Searching For The Elusive....

A quick walk in the park shows many interesting things that lend themselves to interesting pictures.  Though it was a rather quick walk,  I still had to take my camera... and my eyes kept searching for possible scenes to record. 

We took a walk in this park in the summer and it was easy to see lots of great photo possibilities. If you would like to see some of our shots from then, they are in this post:
A Day At The Park...In Pictures

 This time was different... no green grass or leaves... no pretty flowers... no butterflies... lots of brown grass... and dormant trees.  Anyway, we figured there would have to be SOME things we could photograph, so the search was on.      

These ducks look so placid at the moment, but they had been swimming around and I had to work to get this picture. I loved the shimmering green on the head of the male mallard duck.

These tall weeds were broken over at the top... they were about 7 feet tall, but with the sun shining behind them, they looked interesting enough to photograph. 

This is not what I would normally choose to focus on... but I liked it.. I like the light, the shadow and the play of both against the blue sky. They were just tall grasses... but interesting all the same. 

This feather was blowing in the wind... and with a little maneuvering, I was able to get the light behind it...





The bridge below made a picture that would look great on a jigsaw puzzle....

A creek through the woods, reflecting the blue sky, was pretty... and big rocks close by to throw into the creek made for lots of fun for my guys.  They did it several times as some of us tried to capture the splash. :) 

The splash happened quickly and I loved that I was able to catch a few of these at a good moment. Some of them I clicked too fast or too slow.... but these turned out just fine. 

As you can tell, we did quite a few of these. :)  

 The creek, all by itself, was nice also. In the winter, when there is not much green and all can look rather boring, we have to look harder for the beauty... but it is there.  The challenge is to find it.

 All of these ducks were so funny.... look at the mallard above who looks like he is dancing or something...... or maybe the ice feels cold on his feet and he is moving his feet. Not really... but it is funny to see.......

 and then these sillhouette ducks also looked funny... it looks like the second one is sneaking up on the one in front of him.  :)

We have been to this park before... and we will probably go again... it is a beautiful park. It is also surprising how many interesting things appear when we look diligently for them.... especially this time of year. The elusiveness of the pretty vistas makes them all the more special when they are finally found. We can train ourselves to be more observant... to be creative in setting up a shot... to notice the unusual... and the results can be rewarding. 

This works well in photography.... I am thinking it also works well in life. It is easy to see the bright and obvious, whether it is a bit of scenery... or a person... or a situation... but what about when it seems that there is "nothing to see"?  Do we just give up and wait for another time? Maybe.... but what if we look a bit deeper? What if we take time to talk with that person who seems to be unworthy of our time or attention? What if we invest in them and search for more?  Sometimes, we can see a person open up like a flower uncurling its petals slowly in the warm sunshine.... and we see a wonderful sight we would have missed had we just hurried on by. 

What about hard situations.... especially those that are not good at all? Do we just shut down, assuming that all will be bad, so we no longer look for anything good or interesting?  What if we still notice the little blessings God sends in the midst of trouble? Little things like a person offering a shy smile... someone holding the door... someone rushing to pick up another person's papers blowing in the wind...  Such things are blessings... and though they don't change our hard situation, looking for those can help us not to sink into the mire of believing that "everything is bad!" It is part of taking our thoughts captive.

 I think I will be more deliberate in looking for things to be thankful for... I know they are there... I plan to watch for them... notice them... and thank God for them. :) I hope you will join me in doing this... there is so much ugliness in our world... but there are also things worth praising God for... we just need to look.   Thank you for visiting today. 



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