I was just playing with Photoshop CS3. I combined a photo I liked of a bald eagle with one of my favorite phots of a glacier in Alaska. The glacier was in Glacier Bay National Park. I did it just for the heck of it to practice using some of the applications in Photoshop CS3.
I mentioned in my previous post that I went on vacation. And what would a vacation be without some photos to share.
My wife and I went camping at Blackwoods Forrest campground in Acadia National Park In Maine. It was an amazing trip. I had never been exposed to scenery like that before in my life. I would greatly recommend anyone to go there.
Wow it has been a long time since I’ve been at this. Sorry about the long hiatus. Some life events conspired to keep me from the computer desk for a while. Luckily for me none of them were negative life events. I went on vacation to an area where there was no Internet connection and no computer. Then upon returning from vacation I was set to begin a new job. Then after a short time at the new job I began a new college course for my PhD program in Psychology.
I am headed to Acadia National Park in Maine. I will be leaving Friday 9/11/09 and returning Tuesday 9/22/09. So in that time there will not likely be any new posts to the blog. However, while I am there I plan to get a lot of other things done. I will be taking quite a few photographs while I am there and hopefully creating some breathtaking images to share. I also think that I will do some writting while I am there. I am not sure if what I will write will be future blog posts or be articles for publication with my photographs. I am leaning more towards articles to accompany photographs. I like to write my blog posts in the current and not planning them out into the futre. I like to write about what is going on in the preasant or things that I have just done or experienced. I will probably write a few posts upon my return about my experiences at Acadia. I am expecting to have a great time and hopefully have some inspirational moments while I am there. My only hope is to not get rained on much. My wife and I will be camping at Blackwoods campground. I have not been camping much in recent years so hopefully I have not forgotten how to go about the whole thing. Hopefully I will enjoy it as much as I have in the past. I have not gotten to the point where I am a wilderness or outback camper so I still like to have a few creature comforts so I will not be totaly unplugged even though there is no electric at the camp ground. Well, wish me luck on this adventure.
In the three years that I have been living in a more rural location I have been fortunate to be able to experience nature more up close and personal than ever before. It has enhanced my life in many ways. I have become a better photographer and more importantly a better person.
Unfortunately or fortunately, being more present in nature I have also witnessed the struggle to survive that goes on daily for the wildlife that surrounds us. I have seen a hawk in hour yard fly off with a freshly killed rabbit. I have watched as smaller fish are eaten by larger fish. I have walked in the grass only to find a hatchling who has fallen from its nest and died. And this is only what I have seen happen and what I have seen happen in my own back yard.
Today when I was getting ready to go out and take some photos I thought to myself I think I am going to see something unusual today.
I walked down to the stream I almost always go to and as I started walking I began seeing common mergansers. There was a large group of common mergansers swimming in the stream. This might by name sound, um common, but for me it was unusual. I have seen common mergansers frequently but not in this location and not exhibiting the behaviors that they were.
I am diverting my posts from my normal subjects to a matter that is very important to me and perhaps more important than photography.
This is an issue that I am conflicted about. I am a passionate dog and animal lover and I despise animal cruelty. It makes my stomach turn. Michael Vick committed heinous crimes against helpless animals. However, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced for what he did. He served a sentence that was determined to be suitable to the crimes he committed as determined by our laws. If I do not feel that his punishment was severe enough then that is a mater that I need to take up with our judicial system and our lawmakers. I could never forgive a person for committing acts of animal cruelty to my dogs, nor do I think I could find it in my heart to forgive Michael Vick for his actions. Perhaps I am a lesser person for that.
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