Monthly Archives: January 2017

Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful

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Almost three years to the date, I mentioned that I was on a photographic hunt for the bald eagle. By the next year, I had more opportunities to spot and capture them at a distance. Finally, last year I saw hundreds at Red Rock Lake and the Des Moines River near Pella, as well as a growing population in my part of Southwest Iowa. This year is beginning well with sightings locally and around Central Iowa. The view of these majestic birds is captivating as they gracefully fly and skillfully hunt. Here are a few shots of these graceful, gliding national birds.

These two are from 2016:

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Two eagles soaring over the Des Moines River near Pella, IA

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The eagles complete for fish among pelicans, geese, ducks and the ring-billed gulls pictured here on the Des Moines River at the Red Rock Lake Dam spillway.

The remaining have been taken this first month of 2017:

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Three shot photo stitch of juvenile bald eagle over Red Rock Lake Dam, Pella IA

As gracefully as they are in flight, those flights often end in a kill. Below is one of those feasts and two captures in the last week.

Feeding on a goose or duck near Creston, IA
Early morning perch near a nest after recent ice storm near Creston, IA
Sunset perch over Raccoon River in Des Moines, IA

See more “graceful” posts at WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Graceful.

Martin Luther King Day – 2017

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I’m linking my daughter’s thoughts about Martin Luther King Day-2017. It’s worth the read (see link below).

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My middle daughter and a school friend at our home in Memphis, TN -1987

God made this abundance of colors and sounds and differences and guess what, scripture says we were made in his image. ALL OF US. Made in his image. Made to reflect his glory.

May we continue to strive for racial harmony and equality in our time, so that the next generation doesn’t experience the divisions of fear, hatred and oppression that the ignorance of prejudice perpetuates. And may those of us who are servants of the Great Reconciler (Colossians 1:19-23) and Prince of Peace especially champion the the cause of racial reconciliation.

Click here for Anna’s blog: On Martin Luther King Day

Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience

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The lights of a Christmas tree always bring a beautiful ambience to the special time of celebrating the Gift of God, the Light of the world. Having seen a post on setting up a unique portrait, I implemented a few of the suggestions to add a little more magic to this shot of my granddaughters. By placing my cell phone (with video) playing, two things were accomplished: 1) glowing light emanating from the book and 2) the video maintained the focus of the kids on the book.

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My wife prefers non-blinking, white lights and that has been standard on our trees since marriage. However, my daughter’s tree had LED lights that changed from white to colors and blinked  every 3-5 seconds in the various transitions. The sight brought back a forgotten childhood memory of laying on my back and watching the changing colored shadows that the blinking lights on the tree created on the ceiling of our living room. To me, it was the ambience that bred a sense of anticipation, excitement and joy.

This post is in response to the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Ambience