“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” –John Muir
View from the neighboring bluff yesterday. Used my darkglasses as a neutral density filter for my iPhone (to lessen the glare) when I saw the clouds spilling over the Chugach and Kenai mountain ranges, and the light with the tide moving in swiftly.
Or go to YouTube.com to watch these Mama Grizzlies speak for themselves — then you can speak out. Visit www.sarahdoesntspeakforme.com and sign our pledge to vote in November.
Emily’s List has this to say:
“At EMILY’s List, we do more than just talk about women voters. We talk to them, we learn from them, and we help to mobilize them — because we know that women voters often determine the outcome of elections. Women tend to favor Democratic candidates, so when women vote, Democrats win. But when they stay home, as they did in 1994, Republicans win.
“That’s why we launched WOMEN VOTE! in 1995 — to harness the power of the gender gap and get women voters to the polls.“
I live in Alaska, and Sarah doesn’t speak for me. I have heard Sarah speak un-truths. She appeared on CNN at a time in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) when caribou weren’t mating or traveling, and said there were no caribou there. Drill, baby, drill.
Her words and the big money guys who support her frighten me. They could damage the beautiful state I love.
(p.s. There ARE caribou in Alaska and in ANWR.)
While celebrating the 28th or 29th day of consecutive rain here, I stopped to buy a canvas and some inexpensive brushes. I’ll look at them for as long as it takes, and perhaps some day purchase a book and even some paint.
Or not. That’s the narrative or almost-apparent visual story behind this shot. (And I love rain.)
Dedicated to several artistic friends.
What a downpour we had all day! I love rain, and we’ve just reached a new soggy record: rain fell for the 28th consecutive day—a new record!
One dog and I headed for the bluff, where all one could hear was rain on leaves, on my hat and shoulders, and the shorebirds calling to one another. And a deep background of silence.
Meanwhile, back inside, I shot this. Love the way rain makes our windows look cleaner than they are.
(Photo links to my portfolio at RedBubble. Postcards and cards cost very little and help to justify my new full-frame D700 camera body!)
Almost unedited, except for slight curves. Natural light.
Nikon full-frame D700, Nikkor 105mm macro lens, 105mm, F/14, 1/25, -0.3ev, ISO 1000, manual exposure and focus, spot metering, Manfrotto tripod. Converted from RAW (14 bit) to jpeg using Nikon’s Capture NX2.
While walking tonight, we came upon three lawn ornaments or gardeners—two very young calves and a cow moose. With mama moose, I don’t get too close. (That’s her large bum to the right.) Cool to watch the twins jog over to nurse suddenly at some signal from the cow.
Ah, life in the ‘burbs. Sometimes unusual.
Chickadees have black-bibs and dark caps–excellent coloration to hide them from would-be photographers on overcast days. Apparently they’re considered quite acrobatic, and often feed upside down. They have the most complex social structures of any feeder bird and one of the largest vocabularies of calls, more than 15 different ones. I’ve only communicated with them in one language-bird seed. I wonder what the iBird call on the iPhone communicates?
The Black-capped Chickadee appears in most of Canada and the upper two-thirds of the United States. (I wonder if they include Alaska, or if we’re considered a territory, still.)
Sometimes I wonder why so many disregard our earth, the air we all breathe, the oceans we share. Perhaps I worry too much. I think we’re very, very fortunate to live where we do. I’ll bet I wouldn’t care so much about earth if I lived in a slum area among cockroaches.
““Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.”
~ Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist and nature writer whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement.
“Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.”
~ John Updike
“A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.”
~ Frederick The Great
Unedited except to crop. Natural light.
Nikon D700, Nikkor 50mm 1/4 lens, f/1.4, 1/80, ISO 200, manual, spot metering, Manfrotto tripod. Converted from RAW/NEF to B&W jpeg using Nikon’s Capture NX2.
macro photos and flower photos with extension tubes offer, in this shot at least, something akin to life without my spectacles. I’ve been feeling a little grumpy recently, and realized that I’d confined my views of photography to proper rules. After spending yesterday viewing a tiny vine and even tinier blossoms with varying degrees of sharpness and aperture openings, from ultra blurred, as in the photo (left), to an aperture of f/67—what the remarkable macro lens is capable of—I felt freer. What or how did I confine my efforts to mountains or “representing Alaska”? 
And why?
Please ignore the underlined links. I’m playing with a new site, which requires a specific code.
After watching and photographing the slow unfurling of the cyclamen bud and flower, went to walk the dogs. Upon our return, sudden wings!
This is a closeup looking up at the tiny, tiny fruit of a cyclamen flower—a round pod that opens with 5 flaps at maturity and containing numerous sticky, amber seeds.
Such fine tiny beauty doesn’t need any editing by me. These are unedited shots, playing with extension tubes and joy.
Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennials growing from tubers, valued for their flowers with upswept petals and variably patterned leaves. Each flower is on its own stem, bent downwards 150-180° at the end. There are 5 petals, connected at the base, bent outwards or up, and sometimes twisted.
And now a word from another sponsor. cyclamen photos (I had to add this to try another website.)
That’s a lot of pink and magenta for someone who didn’t notice flowers or like those hues rather recently. Something’s happening, and I don’t know where I am going. Do you know what changes will occur for you?
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