Water Droplets from the Faucet

I've been wanting to try catching water drops from a tap or faucet, so thought I would try this. The first one I tried was a happy face - not original on my part - I saw this on the internet somewhere. The picture (happy face) is inverted when it is seen through the water drop, so I put the original picture (the one in the background) upside down. 

The drops aren't always the same shape, so it makes the happy face look different. You can see the original happy face showing in the background.

It can be a bit difficult making sure that the drop will be in focus, but I used the same methods as I use when doing regular water drops - I put a knife in the spot where I thought the drop might come down, and manually focused on the knife. Cropping the picture can make it look a lot bigger than it actually is. The other difficult thing is the timing, but after awhile, you can start to guess when to take the photo.

It's interesting the way God has made water, with its different properties. It's one of those things on this earth that we cannot do without, and I'm glad He provided it for us.

Frost on the Window

Frost. I know it's still winter and we are all still looking forward to spring, but there are things we can still enjoy in winter. One of these things was the frost on my father's window. The frost was backlit somewhat, and showed up very well.

It's amazing seeing the detail in the frost - almost looks like leaves growing.

The patterns are different, probably depending on how cold  the window is and how warm it is inside the house.

Even in the midst of a long winter, God blesses us and provides wonderful things for us to see.

Butterflies at the Conservatory

If you want to see a variety of butterflies, the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is well worth visiting. When you first walk in, the number of butterflies is almost overwhelming. Most days they have about 2000 butterflies flying around. There are about 45 species, most of them coming from South America, so lots of butterflies that I have never seen here in Ontario.

The day we were there it was very cold outside, but sunny, and they said that more were out flying around enjoying the heat from the sun. It was difficult to know which ones to take pictures of, and you have to be patient while you wait for them to settle. Sometimes they settle on people, and several times they landed on my hand or on my camera. 

Most butterflies rest with their wings closed, so you have to wait until they are open if you want a picture of them at their best. There are a lot more butterfly pictures than I am putting in this post,  so I'll put some more up next week.

I don't know the names of all of these butterflies, but God knows every kind, and He knows you and me. 

He (God) who lives forever and ever,

is the One who created heaven and earth and sea 

and everything in them.

Revelation 10:6

Learning to shoot HDR at Niagara

When we were "behind the falls", we were able to see Niagara Falls through some port holes. It was interesting seeing the ice buildup around the falls, and I was enjoying taking some photos. It wasn't long until a man came along and asked me if I was taking HDR photos, which means taking 3 or more photos of the same thing: one very dark, one very light, and one at a normal exposure. You then use a setting on your photo editing program to put them together as one picture. This helps when there is a lot of contrast between areas of your photo.

He had a Nikon, I had a Canon - but I was able to find the setting on my camera. I was only going to set the exposure one stop above and below, but he told me to do 2 stops. It's interesting the different places where you learn something new for taking pictures, and if you're open to suggestions, you can learn new things.

I'm still learning - these are my first attempts. Niagara Falls was definitely interesting to see from this view.

I still have lots to learn. This next one was interesting, but a tripod would have helped. It's hard to hold a camera in the exact same position for three photos, even with the continuous setting on. However. the photo shows how beautiful the falls looks when it has ice and snow around it.

We are to worship the Creator, not the creation.