A Few Images Through an Inexpensive Lense


This post is twofold. Firstly, it is another in the theme that when you walk or ride a bike you witness so much more than when in a car (yes, I know I've been harping on this lately but it is important in my daily life), and in the case of myself--or anyone--it offers near-countless opportunities to appreciate the beauty around and capture some of it in pictures. After a crazy-busy day in a hot and bustling kitchen the last thing I want to do is hop in a climatically controlled and comfortable car (though now-and-again I have to)...what I want to do is get outside and walk or ride a bike. And when I do this and look around at all the beauty as I walk and ride it is--to me--like nature's own therapy...a person does not have to live in a rural setting to see nature, it's all around, and it is entirely free. This brings me to my next topic...the camera. While I have always been interested in photography and used to use 35mm cameras, in recent years I've been using inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras.Yes they have their limitations (many limitations, for sure) but what's awesome (besides their price...the current one I use cost $99US) is that they fit in your pocket; when you need it just pull it out and snap away (I believe neighbors and co-workers are finally used to me taking pictures of what I cook or what I see in my front yard). And to help the limitations of an inexpensive camera there are plenty of free or nearly-free editing software available. Two of my favorites are both open source and can be found here and here. Often I don't see the beauty around me, especially if I had a really busy day and I'm feeling cranky, so I have to force myself to look...to look at what is directly in front of me. And it is right in front of me an all of us--always--all we have to do is look.

"The kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, but people do not see it."
The Gospel of Thomas, verse 113

 Alright, I'll get down from my little soapbox pulpit now...to see a few more photos that I've taken recently, while either walking or riding a bike click here, here, here, or here; click any photo for a larger view


Comments

the_big_smile said…
That's true! When riding bike or walking you see much more of you environment.

And when it comes to photographing, I used to use 35mm too, until the camera broke back in 2001. Then I bought a Minolta DImage. It allows a lot of manual control, if I want to control the camera myself.
Today I have an additional camera, a Fuji Finepix always with me. Almost no manual control but the camera is small an I can shot pictures, when I see something interesting.

And I like the fact, that digital pictures are easy to store, to share and to work on.
I don't use Windows but prefer to use Linux. So I use GIMP. It is open source, too. It is the equivalent to Photoshop and you get it for Windows, too. My father uses GIMP on Windows.

Your pictures are almost always very interesting.
Especially the uppermost in this post today!
Joe said…
Danke Stefan. I have used Gimp in the past but never really mastered it (maybe I didn't give it a chance)...anyhow, yes bicycling and photography are a perfect match.