Exploring the wonders of creation through a 50mm lens...and other lenses too.

Even though I have seen this tree in our front yard go through its annual transformation from a lifeless bunch of sticks to a beautiful green display of nature, I have rarely paused to consider the amazing resurrection-like process each Spring when its leaves spring forth. My wife pointed this out to me the other day when she was playing in the yard with our son, and I thought the emerging leaves were so cool to look at. Several bunches looked like hands held high in prayer, and I hope this photo captures that image as it looked to me. I also like thinking of the yearly rebirth of life around this time of year as a visual metaphor for the resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate in just a few short days. May we always be reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for our sinful world, and keep the message of hope and life found in the Gospels close to our hearts.

I don’t often (if ever) use black and white in my photos, but this time I figured I would give it a shot and see what happened. I found that in this particular shot, turning everything black and white served to emphasize the Fallout Shelter sign and draw the viewer’s eye to what I wanted them to see, not to the rest of the photo. I don’t know if this will start some sort of creative black and white period in my photography, but it might be fun to experiment with a bit more in the future. I also think this might be the kind of photo I would show to my kids, who will hopefully never have to live through the fear of nuclear war.

I have walked past this construction site several times, and finally got around to snapping a photo of the colored beams and pipes that are always stacked up on one side of the jobsite. I like the complementary purple and green colors of the beams and pipes, and thought it might make a cool picture. There were a few issues to consider like framing and aperture, and in the end I’m fairly pleased with the result. As I was kneeling down snapping a few pictures I heard a voice behind me say “Hey, you got a permit for that?” Turns out it was just a coworker giving me a hard time, but a little part of me panicked in that moment because no, I most certainly did not have a permit. Then again, I didn’t think I needed one, and in truth, I probably don’t. Still, in that moment it did make me want to don a black suit and some night vision goggles so I could take on an alternate identity as a sneaky photographer taking pics of shady goings-on and bringing the truth to light. Fortunately I did not consider that thought for very long :)

I was putting my son to bed the other night when he pointed out that his lamp shade was tilted. He of course wanted to go fix it, but I asked if he could wait just a minute so I could snap a picture. Something about the off-kilter shade kind of struck me, especially since his toy giraffe was lying next to the lamp. It wasn’t until I was going through the pictures later on that I realized (duh) there were also two giraffes on the lamp shade itself. Kind of a cool bit of serendipity, really. I believe this was a 40-watt bulb, and pointing my D200 straight at it I was able to go down to ISO 200 which helped maintain a lot of the texture and detail in the plush giraffe, not to mention the wall.

In an effort to beautify our downtown, this statue and others like it were placed at some intersections a few years ago. I think it helped, and the sight of these still life pedestrians casually leaning on fences or sitting on benches helps lend a friendly and inviting atmosphere to the downtown aesthetic. I have often thought about getting a picture of one of them, but the light is never conducive to a good photo during the daytime. So one morning, as I often do in the warmer months, I brought my camera to work with me and stopped downtown briefly to snap a picture. Incidentally, one of the benefits of living in a small town is that this type of detour only adds about two minutes to the drive to work :)

It took a bit of experimenting to get the statue framed how I wanted it, and I had to shoot wide open at f/1.8 in order to get a quick enough shutter speed for a sharp handheld shot. I like to stick to ISO 200 or lower on my D200 if at all possible, which at this hour of the day, at f/1.8, resulted in a shutter speed of 1/160. That’s plenty fast enough for a sharp handheld shot like this, especially when the subject is standing still. I don’t know this guy’s name, but he seems like a chill dude who would be fun to hang with for a while. Or at least someone who enjoys a good sunrise.