Nature Photography Archives - Page 87 of 116 -

Water & Light

By Simone Lipscomb | March 4, 2015

Translating nature’s beauty is why I do what I do. The reason I do this is two fold. First, it is what makes my heart sing. Second, if I can help others see the beauty of nature perhaps it will inspire them be good stewards of our water planet.

The recent scattering of manatees from the warm water springs has given me an opportunity to capture the beauty of their watery home. I have paid closer attention to the subtle beauty of the underwater world of fresh water springs.

Previously, through cave diving, I’ve been into the earth and felt the strength of springs as they push the life-blood of the planet through limestone; however, I’ve never taken the time to explore the open water around the springs. The past two days have given me the opportunity to explore little ‘caverns’ of dark roots and the secrets they have shared touch my life gently. It’s as though the beauty here is shy, bashful. Manatees are the rock stars yet surrounding them is an amazing wonderland.

Perhaps when we are open, we find bliss in other ways than those expected. Communing with tiny fish hiding among roots created joy within me. As I floated perfectly still on the surface, camera extended in front of me, fish came over to say hello in their fishy way. Gaining the trust of wild animals, whether manatees or fish, creates such peace within me.

Instead of feeling disappointed by not seeing manatees, I feel profound peace. They are out feeding after a long, cold winter. I am exploring realms of water and light. There is something to be said for simply going with the flow and allowing the day to bring beauty.

Open mind. Open heart. Bliss.

Roots & Light

By Simone Lipscomb | March 4, 2015

The manatees have left ‘the building.’ Warm weather has given my marine mammal friends an opportunity to forage for food after resting and gathering in the warm springs during the long period of cold weather. I am so happy they are able to get out and eat…finally.

The first trip out this morning presented not one opportunity to swim with a manatee. My first time ever that has happened. When the boat docked after three hours of looking near and far for those beautiful creatures, I drove over to Hunter Spring and went snorkeling with my new camera housing and found myself completely in awe of it and how it gives me the ability to be creative underwater. After about half and hour in the water I was thrilled that I had invested the money in the new gear to house my Nikon D800.

Second trip out found me in Three Sister’s Springs. They have closed two large areas of the springs for manatees but there were none there so a volunteer paddled over and said it was okay to swim back into my favorite section of the springs. They call her the ‘ugly’ sister but she is magnificent.

It’s an area that is dark and full of twisted roots so many people dislike her but that particular spring is nature’s beauty at its rawest and most stunning. Textures, shapes, nooks, crannies are found there and today light beams made this a very magical place.

As I was adjusting the f-stop and shutter speed and glancing in the viewfinder I thought, these are some of the best photographs I’ve ever taken. The light coming through the twisty dark places made for rare beauty.

Our lives can be this beautiful as we allow light and love to shine in those dark inner places. It’s time we stop feeling bad about past mistakes and old behaviors and learn that we, like the tree roots, can drink from clear fountains of light that are always available.

When manatees are in the springs I’m focused on them so I am happy to have had an opportunity to embrace the beauty of the ‘ugly’ sister and to share her beauty with the world. And to receive the lesson she shared. Light, love makes everything beautiful.

Messages

By Simone Lipscomb | February 25, 2015

For several days there has been a gathering of vultures just outside my courtyard. Perched in live oak trees, these mysterious birds have surrounded my home. The dog that lives down the street has come up and barked at them for hours each day which has created a bit of an annoyance. Today I realized that he was simply helping me pay attention.

As I was writing yesterday afternoon, I had a vulture fly past my upstairs window and decided I had overlooked their message long enough. When I started reading the native symbology of them it was clear that I really needed to listen to the wisdom being presented.

In Egyptian mythology, the goddess Maat carried the feature of a vulture. She was considered to be the Goddess of Truth. Yesterday I was asked to remove a Facebook post. This might have been an innocent request but it felt energetically as if someone was trying to silence me and the truth…a simple explanation of a story as it was told to me. It created a fiery reaction that caused blocked energy within me to burst free. So I’m grateful for the reminder to always speak my truth and release any attachment to how others receive what I write.

Vulture is said to restore harmony to that which is broken and serves to help keep the environment clean and in balance. This is the essence of the work I feel called to do. Our planet is abused and life upon it disrespected. It is my intense hope that my photographs and writing will help, in some way, restore the sacred balance and create harmony.

Another symbolic meaning of vulture energy is that it facilitates a return to the self. Isn’t that what we’re all trying to do? Return to our deepest, truest self? Eventually….hopefully.

Lastly, vulture energy helps decide whether or not something doesn’t smell right in my life. This reminds me to pay attention to people, places and directions that don’t feel right and act accordingly.

As I walked in the cool misty air this morning I thought how cool it would be to have a vulture feather as a reminder of living my Truth. Shortly thereafter I found a small one. But before my walk was over I found three large wing feathers and another small one. I received four times what I had asked for and am grateful for the bounty.

It is my belief that if we stick to our Path, the work we feel called to do, the return will be beyond our wildest dreams. And this reminds me of the parable of the talents found in Matthew. My hair stylist reminded me of this story yesterday morning. Three men are given money (talents) and their master departs. Two of them invest, take risks and generate more money. The third buries his to protect it. When the master returns the one who played it safe by hiding his money is rebuked. He didn’t use what he was given to multiply his talents.

“I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money. But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant….”To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25.

Over the past few weeks I have experienced fear of investing more money into my work yet moved forward anyway. With what I have been given, I chose to invest in the Path laid before me…in what I consider the work of my heart. The story brought tears as Laramie recounted it.

Yesterday I thanked Laramie for sharing the story that helped me relax and trust on a deeper level. Today I thanked the vultures who have brought much-needed awareness into my life. I thanked Freddy Wayne for his incessant barking that caused me to notice the vultures and I thanked nature for supporting me, loving me and bringing messages when I most need them. And to Spirit who somehow brings it all through to a sometimes fearful soul…you know, I’m your gal.

Moods of the Gulf

By Simone Lipscomb | February 23, 2015

*Gulf of Mexico iPhone photograph feb 22, 2015*

Warm morning temperatures called me to the Gulf yesterday and within a few minutes of checking the ambient temperature–63 degrees–my feet were splashing through chilly water. I didn’t take my camera so I could simply lose myself in the wild beauty but sometimes an iPhone gets the idea across when it’s just too beautiful not to take a photograph.

*Sunset Gulf Shores, Alabama 2014 with iPhone*

I grew up on the Alabama Gulf Coast and loved it but moved away at various times of my life. The latest time living away from the beach was a span of almost 20 years. While I loved the mountains of North Carolina, I am most happy here, where my blood resonates with the salt of the sea…or maybe Bonaire which is my home away from home. I’ve been back home almost three years…is that POSSIBLE? It’s a great place to live but don’t tell anybody!

The Gulf of Mexico is a wild body of water that can appear soft and gentle as well as wild in a crazed frenzy. Whatever the mood, I love this beautiful body of water that is part of the One Ocean and am happy that I can have my toes in wet sand with just a short drive.

The mountains are still dear to me and are a refuge for me, but the open horizon of the Gulf of Mexico and the system of waterways connected with it are magic for my wild self.

*Pre-dawn moments Gulf State Park Pier Autumn 2014*

5 O’s, FedEx and Technical Gadgetry

By Simone Lipscomb | February 19, 2015

When my morning Scrabble game took a turn for the worst I should have paid more attention. It was as if my iPad had turned into a Ouija board spelling out the potential for the day’s happenings. And yes…the device won…THAT game.

After Scrabble and a crossword puzzle with my cup of tea, I headed upstairs for my workout. It was great and the meditation that followed was very good. Nice breakfast, clean-up and then shower. I thought I would have time before FedEx arrived with my package from Canada (that I would have to sign for). I was doubly excited because yesterday I averted a hold-up in US Customs with some email/scanner/PDF technical savvy. My Aquatica underwater housing was coming…today!

After preparing myself for the day with actual clothes (instead of Yoga pants…you know one state senator wants to outlaw them in public somewhere) I felt pretty good. Jeans, Smartwool base layer and a hoodie. I was dressed up for the day. I waltzed out and glanced at the front French door. DANG!!!! A notice from FedEx was taped to it. SERIOUSLY! Ten minutes and they came! I may have screamed a few obscenities. The cats scrambled out of the room.

I snatched the notice off the glass and glanced at it. Dang it! Another day waiting at the house tomorrow…or drive to Mobile and pick it up after 6pm. Then a little voice inside my head said, Look at the time…only five minutes have passed. Go catch him!

I grabbed keys and shoes and purse and headed to the car. We’ve had gate issues in our community with the exit gate not opening for people with an exit code (instead of a remote) and I hoped the FedEx guy was caught at the gate. Alas, the entry gate, which has been melting down recently and opening whenever it wants to and staying open, was open. AH!!!

So I zoomed to US Highway 98 and stopped. Which way? I heard a distinct, right. So off I went and within a quarter mile the FedEx Express van was pulling onto the highway from a delivery up a wooded driveway. I sort of floored my Volvo and got close enough to see where his next turn was and followed him through a neighborhood.

Thankfully I had grabbed the notice and started waving it as I exited my car. I smiled and laughed so he wouldn’t think I was a crazed stalker and he laughed and knew my street because it was the only notice he had left. He thought it was sort of amazing I had tracked him down. I thanked my guardian angel.

I got back home, apologized to my cats and began opening the boxes. It looked harmless at first. One big box and lots of beautiful white boxes tucked inside it. I even took a photo with two ocean books I’ve been reading lately. Ah, this was my next step into Ocean love.

Disclaimer: My brain is wired for right-brained activity. Absolutely no doubt. I used to go out and photograph with my friend Jen who was a mechanical engineer. She read the Nikon manual and when we shot together she would summarize cool things she had learned. I learn from doing..seeing…feeling how something works, not from reading technical manuals.

And the underwater housing for a big camera? It’s a technical piece of dive equipment really. As a cave diver, our gear is sort of technical…well…not really. For sidemount it’s just a special harness, two steel tanks, two regulators, two computers I wear on my wrists…some reels. And lots of training. But this housing for my Nikon…my brain started to balk. I could see myself back-pedaling…no no no no no!! Too complicated. UGH! At one point I felt an aversion to all of the gear I had just received. My brain was overloaded.

I have always wanted to improve my underwater photography by taking a really awesome camera down with me instead of the point-and-shoots with housings…but the expense was my excuse. Today I learned the thing that held me back all these years was not expense. It was fear. Fear of complications, fear of flooding my camera, fear of feeling like I was starting over with photography and diving as this is no small rig. Fear of losing my love of diving because of how much I have to remember to make sure everything is in place. Fear of getting out of my comfort zone.

This housing is forcing me to take my work seriously. (Pause for effect). I realize I like to play underwater and enjoy the beauty and float along communing with my sea creature friends. And that’s fine and good and it inspires me to write. But it isn’t accomplishing what I want to do with my art, my work. I see things underwater that my point-and-shoot cameras and housings could never capture. The only way to do it is to make the leap to new gear, new learning.

Lately I’ve felt a really big push to get on with the work. I even told a couple of friends last week that I must have gotten too comfortable and was getting kicked to the edge of the cliff. It’s like my Higher Self pushing me to the edge and then smiling as a spiritual foot plants in my backside and I leap. We never go forward if we stay comfortable…do we?

If the payoff is equal to the confusion, frustration and discomfort I’m overcoming, expectations are high to make huge leaps in the work of loving the Ocean, documenting its beauty and sharing with others. This is a big girl’s toy. And there’s no question of whether or not I’ll learn to use it…it’s coming. I will not let fear keep me from my soul’s work.

Just today I progressed from confusion over bits and pieces of gear scattered on my kitchen bar–as captured by a confused look when I accidentally triggered the shutter–to taking photos of a curious ‘catfish.’

Who knows, tomorrow I might even fill the garden tub and test the housing (without the camera). But…the strobes are coming tomorrow and I expect I’ll be reading more technical manuals and trying to stay untangled from the long arms of the strobes.

When I look at pages filled with tiny lines pointing at hard-to-see-diagram bits, I feel overwhelmed. But when I take it one step at a time and follow the directions, it comes together. It works. And I think that’s true about life. It can be overwhelming if we look at everything that’s going on but if we take it piece-by-piece then it becomes more manageable. We can see the small progression of successes.