Chicago Skyline

When I am in Chicago, I never tire of photographing the skyline.  Its appearance can change from moment to moment.  Here are just a few of its faces:

 

Happy New Year!

And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us:

and establish thou the work of our hands upon us;

yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

(Psalm 90:17 KJV)

Autumn Beauty

Sunlight on Virginia Creeper

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

- Stanley Horowitz

Made in Wisdom

Squirrel Nibbling on Mushroom

(Click to view full size.)

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all!

(Psalm 104:24)

Orchids and Light

Orchids in Different Light

The artist Evelyn Dunbar has said:

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.

Your special light is not quite like anyone else's light.  When our particular light is a true light, it flows from and participates in the light of God. 

In an essay called, "The Light Within," the Quaker Thomas R. Kelly writes:

Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within that illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the human face. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.  (A Testament of Devotion)

Fractal Mandala

Mandala on Number Seven

(Fractal created with Mandelbulber, highly edited in PhotoShop)

I am departing from photography here to transform a Mandelbulber fractal into a sort of rose window mandala.  In the Bible the number seven (as in the seven petals of this rose window), is generally symbolic of completion. 

And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.  (Genesis 2:2-3)

For other mandalas, see:

"Urban Mandalas"

and on this blog, "Hubcap Mandalas."

Hawks in My Life

(Click to view full size.)

There have been hawks in my life the past couple of years.  This one was recently outside my window, sometimes watching me, sometimes ignoring me.  For others:

• Dignity and a Splashing Hawk 

• A Visitation of Hawks

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all!
(Psalm 104:24 )

Nighttime Interior

Playing with a simple interior scene... 

Nor the Moon by Night

Full Moon with Cloud Halo

(Click photo to view full size)

The Lord is your keeper;
   the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
   nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
   he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
   your going out and your coming in
   from this time on and for evermore.

Psalm 91:5-8

To See Heaven in a Wildflower

Dune Flower

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence"

Sunlight on Dried Flowers in Pencil Holder

Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me

The Orton effect gives a sense of depth and richness to a still photograph. This video was created using the Orton effect on stills, and enhanced with animation. Be sure to watch it full-screen and in high definition if your connection allows.

Mega Moon Rising

Mega Moon March 19
(Click on image to view full size.)

Because of our dense tree cover, we drove out to Paynes Prairie to view the super moon rise, which was indeed spectacular. (And yes, this was the actual color.) As it turned out, many others had the same idea, and the highway was lined with cars.

Full Moon at Perigee

The colors are changing and the shape appears less flattened as the moon rises and the sky darkens.

Dreaming of the World

Atelier Ten Tails Dreaming
(Click image to view full size.)

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

(George Santayana)

Digitally edited photo of the gable of Atelier Ten Tails in Cedar Key, Florida.

Chicago Sunset

Chicago Looking Northwest from Cenacle

Sunset looking north from the roof of the Cenacle Retreat House in Chicago -- looking away from the skyline. I have always wondered if the intense colors of the Chicago sunsets are due to pollution in the air. In any case, they are splendid and worth the chill of the rooftop.

Who Are You, O Mystery of Mysteries?

"We are within the mystery past all grasp, which God is..." (Karl Rahner)

(View Cybernun's latest video, which combines poetry, animation, photography, and video clips.)

Full Moon Through Trees

Full Moon Through Trees and Spanish Moss
(Click on photo to view full size, which shows more detail and with more clarity.)

This is a composite photo made with a little help from NASA and Photoshop. It captures, however, the eerie quality in our yard when the full moon shines through the heavy tree-cover.

Oil Spill

Pensacola Beach Before Gulf Oil Spill
Pensacola Beach with its sugar-white sand and turquoise water

The following is a brief letter I sent to the President of the United States:

Dear Mr. President:

Human life – indeed all life on earth – is dependent on the health of our oceans. While it is true that the best and latest technology can reduce the dangers involved in off-shore drilling, it is also true that no technology is fail-safe. Besides that, we can never eliminate the risk of human error, human greed, or simple human sinfulness in any venture, especially one in which huge amounts of money are at stake.

Please… no more off-shore drilling for oil. The risks to all of us are just too great.

Yours truly...

In Memory

During Memorial Day weekend, small tombstone-shaped markers line 8th Avenue in Gainesville, Florida, in remembrance of our soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each year there are more, until this year they not only stretch for more than a mile, but are now on both sides of the street.

May they rest in peace, and may God have mercy on us all.

God Loves Everyone

This photo was taken at a rally held in response to local demonstrations by members of an out-of-town church who seem to believe that God hates nearly everyone except themselves. This "Christian" church even tries to explain away John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

Participants in the rally proclaimed the truth of God's love for the whole world.

In Your Easter Bonnet

African Crowned Crane at Silver Springs
(Click on image to view full-sized.)

Human finery has nothing to compare with the variety and flamboyance of nature.