Nbr 5 - What I like about this Shot - Moon Snow

Winter is one of the most demanding of times to photograph. It can also be one of the most amazing. Skies can turn crystal clear or they can turn ominous and dark. You will discover a fresh crispness not found any other time of year. Winter also presents itself as daily new photographic opportunities, and when the day turns white the opportunity becomes magical. During the winter of '15 - '16 Kentucky was turned into a brilliant world of white experiencing one of the heaviest snowfalls on record. It was a photo opportunity the likes of which I have rarely been accustomed to.

As a photographer I often either plan my outings or at least have an idea of what I want to accomplish. Sometimes, things just happen and I get lucky. Moon Snow is one such image. The sun was still fifteen or twenty minutes from rising and the moon was about the same amount of time from setting. During this time one can experience one of the most interesting astronomical phenomenons. Just before the sun rises and because of the curvature of the earth the sun rays will often penetrate through the upper layers of the atmosphere and cause two things to happen. One, to the west, the earth will cast its shadow into the lower levels of the atmosphere and the sun's rays will cause the upper layers to glow pink. These can be easily seen on clear mornings. On this morning, there was a near full moon about to set and because the sky was clear, the shadow and pink glow are readily visible in this image. Just above ground level there is a dark band...this is the earths shadow being cast into the atmosphere. Above the shadow is the pink glow...caused by the suns rays penetrating through the atmosphere, and to the left of the old shed sits the moon.

Why do I like this shot? It captures this lighting phenomenon as well as any I've ever made and the image retains that still, penetrating coldness that is so much a part of what capturing  the flavor of winter is all about.

Nbr 4 - What I Like About This Shot - At the Spillway

There is nothing striking about it, nothing that stands apart from any other ordinary snapshot. In deed, that is exactly what it is, an ordinary snapshot. The person in the image always liked to clown around, he pulled such antics going back to his early years, and true to his nature, he just had to get animated for this one. It was a fun day that day, one we can remember with fondness.

Why I like this picture? Well, because snapshots are some of the most endearing and enduring pictures we can take because they capture life as we see it, as we live it. Snapshots reveal to us who we were. They capture our past, our families in candid moments, and they capture moments in the unique timeline history that leads to us now, at this very moment.

Sure I could have setup a speedlight and framed the image to produce a nice well lit portrait. But I didn't...I simply did what most people do, just took the shot because it was there to take. I have boxes of family snapshots, and you know I probably get more enjoyment thumbing through them than all the time I spend sifting through my so called Good Pictures.

Why do I like this picture? Well, it just so happens this is the very last photo ever taken of my dad. He was just shy of turning 91 and we were back in Oklahoma visiting for some much needed vacation time off. A few days later we returned home to Kentucky...barely a week after that...he died.

I like this picture for many reason, most which I cannot effectively translate into words. When I see this picture my heart is saddened for I can never again call to talk about the OU football game. We can no longer have those political discussions, and this election year would have been filled with all sorts of comments. A deluge of memories floods my thoughts, for all of the family I grew up with are now gone. I am the only one left, and this is the last reminder I have.

My dad was proud World War II veteran having served and fought on Leyte and Okinawa. With Veterans Day almost upon us, he still serves as a great example of one of the Greatest Generation. The hat he is wearing is a WWII Veteran hat. I have it now in my curio cabinet.

Often, memories are rekindled by thumbing through collections of snapshots. That is why snapshots are the best way to communicate your life to family members not yet born, so...take plenty of them not worrying about how good they are. It's not the quality of the pictures that counts, it is the quality of the memories they capture that counts.