The Power of Nature

It's hard to believe that a little over one week ago we stood on an active volcano. Located in Sicily, Mt. Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe. We rode the gondola up on the south side, stood in the snow as the locals skied down the hill, and ogled the peak puffing away. We marveled, "We're on an active volcano!"

It was a beautiful day, as the blue skies attest (no color enhancement to these photos). It would be hard to believe that it could change in an instant, but you can't predict nature. On the north side of Etna you can see the most recent lava flows below the smoking peaks.

As I hear the reports and see the videos of the Japan earthquakes and tsunami, I am rendered speechless. In the face of nature's power, we are helpless. We are mere passengers on this ball of rock hurtling through space. The earth continues to re-shape itself as it will, regardless of how the humans on the surface try to monitor, predict or even control it. We easily forget that in our everyday lives.

My heart and support goes out to those struggling with the aftermath of this natural disaster in Japan.

Beads of Fog

What happens when it's cloudy and foggy on the mountaintop you visit? What happens when you look out and around and all you can see is a soft white? You start to notice the little details, close at hand. The way the fog beads up on the alpine grasses and flowers, like little crowns.
The softness of the light and the splashes of color of the wildflowers against the patina of the tundra.
The way the fog fades into the distance, providing a perfect backdrop to capture shining edges of nature's summer blanket in the Alps.

Who needs grand vistas, anyway?

(Photos from Eisel Peak on Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland.)

Beauty Shot

The Swiss Alps at sunset, a beautiful scene from the town of Interlaken. Here is a beauty shot of the Alps for you! We had a lot of overcast and rainy weather while we were in the mountainous part of Switzerland, which made for interesting cloud and fog photos, but not always those classic Swiss Alps shots that might be expected. That's ok with me, it just makes me get more creative with what I do capture, and also to appreciate the little bit of clear mountains we did get to see!

Farewall to the Alps

One last photo from Alpe di Siusi, before moving on to other subjects. Sun, snow, mountains, horses, what could be prettier? I'm not a huge horse fanatic, but could appreciate the beauty of these animals in the snow. So gorgeous.

I hope you enjoyed the brief visit this week to the Italian Alps!

Into the Distance

I love this image from Alpe di Siusi for the light, the shape and the hint of where it was taken in the distance. I have another version with much more in focus, but it doesn't have the "feel" that this one does. I thought about why not, and I think it's because this image isn't as obvious. It's not saying "See, look at me, I'm in the Alps!" Instead it says, "Hey look at me, I'm this fence in the snow. Look the snow is deep and it's a beautiful sunny day. Oh, and by the way, follow this fence out into the distance, there's a hint of something there, maybe some snow covered mountains. Don't you wonder where I am?" The secrets aren't all revealed at once, they invite the viewer in to share and speculate.

As I write this I am reminded of a great blog post by Jenny on RisingSunCoaching.com that I read this week. Our life journeys don't have everything laid out for us all the time. It's like this photograph, you have to discover things one piece (or "crumb" as she puts it) at a time.

Breathtaking Moments

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by its breathtaking moments."
- Michael Vance

This photo started out as a fun photo of Brandon in Alpe di Siusi, he had scrambled to the top of a big snow hill and stopped for a moment to celebrate being at the top before we moved on. The sky was blue, Brandon's smile is so natural, just caught a happy photo. But when I change it to black and white, it becomes more powerful. It becomes a breathtaking moment to me, a photo essay on the joy of being 8 years old, in an amazing place and feeling free to just be and experience something new.

For Brandon, I wish a lifetime full of breathtaking moments, and the wisdom to see them and truly enjoy them when they happen. We are living a lot of them right now!

Majestic Mountains

This is the view from the top of the Puflatsch/Bullaccia mountain in the Seiser Alm/Alpe di Siusi of the Dolomites. We went up the ski lift/gondola to this point so that Patrick and Brandon could ride down on sled run (check out a video of them here). Yes, a 2km sled run! It was so crazy fun, they did it twice while I stayed at the top and took some pictures of the gorgeous mountains and valley.

The Dolomites are the Austrian alps region of Italy... The primary language is German, the food is more German, and all of the signs are in both German and Italian. It's a measure of how far my Italian has come that I preferred speaking Italian over German. We enjoyed these amazing peaks and want to go back for more!

Sometimes it's just Pretty

That's what I think of this photo of Bellagio on Lake Como. Just pretty. Pretty day, pretty flowers, pretty mountains, pretty town. It's nice to just appreciate something pretty, so today here is my gift to you - this image!

There is a note on a 3x5 card on my magnet board I've had there for a while - "There is one action I can take for my creativity daily. What is it for today?" It's a reminder that even when life is overwhelming, work is totally busy, I'm not having a lot of personal time for stuff I would like to do... there is one thing I can do each day for my creativity. And if I do that one thing, however small, I remain more centered, happy and true to myself because expressing my creativity is something that is a need for me in my life.

What I've realized in the last few days is that this photo a day effort has become this "one thing" for me in a lot of ways. Every day, I'm picking out a photo and reflecting on it a bit. I enjoy that, because it's amazing what surprising things sometimes come out by just writing about an image. I get to share it with whoever reads this blog, which I enjoy as well. And it inspires me in other ways - to do a painting of an image that strikes me, to look for more pictures to share, to keep taking photos as we go on our adventures, to refine my eye as I progress in my photography.

So, thanks for being part of my little creative adventure here! I hope that you can also find one little thing today that inspires you.