Flowers of Summer [Blog Introduction]

Camera: Nikon D60
Aperture - f/4
Exposure- 1/80
ISO- 800
Lens- 55mm
No Flash.

Advice: Bring a tripod when you know you will be shooting in dimming light. I forgot to bring mine on this excursion, but lucky for me, there were some handy boulders there to stabilize my camera!

I start my blog off with this photo for a reason- the subject of the photograph goes well with what I was thinking of when I named this blog, "Captured Yet Fleeting". As photographers, we can capture many beautiful objects and moments- but they are fleeting. These flowers that I found in June were on their way out when I returned here two weeks later. By now, I am sure they're long gone. A beautiful, yet short existence. Just like us. 

Like flowers having an estimated longevity, we have a general idea of how long we might live too. The thing is, the flowers could be unexpectedly destroyed by a sudden storm, fire, or eaten by a wild animal (you should see my dog attack a garden!). It is likewise with us: despite our general idea of our longevity, something could happen out of the blue. You wouldn't expect somebody to leave the world at only 13 years of age, but a boy I knew fell off of an ATV two days ago and was killed instantly on the rocks below him. Nobody saw it coming. 

I suppose in a sense, this blog is like my memorial to him, and my tribute to God to remember the brevity of my life and use the talent He has supplied me with to His glory. I hope that you enjoy the photos, find the tips/camera settings I list helpful, and most importantly- think about the writings that go with the pictures.

“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.

 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be.

 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you. 

 Save me from all my transgressions;
    do not make me the scorn of fools."

---Psalm 39:4-8