Pokagon Adventure

"This is about how we might use the medium of photography to stimulate our imaginations, to develop our intuitive and aesthetic sensibilities, to gain new insights. It is an invitation to stop and look and be refreshed."  

-- Howard Zehr in 

The Little Book of Contemplative Photography: 

Seeing with wonder, respect and humility

 This past week included lunch and a round of golf with my father on Tuesday. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a round of golf like that. And, that same day, a Tiger's game with my three beautiful daughters. We sat up in the cheap seats and had a wonderful time. Thursday then, I had lunch with my mother at a wonderful restaurant in Goshen,IN with a wood fired oven. It was a good time with a wonderful lady.

Saturday and Sunday we were at Pokagon State Park as a family. Friends joined us for Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was a good family time and time to connect with friends. We enjoyed the bird window at the nature center and walks through the woods enjoying the wildflowers. Saturday night we sat out on a dock on a small lake as the stars came into view. We used our phone apps to identify the planets in view and the different stars as we could see them.

The Baltimore Oriole above stood out so clearly on the dead wood in the marsh area it was hard to miss. And yet, there was a group of people who walked right past oblivious.  Photo editing software these days allows the creation of special effects that enable one to isolate a specific subject in a photo and enhance its color while making everything else gray scale. This is the effect I thought of when I looked at this picture. It was a gray day with clouds covering the sun. And I didn't need to use any special effects to get the same effect. 

These little yellow flowers caught my eye as I walked through the marsh area. And, this white Trillium was the first one I saw on Saturday. It was back off the trail a bit.