Tag: peaceful

Faith, Gratefulness, gratitude, Health, Life

Good Things

Sondra

My last slow morning of the summer. Today is Labor Day and I’ve enjoyed my morning immensely. I haven’t done anything spectacular. I’ve had my coffee and Jesus time. I’ve started washing bedding. I’ve washed dishes. I’ve put the meatloaf in the crockpot for dinner. Just little things that I was able to accomplish without rushing around to try and get to work on time.

Mike woke up and did the morning chores before he went into town to get a part he needed to fix the brush hog. He brought home breakfast burritos and Keith as well. After fixing the brush hog, he took Keith home and then came back to start brush hogging. He has a lot to get done before colder weather hits. There’s always something to do around here. Our to-d0 lists never end. I’m thankful for the day off to gain a little ground on the list. It’s good for the soul.

I looked up and out the window a few minutes ago and saw leaves falling from the tree and blowing in the wind. I love this time of year when the mornings are cooler, and sometimes the days stay cooler as well. I could live with this climate all year round. I don’t need the spring rain, the summer sun, or the winter snow. I just want this. 

I want a lot of things that I cannot have. It’s not that they are bad things. I don’t want bad things. I want only what I consider to be good things. But are they only good? What would happen to the ecosystem if all we had was 60 degree lows and 80 degree highs? What would happen to the earth if we didn’t have the spring rain, the summer sun, or the winter snow? Things to think about and remember that, even though I might not like something, it is necessary for the way God created the world to work. He knew what He was doing. He designed everything to work together (Romans 8:38).

~Sondra~

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Early Morning Adventure

Sondra

I got up super early this morning and took the camera out. I am not one to get up early unless I have a good reason, and this morning I wanted to get to the creek before all of the swimmers and fishermen showed up. It is so peaceful in the early mornings with the sounds of the water and the birds. I even heard an owl and some frogs. And you can’t beat the smell of a creek. It brings back so many memories of fishing and swimming as a kid.

I arrived at the creek around 5:15am and it was still pretty dark. First, I walked around with my camera and an 18-55mm lens and scoped out the best place to set up. I did snap a few pictures of the clouds and the light reflecting in the water.

I picked a place to set up the tripod and camera to try some long exposure shots of the water flowing over the rocks and began shooting. I used anywhere from 1″ to 4″ shutter speed with a very low ISO to create the smoothness of the water. I switched over to my 70-200mm lens so I could zoom in on the “rapids”.

For long exposure photography, it’s really important that the camera doesn’t move while the shutter is open for extended periods. Instead of using a remote shutter release, I used the shutter timer for these shots. It’s a pretty simple trick to use if you don’t have a remote handy.

I had around 30 minutes of some great light for long exposures before I would have had to get the ND filters out of my bag. This was the perfect time of day for creating these shots!

This last photo is how the creek looks using “auto mode” to capture the scene. Still beautiful, but I love the smoothness the long exposure created.

While I was shooting this morning, there was a crane on the other bank looking for breakfast. The lighting wasn’t good enough to get a photo of him without using the flash and scaring him away. Maybe another time.

~Sondra