Dancing Sunset

Dancing Sunset, Tel Aviv, Israel, February 2013, Nikon D600 with FX 28-300mm VR lens, 
300mm, 1/30 sec @ f13, ISO 1000, -0.3 EV, no flash © Steven Crisp  [Click on the photo to enlarge]

I'm not sure if you can easily see it in the photo, but look closely where the waves are crashing on the rocks, and you'll see the sunset dancing in the wave spray.  Cool.

But really I just wanted to use this photo to segue into this cool video I received a while ago of a sun that is truly dancing.  Now this is some amazing photography.  Note that this 17 second movie actually represents 4 hours of time-lapsed photography of this coronal mass ejection.

Day 17: Mediterranean Sunset

Mediterranean Sunset, USS Ramage, somewhere in the Mediterranean, April 2010,

Nikon D5000, 35mm focal length equiv. 33mm, exposure 1/320 sec @ f9, ISO 200, no flash, exposure bias -0.33,

 © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

One can see a beautiful sunset, such as this one above, and be mesmerized by it ... lost in the moment, the eternity, the instant.

Just seeing the image of it once again, I am transported back to that day.  Chiseled into my otherwise fragile memory banks, I sense the smell of the sea, the sounds of powerful diesel engines, the low vibration from the deck steel.

And I reflect ... what of it, this beautiful life?

You are cloud, sea, forgetting; 

you are also what you lost in a moment-- 

we are all those who have left. 

The reflection of our face in the mirror 

changes each instant 

and every day has its own labyrinth. 

The cloud vanishing in the sunset 

is our image; endlessly, 

a rose becomes another rose. 

-- Jorge Luis Borges 

• Donation:  Boy Scouts of America -- Daniel Webster Council (why I spent my scouting days)
• Exercise:  Ran along Tel Aviv boardwalk (4.25 miles, 40 mins), with some work colleagues, and added some strides at the end based on a recommendation from a running buddy.

Day 1: Happy New Year 2011

Sunset in the Holy Land, St. Peter's Church, Jaffa, Israel, February 2009,

Canon PowerShot SD870 IS, Focal length 7.56mm, Exposure 1/8 sec @ f3.5, ISO 200, no flash,

© Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Happy New Year everyone.  Did you celebrate?  Get to kiss someone?  Make any resolutions?

Here are my answers:  Not so much.  Yes, my lovely wife, Carol.  You betcha!

We stayed home, which for us is over here in Böblingen, Germany.  New Year's Eve in Germany (as in many places around the world) is celebrated with fireworks at midnight.  And our dog Frito is not a big fan of fireworks.  He shakes like a leaf when they go off.  

So we watched some TV, to drown out the sounds.  And covered him with blankets and kept him in between us on the sofa.  He did fine.

So what about my resolutions?  Well, here they are:

1.  Post a picture of beauty every day (right here, on this blog).

2.  Give something away every day (e.g., a donation, or to someone in need, or an unused item).

3.  Do some physical exercise every day (at least 15 minutes long).

And for the first item, at least, you can help keep me honest.  Or at least, check back and see what kind of pictures get posted.  In many cases, it just might be a picture without all this writing to slow you down ;-)

Well, let's see how it goes.  Here's wishing you the best in 2011.

• Donation:  to Vegan Outreach
• Exercise:  Running 11.11 miles (120 mins) (see next post for details)

Looking For Your Face

Sunrise, Sunset, Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii, February 2002, Sony Cybershot, Exposure 1/500 sec @ f5.0, ISO 400, no flash © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Looking For Your Face

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it.

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for.

Today I have found you
and those that laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.

-- Rumi --

Sunset upon clouds

Sunset Upon Clouds, Nolin Lake State Park, Kentucky, June 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 18mm, Exposure 1/160 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, exposure bias -1.67 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Ah, there is that sunset again. And this time it's igniting those beautiful clouds in the foreground.

Trace back those rays, and perhaps you can see the cauldron of creation itself.

Squint your eyes in the brightness, and see the cloud tips being dabbed with light, and ripples being painted upon the lake.

Is there anything to do but smile? Surely such a scene will lift any spirit:

Sometimes I go about pitying myself
And all the while
I am being carried across the sky
By beautiful clouds.

-- Ojibway Indian Poem

Desperately Seeking Sunsets

Scorched Sky, Cedar Pass, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 120mm, Exposure 1/200 sec @ f5.6, ISO 200, exposure bias -3.00 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

So where do you go to find your sunsets? Are they just outside your kitchen window? Perhaps a few steps outside your back door? You are lucky indeed when that occurs, but what about some exploration?

Why not venture out? Follow that trail that leads to who-knows-where? Go somewhere you’ve never been before.

Watch the sun as it looms low on the horizon. Playing with the sky; dancing with the clouds. See how the canvas is brushed over and over, as if by an artist in search of that perfect color.

Be prepared, but do take the risk. After all, the sun is setting, and soon it will be dark. And you still have to find your way back home.

Vanishing Sun, Castle Trail, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 62mm, Exposure 1/1000 sec @ f8.0, ISO 200, exposure bias -3.67 stops, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

But oh, that luscious twilight. The hour or two after the sun dips below the mountain peaks. What a glorious time.

Watch the mountain bluebirds as they take flight, as if to celebrate the dusk. Enjoy the pronghorn deer as they stroll and graze into the setting sun. Listen to the spring peepers as they revel in the cool, moist fading light. A communion, as it were.

Life itself is being created. Right here, right now. Keep your eyes and your ears open; better still, keep your mind and your heart wide open.

And may you glimpse a beautiful sunset, every time the spirit moves you.