Learn something new

I headed out to conquer my watering duties this morning, quite bummed that we have total cloud cover without a single ray of sunshine.
I wondered how I was going to practice my metering.
I really feel like I need to seal it in my brain as well as my trigger finger as soon as possible.

Then I heard a distinct coo-coo, coo-coo from above me.
That is dove talk in case you didn't know.

I learned in my "Light" reading last night to always adjust as many camera settings as possible before heading out on a shoot so that you can be prepared to simply flick a switch and not miss a shot.
So when I heard the call of the dove, I was already set to go.

I swung my camera up, quickly attempted to adjust the meter to read the median gray and snapped.
Here is what I got.


Not too bad, not to good either.
So, like yesterday I tried again
and again, and again, and again.
Then the dove flew away!
Fine I thought, that was too much pressure anyway.

I lowered my ISO all the way down to 100, trying to correct a bit for the massive amounts of light coming in and got this.

I felt pretty good about this one. It captures the shadows (and unfortunate algae) on my house as well as the fun clouds passing by.

I decided that the composition needed a bit of a boost, so this one went to the crop board!
I felt like there was too much competition between the negative space (the sky) and the positive space (the house), leaving the picture a bit blah and bland.
Yes, I realize it is a picture of siding and indistinct clouds...what could be exciting about that anyway??
Well, I am just a crazy artist, but I say this gets pretty close.

The soft, lightness of the clouds up against the hard angles of the siding...does it for me!
I boosted the saturation as well, so we could enjoy the blue behind the clouds.

Okay, enough of that I have way more to cover today!
The first being assorted water droplets!




In the past I would have deleted this picture immediately, but am beginning to learn how to slow down and appreciate the beauty of blur.

My intention on this shot was to capture the droplet of water on the closest point of that tomato leaf,to catch it falling while balancing on my haunches trying not to get wet, while also hopefully getting a few of the incoming water drops as well.
This girl doesn't balance well.
But overall I gotta say I like the outcome.


The second thing I want to cover (if there is still anyone with me...anyone???) is a tidbit from scripture.
We are gonna head over to Exodus 3:1 where God is calling Moses and talking to him from the midst of the burning bush.
1.Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law , the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

I did a big ole search on the internet for Horeb the mountain of God, wanting just to see its specific location, and frankly there is not much out there in the form of a simple map.
Then I did a face-palm and searched for my colored pencils...remembering I could draw one just fine!!!
Ha ha, sometimes my greatest limiting factor is myself...ya ever feel that way?
Okay, so I drew a map AND colored it for you with the location marked on it!

See way up high is Jerusalem and where Canaan will eventually be, to the left is Egypt, and down at the bottom right is our Mt. Horeb nestled in Arabia, close to Midian.

Okey doke, now that we are all at the same map, let's move all the way down through the conversation to verse twelve.
But to keep us in context I will start with verse 11.
11. But Moses said to God, "Who am I , that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?"
12. And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt you shall worship God at this mountain.

Hmmmm "this mountain" huh? This one here...in Arabia? This one here one past the Red Sea??
Isn't that the place where Moses first got water for the people through God? (Not "that" time, but the time before that. That other one is in Numbers 20)

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Okay, so let me get this all straight in my brain.
Moses leads the people out of Israel(ch.13), they cross the Red Sea (ch 14), they sing a song of deliverance to celebrate (ch 15), they complained of hunger (ch 16) and then in 17 at Horeb God gives them water.
So I am just wondering, why does my Bible map have the Israelites there...between the two
forks of the Gulfs of the Red Sea.

My whole life I have been taught that Mt. Sinai is there, but I am not sure that it is!
Suffice it to say, this is not a salvation issue, which is why I am perfectly comfortable bringing it up here!

It is exciting to jump in with explorers who have the time and opportunity to discover a world I will likely never see, to judge with my own two eyes... and camera!
This mountain is now called Jebel al-Lawz.
This is a fun place to start when you have some time.
And if you have about 45 minutes to spare...this is intriguing to watch!!
And here is a nice review of that short film in case ya wanna read that too!

Just a little intrigue to stir the pot!