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Monday, July 16, 2012

Impressions of a Butterfly's Wings

     Grandson "Magoo" ran into my office this morning exclaiming, "Nanny, two white butterflies just crashed into the window!" His eyes were bright with wonder and my curiosity was piqued so we ran together to see if they had crash landed in a crumpled heap on the deck floor. But no, there were no broken winged, lame lepidoptera and no explanations had to be rehearsed on how these things just happen sometimes.
     While we are looking for the bombardiers we noticed the faint, almost unnoticeable traces of wings on the glass door. If we hadn't known what had happened, those small wing prints would have been thought of as finger smudges worthy of Windex and a cloth. But since neither of us had ever seen butterfly wing impressions on a glass, we were in awe. 
     If you looked closely you could see the impressions of the wing's scales and powdery iridescence. Science says a butterfly can never repair its wing once it becomes damaged or torn, but what's so amazing is that we can repair those fragile wings with glue, patience and a steady hand. Hopefully these butterflies weren't damaged in their encounter with our door, but they did leave part of themselves behind for us to see.  
Impression of our butterfly encounter imprinted on the glass door.

     To reward our new butterfly friends and to prevent them from injury, we decided to place a saucer of orange juice on the deck, in hopes they would return. This reminds me of how each day as we go about our lives and our business we "brush" against the lives of others leaving an impression, much like the wings of a butterfly--just as others, we meet, leave impressions upon us in return. 
     These "butterfly-like" encounters are often not noticed--and if they are, we believe them to just be the daily smudge of life worthy to be "wiped" away because we are too busy, we are too stressed, and life is filled with too many electronic devices for us to notice human interaction. Although some encounters may be unpleasant, many are positive. The smile of the person facing us in traffic, the eye contact and thank you of a busy store clerk, the kind nod of a complete stranger. We are sometimes just too busy to allow small dustings of human kindness to touch us. 

     How different the world would be if we took more time to notice the small inflections and positive impressions others leave on our lives. Could we change the course of our day or the course of our lives if we took the time to notice? Could we change the course of someone else's life? I myself have been guilty of dashing through my day, through the lives of my family and friends and through meetings to let the butterfly's wings make an impression. Maybe today was food for thought; I will try to be more perceptive and I will try to touch others I meet with a kind word. I hope to replace that frown of concentration with a smile and I will watch for the kindness of others and be grateful they came into my life, if even for an instant as fleeting as the flight of a butterfly's wings. And, If I've broken a few wings along the way, I hope, with some "glue" of kindness, patience and a steady hand I can repair the damage so they can fly again.  
       

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Operation: Save Nana's Tree!

     Hot, hot, hot! That's what it is across most of the United States. We've been seeing temperature's from 99 to 108 for the last 10 days or so, and no rain. The grass is tuning brown. You have to be careful when walking outside barefooted, on the concrete or stepping over the metal threshold of the French doors, or you'll be doing the hip-hop, two-step while muttering, "Rats!" Well at least that's what I say, anyway.
My favorite tree, a birch losing its leaves.
      I've been getting up early in the morning to water my flowers and kitchen garden and to take the dogs for an abbreviated walk. So far the flowers and veggies are doing okay, with only an occasional bowing of their heads and curling of their leaves--nothing that a quick revival of the water hose can't correct. But a couple days ago, I noticed our beautiful birch tree shedding its leaves. Not just one or two, but a mass exodus of leafy canopy descending well before their autumn departure. That same night I watched the comedy movie, "A Thousand Words," with Eddie Murphy who learned the value of choosing the right words. Full of himself, every time he spoke a word a leaf fell from the tree. He was cautioned that if all the leaves fell off the tree it would die, and he would do the same.
     This particular birch is one my favorite trees in our yard. We have pin oaks, a catalpa, red buds, dogwoods, a cypress and several sugar maples. But, this particular tree has weeping limbs that descend gracefully, sweeping down to touch the ground and bark that elegantly curls. I like to use this tree as a backdrop for outdoor photos--and much to my husband's chagrin the graceful sweeping limbs slap him in the face when he mows--(I don't think he'd mind if it died!) We've actually had word's about him trimming it!!
Singing in the "rain." Water play helps my tree!
     I, on the other hand, don't want to lose this beautiful tree. So the other day I decided to connect several hoses together and water the poor thing for two hours. I have no idea if this amount of water helped, but it sure couldn't hurt. According to ABC news, in June there were over 3000 records set for the highest temp in in cities and towns across the U.S. And, already this month, 1000 more record temperatures have been made across the country. Supposedly, according to the meteorologists, there is no relief in sight for some time yet. 
The kids beaded up like little waxed cars!!
     So yesterday I devised a plan to "Save Nana's Tree." The grand kids wanted to play in the slippy side, so the most logical solution would be to place the water slide near my drought stricken tree. Because so many hoses were connected together the water pressure wasn't high enough for the slippy slide to work properly, so my daughter and I manned the hose with a sprayer attachment and sprayed the kids. It became a fun event for them as well as us, and a good teaching event about conservation. Such as what happens when it doesn't rain for a long time (plants and trees and crops die), and why the tree drops its leaves (to help it survive and to carpet the ground to preserve moisture).  
     As we sprayed the kids they beaded up with water drops like little waxed cars--which they thought was very funny. They got into the sport of it too and took the hose close to the trunk and sprayed the tree and spread it's fallen leaves out to further help keep the sun's rays from drying the ground.
     It looks like the simpleness of leaves failing from a tree, during the hot days of a summer drought, brought us together for a moment of fun and learning--priceless for a family! Maybe we even helped save Nana's tree--we'll see. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy 4th!! Happy Shooting!

     Last fall I gave a photo class, at the local college, on shooting night photography. We explored shooting fireworks and night carnival rides to capturing the night sky with stars and star trails. What a fun class. The students were so eager to learn!
Fireworks shot with Nikon D-200 on tripod--ISO 100, F-11 or 16 at 15 sec. (C. Bemiss Photography) 
(C. Bemiss Photography)
     When shooting fireworks normally, as I taught the class, you need a tripod. Also it's best to shoot at ISO 50 to 100, at f-11 to 16, with an 8 to 15 second exposure. But as I've learned through trial and error, and as I've taught in my classes, once you know the rules it's okay sometimes to break them. Even Ansel Adams broke a few photography rules in his compositions. His "Moon over Hernandez," has the moon almost directly in the center of the frame--a no, no as far as composition goes, but it worked for this particular photo.
     Well, this past Saturday I decided to break from the norm and try hand holding my camera at a fireworks celebration at Bagnall Dam in Warsaw, Mo. It was a spectacular show, but I didn't want to drag my tripod along. The grandkids were coming along and this was supposed to more about having fun together than precise technique. So together we enjoyed the display camped out on the back bumper of my daughter's van, while the kids sat in their moon chairs.
     With experimentation, I decided to use an ISO of 400, at f-4.3 at 1/6th second exposure. To my delight the photos became almost flower-like, with some interesting abstractions and almost a deep space nebula effect.   
Hand holding my Nikon D-200 at ISO 400, f-4.3 at 1/6 sec. produced this flower-like image. (C. Bemiss Photography) 
A ring of fire created by fireworks giving an abstract look to the photo. (C. Bemiss Photography)
     This bears out the fact that once you know the rules, you should never be afraid to experiment--you might be pleasantly surprised at the end result. Enjoy your 4th of July!! If you are privileged to have fire works this year, get out your camera and enjoy the show, and enjoy time with your family and friends. Be thankful for freedom and liberty and America the Beautiful! Be creative!
Fireworks shot at 400 ISO--hand holding the camera created an otherworldly photo. (C. Bemiss Photography)