Lake Sunset Photos

Tonight I noticed that the sky was clear and that it would be a great time to shoot the setting sun over a nearby lake. (That is one of the advantages of living in a state with 11,000 lakes.) Island Lake is perfect for sunset shots. I was only going to take a few pictures, but ended up taking almost 400. Recently I decided to go as "all natural" as I can (no not that!) in my photography. In other words I want to take photos that I don't need to make a lot of adjustments with computer software. (WYSIWYG) I did need to crop a few of them, but almost all of them are just as I took them. With the Lord in charge of the sunset, it was hard to take a bad photo. I can take the photos, but God is the real artist. I can take a picture of a sunset, but there is no way that I can create one.

If I were a Butterfly...

Because of doing VBS in Superior this week, I have not had a lot of time to take photos. Today I did manage to take about an hour and travel down the road to Whallen Lake. Today, after the rains, the butterflies were out in force. All I had to do was keep pulling the trigger of the camera and the butterflies did the rest. When our son, Eric was a kid he would sing the song "If I were a butterfly, I'd thank You Lord for giving me wings..." It was a very simple song that reminded us to be thankful for what god has given us and to use the talents and abilities he has given us for Him.here is the first verse and the chorus of that old song. If you know it, sing along... 

 If I were a butterfly, I’d thank you Lord for giving me wings
If I were a robin in a tree, I’d thank you Lord that I could sing
If I were a fish in the sea, I’d wiggle my tail and I’d giggle with glee
    But I just thank you Father for making me, me

    For you gave me a heart and you gave me a smile
    You gave me Jesus and you made me your child
    And I just thank you Father for making me, me

 Words and Music by Brian Howard

Roadside Flowers

Tonight I was driving around to see if there was something interesting to take photos of. I was beginning to get a little discouraged because I wasn't seeing much worth shooting. As I drove toward the Spooner Golf Course, I noticed a large bed of wild flowers by the side of the road. After parking the car, I started shooting. When I looked at the counter on my camera, I noticed that I shot almost 200 photos. Not bad, for a slow night! I love shooting flower beds in people's yards, but there is something special about roadside flowers. First of all, I don't have to ask permission to shoot them. They are not staged in a flower bed, but placed by God's design in no particular arrangement. Weeds and flowers grow together in the same area and yet the flowers stand out in all their glory. Take a good look at these wild flowers and simply enjoy what God has planted for our blessing. Are you blessed?

Transformed Tools

The other day I was reading an article in a photo magazine about a man who made a living at taking photos of parts of old machinery close up and then converting them to black and white. The author spent hours in post production for each photo getting them just right. Yesterday I decided to see if I could mimic his work taking photos of some of my old tools. Believe me, I have a lot of "old" tools that I have come across over the years. Even though they may be old, they are still useful and work just fine. (Just like us old folks!) When I took the photos they look quite good in color, but changing them to black and white made them "pop". I will admit that I did not take hours with each photo, only a few minutes.  Here are a few of the photos I took and transformed. Take a look and let me know what you think. I wonder how they would be as stock photos that people purchase. Which one do you like the best. Leave a note! Thanks...

Spring Flowers

There is something about springtime that puts a "spring" in your step. When I travel around taking pictures, I love looking for signs of new life, especially spring flowers. Right now the daffodils and tulips are starting to bloom along with several other ground flowers and the fruit trees are producing beautiful blossoms. It won't be long that we will start seeing trillium in the woods, first a few than by the thousands. The past 2 weeks I have been speaking about Psalms 19 at church, which starts out with "The heavens declare the glory of God..." Part of God's glory is also seen in the world of nature around us, including all these beautiful flowers. Only a mighty God could create such a glorious thing as a delicate flower.

New Photo Ministry idea

For the past year and a half, I have contemplated the idea of starting a photo ministry where I can teach not only photography, but also teach a few Biblical truths at the same time. I considered several different methods of teaching and finally realized that a hands on training is the most effective. The name of the ministry will be PhotoGenesis, as we will be teaching about Photography and Creation. The ministry simply is taking students on photo shoots right here in N.W. Wisconsin to take pictures of wildlife, area scenes, animals, flowers, buildings and whatever is available. Along with learning how to use their camera they will also learn the many faces of composition. Here are the basic details:

   Who is this for? Any one from 9 - 90 years old who enjoys photography or would like to learn more about taking photos.
   How many can go at one time? From one person to a small group. (For small groups we will need chaperones and helpers.)
   When? When ever it fits into your schedule and mine. Photo Shoots can be a couple of hours or a whole day. 
   Costs? I don't charge for my services, but their may be costs for food and gas.

 
   If interested please contact me:
   Frank Distad  - Trego, Wi.
   Fdistad@Gmail.com
   715-635-9426  or 715-939-0601
   (A ministry of InFaith)

(If you have any suggestions or comments about this new ministry, PLEASE send me a note and let me know what you think. I am looking for creative help with this photography teaching tool. If you know how I can better promote this and get the word out, that would be greatly appreciated. There are still a few wrinkles to iron out and I can use all the help I can get. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!!)

Ducks and Tulips

This has been a very strange week. The first part of the week we had snow and now the last few days have been more spring should be. Monday, after we had the snow I decided to see if there were any flowers peeking through the snow. Esther, in Trego, always has a beautiful garden of flowers, so I decided to check out her flower bed. Sure enough the tulips were up and covered with snow. The red tulips and the white snow make a great contrast in color. People complain about snow in April, but God sure knows how to beautify things up.

   Then Tuesday I was looking for things to shoot and I ended up at Trego bridge by Canfields campground. As I was walking toward the bridge I saw these 2 ducks in the lake. I thought for sure that by the time I got near and got my camera ready they would take off. They just sat there in the water swimming around for quite a few minutes before they were spooked. I found out by looking online that they were the "Common Merganser". They sure are beautiful ducks. Now my only question is which one is the male and which one is the female?