The Edge Of Destiny

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Where Dreams Awaken” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Standing on the edge of reality one realizes the the junction of what is and what may be. There is that place where hopes and dreams intersects with strength of will and determinations.  We forge our destiny like steel by tempering our failures into victory.  Steel is heated,  folded and hammered over and over again until all the impurities are brought to the top and removed.  The steel is then shaped to its given purpose and a balance is struck between hardness and flexibility.  Only after being shaped and tested is it polished and given it’s final edge. 

Achieving a goal is the same. We are put through the fire and hammered over and over again to bring out our faults and weaknesses so that they can be removed.  We’ll be tested over and over again and tempered by the master maker until we have the right mix of hardness and flexibility to meet our purpose.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

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If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤



Stepping Stones

Hello friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Stepping Stones” and is available for purchase by the instructions at the bottom of the article.

With the lake at winter pool the lake bed is exposed tempting the curious soul to walk in places that are normally the domain of turtles. The surface of the mud is deceptive. It looks dry and cracked but one step in the wrong place and you’ll sink into mire up to your knees.

However,  if a person is determined they gather large slabs of the local stone and create a solid path out to center.  Which seems to be exactly what someone has done.  I can tell by the displacement of mud that each stone was dropped from about waist high and a few of them sank fairly deep but the pathway seems to have been serviceable. I imagine that the person who built it stood on the previous stone when they laid the next one.

My take away from seeing the line of stones leading out to McKee’s Creek on the bottom of the lake was that sometimes if it seems that there is no way that with a little effort and creative problem solving we can get to where we need to be.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simplymessage me on Facebookoruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page! ❤

Learning To Fly

Hello friends!Tonight’s feature image is titled “Fire Cloud 101008” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Once upon a time a young boy stood on top of a windy ridge and opened his jacket. He placed his hands firmly into the pockets and held the jacket out as tightly as his little arms could muster. He was convinced that he could become a living kite. He didn’t fly of course. Even if he jumped as high as he could the wind simply refused to carry him.

I suppose that I’ve been obsessed with flight ever since I can remember. I tried everything that my imagination could conceive. I would run down the hallway as fast as I could and launch myself into the air Superman style arching my back in order to create more lift. I was less than ten years old and every time that we had library days at school I would look for books on airplanes. By the time I was leaping into my bed I already knew about the Bernoulli principle for lift and wing warping for steering. I didn’t really understand the mathematical formulas involved in the books but I figured I’d get the hang of it once airborne.

If you want to learn how to fly like a super hero you need to practice. At one point we had access to some old mattresses. We piled them up a few feet from the porch and would jump into them. Each jump was an effort to expiriment with a new flight technique. I even tried holding onto a couple of balloons. No dice. The mattress stack won again.

The next best thing to flying in the air is flying in water. I knew that because I saw astronauts on T.V. practice weightlessness in a pool. I didn’t have a pool but I did have a lake. There was a high embankment near the official swimming hole with more than enough room to get a run at the edge. I tried everything. The three step and leap into air, the dead run and leaping from a fishing pier. Finally out of desperation I stumbled upon the secret. The combination of a cape and goggles. The beach towel was about the right length so I tied the corners around my neck and lowered my goggles into place. I took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then a second breath without exhaling. I was inflating myself like a balloon. I backed up into the hot, sharp gravel of the parking lot and ignored the pain as I exploded forward. As I got the wind at the edge of the embankment I arched my back and felt gravity forget me. I was flying! In my initial excitement I lost concentration and gravity found me again but I know that for at least a half of a second I was flying not falling! Overjoyed with my success I giggled and lost the balloon effect. The splashdown not only dislodged my goggles but ripped my makeshift cape from my neck. Thankfully the water wasn’t too deep and after catching my breath I was able to retrieve the towel. Subsequent attempts to duplicate a split second of flight were unsuccessful and I knew it was because the cape got wet and heavy.

The real magic of childhood is not believing that impossible exists. As adults we accept that certain things cannot be accomplished and we give up rather than waste time. As a young boy I worked with what I had to achieve a goal and refused to give up because I believed in the dream. As an adult I know it takes a machine to get airborne but the point is that if a person wants to achieve a goal they’ll find a way to make it happen as long as they don’t know that it’s impossible. They will study and practice and improvise until it happens.

I hope you have enjoyed tonight’s semi-fictional story but more importantly I hope that you continue to work on making your dreams a reality. Even if it means buying an airline ticket and leaving the cape behind. It was only a few short years after leaping into Summersville Lake with a towel for a cape that I achieved my goal of flying by taking the yoke of a Cessna 152. A flight that actually passed over the spot that I used to leap from.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook

If you would like to Follow me on Facebook the web address is

https://www.facebook.com/aviewfromthelens/

If you’re enjoying my blog and don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website.

https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Click here to visithttps://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/

Did you know that I also do portraits by appointment? If you’re interested in a portrait session either message me on Facebook or Use the Contact form. The YouTube link below takes you one of my slideshows.

https://youtu.be/FDcrY6w8oY8

Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?

I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply message me on Facebook oruse the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Clicking on the photo takes you tohttps://www.zazzle.com/lloydslensphotos?rf=238248269630914251

Lastly, all of the photos and writings are my original work unless otherwise specified and are not to be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission from the photographer.

Thank you again for your support of my page!❤

Crossroads And Transition

Where do you go in your dreams? Are you at home or in some distant world that is alien to your waking self? Are you ever at a crossroads? I’ve read that dreaming about a bridge is symbolic of transition. Dreams about a crossroads is symbolic of making a decision. Do we take the iron ribbon that pulls us straight forward or travel up the mountain and find our way to the bridge? What if there’s a third choice? A pathway that’s not obvious. If you look closely at the road into the mountains there’s a sign that indicates it’s the wrong way. But the railway is built for travel by train and since I’m in the Big Blue Truck that route is also an invalid choice. But, just out of frame is another bridge.

The Low Road And The High Road

The real world likes to present us with false choices. We can see where we want to be but there seems to be no way to get there. It’s in these time that we need to step back and change our perspective. It’s very likely that the third option is just outside of our field of vision.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. I also want to invite you to Follow Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook. Recently, I’ve been made aware that many of my posts on Facebook are being buried in the feed. So, if you don’t want to miss a post then you can sign up for email alerts on my website at the bottom of theWelcome Page.

Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Crossroads In The Gorge” and is available for purchase by contacting me on Facebook or by using the Contact Form on my website. (Note, I do not share or sale contactinformation. EVER)

Tonight’s bonus Image is titled “The Low Road And The High Road ” and is also available for purchase.

4X6 is $5.00

5X7 is $10.00

8X10 is $15.00

Some cropping may be necessary for certain sizes.

I’m also available for portraits by appointment. Use the Contact Form or message me on Facebook for details.

Anything Is Possible

My West Virginia Mountains are home to some of our nation’s most creative problem solvers. The 3 rivers area of Gauley Bridge is no exception. In 1954 there were two problems. One, an old Greyhound bus that was no longer able to do bus stuff and a rock in the middle of the river with no fishing camp. Enter problem solver Walter “Bruiser” Cole. I have to admit that I never met this person and I have never been to his unique fishing camp which still looked like a Greyhound bus when I was a kid. I have never been able to figure out how he got it out onto the river either. But it’s been an icon of Gauley Bridge my whole life. I do remember talk in the 70s about the State trying to take his little camp away from him in a clean up effort. They called it junk! Such a unique and artful form of recycling and the State wanted it to go away.

In 2016 there was the worst flooding our area had seen in my lifetime. The News reporters call it the one thousand year flood. With all the damage to our entire state I thought for sure that it was the end of the bus on the the rock. But, on my next trip into town there was the little camp right there on the rock just like always. It kinda became a symbol of hope for me. If that camp could withstand the fury of both the State and nature in such an unlikely location then anything is possible as long as you’re anchored in the rock.

Today, the little camp has a new red,white and blue paint job and an extra room built on. From the front it doesn’t look as much like a Greyhound bus as it once did but the bus is still parked in the middle of the river.

Hello Friends and thank you for your support of my page. If you have enjoyed the photos or the writings please let me know by commenting and sharing my work on your social media. Please also consider following Lloyds Lens Photography on Facebook.

I haven’t chosen a title for tonight’s feature image but if you’re interested in purchasing a print please send me a PM on Facebook or use the Contact Form on my website with the size you want and the title of tonight’s post “Anything Is Possible”.