Happy Timing!

   I do not claim to be an expert photographer.  In fact, I claim just the opposite.  I am not a "photographer".  I just like to take pictures of things that interest me. If one of those pictures turns out well, then I am happy.  If not, then that is ok, too.  I tried.

  This morning, like every other morning, I was on the pier bright and early.  To be honest, I started not to venture down as the weather had taken a turn to the cooler side and, being old, I feel the cold.  But, I went.  Bat, the cat, followed.  He has become my new hiking partner and I welcome the company.  The eastern horizon was a myriad of colors and the clouds had formed giant stripes across the sky.  Wow!  That was lovely and made coping with the cold a lot easier.  Bat and I slowly walked down the pier.  He stopped to eye the lovely, little rail as she was hunting bull minnows but I kept easing down the pier with hopes of catching the perfect shot of the sunrise.

Sunrise on the Bayou!

  With the first snap of the camera, my photo session could have stopped.  I had inadvertently captured what I considered my "best shot" of the day.  The sunrise was gorgeous, the water mirrored the horizon and, best of all, a heron had just taken flight from the marsh edge!  Yep!  This made me entirely happy!  Mr. Bat and I had a lovely morning!  

Missed Opportunities

   Today was one of those days of missed opportunities.  It started okay with my predawn hike where the camera allowed me my one photo of the day but then things got way out of hand.  The early morning sky was  stunning and I had the camera so I attempted a photo.  The camera worked!  Then, it did not.  As the morning went on, I left the camera behind and went about my day.  It was a day filled with garden work.  Occasionally, I would stroll to the pier to see if Son needed any help.  He is rebuilding the final platform that was demolished during Hurricane Zeta.  (The shortage of lumber put the original repairs to a screeching halt.)  

  It was on several of those walks down the pier that I wished I had a decent camera!  My timing with the one photo was not good.  At one point, there were five white pelicans swimming nearby.  Another time, there were seven geese.  Then, I noticed some lovely pink sea nettles floating under the pier.  Right after that, a fat otter swam under the pier, climbed out of the water on shore near the marsh then turned to look directly at me!  Oh, where was that camera?  The final straw was when a nice sized stingray leisurely glided right under the pier in the shallows!  Ugh.  

  Since the camera has been allowing me only the one photo per day, I had left it back in the Little Bayou House.  Perhaps, if I had it along with me, the perfect shot of one of the aforementioned events may have been gained.  Instead, I just caught glimpses.  The morning shot was pretty impressive, however!

The Right Place To Be

   Photography is a lot like life, in general.  You pretty much have to be in the right spot at the right time to make anything work.  Lighting also helps...in both cases.  I figure I must be in the right spot, here on the Bayou.  Things are working out well and I am at peace here so it has to be "right".

  This morning, the photography skills got a workout.  As soon as I stepped out the door, I heard a pileated woodpecker pounding on the oak tree just to my right.  Getting a good shot without scaring the huge bird took some doing!  I managed to ease my way into position but, since the sun was not cooperating, the lighting was all wrong.  Well, let me just ease a bit more.  I did. I got the shot.  All was well. 

  Then, the garden blooms caught my eye. Wow!  That rising sun was putting a spotlight right on the Althea bush!  The bird was soon forgotten and I turned to photograph the flowers.  Just imagine, I was not even ten feet from my front door and already had taken over 30 photographs.  It was a picturesque sort of day!  

  The Althea bush is one that my granddad gave to me over 40 years ago.  It has been scorched by a house fire (our first home), ravaged by horrific winds of Hurricane Katrina and, also, completely submerged in Katrina's floods.  After that storm, I potted the little scrap of tattered bush and left it.  Each year, it blooms profusely.  Today, I decided that I really need to take cuttings of the bush and start rooting more.  It brings such happy memories along with those purple blooms! I really must be in the right place...at the right time.