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Balloons are very cool, especially those big hot air balloons that you get to see this time of year in Lake Havasu City.  They are very photogenic, of course.  You cannot go far wrong just taking snapshots.  However, once in a while, if you wait for just the right time and the right light, you can get something unusual.

This shot happened very late in the day when the sky was mostly overcast and I was on the north side of the balloons.  The light on the west side of the balloons lit up the edge just right, at least I think so.  Then the color of the clouds was very warm and I like that too.

I am trying to develop my composition skills too.  I think I hit the rule of thirds pretty good (cropped it!) but it also follows the rule of odds.  Lastly, I think this one has a foreground, a mid ground and a back ground too.  Plus, for added fun, there is some pretty good negative space.  SO…  what do YOU think?

I hear there may be a Campers For Christ Ministries meeting scheduled for Albuquerque in October, maybe I can get some more balloons there!  I wish I could find something spiritual to connect to all this fun I have taking and developing photographs.  The closest thing I can think of was that the balloons were cool and made even better by a Creator who made the sky beautiful that night.

Richard

The Phot, “Balloons Over Havasu”, Nikon D5100, 200mm, f6.3 focal length, 1/200 second exposure, ISO 4oo, taken in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.  Photo is available for printing on paper, metal, or canvas.  Contact me.

Don’t you just love sunsets? Here in Arizona, when there are clouds, the sunsets can be spectacular. Some times it seems like the sky is on fire. At other times the sunsets are more subtle and subdued, but almost every one of them are beautiful to me.

It always feels good to come to the end of a day when we have worked at whatever we do and then lay down the burden of labor for a while. There is something special about being able to simply sit down and enjoy the evening. When we are able to share the time with others, it is even better. Are we not blessed to be able to enjoy our evenings day after day, night after night? Yes, life is good.

Think about this. There are a lot of people in this world who cannot enjoy their lives like you and I do. Their circumstances are not like ours. 1.2 billion people struggle every day with extreme poverty. 1 in 6 people right here in the USA do not always get enough to eat. At least 300 million people live in countries currently at war. The list goes on and on. It must be difficult for most of those people to enjoy the end of the day.

Perhaps a more important statistic is that about 5 billion of the world’s 7 billion people have no faith in Jesus Christ. About 40% of those people live in cultures that have never really heard the gospel, never! Some of them may have a peaceful and prosperous enough environment to enjoy a sunset but they are not prepared for death or the Day of the Lord. They cannot have genuine peace. They have an eternal problem! What, if anything, should you and I be doing about this?

Yes, we can watch a sunset and enjoy the end of the day. We should do that every day we can. However, unless our work for that day is done, it might not be so easy to relax and lay down our burdens. We will just be tired and weary. However, we have a cure for that problem. Jesus will carry the load. When we come to Him, He gives us rest. Thank God, we can and should relax and enjoy the end of the day.

Through my lens,

Richard

About My Photo:  “Painted By God”, Nikon D5100, 155mm Focal Length, f/22, 1.3 second exposure, ISO 640, taken near Parker Arizona in the Sonoran Desert.  Photo is available for printing on paper, canvas or metal.  Contact me.

East of Parker, Arizona there are miles and miles of desert with just a few roads. The area appears to be desolate and dreary for the most part. The wind blows over the dry brush, raising clouds of dust. The sun beats down on everything, mercilessly driving the moisture away. Sooner or later just about everything becomes brown.

Someone said that seeing beauty in the desert was a gift from God. It is true that the beauty in the desert is not easily perceived by lazy eyes. However, water changes everything and recent rains made a lot of difference here. Our desert is beginning to bloom. The dry brown sameness is beginning to show signs of new life and color.

It seems to me that the desert is a lot like a soul without Jesus. Dry, dead sameness endlessly fills the days and weeks and months and years. But when Jesus comes into someone’s heart, it is like rain on the desert. New life springs up and everything changes! The Apostle Paul wrote, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”

35 years ago this happened to me. I gave my heart to Jesus and the desert bloomed!

Through my lens,

Richard

Photo: Sand Verbena — Abronia villosa

This is not really in the verbena family but is part of the four-oclock family of plants. It only blooms when there is plenty of rain. Mostly in the Mohave Desert, rare in the Sonoran Desert.

Photo “Sand Verbena In The Desert” : Nikon D5100, 185mm, f/8 focal length, 1/320 second exposure, ISO 100, taken east of Parker Arizona.  Photo is available for printing on paper, canvas, or metal.  Contact me.