Lloyds Lens Photography – Page 5 – LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Holding My Peace

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Peace Like A River ” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

Ever since I was a kid people have advised me to “hold my peace”. It wasn’t until recently that I understood that this phrase didn’t necessarily mean shut up. Oh, I understand that’s what most people intend when they invoke the words but it means something different to me now. I hope that it’s going to mean something different for you too after this post. I realize that I have some readers that are not Christian. I can’t write this one from any other perspective. So, if you’re offended by Christianity then this post isn’t for you. You can skip this one. Unless of course, you’re tolerant enough to read it and try to gain something. I write a lot about peaceful moments and quiet time. The images that I share with you are normally places where I go to spend a few moments with Jesus Christ or in some cases something that makes me feel his presence in my life. It’s the things that “recharge my batteries”.

Christ is an endless supply of peace. We can be filled at any time. But the real challenge is staying full of peace in a world where your peace is under constant assault. I don’t have to provide examples, we all know where that stress comes from. Which brings me to my point. Being filled with peace and holding onto your peace might be two different things. Holding my peace now means something different to me. It means the ability to carry that peace throughout the day. I’m just as human as the next guy. There’s times when my peace battery is completely depleted. I’ve even gotten stressed out about being stressed out. The Apostle Paul said that he had to repent every day. But you know what? I’ve never really read where Jesus Christ refused to accept repentance. Don’t get me wrong, there will be a day when the age of grace closes and the day of vengeance will be at hand but not until after the rapture. Today we can simply come apart from the outside world and recharge as often as we need. And holding onto your peace gets easier with practice. Even if that means holding as long as you can and then running outside or into the next room to regain your grip on it. That grip will get stronger with exercise.

I hope you find this post and image to be an encouragement. Be blessed and have a great day.

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Was Spring Actually Early?

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Today’s Blessings” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the article.

On February 2nd Punxsutawney Phil promised an early Spring and was met with the cheers of a nation. I personally jumped for joy and halted my plans for groundhog stew. However, I may have been duped. We may have been duped. I have the sneaking suspension this devious rodent has no idea when Spring is coming. I can imagine this escapee from a Bill Murray film pacing inside his hole. “What am I going to tell them this time?” He asks himself. Finally he closes his eyes and spins the wheel at his desk. The needle lands on early Spring and the prediction is made. What brings me to think that we’re not having an early Spring? The Feature Image. This photo was taken on March 24 2019. It’s the little Bradford Pear in the parking lot of my day job. I have been watching it because I wanted to capture the first open bloom. One of the reasons that I do this is so I can track the metadata. The dates are important to me so that I can predict when the natural events in my area will give me a photo op. Photography is more than just documenting the way something looks. It’s about capturing the passage of time. So imagine how surprised I was to find out that this year’s bloom was about a week or so late!

Picture taken on March 16th 2018

As you can see in the photo above last year’s bloom was not only fully open on March 16th but also fully mature.

So what gives? Was it just the warmer weather last year? Well, yes and no. The warmer soil does have a little bit to do with it but short answer is that plants can see sunlight. (Sort of). It shouldn’t come as a shock that plants have photoreceptors. Chemical proteins that detect the presence of sunlight. They don’t really have a picture of the world like we do but they can tell what wavelengths of light that’s hitting their surface. Certain wavelengths trigger a response in the buds and they begin to grow and mature. The amount of light in combination with a wavelength just happens to coincide with the warmer weather. It all works together to get the timing right. But the original question remains. Was Spring early or late? In the grand scheme of things it was right on time. A few days in one direction or the other makes little difference. The real mystery is why the date that the wavelengths varies from one year to the next? Is the sun broken? No, the sun’s just fine. But it does experience it’s own weather and seasonal changes. That effects on what day the earth’s tilt, rotation and orbit brings us into alignment with those life sustaining rays. I’m sure that I’ve bypassed a lot of hard core science and complex calculations that would boggle the mind. When I think about all the factors that go into making the season change I began to appreciate the job that the poor Groundhog has. I don’t really blame him for resorting to random chance. And, I have those beautiful flowers to enjoy today. It would be a mistake to lose today’s joy by comparingit to yesterday’s happiness or tomorrow’s expectations.

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Every Frog Has His Day

Color Photography

Hello Friends! Tonight’s feature image is titled “Gray Monday” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

Rainy days and Mondays are not to be desired or so it’s been said. Admittedly, I would have rather spent the day sitting in the sunshine and enjoying the birds singing while watching the ferry diddles play in the trees. But even the rainy day has it’s own joy if you look hard enough. Just beyond the trees and down the hill a piece is a ditch where the water pools. This is the frogs gather and sing for a mate in wet weather. It occurs to me that for a frog rainy days are one of life’s true joys. If it’s a warm sunny day a frog has to stay close to water and in the shadows to keep from drying out. But if it’s a warm rain a frog gets to come out and play. He spends his whole day making up songs that express his appreciation of the clouds. I can picture the scene in my mind. Mr Frog jumps out of the water and gazes skyward. A frog’s smile might be hard to detect but promise you that it’s there. He wiggles his webbed toes in the fresh mud. Then he takes a breath so deep that he blows up like a green balloon. Then he lets out a song like no song has ever been sung before. For a frog it’s the best Monday ever! One for the books! As the rain continues to fall gently the birds gather in the thick evergreen trees and the ferry diddles go to their dens. Everyone sits quietly waiting for rain to stop as they listen to frogs make beautiful music. Eventually I move from the window to the awning on the back of building and listen myself. Suddenly the gray sky doesn’t seem so bad. Monday isn’t so tough when your world is full of music.

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Bright Days In Spring

Color Photography

Hello Friends!Tonight’s Feature Image is titled “Purity In Spring” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

The magnolia bloom continues open all along the Kanawha River. Some are past their prime already. They’ve been bruised by the recent rain and more is expected to arrive in the morning. But for a brief period when I needed it most the sky turned bright, the clouds rolled back a beauty returned to the gray world. The star magnolia was only the first to open. At this very moment the pink magnolia is beginning to catch up. The blooming seems to ripple out from Smithers. As I’ve travelled the Midland Trail between Gauley Bridge and Charleston I’ve seen the magnolia trees opening one by one. It’s almost like God set them up as dominoes so that we’d be able to enjoy them throughout the season. Not one little detail has been overlooked. The rain may be returning but for now I have delicate white flowers and and bright sky to enjoy.

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Winning The Day Regardless of the Score

black and white photography, Uncategorized

Hello friends! tonight’s feature image is titled “Anticipation” and is available for purchase by following the instructions at the bottom of the page.

They Tell me that it’s not really spring until there’s the crack of a bat. According to the MLB the opening day is May 28th 2019 which is actually early for Baseball but late for Spring. I have to be honest. I’m not a big fan of watching sports. What I am a big fan of is the bonding of attending the game. It’s not really something that I do often but When I do go I go for the whole experience. I don’t care about the score or the stats of the players. I like the smell of the popcorn or hotdogs and to listen to banter between the fans. I love to see the excitement in a child’s eyes when his team gets a home run.

I titled tonight’s featured image “Anticipation” because even though I’m not a big fan of watching sports I love to play. other than the occasional picnic i didn’t play much baseball but i did participate in other sports. I know what an athlete thinks about before the game. We work hard and train preparing for the big day. We want the crowd to go wild when we score. We have anticipation. We walk out onto the field on game day long before the crowd gets there & visualize these thing because we know that when the clock starts we will be in the zone. We hope & pray that our best is good enough 7 that when we fail the fans will show grace. Athletes thrive on the admiration of the crowd and losing that admiration is their worst nightmare. That shouldn’t be a big surprise because as humans we all thrive on the admiration of out peer group and we all fail. We hope and pray that those peers will show grace when we fail.

Its going to happen at some point in our lives. We’re all going to “strike out” or “drop the ball” or in the case of a racecar driver “crash and burn”. Failure is inevitable for all of us. we hope to find grace in the eyes of our friends not if but when it happens.

Imagine the ball player out on the field and all eyes are on him or her as the ball is dropped. when the game is a broadcast that error is exposed to everyone as the crowd hurls sneers and jeers. But what if the camera was on the crowd as someone dribbled hotdog sauce onto their shirt only to have the crowd respond with the same distaste?

I think the most awesome moment is sports history went down without the world even noticing. The game was in overtime and the batters were running out of gas. the pitch is given and the batter strikes out losing the game by one run. Amid the crowd’s disapproval I saw a small boy approach the rail. He couldn’t be older than six years. As the batter walked back to the dugout with his head low the boy reaches for him. I couldn’t hear the exchange but I didn’t have to hear it. Look on player face said it all as the child consoles the man. That grace in the eyes of a child told me that the payer won the game regardless of the score.

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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 or use the contact form on my website and tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.

Thank you again for your support of my page! 😊