Soooo many things I want to say on this subject. Instead of simply throwing in my own 2 cents worth into the ongoing arguments, may I propose that there might be a BETTER way. Indeed, according to the scriptures that we, as Christians claim to adhere to, there is only ONE WAY to overcome evil. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with GOOD.” (Romans 12:21) Arguing and bickering is not GOOD. Willful ignorance is not GOOD. Spreading sensationalist exaggerations and propagating outright LIES is not GOOD. Attacking everything and everyone who doesn’t agree with you is not GOOD.

According to those same scriptures, “our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) Since this passage was written a very long time ago, I don’t believe the ‘rulers’ and the ‘authorities’ referred to here is our own U.S. President Obama…the ‘evil in the heavenly places’ is not referring to Democrats in Washington, D.C. (or even ‘rogue’ Republicans from Alaska).

On this National Day of Prayer, might I suggest that ALL believers EVERYwhere come together to do just that…PRAY. For at least this ONE day, could we, as believers just PRACTICE what we PREACH…and just PRAY?!

Once the bull fighter got his hand loose and he was able to hit the ground, he stayed there for a few long, tense moments. But the young fella WALKED out of the arena on his own. Yep, he walked slow and had a bit of a gimp, but walk he did.

I got a total of 10 shots of this ride, but missed the most important one…the one of the cowboy walking out of the arena. Well actually, I DID get that one, but it was blurred as all get out because I was so excited to see him walking out on his own and so busy clapping and cheering, I wasn’t paying attention to GETTING THE SHOT. Well, whatever. It’s no secret that I need to work on my photo documentary skills. Most important thing was COWBOY UP!

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As usual, I was a late-comer…still trying to juggle a dozen things at one time on a Saturday morning. I FINALLY get there and get ready to shoot my first shot and realize I don’t have a CF card in the camera…they’re all at home sitting on top of my laptop. Thank GAWD I set my camera to NOT shoot withOUT a CF card. Otherwise, I might have spent all day in the rain and ended up with NOTHING at all to show for it.

Because of all my running around during the earliest part of the rodeo, I missed some of the best events and without a doubt, the best weather for shooting action shots with my slow lens. I’ve got a good range, good quality lens that zooms from 70-300mm, BUT, it’s a sloooow 4-5.6 aperture range…just 5.6 at 300mm. I haven’t gotten famous enough yet to justify an expenditure of $4,000+ for a FAST 300mm lens. I might have better luck holding out for that lottery win I’ve got coming my way.

Soooo, all that said, once the sky turned quite dark and drab and the rain started coming down, my film speed of 800, shutter speed of 500 (which was as high as I could go because I have a SLOOOOW lens) and f5.6 aperture just wasn’t cutting it for good stop-action shots. I can set my film speed anywhere from 100-3200 but the catch to that is noise from HELL, even with the noise reduction function turned on. I did somehow manage to get 1 or 2 reasonably acceptable action shots in the rain (though not quite sure how that happened). Truth is, it’s hard to tell if my slow lens was to blame, or whether SOME of the crappy shots might have been due the fact that I still get so excited about getting a shot at times, that I jerk the camera when I shoot…I’d rather just blame the lens.

Tomorrow is another day. Weather reports promise rain will be gone by the time the rodeo starts tomorrow. At least it won’t be DUSTY like it was today before the rain. (That’s right, I just CAN’T BE PLEASED!) The action shots I got BEFORE the rain looked like they were shot in a fog because of the dust. (As you might have noticed, the bad shot is NEVER my fault.)

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NOW we KNOW what Santa does in the off season…

Rising costs have affected us all. Apparently, even the North Pole is not exempt from the financial hardships of modern times. It was once speculated that Santa spent the off season basking in the warm Caribbean sun, but who can afford leisure and recreation in such perilous times as these?

I met this jolly old gentleman at a roadside produce stand tucked away on a winding mountain road on our way to Caesar’s Head State Park back in the fall. He kindly posed for several shots of himself and his goods – various and assorted homemade ciders, pickled goods and homegrown canned goods. The prices were a bit steep but who wouldn’t figure a donation to the Santa Claus enterprise to be a worthy cause? And if THIS ain’t Santa Claus, then Virginia…there really AIN’T no Santa Claus!

I was piddling around outside with the rabbit in the backyard one summer afternoon and my grandson, Kendall, got hold of my acoustic guitar and started picking at it trying to play a tune. I won’t divulge how “good” a tune that ended up being, but it certainly made for a memorable portrait!

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)

There’s a little theme park at the top of a mountain in a town called Maggie Valley, NC. It’s called Ghost Town…an authentic recreation of an old west town complete with cowboys, bad guys, Indians, etc. with old west skits played out throughout the day at varying intervals.

We were wandering around behind some of the stores when I noticed this fellow, apparently on a break from his role as an old west cowboy. He looked to be a full-blood Cherokee. He wasn’t smoking or eating or talking on a cell phone…just standing at the fence, quietly gazing at the mountain scenery before him. He never noticed us, or if he did, he didn’t acknowledge it.

When I look at this shot, I often wonder what he was thinking about…perhaps a time long, long ago when these beautiful mountains were home to his own people, the Cherokee. Though that’s probably a romantic notion. Truth be told, he was probably thinking about whether to have pizza or a sub for lunch…whether he wanted to go meet friends at the local bar after work, or just go home and watch a good movie…maybe even which girlfriend to call to join him.

Even so, I’ll stick to my silly romantic notions…and enjoy my OWN view. Heh.

(Click on the preview above to pull up a full view of the picture.)