Christian Photographers Community

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• Mini Challenge #5~"LEADING LINES"     We're Voting!!

• Garden Visitors  Let's post photos of insects, little critters, etc. that visit our gardens.

• Janet in the Koinonia Gallery Please visit and leave a comment. 

• Your Day in Romans   Great study in the Book of Romans.

• See the last photos uploaded to our Gallery

• Talk about Photoshop Actions  

Morning Devotional...

I will give thee the treasures of darkness.
Isaiah 45:3

When we think of darkness we naturally think of all that is fearful and
painful. Sometimes the Lord in His wisdom and grace allows us to go through these "night" experiences.

When we lost our youngest son at the age of 30, the Lord gave us opportunities to witness as never before. People with hardened hearts were suddenly softened, skeptics listened, believers were
encouraged and challenged.

Amidst the darkness, sadness and pain, we discovered untold treasures, including the greatest treasure of all--the Lord's love and warmth.
--Brian Russell

I put this in yesterday's New Every Morning but I think maybe a little late for everyone to see. 

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We don't usually post too many photos in New Every Morning but I wanted to share this one with you all.  It's the Photo of the Week on Photography Cafe and with so many of our members on here being bird lovers, I thought I'd just show you and let you read what Mike says about how he planned it and took the photo.









From Mike...

"Thanks to everyone for the nice comments and the votes that made my image "Head shot" POTD and then POTW.

It is very rewarding to achieve this accolade from my friends on PC  , particularily as this shot took a lot of  time, patience and planning.
It all started months ago in the winter, when we were visited by two pairs of Woodpeckers.

During this time I moved the bird table from the middle of the lawn, closer and closer to our dining room window, and while most of the birds were quite bold and confiding, the Woodpeckers were much more cautious and would fly off if we werent very careful.

Then squirrels hit town and started taking away whole fat balls which the peckers seemed to like most of all.  So I got to work, cut a dead tree from the forest, drilled some deep holes in it and sited it along side the bird table. By forcing fat balls into the holes at least the squirrels couldn't take them away which left some for the peckers.

The added bonus of course was that any photos I took looked far more natural.
The next hurdles to over come were that I was at first taking photos through the glass of our dining room window and this of course was reducing image quality, further to this the window faced south so I was shooting into the light which made exposure difficult, silhouettes werent what I wanted and also the background garden plants were creating highlights which were very intrusive.
There was nothing else to do, but move the feeding post to another part of the garden and build a hide near to it.

Within the restrictions of the front gardens relatively small size, with a small pond , a water feature, and an eating area to take into account, this is what I did.  I sited the post next to the water feature, a facility that the birds, including the woodpeckers ,make full use of, to drink and bath, I then built the hide, and left them to get used to it for a week.

Gradually things settled down and I got some reasonable photos, but the 300mm lens on my Fuji  still wasn't giving me the large close up images I wanted, so I moved the hide closer, let things settle down again and after a short while began to take the shots I was after.

The hide is sited about a metre and a half from my water feature and just under a metre from the feeding post, so as you can imagine, panning the camera has to be done very slowly and noise kept to a mininmum, although to slow the birds down I sometimes click my tongue just prior to taking an image. On hearing the noise they momentarily freeze and that way I get a good sharp shot.

And there you have it folks  "Head shot"

Thanks!"

I got hit on the head while I was reading the above post in yesterday's thread.

I have a sick dog. I have yet to figure out which on has had two accidents in the house today as I wasn't here. I have had to scrub the carpet and wash their quilt. One of them has diarrhea. I think it might be Bebe.

I have been down to the church and am back home now.

C~U~MANANA

Hi Everyone,

Just a follow-up to Etta Sue's question about the word koinonia. It is basically the greek word for "fellowship".

Here's a definition from the NIV Greek Dictionary.


It's used here and there in the USA for bible study groups, Wednesday night home groups, and lots more.  Even a park, as Etta Sue mentioned.

So let's get together to enjoy Janet's new Koinonia Gallery!

In His Grip,
Kevin

Hi, everyone.  It's getting dark here, and fireworks have started all over town.  The city display will start soon.

The bad side is that the sounds frighten the dogs.

Last night we had another fireworks display.  I didn't see them, but heard the loud booms.  Then early this morning, maybe 2:30 (?...Jane did you hear it?)God had His own display. I don't think I've ever heard such loud thunder and it lasted awhile.  We had a nice thunder storm.  Sue said she woke up out of a deep sleep and sat up immediately.  Not knowing what the sound was that woke her, she said her first thought was "Jesus is coming!"  It was loud and prolonged.  I don't know if that was the first one, or just the one that woke us all.

Hello, ohenry!  Welcome from another Oregonian.  I'm over on the coast.
I love your camera, by the way.  My sister has one like yours, and comes to the coast to get pictures often.  My Olympus is...........well, it's what I have. lol

Gotta run and watch fireworks now.  We can see them out the window, so not very far to go.

Blessings to the Body of Christ here at CP.  Nita

Thanks Nita.  Just returned from a night of band music (orchestra band) and fireworks.  A beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace to accompany the traditional patriotic themes.

Our church built a new sanctuary several years back and we use the old one for Sunday School, Wednesday night dinner and Bible studies, etc.  The building was renamed Koinonia.  And my Sunday School class is known as the Koinonia group.  Small world.

God Bless!

Do you want to guess what kind of blossom this is?  It's probably easy for most of you!   You can find it in the Gallery, where you can click to get the large view.   There are also plenty of other picts by our members.

What is it?


In His Grip,
Kevin

Good Morning Everyone...

I do hope you enjoyed seeing that photo of the head of a little woodpecker and reading how the photographer planned on this shot for so long.  I learned a lot from reading it.

Did you?


Interesting that your building is called "Koinonia", Ohenry!  There are several places around out part of the province here who name their Bible Study groups the "Koinonia Bible Study" and similar.

Sincy you mentioned "Amazing Grace", I can't stop humming it so I must put it in here so we can all sing it. 


Too bad about your dogs, Marilyn!

Nita, I've seen some wonderful photos from that camera of yours.  Just wish we could see more coastal ones.  How's your rock doing? 


Thanks for the "Guess what the flower is" Kevin.  I have no idea.  Must look it up!

Talk to you all a little later!

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Another question....how do you pronounce Koinonia?  koyn-ahn-ya?  Koh-in-ahn-ya?  Koy-nahn-ee-uh?  Hmm!

Wow!  That bird shot is outstanding....and it should be with about 6 months of work in to it!  Fantastic job! 

Well, I have to mow today.  I have already been outside and it is cool.  I have to wait until the grass dries from the rain last night but that shouldn't take long because of the bright sunshine and the wonderful breeze today.  I noticed that the sod farmer is mowing but he pulls one of those gang mowers, like they use on golf courses, and mows a 15' - 20' strip.  Wish my mower deck was that wide! 

And what a difference a day makes.  Yesterday I felt yucky.  Today I feel like I am among the living again! 

Pat, such a wonderful tune to have running through one's mind.  Certainly one of my favorties,  never failing to bring a tear to my eyes.

As I looked to God's word this morning, I ran across this quote in The Daily Bread and thought I'd share it with my new found brothers and sisters:

How easy it is to be critical of the sins of others. But how much more powerful to demonstrate the grace and righteousness of our God by living for Him. —David C. McCasland

Good Morning. We got through the night without any more accidents and both dogs appear to be normal this morning.

I didn't comment on the Head Shot last night but I think it is a terrific shot and took a lot of patience  in gettting things set up for that  wonderful shot.

Janet has some terrific  photos in her gallery of her trips to different places and of her family, and her paintings;  I need to go comment more in her gallery and in the Koinonia gallery.

So far Fay has not had any calls regarding someone to take my place, I will be calling her worker today.

Had a great time at the BBQ last evening, not a lot of people showed up but those who were there really enjoyed themselves. Maybe 50 showed up, that includes guests.

TTYL

Kevin, I don't know what that flower is, but I think I'm going to try to find out.

Glad you're feeling so much better, Etta Sue.  Be glad you're mower isn't that wide - you'd probably mow your house down.

Yes, Amazing Grace - I like to sing the tenor part to that.  I always think about its author, Isaac Newton, who had been the operator of a slave ship - that's what made him say what he did about being a wretch.  Oh how gracious our God is!

Etta Sue - koinonia, is pronounced with a long "o" in the middle - koin-oh-neea.  Kevin took care of the rest of it, so I won't.  

That's a tremendous shot of the woodpecker.

Quote from: ohenry on July 05, 2006, 09:19:13 AM


How easy it is to be critical of the sins of others. But how much more powerful to demonstrate the grace and righteousness of our God by living for Him. —David C. McCasland

What a powerful quote!  I'm going to keep that! 

ohenry, during our 40 years of marriage, my husband always said that he'd like that to be sung at his funeral and so that was one of the hymns we had and it was sung so joyfully by the congregation.  All who knew Jack knew that he was now with his Saviour (maybe singing along with us?).

And from today's left sidebar...

Just had a telephone call from Janet in Kansas.  She has a virus in her computer that keeps replicating itself and she has to have a fellow come and get it and she'll be without it for a few days.

So, we'll be without our Janet in here.

Groceries & laundry going on today & we have been going to the gym to exercise daily - gotta keep that blood pressure down & I have missed six weeks. 

It is nice to think that Ruth and Judy will be together at some time & Judy will get the guidance on quilting.  It is so much fun. 

Pat:  Where did I miss all this about Kathleen coming to live with you - is she in college and this is for the duration.  Wish one of our grands would come here & go to this university but they keep looking elsewhere.  Many years from now.

We watched the fireworks & listened to Boston Pops orchestra for the 4th.  We also watched a movie on George Washington & amazing that this little country at that time could defeat the great British army. 

Pat:  Again, thanks for Amazing Grace - I knew one pastor who did not like the song because he didn't want people to think of themselves as a "wretch" . 

Welcome oHenry!   

At home between jobs to check on the dogs and kill some time I do not have to be there until 1pm. so far Bebe has not wanted to eat anything today except for a couple of dog biscuits. She has been geting real fussy about what she eats lately. Only certain dog food and I am trying to find one that she likes and will eat.

Laters.

Marilyn I am concerned for you and your pooch.  Do you think you shoould get her to a vet to be checked out?  For the diarrhea try some rice with a bit of broth for flavour, I use OXO.  Treat Bebe as you would a baby. (name fits?)  Hope all works out.

To everyone else Hello from a cold North Bay.  The temp hasn't gone above 18*C today.

Have a good evening.
Love Judy.

Hi everyone.  We ran so many errands today that I am exhausted, even after a brief nap when we got home.  We were glad to get back into our cool house as it is very hot here today.  We are hoping to get some rain tonight and tomorrow.  Now Pat can drive for 5 more years and we can drive the Saturn for another year as it passed inspection and is now licensed.  We had several other errands to run and ate at a new Mexican retruarant that opened recently.  It was OK but nothing special, at least in terms of what we had to eat.

Sorry to read that Janet's computer is sick and that she will be offline for a few days.

Marilyn, hope there is nothing seriously wrong with your dog.

Carol, did you see the beginning of that Boston Pops concert.  It started out with two people from Aerosmith shouting out the lyrics of two songs.  I thought what a waste of a wonderful orchestra playing behind them but guess a lot of those in attendance thought it was great, I didn't.  I switched to the Ford's Theater annual 4th of July presentation and it was excellent.

Mike that is a lovely photograph and you were obviously rewarded for your planning and patience.

Going to say bye for today.  I will try to get here earlier tomorrow when I am not tired.

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Comments needed HERE

Thanks Judy, I had forgotten about the rice. I have some cooking right now in Beef Broth, Imodium D also works, I have used that for dogs with Parvo to stop the diarrhea. I have heard tha Pepto Bismol works too.

Edit:  5:56pm She ate the rice then she devoured her regular food. She played ball for while with me and seems to be much better.

Thanks Kevin for the chat message on Skype about the canned pumpkin. I will get some to keep on hand.

Tis that time again!  You may continue posting here.