
LEE 0.6 ND Soft Grad filter
A single exposure captured. No HDR involved
Gitzo GT3543XLS carbon fibre tripod
Gitzo GS3121LVL low profile levelling base
Manfrotto 405 geared tripod head
Mindshift Backlight 26L Bag
UK & Iceland Landscape Photography Workshops, 1-2-1 Private Tuition, print sales and camera club lectures available
website: www.melvinnicholson.co.uk
email: info@melvinnicholson.co.uk
facebook: www.facebook.com/melvinnicholsonphotography
flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/melvin_nicholson
youtube: www.youtube.com/c/melvinnicholsonphotographycom
tripadvisor: Search for Melvin Nicholson Photography
SIGN UP FREE for my regular NEWSLETTER
Living in northern Britain is like being on a wave-tossed boat in the North Atlantic...with storms and lashing rain. I blame Michael Fish.
60028 approaches Lakenheath, with the 6Z30 1336 Brandon Down Goods Loop to King's Lynn T.C. - 24/03/2023.
This train was running about ten minutes late at this point & I was very thankful on this occasion, that a train didn't run to time! It was absolutely lashing it down about five minutes earlier & I thought I had no chance of a sunny shot. Then, miraculously it cleared & I snapped a Stansted Airport to Norwich passenger train in sunshine, just before this arrived. There was even a partial rainbow about & you can just trace it to the left of the locomotive.
It wasn't the end of rainbows either. Later in the day, a full one appeared just as we came out of the pub & I managed to grab some shots of that, before coming home very happy!
today we’ve got lashing winds and occasional horizontal downpours, there are the water equivalent of dust-devils all over the fjord, the kittens are recovering from their neutering procedures, and i’m still anxiously reading election results...
#MacroMondays
#GuiltyPleasure
Oh, the cheek! How could greedy Tyranno dare try stealing Veloci's beloved potato crisp?!? "Try" being the operative word, because never in the whole world would she let him have it. Ever! Lashing around furiously, her tail was ready to punch him right in the eye. "Go buy your own bag of potato crisps, you lazy bully! This isn't even your favourite variety!", she hissed. "But Veloci, darling", Tyranno cooed, "you know how I like to sleep in on New Year's Eve, and the shops closed at 2 p. m., and now it's a quarter past two... How can I properly celebrate New Year's Eve without potato crisps? Please share, there are enough crisps for the two of us. And it's much more fun to binge-watch all of the Jurassic Park franchise movies together. And afterwards, we could watch all the Alien movies. Come on, Veloci, dear, it will be so much fun!" "Hmpf. Maybe you are right. Watching the movies alone is not fun at all. But I get to sit in your arms the entire time! And next time you buy the crisps!"
There are quite a few guilty pleasures included already in the story above. And there are a few more in this photo: Keeping, and foremost buying things I don't need but might be useful one day for an MM theme, like these two dinosaur figures I didn't own before I became an MM member. Other guilty pleasures included in the image are: over-processing my photos, using over-saturated colours, writing weird stories...
I did in-camera focus stacking but brought a little blur back in Helicon Focus because I wanted some sense of motion in the image. Size-wise, this is pretty much maxed out, I arranged my little scene so that it was just a little less than three inches.
HMM, Everyone, and wishing you a "good slide" (einen guten Rutsch) into 2025, and a Happy, Healthy, and peaceful New Year!
1Z33 Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness. Day 2 of the BLS (Branch Line Society) tour sees 37403 (Isle of Mull) in large logo BR blue livery head east towards Achnsheen with load 5. On arrival to this location it was absolutely lashing it down so it was a soggy walk out to this location but hearing 403 climbing up towards Luib Summit from achnshellach soon made up for that. As always with Highland weather it can all change in an instant with the rain shower passing just in time for 403 to Pass on the decent towards Achnsheen where it will cross the Scotrail unit heading to Kyle.
Completely unexpectedly, I actually found a flower outside this weekend. A wild field marigold, caught by the frost.
The following thought only partially relates to the photo. But it came to me spontaneously while I was still taking the picture.
There are moments in life that probably every one of us has experienced, when we're simply caught cold (regardless of the outside temperature). What's the best way to deal with such situations?
What I would advise against is wallowing in self-pity, lashing out with blame, or even worse, hitting yourself.
Firstly, this doesn't change the situation (and if it does, it's never for the better), and secondly, we waste so much energy that could be used much more effectively elsewhere.
For example, to be empathetic towards ourselves and to become aware of ourselves and our abilities. Or to put ourselves in a position to accept the changed situation. But also, quite possibly, to grieve and feel regret (which has nothing to do with self-pity), because no one wanted such a situation.
This increases the chance, despite the blow, perhaps hurt (perhaps even deeply hurt), to still stand upright (like this flower here) and look ahead.
Towards what is necessary to get us through at least until next spring.
Völlig unerwartet habe ich am Wochenende draußen doch tatsächlich noch eine Blume gefunden. Ein wilde Acker Ringelblume, die vom Frost überrascht wurde.
Der Nachfolgende Gedanke passt nur eingeschränkt zu dem Foto. Doch er ist mir spontan eingefallen, noch während ich das Foto gemacht habe.
Es gibt Momente im Leben, die wahrscheinlich jeder von uns schon erlebt hat, da werden wir einfach kalt erwischt (und dies unabhängig der Außentemperaturen). Wie geht man am besten mit solchen Situationen um ?
Wovon ich abraten möchte ist in Selbstmitleid zu versinken oder mit Schuldzuweisungen um sich zu schlagen oder noch schlimmer auf sich einzuschlagen.
Zum einen verändert dies die Situation nicht (und wenn dann nie zum Besseren) und zum anderen verbrauchen wir damit nutzlos so viel Energie, die auf andere Weise deutlich nützlicher eingesetzt werden kann.
Zum Beispiel um uns selbst gegenüber Empatisch zu sein und um uns unsere Selbst und unserer Fähigkeiten bewusst zu werden. Oder um uns in die Lage zu versetzen, die veränderte Lage zu aktzeptieren. Aber durchaus auch um zu trauern und zu bedauern (was nichts mit Selbstmitleid zu tun hat), denn keiner hat sich eine solche Situation gewünscht.
Dies erhöht die Chance trotz des Tiefschlages vielleicht verletzt (vielleicht auch schwer verletzt) und trotzdem aufrecht stehen zu bleiben (wie diese Blume hier) und den Blick nach vorn zu richten.
Auf das was nötig ist, um erst einmal bis zum nächsten Frühling zu kommen.
I am one sword out of many, I am one face out of three
The Maiden, Crone, and Mother live united within me
For I am woman's fury, and her honour and her pain
And before this day is over, oh, the blood shall fall like rain
Bring me thunder, bring me steel, bring me coat of iron mail
Bring me diamond hardened will and let my courage never fail
Bring the Lightning to my sword; lashing, living in my hand
And bring warning to the horde that here, the Battle Raven stands
I am wind and rain and fire, I am venom, blood, and tears
I can raise a fury higher than the worst of mortal fears
I am woman for the women and the children and the home
I will raise my cry in battle with an army or alone
When the Raven stands to battle, I will heed no pleading word
I will grant no foeman quarter; fallen men raise not the sword
For I know no rules of warring; this is not some bloody game
This is kill, or die in trying, 'cause your foe will do the same
I will sing to bring the thunder crashing down from out the sky
And I'll sing to light the souls of all the warriors soon to die
And I will sing in battle, bloody songs of power and pain
And I will sing tonight for War to never come again
————————————-
Taken in Sunny's Photo Studio using Dimi's Pack - Dark Moon Black White Ice backdrop.
Sometimes photographers need a bit of luck and I got it yesterday. I was about to leave as the rain was lashing down but Im stubborn and decided to wait a little longer. It paid off with not only a rainbow but it touching ground just behind the tree.
Macro Mondays - Defining Beauty
"Kaikki loputon kauneus, kaikki järjettömyys
Kaikki ruoskivat toiveet, kaikki päättämättömyys
Ovat lopulta tarkoituksen palasia, osa arvoitusta
Valot pimeyksien reunoilla"
..and in english
"All the endless beauty, all the insanity
All the lashing hopes, all the indecisiveness
In the end, are pieces of the meaning, part of the mystery
Lights on the edges of darkness"
The quote is from the song by Finnish band Apulanta and the song is called "Valot Pimeyksien Reunoilla" which translates roughly to "Lights on the edges of Darkness"
And here is a link to the forementioned song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=icCIkh-FL8A
and full lyrics in english:
Don't believe in songs, they'll make you a dreamer
They could make you dig things,
that your mind tries to protect you from.
They have a tendency to mess up all the thougts and leave you in chaos.
Everyone of us is a path to somewhere
But the wisdom lies in understanding
Who to follow and when to turn away.
And that through a human you can never travel into yourself.
All the endless beauty, all the insanity
All the lashing hopes, all the indecisiveness
In the end, are pieces of the meaning, part of the mystery
Lights on the edges of darkness
Remember that all of your greatest fears
Are mirror images of your hopes, turn them around
And you'll find the keys to them in your hand
And it's easier to forgive others, than leave carrying a grudge.
All the endless beauty, all the insanity
All the lashing hopes, all the indecisiveness
In the end, are pieces of the meaning, part of the mystery
And part of the truth
Lights on the edges of darkness
are sometimes dim and sparse
You have a force of an ocean inside of you
that you can make to be your guide.
This is just an empty shell, which you need to fill
This is the brightest of lights, this is an endless night
This is a heartbeat, this is eternity
Lights on the edges of darkness
Lights on the edges of darkness
Lights on the edges of darkness
Are sparse but they do exist.
All the endless beauty, all the insanity
All the lashing hopes, all the indecisiveness
In the end, are pieces of the meaning, part of the mystery
Lights on the edges of darkness
Do not believe in songs.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
We received quite a lashing from Winter Storm Nadia over the past week, but in the end all things pass, and when they did, we were left with the graceful, gentle, simplicity of a quiet winter morning.
Nevada City CA
Hope you are all good
Wishing I was "out of place" at the moment, I can hear the good old British rain lashing on the windows.................roll on summer!
A stunning beach on the south of Menorca which we had to ourselves for about all of 15 minutes :-)
……Probably not looking much like this today as there are storms lashing down the South West right now!! This is the new redirected (and elevated) coast path from Porthleven to Loe Bar that got washed away a couple of winters back, a super walk that is even better with the extra height gained for wide sweeping views - this view looks towards Porthleven…
For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue daily here, now sold 22 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...
©Alan Foster.
©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.
Although the giant waves draws the crowds (and photographers), I like to find a story showing the wildness of the elements. I posted a photo from my last storm called Cauldron where several waves were lashing Seaham lighthouse, this scene is not as dramatic but it has a lot that appeals to the type of image I was after. Crescendo, is the gradual build up to the finally of a musical movement. With most storms the sea plays mini orchestral movements. You have peaks and troughs, a crescendo to the each peak, the big waves. Here is one of those crescendos, I’ve manged to catch the light on multiple waves towards the lighthouse, and the scene is compressed by the long lens.
The Irish seem to have three descriptions for rainy days. Light rain = 'a soft day'. Raining bucket loads = 'it's lashing' and on days like today, ' it's pissing rain outside'. The local St. Patrick's Day parade seemed to be perfectly timed for a good soaking of all in attendance. This shot summarises the situation well. Seen in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo.
Longing For Spring...
The winter had come with a fierceness this year, blowing its blustery best against the rocks and trees that lined the shore, for weeks the ice and snow smothered everything within its icy reach. Winter winds swept up lake water pelting the coast, lashing out with a violent fury that smothered the out cropping and piers along the shoreline. where once fisherman lined the banks now nothing but ice is to be seen.
This is a photo of Karen looking longingly out to the lake wishing for an early spring but enjoying a mild day at the frozen lake.
Thank you for visiting for marking my photo as a favourite and for the kind comments,
Please do not copy my image or use it on websites, blogs or other media without my express permission.
© NICK MUNROE (MUNROE PHOTOGRAPHY)
You can contact me
by email @
karenick23@yahoo.ca
munroephotographic@gmail.com
munroedesignsphotography@gmail.com
or on Facebook @
www.facebook.com/MunroePhotography/
On Instagram
When there's nowhere to hide, you might as well keep on grazing. Wildebeests continue munching on fresh grass even under lashing rain in the Mara Triangle Conservancy in southwest Kenya. Photo made during a September 2022 safari. Production Notes: All those diagonal streaks are not a Photoshop effect; they actually are raindrops. The downpour was really heavy. Also, since the clouds, rain and fog already had sucked 95 percent of the color out of the scene, I went on and sucked the rest of the color out and made this a monochrome.) ©2022 | John M. Hudson
Anita and I were out riding yesterday and look what we found! Not just the coffee pot, but the cup too! This was located on a divided four lane highway but happily for us, there was a crossover right in front of it! This was the most unique find we came across all day but that is not to say there weren't plenty of other things to point our cameras at! We initially headed for Crabtree Falls which is one of the tallest falls east of the Mississippi and we did see that along with a couple of other places that we were revisited including a single lane gravel road that had originally made it onto our top 3 most scariest adventures! It was still plenty interesting with sheer drop offs on one side and a mountain on the other and thankfully we didn't meet another vehicle! Still it wasn't nearly as scary as our first trip up that road which involved a raging thunderstorm and high winds and trees just lashing about over our heads!
Another funtastic day out and about!
ENDLESS - Written by Bree 26/F/North Dakota
Yelling
screaming
doubting
shouting
kicking
hitting
pushing
pulling
falling
crashing
smashing
lashing
grabbing
stabbing
winning
losing
running
hiding
crawling
stalling
stealing
hunting
hurting
spying
crying
killing
dying
always lying
endless fighting
When will this battle end?
from : hellopoetry.com
Perhaps it's the years of dedication to photography that has finally worn me out to the point where I no longer wish to chase a picture like an elusive dream. Waiting for a picture to come to you on the other hand can be just as frustrating unless you adjust your attitude accordingly. It's been a long hard road to capture and share the incredible beauty that this Realm has to offer but every once in a while the dedication and determination will pay off.
Not every photographer will be ready for my newly acquired attitude towards capturing that special image, but I have come to believe that if a picture is meant for you, it will be handed to you like the Gift that you should realize it is.
I have driven like a mad fool chasing a sunset on a warm summer evening. I have found myself running across open fields until my heart raced out of control to chase that magical moment of light only to face disappointment and discouragement when I failed to get the shot and ended up going home empty handed. I have stood in the middle of rivers in hip waders, tracked through waste high snow in -27 degrees and stood under the blazing sun until I was sure that I would pass out at any moment just to get that one shot.
Perhaps you can understand why my attitude has changed somewhat and why I have chosen to accept the true gift of photography when and if it crosses my path.
Yesterday was one of those new found pleasures for me. I patiently waited until I finished my supper, grabbed my gear and headed out for a drive under the soft evening light that had started to appear on the horizon. It was another one of those warm summer evenings when I went as far as to stop in and grab myself an Ice cap, a rare occasion for me. Driving slowly down a deserted road and sipping on my cool drink, I was beginning to feel like I did not deserve all of the beauty that surrounded me.
The sun was beginning to set and from past experience, I could tell that there would likely be some color in the sky if I just waited long enough. It would take at least another hour or so and it gave me lots of time to find a subject for an image. I was close to the lake and so I headed for a spot along the shore line where I had some luck before. To my surprise, there were more people there than I had expected. With my new found attitude to life, It was nice to see that others were able to find the time in their lives to relax and enjoy the warmth and beauty of a summer evening as much as I did.
I felt an eerie but most certainly welcome calm as I grabbed my tripod and gear out of the car and began to look for a spot that would suite the scene. A rock formation used as a breaking wall with a light beacon at the mouth of an entrance to a boat launch was as good as I would find here.
The sun was quickly setting now and the colors were a promising and welcomed sight. Under the pole that held the light beacon sat an elderly gentleman holding up a cell phone and taking what he hoped would be a satisfying image of a beautiful sunset. I had to chuckle to myself knowing that results that he would get would be less than the beauty that nature was about to hand to both of us. I fumbled with several filters before deciding on my 15 stop which would give me enough time to streak the clouds.
To my surprise, the show had begun. Lovely colors of light began to appear on the horizon. After taking several exposures to test the results, I was ready to take my best shot at what by now had become a dramatic exhibition of mother nature at its finest.
I had set my shutter to open for 120 seconds and no sooner did I trip my shutter release cable when a couple decided to walk right into the middle of my frame. They too had come to see and enjoy the beauty of the setting sun over the shimmering waters of the lake. My first thoughts were of slightly more than disappointment, but my new found and relaxed attitude quickly had me realizing that they had every bit as much right to be there and enjoy the beauty as I did.
Trapped in the middle of an exposure, I could not shut down what was about to be my last chance for the evening light. I can always clone them out, I thought to myself as I watched them pacing like a dog looking for a comfortable spot. She found a rock to sit on while he was up and down like a yoyo that could not find the end of the rope. After settling herself, I watched her staring lovingly and peacefully into the setting sun and admiring the amazing light show that was revolving all around her. There was no way that she could hold that position for 2 full minutes I thought to myself as I began to accept the fact that my last and only shot was ruined.
Just after my exposure finally came to an end, I watched them get up and walk away not ever realizing what they had done or been a part of. My new found sense of calmness allowed me to keep from lashing out at anyone or anything and a smile on my face assured me that I was headed in the right direction.
I did not try to process my images until the next morning in fear that I would no doubt find some disappointing results. When I finally did work on the only image that I believed to be of any use, I was taken back in total surprise and amazement that the girl in the middle of the frame had held perfectly still for the whole 120 second exposure. I could not believe that I was not only able to salvage this image, but that her presence sitting on that rock created a wonderful silhouette, and added the most perfect touch to an otherwise already lovely sunset photograph. An absolute Blessing.
It's little things like these that have taught me to reign in my out of control emotions that I have suffered from over the years, and gratitude, respect, and compassion have filled the void.
Despite the fact that several inches of snow fell yesterday, I know spring is here: the meadowlarks have arrived. When you can find a crocus-dotted slope and hear the song of a Western Meadowlark from the grass - or a fence post - that seals the deal. Forget about the horizontal, lashing snow we received yesterday; forget about zero visibility on the roads. That will pass. In fact, this morning it has passed, and the sun is shining, the snow is melting. Spring is here!
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.