Happy New Year!

May God bless you in  the coming year!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, Deer

We've had a lot more snow so far this winter, and now we have a lot more white-tailed deer coming around our yard to eat the dead flowers and our cedar trees. I don't mind the dead vegetation being eaten, but it isn't nice thinking about them eating our cedar already. Usually they don't start looking in our area until February or March.

We see a lot of tracks every morning, and the other day we were able to see some early in the morning. There was a buck, a doe, and a fawn. I was able to get some photos through the window of the buck. 

I'm not sure if you would call this an 8-point buck or not. When I was looking to see how you figure out how many points a buck has, I found a lot different views. It seems to depend on where you live and what type of deer you have.

 If anyone knows what this one is, let me know. One site said that if you can hang a set of binoculars on it, you call that a point.

Antlers fall off in early to mid winter and then start growing again in spring. I wonder why we don't see leftover antlers in the bush.

 
Apparently most do not live beyond six years old when they are in the wild. Some have been known to live 10 years or more, though. It looks like this won't be a nice winter here for them if they are already having to come around to look for food. However, we do enjoy watching them even if they are being a nuisance. I'm hoping to get some more pictures as the year goes on. 

In His (God's) hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind.

Job 12:10

Winter

Winter has come: our lake is frozen, and we have some snow. Winter isn't everyone's favourite season, but I do like it. It has a beauty of its own. There was frost on the trees across the lake, and I tried taking photos of it. I believe I would need to go over closer to the trees to get a better view, but the views from this side of the lake are good anyway.

Our neighbour's dog was quite curious about what I was doing. This picture makes it look cold, especially with the fog still rising a bit across the lake.

On this side of the lake, I was able to take some closeups. Things were starting to melt in the bush. 

Serve the Lord with gladness:

come before His presence with singing.

Psalm 100:2

Loon Feathers

This fall when we were out in the kayaks, we often saw loon feathers floating in the water. I believe these were from the loons (probably the young) molting before migrating. Some mornings you would see quite a few, so  I started gathering them up. I was unable to take a photo of them from the kayak as I wasn't taking my good camera out on the water.

This is the way that you would see them floating on the water. Some had definite loon markings, while some were completely white. However, these white ones were mixed in with the spotted ones, so I believe they were still loon feathers.

I took a few more close ups of the feathers. Their design is beautiful.

Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Luke 12:6,7

Widow Skimmer Dragonfly

I'm in the process of reviewing photos that I took through the summer, and came across  this one of a dragonfly. It was resting on our hydrangea, and stayed in place long enough for me to take its picture.
We are always glad to see the dragonflies come in early summer. At times we have large swarms of them over our land and lake. Other than the interesting scene, the reason we like seeing them is because they help with the mosquito population ... which we seem to get enough of quite quickly and easily.
Apparently, even when they are nymphs, they like to eat mosquito larvae and other insects, etc.. When they become dragonflies, they continue to like similar things, and will eat mosquitoes, other small flying insects, and even butterflies, moths and bees. I think I appreciate the fact that they eat the mosquitoes and keep their population under control.
There are around 2,500 types of dragonflies. I tried to find out what one this is, and it looks like a male Widow Skimmer, according to ON Nature website.  They are all interesting to look at. Isn't it interesting that God has made such variety even in dragonflies.

All things were made through Him, 

and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:3

Gerbera or African Daisy

I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers a few weeks ago, and I believe this flower is a Gerbera or African Daisy from the Sunflower family. I decided to try my 50 mm lens and practice using large apertures, such as f1.2.  I like how the lens lets you take photos in low light. These were taken right in the vase on my dining room table, but since they are close up with a small depth of field, it really doesn't matter where you take the photos. The background is nicely blurred in most of the photos I took. I was able to use the sunlight coming through the window for the light.

I just purchased an update for my photo program and now have Photoshop Elements 12, so thought I would try some different effects with the pictures. I think the photo below shows how much you can change a photo that you take. Digital gives endless opportunities.

Beautiful flowers created by a wonderful God!

Looking Back to the Fall

Right now our landscape looks a bit barren, so I thought I would put up some more pictures from the fall. When we were at Canisbay in Algonquin Park, we enjoyed being immersed in the colours. I am just getting to look at some of those pictures now.

In the morning, the mist was rising above the hills. The mist is covering bare trees at the tops of the hills, but the mist actually adds to the scene rather than takes away from it. If the mist wasn't there, the picture would not be as interesting. Sometimes it's worth getting up earlier to get the pictures you want.

From the rising of the sun to its setting 

the name of the Lord is to be praised. 

Psalm 113:3

Having Fun when Taking Photos

What is most important when we take photos of our families? Do we need to make sure that everything is perfect, and everyone is posed just so? Or do we need to make sure that it is fun for everyone involved. I have memories of being told that we had to stand just so ... but that was back in the time when film cost so much. Now we can do much more with our digital cameras, and it doesn't matter how many pictures we take. Photo sessions with our families can be much more relaxed.  Enjoy the following pictures:

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; 
but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Babies and Natural Light from a Window

This little guy was four months old when these pictures were taken. I am still working on learning to use my 50 mm lens. I think one of the hardest things with it is making sure you have enough room to back up from the subject to get your picture.
We were able to use natural light coming in from a south-facing window. If you can put the baby about 45 degrees "behind" the window, and out of any direct sunlight, you can get beautiful highlights in his or her eyes.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

Psalm 139:13

Colour in the Autumn Leaves

When we drove into Canisbay Provincial Park in Algonquin, I felt like we were being immersed in a sea of colour. We had camped there in August with our family, and it was beautiful, but going in October meant that we were seeing it at its peak. The colours (yellows, oranges, and some reds) were amazing and I felt like I was almost in culture shock. What should I photograph - it was almost overwhelming.

This is what we saw when we drove in the road to our campsite. We were surrounded in colour.

The road down to the beach.

Another view of the road down to the beach.

All of the roads in the park were bright with colour.

Georgeous trees.

I really liked the shadows of the leaves on this tree.

There weren't many red trees in  the park, except for some right near the Park office.

It's definitely a place I would like to go to again in the fall. We can thank God for His amazing painting of the leaves.

Clouds and Reflections

When we were in Algonquin a couple of weeks ago, we were able to go out on Canisbay Lake when the water was very calm. The clouds were gorgeous and because the water was so calm, it was like a mirror. At times, when the conditions are like this and you are out in a canoe or kayak, you can get a strange feeling, almost as if you are paddling through the clouds themselves. 

I often think it looks like God has taken his paintbrush and painted the scene ... interesting, I believe that is just what He did.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth ...

Genesis 1:1