When I saw this vignette, it immediately captivated me and transported me to another time and place…maybe one that I had read about in a novel or had travelled to in my imagination.
This was a place I knew…
Today, I’m thinking of all those — known to me and unknown to me — facing grief, loss, health challenges and worries, or any other form of pain and suffering…
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.
John O’Donohue
from Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom
My sister let me know about this and I decided to do it too! I like nice surprises, don’t you?
To start the year off in a loving way I am participating in this pay-it-forward initiative: the first five people who comment below with “I’m in” will receive a surprise from me at some point in this calendar year – anything from a book, something homegrown or made, a postcard, a photograph, absolutely any surprise!
There will be no warning and it will happen when the mood comes over me and I find something that I believe would suit you and make you happy.
If you’re in, you do the same on your blog. Let’s form a web of connection and kindness. Let’s do more kind and loving things for each other in 2014, without any reason other than to make each other smile and to show that we think of each other. Here’s to a more enjoyable, more friendly and kindness-filled year.
Brown Pelicans are the only type that feed by plunging into the water, stunning small fish with the impact of their large bodies and scooping them up in their expandable throat pouches.
A good news story — Brown Pelicans were once severely endangered in the United States. The major cause of their decline was pesticide poisoning. Since DDT was banned, there has been a full recovery on the east coast and other populations are showing steady improvement.
A pelican’s bill does have a larger capacity than its stomach. A pelican’s stomach can hold up to 1 gallon (3.79 liters), while its pouch can hold up to 3 gallons (11.36 liters). That adds up to the equivalent of 8 pounds (3.63 kilograms) in the stomach and about 24 pounds (10.89 kilograms) in the pouch.
The average Brown Pelican weighs 4-7 pounds. Their wingspan is usually 6-7 feet. Fossil records show that pelicans have been around for more than 40 million years, so they must be doing something right!
When it comes to wildlife, you have to photograph what you got…and we got pelicans. Squadrons of them!
Living in a marina on water in a fishing village on the east coast of Florida, you are guaranteed pelicans as your neighbours.
A few days ago we took the opportunity of a sunny, calm day to toot around the Manatee Pocket in our dinghy, just to see what we would see. And we saw pelicans.
I didn’t have my long lens so we had to get pretty close to photograph these guys in the detail I hoped for. I also used a superfast shutter speed and “continuous shoot”. They move awfully fast when they’re flying about, so I’m pleased that I managed to capture some images that worked.
I don’t think I could have got these reflections if I hadn’t been in a dinghy. I can see why photographers get hooked on wildlife photography. I hope to head out again one of these days to spend more time with our pelican friends.
Iconic tree in the golden hour
Granddaughter on the veranda
I posted Part 1 of Colours of the Bahamas here, images I made on a recent trip to the Bahamas for a family reunion, which featured blue and green tones.
Of course there are also other beautiful warm colours like gold, pink, orange and red also found throughout tropical islands. I really appreciate those beautiful tones too. They are so vibrant and uplifting.
For this post, I thought it might be fun to share a few random facts about Harbour Island.
1. The island is known as “Briland” to its inhabitants, and it’s only 3.5 miles long by 1.5 mile wide. (Say Harbour Island fast and you’ll get it.) You can get from the bay side to the beach side in a few minutes.
2. Junkanoo is a colourful street parade that is held on New Year’s Day. The festival may date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The slaves were given a special holiday to leave the plantations to be with their families and celebrate the holidays with African dance, music, and costumes. After emancipation, the tradition continued.
3.The staple food for islanders is a mollusc called a conch fish (pronounced ‘conk’). These rubbery, squid-like offerings are combined into a hot tomato and onion salad or battered and deep-fried as fritters or eaten in a wonderful chowder.
4. In local dialect, “sip sip” means to gossip and “purge” means to vent rage. If you are “showing sef”, you are showing off. And if you “spilligate” you’re going out on the town.
5. A local Bahamian delicacy is coconut bread, a moist bread with a delicate crumb and flavour, which is magnificent toasted and served for breakfast. Try it if you have the chance!
Sharing with Random Five Friday.
Our grandson and granddaughter had never seen the ocean before or been to the tropics. It was delightful to see them enjoying this warm and beautiful environment.
Harbour Island is one of the Bahamian archipelago of islands.
On our recent trip to the Bahamas for a family reunion, I was presented with a bit of a photography dilemma. There was so much beauty around me that I wanted to capture — not to mention wonderful images of family members enjoying themselves — it was tempting to never let my camera leave my eye!
But knowing that other family members would be taking shots and portraits to remind us of events and activities, I gave myself permission not to be everywhere at all times with my camera — and chose simply to focus my camera in directions that delighted me. It turned out to be a good decision; I got the images I most wanted and was able to be a participant as well as an observer. So I took no pictures of the scavenger hunt that was organized for us — I simply got into racing around the island with the rest on golf carts.
While it is true that used well, a camera can be a tool for slowing down, being present to your experience and seeing in a new way, if used without discernment, it can also separate you. I tried to keep this in mind..
As anyone knows who has spent time with a camera, the light changes constantly — and some light is more pleasurable to shoot in and makes for softer, more appealing images. I no longer try to fight with it and choose my shooting times more carefully. I also bracket my landscapes more often these days to allow for exposure fusion and making HDR images.
Two things I strive for in my photography are simplicity and harmonious colour palettes. The combination of blue and green is my all-time favorite colour combination — as well as the tones of turquoise and teal that result from a mixture — so I was in heaven in the Bahamas.
Here’s a rhyme that sailors share to read the colour of the water.
“Blue, blue, go on through.” The blues are safe water.
“Green, green, nice and clean.” Greens mean it’s starting to shoal, but still safe for all but large ships.
“Brown, brown, run aground.” The browns are trouble-don’t go there.
“White, white, it just might…” White water, as in gin clear, is most confusing of all. It marks a sand bottom that might be inches or fathoms deep.
I’m fortunate to have been to the Bahamas a couple of time before, as well as all over the Caribbean — and the colours I love are of course everywhere in the region. That’s why I’m an island gal at heart…
For now, I’ll leave you with an impressionistic portrait of an unforgettable trip — in blue and green.
It came to me in a flash — my word for 2014. LIGHT.
It’s a great word for someone besotted with photography, of course, but it’s also an all-round great word, being a verb, a noun and an adjective. It’s a perfect word for someone who wants to simplify and pare down and travel lighter in the world. It will also be a good reminder to light the way for others, make choices that light me up, and lighten up…
Last year my word was DISCOVER, and it led me to so many great places. I explored and experimented and discovered so much about photography — and myself too. It’s amazing how a simple word can infuse and guide your life.
This year I want to study light, chase light, follow light, learn how to capture light — all those things. Light is complex; it has so many different qualities and it appears in so many different ways in photography. It can scorch, shimmer, reflect. It illuminates and casts shadows. It can be a softly lit pool in the gloom or a full-blown radiant sunset. Light helps us see the full catastrophe of life (as Zorba the Greek would say). To take a long, loving look at the real…we need light.
In 2014, let there be light.
No resolutions for 2014…just some ways of being…
December’s focus on simplicity inspired by Kim Manley Ort had a profound impact on my way of seeing through my lens and living my life. I will continue to make simplicity a touchstone and practise integrating contemplation with my photography.
Kim and others (Burghardt and Merton) describe contemplation as a “long, loving look at the real…” That seems to me to perfectly sum up an intention I want to adopt this year, in photography and every other aspect of life.
Today I will start with a few intentions and add to them over time. In 2014, I will move toward more stillness and less frenzy, more focus and less distraction, more depth and less superficiality, more acceptance and less resistance.
And so I move forward, embracing my own path with heart…
First light over the Atlantic Ocean
I leave you with this poem as we move toward yet another new year. Every new year is a chance to begin again and make a fresh start. But so is every new sunrise and every new moment, as we take each new breath and each new step with a clear beginner’s mind.
Let 2014 be a year in which we all do more of what brings us joy, lights us up, and makes us come alive in deep acceptance of who we are, so that we then spill over with energy, love and compassion for all creatures and all creation.
Happy New Year!
Sherrygaley.com 