Monday, April 21, 2008

Becoming one with nature... the hard way!

A few weekends ago, Anna and I had our engagement photos done; please see her blog at CountingClare.Blogspot.com, for more engagement photos, and not so engagement photos. Anyway, we had them taken a nice little nature retreat in Chico called Mendocino.
It was a lovely wooded area that had a small river that ran through it, (no correlation to the movie). After we were done getting our photos taken, I decided to get out my own camera and take some nature shots. There were several foot paths, and groves of wooded trees. Some of my favorite shots can be found below.Water, even if it is moving fast, can be so pretty. There is a funny story that goes along with this picture. In the process of positioning myself so I could take a time lapse photo to smooth out the water, I slipped. Luckily I was on dry land using a telephoto lens when this happened; otherwise I would have been wet. Anyway; I was wearing flip flops, first mistake, and I slipped down the dirt embankment. What made the landing so intense was in the process of falling, I had a split second reality check... all of my camera equipment was on my back, and my camera was in my right hand... second mistake. I had a choice, either fall and try and stop myself, throwing the camera and landing on my bag or, save the camera and backpack, and use my elbow to absorb my body's weight as I impacted the ground. So not only did I sacrifice myself for the equipment, but I proceeded to take this shot after I fell, and was bleeding. What a trooper, the sacrifices I make for my hobby.Anna can be seen above ghost white after watching me fall. She carried the backpack after the fall... Believe it or not, she is not possing for this picture. The reason she is looking away is because my arm is dripping with blood and it crossed her out.Notice how peacfull it is here, the ducks are swimming peacfully, birds chirpping, happy couples walking hand in hand... then I enter the forest.See the happy couple of ducks seen above. The male is the one with a green head. Below are shots that I took as Anna and I walked further into the forest... avoiding all the people with their dogs.Overall, it was a pleasant day... minus the rude people with unleashed dogs, the mosquitoes, and my clumsy butt.

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