Just sittin' on the front porch

It's the little things for which we need to be thankful .  Like sittin on the front porch just after a rain.  It's like the natural world wakes up again and everything has been cleaned.  click on the pic to enlarge.

I'm relaxing, pickin' a Blind Faith tune and out of the corner of my eye I spy  a little visitor 

there you are.

Now she sees mee too.

and she comes over to check me out.   I say hello to my little friend.

she goes about her business

I am thankful for the little things.

I hope she liked the music

The magic of the sunrise

Sometimes the light plays tricks on us.  Somtimes it reveals reality. Sometimes the message of the morning light is a poem of inspiration.
Sometimes it's a bit wierd .  Always differnt but somehow always the same.

I like to get up early.  As I have stated before  -  There is no place like the right time.   So I get up earlier and get there early. 
I start brewing my coffee after the cameras are set up and I wait to see the gift of a new morning.  Click to enlarge and enjoy this sequence of an ever changing but ever consistent solar event.  This particular morning was a little different but the dance of light and shadow filled me up .

rooting for the underdog

Again, this blog is about the facets of this beautiful world that I find interesting,  Even though I go to new places and journey through adventurdom,  I am trying to avoid a specific place as subject matter.  Rather I am trying to assert, by implication, a sense that facinating aspects of the world are all around us.   However, a beautiful place really brings home the visual message.   I will tell you that the following images were taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway on our annual family trip to the mountains.

We all love flowers.  But when flowers are tough enough to scratch out an existence in difficult conditions they deserve multiple layers of respect and facination.  For some reason I am forever rooting for the underdog and respectful of the Jobs of this world. 

Too many images to choose but here is a collection of  thriving underdogs.
Click on the images to enlarge.  enjoy.

My iphone camera = fun

I didn't want to write about my iphone until I felt that I was smarter than my smart phone.  It's a learning process we all go through.  In the end I thought it best to make this entry from a point of knowledge and experience.  I will limit myself to the iphone camera here since I consider this to be a  primarily a photo-blog. 

Apps Apps Apps . . . right now I am getting the most use out of the default camera app that comes with the phone.  The default camera makes really good pictures whle keeping it simple.  Quick and easy lends me better access to my turf within the happy accicdent.

 

General photo Apps I first intended to learn are:  Camera+ and Quick Pics but I have, instead, used the default.  CameraPlus Pro was intended to be the app I used for movies because of the superior features.  It too fell out of use due to the ease and conveneince of the default camera.

 

 Pro HDR, HDR FX:   I am pleased with the bright, rich tones and blue skies delivered by high dynamic range (HDR) photography.  These are the apps I am using for HDR.

 

 

Auto Stitch  I use this one to get wide angle images but I still stitch in photoshop too. 

 

Doublexpro is just for fun but I could be serious about it an put out some cool stuff. 

 

Slow shutter is just what you think it is.  Tripod required and to use the volume control on the earphones doubles as a remote shutter release. 

 

100 Cameras is just a bunch of filters -  but fun.

   before /after

 

 

Sketch Camera  =  fun

 

 

Photo Artista Haiku and Photo Artista Oil = more fun.

 

 

   

 

My camera setup starts with a lifeproof case to protect my phone from the elements of my life.

 

 

  I use the belt clip to clip it to my TrekPod Go tripod.

 

I went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans this year and the iphone was the only camera I brought.  Travelling so light was liberating.  Most of all the lightness and convenience made taking pictures easy and fun .

 

 

Butterflies - delightful

I try to include, in this blog, elements of the natural world which I consider undeniably interesting (and cool.)  Below are a few images of the butterflies from Lake Charles.  This small lake is remote and relatively unknown. No narrative is needed for this blog entry other than to say it was a beuatiful springtime moring.  I'm hoping my readers don't think butterflies and flowers are wimpy or uninteresting.  Click on the images for a larger view.  Enjoy.