A moment of Zen...

[Blue_In_AK]

No, not Jon Stewart-like, sillies :D. Just some little nature shots that make me feel peaceful and might work for you all, too. We need all the peaceful moments we can get.

[Longgrain]

1. Ahhhhh...Gourge-i-ous!

I don't know which one I like best, but your color and composition is just absolutely stunning!

The second one is particularly zen, in that it reminds me of a Japanese rock garden...Good work! :toast:

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Coming from you, Mr. Artistic Longgrain...

...I am very flattered. Thanks. ;)

[Longgrain]

4. You are indeed welcome...

And I am flattered at your appercition...

(gotta learn less to take other's opinions seriously)

[TahitiNut]

3. I was thinking the 3rd was most Zen-like.

Consider ... three rocks, water like raked-sand, and three elements (water, rock, and leaf).

[ralps]

5. I really like the first photo, with the fall colors (it was taken in the

fall right?):hi: :hug:

[Blue_In_AK]

6. Yes, it was...

All three of them were taken September 2003 at Summit Lake, about 90 miles south of Anchorage. One of Alaska's best-kept secrets is that we have an absolutely stunning fall season ... short, but beautiful. We locals especially appreciate it because most of the tourists have gone home, and we get the campgrounds back. :) It gets a little frosty overnight, but with a good sleeping bag you can stay toasty, and there's nothing like a morning campfire to take the chill away. We're tent-camping purists (although we do have a Coleman air mattress to cushion our old ache-y bones).

[FloridaPat]

7. Nice. thanks for the bit of peace.

You might try doing #3 with the slow speed so the water moves during the picture taking part. Might be interesting.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Yes, this summer I plan to experiment more...

...I've been trying to memorize the camera's instruction book. :) Photography is kind of new for me.

[TahitiNut]

9. You "frame the experience" well, imho.

I think of phototography (and video) as not biting off more than I can chew. (I have a big mouth.) For me, it's often about suggesting what's outside the frame by what I show inside.

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Thank you, TN...

...I'm sure I'll be hitting you all up for tips and tricks as I get more involved. So far I've just been pretty much seeing things that look nice to me and then taking the shot without adjusting anything as far as light and so on. And I don't have any lenses, which I'm really coveting. Hubby gave me a tripod for Christmas, so I know that's going to be useful, but I'd really like a wide-angle lens to capture Alaska's expanse, and a telephoto so I could take pictures of a moose's eyeballs and stuff. But all in time --

What would be REALLY cool is if I didn't have to work and could just take pictures all day. :)

[TahitiNut]

11. I "go to school" on what I see in others' photos.

In thinking about what I like and why I like it, I think I can gain more in my own amateurish efforts. Thus, it's not with any intent to be pretentious or pedantic that I make such comments. It's solely with appreciation for what I see of value to myself. I don't really know of any better description of photography than "seeing things that look nice to me and then taking the shot." All the adjustments in the world do nothing for me if I don't do that.

[intheflow]

12. The light quality is gorgeous!

The pink in both the leaves and reflected in the water have such a soft quality. Very magical.

I already posted this once in this forum, but here's my interpretation of a zen moment:

[Blue_In_AK]

13. I like that a lot, Flow...

I think it's amazing how beautiful the simplest things can be. Seeing the beauty in the small things helps to offset some of the ugliness in the "big picture," doesn't it? I might be able to survive the next four years of GWB as long as they don't take my camera away. :)