I think we must all be a little sadder today. I will never understand how someone can take it upon themselves to extinguish the life of another, much less in the numbers that were lost early this morning in Orlando. I don’t want to discuss religion or politics over this catastrophe. Whatever people say regarding the cause and possible solution, there is no true answer. We appear to be in a species death spiral as these tragedies continue from day to day. There are so many good people in this world, but the few evil ones seem to be able to do their abominations at an ever increasing pace and at a level that defies our imagination.
I made this image this morning with no idea of what had transpired hours earlier. It isn’t symbolic or imagined to somehow make people feel better. But it is a brief moment of beauty.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Thank you for this, Steve. We will not allow evil to cow us, and the beauty you share helps strengthen our resolve.
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I agree with you. It is such a horrific thing. No words can express my feelings adequately. Thank you for the beautiful picture.
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Thank you Steve, for your thoughts & thank you for the beauty that you, so generously provide on a daily basis.
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My thoughts are the same as yours. It defies any explanation. Pure evil and it is, as you’ve written going on every day all over the world.
The photo of the Grass Pink is exquisite.
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I once read an essay, I think it’s title was ‘10,000 Acts of Kindness’, which talked about how we must stop and remember how overwhelmingly good we are (as a species, I suppose) … and how a very, very, few of us, in the very briefest moments of evil can overshadow all that is good that there among us, collectively. I believe that good can prevail. One must hope that that is true. Thanks for the beautiful image. How do you maintain such good depth at such a high reduction ratio? I find that my very close shots, nearly 1:1, have very, very little depth (example, the Ghost Pipe). How can I increase that even a few millimeters? Flash? Better lens (I’m using Nikon’s 105 micro which is, I think, pretty good).
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It is surprising, maybe not, that we are so easily overtaken by evil and allow it to overshadow the good. But it does seem to be human nature. If one has a great day except for a few moments, it is those bad times that stand out.
As a Canon shooter, I cannot express an opinion about your lens except to say that Nikon makes a fine product. I have a friend who shoots Nikon and we never had a debate as to whether that or Canon was better. The proof is in the print and one cannot name a brand of equipment by looking at a print. So I would say that your lens is excellent.
I do 99% of my close-up photography with my 180 macro. That allows me to focus from a greater distance and, while longer glass does compress, I am able to have a bit better DOF. I shot this at f/8 and used my focus preview button and the Live View screen to see where the focus dropped off and adjusted accordingly. Using those two in tandem really allows for more control.
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Maybe I’ve got to get one of those dark, fabric, covers that folks using view cameras used to use in the old days. I find is quite difficult to visualize my imagine in Live View and even more difficult to see the focus point by enlarging things on screen. There’s too much ambient light to allow easy viewing. Perhaps I am getting a mistaken impression that your DOF is quite large when it might be, in fact, only a few millimeters. It’s just that so many of your close shots look so tack sharp that I just assumed there was something fancy going on.
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I do carry a piece of black velvet that is large enough to drape over the camera, my head and down to my shoulders…it does a good job although a little difficult in the wind. But I only use that when the bright sun interferes with the screen. Otherwise I have no trouble composing with Live View. That said, draping the cloth really does allow a nice view of what’s in the frame.
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My sentiments too… . and a lovely image.
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Thanks, willo.
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An important study in New Zealand called the Dunedin Study looks for answers and has found some ……http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201802439/richie-poulton-40-years-of-dunedin-health-and-development but even with all the research in the world tragedies will still occur. Your image today is especially beautiful.
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I have a great respect for science, but I am afraid that all the understanding in the world can’t explain the evil that occurs by the hand of humans. We can understand how a person can be upset, but I don’t see any explanation for someone deciding to destroy the lives of people with whom he or she has a disagreement.
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While I was off in the hill country, I was by choice and circumstance without internet, television, and so on.It wasn’t until I decided to check the weather on tv before heading home that we discovered what had happened. It was a strange experience to have such events swirling around, and to have been unaware of them. It reminded me of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. I was in Louisiana when it happened, and knew nothing of it until I was back in Houston.
I keep feeling as though there’s something important about those two experiences, but I can’t tell you what it is. It’s going to take some time, and some pondering. It has less to do with the mysterious forces that bring a person to evil, or a chain of circumstances to an awful end, than with our response. I’ll keep pondering.
in the meantime, your photo’s beautiful. It reminds me of the meadow pinks and mountain pinks I’ve seen so often this year. I’m hoping, when I get to the photos I brought back, that I have at least one or two good ones of the mountain pinks.
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I’ll be looking forward to your pictures of the pinks, Linda.
I had a similar experience on September 11, 2001. We were in Acadia N.P. and not watching TV or reading papers. Although I wasn’t as cut off as you were, we didn’t hear about the attack until later in the day. I overheard a man on top of Cadillac Mountain saying something about Pearl Harbor but didn’t pay much mind. Later that Night I stopped in a general store with the TV on and saw the plane one of the towers collapsing. I believe I said the more complete version of WTF!
I’ve a few comments about responses, but most are out of frustration and disappointment with our elected leaders. I’ve been grousing about finger pointing rather than problem solving. Too much of the former and not enough of the latter. There’s more regarding influence, but that’s enough of that.
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