I was exploring Dolphin Beach and deciding that I really was not interested in following a path into the interior. There is a cool cave a mile or so from the water but it is further down the coast. Several hundred years ago a group of settlers lived in that cave for two years while trying to figure out how to establish a colony.

It is so hot today. I can’t imagine how they did it. And as I walk down this deserted beach to the water’s edge I look up and for a second think that there are sharks in the water. There is not a sound as a large fin glides  near my feet. And the darkness around it seems odd in this brief moment. Is this a dream? Am I seeing a strange sea creature?
For a second I am aware that life is a dream and I fully experience our predicament. And then my rational being jumps into the fray and tells me “It’s a pod of dolphins and you can almost touch them”.

My camera is on a rock as the tide comes in and I take a few steps while frantically pulling it out of its protective bag. And then while forgetting any notion of planning a shot I start taking three photos per second trusting that some of them will actually capture a dolphin as it rises in a smooth and soundless arc out of the depths.
If I had been anywhere else on the beach I probably would have missed this and so I feel fortunate even though in a few seconds they are gone. Jeremy has taken a walk down the beach and later tells me about his experience.
“I was standing waist deep in water and thinking about nature and how beautiful it can be. I was really at peace with the world and when I looked up there were several dolphins swimming towards me.”

We will always remember these moments.  Such a beautiful dream.

I have been pretty sick this week with a cold. And the heat and humidity have not helped. I don’t know why a summer cold is the worst kind of cold. But it’s true.

Why is that?

So I was supposed to drive down to Virginia Beach Friday but canceled those plans. And then the AC died because a wire came loose and was chopped in half by the blade. Fortunately I had installed an extra window unit so that it is still cool in here.

What to do? Order stuff from Amazon.com! Feel better using your credit card! Yehhhhhh! I ordered a couple of books and the newest Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0. And then I ordered the detachable flash unit for the Nikon D70.

So I feel better. Recently I went to my other favorite place LLBean and bought what has to be the absolutely best shirts for this kind of weather. The material in this shirt is very, very thin and there  is a vent all across the back. There are also vents in the front inside both the pockets.

So I bought seven of them. One in each color. And they have saved me from even more extreme suffering this past week. Take a look at a great shirt.

Of course the other great thing about these shirts is the money back guarantee. If you are ever unhappy with this shirt they want it back. And I am not shy about taking them at their word.

So I need to go get a passport SOON. We are going to the Bahamas this summer and you need one these days to go anywhere.

What else? I miss my rum and cokes. Evita talked me into giving up the nightly drink or two. Her blog is very helpful reading and I enjoy the way she writes. It is called Evolving Wellness and it is in the blog roll here. Apparently my wellness has not evolved very far since I feel like such a piece of shin bone this week.

I should go back there right now and read some more!

Hey! It doesn’t cost anything! My credit card company may not appreciate that but there is someone in the next room who would be very impressed.

Hey Honey! Guess what I am doing! Cough…..

We are off in a few hours for the beach and on the way plan to stop at Colonial Williamsburg. It’s time to wave good-bye to the family and dogs and accelerate down the road.

We have been watching the HBO miniseries John Adams and are pretty impressed with the job they are doing to bring back earlier times in American history. Of course we are also on the lookout for my son Zachary who was in extra in the series which was made here in Richmond and in the surrounding area.

So it will be interesting to go down there and be immersed for a few hours in a different world. How did they manage without cell phones and computers? For that matter how did we manage without them when we were growing up?

The terrible state of the economy has finally intruded upon my consciousness. It has come up in conversations a few times and now it looks like the time has come to leave the stock market for awhile. If we had wise economic policies in the world these corrections would be so much easier to bear. But as things stand it looks to me like a major event is in the making.

And I really do hate standing in line. But if it comes down to that in order to get some milk or bread I guess it will have to be. I will just think about Colonial Williamsburg and be grateful we have a few things that they could not have imagined.

I guess. Hopefully.

So stay tuned for photos of something other than ducks or the James River. Grab a feed for adventures this summer in the Bahamas and other travel destinations. But for now our goal is to take photos of the cherry blossoms in DC and much else. It will be good. I promise.

Here’s the Slide Show from our trip to Williamsburg. 

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VIRGINIA BREEZE:  “David’s blog has some of the most beautiful and cherished poetry I’ve read in a long time. It has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. If you enjoy heartfelt honest sentiments that speak of the core issues of our lives then grab a cup of tea, slow down and read some of David’s poems. They are written by someone who feels deeply and has an open heart. You will go away feeling like you know him. They are easy to understand and are mated with beautiful photos. My post this month was inspired by David’s poetry. His writing sets me free and encourages me to be authentic. He also writes about a variety of topics I find interesting, warm, real (and sometimes funny).”

“A Nice Camera Can Change Your Life”

–David

Or, at least, a very nice camera can change your life. It changed mine. I won’t say it was a religious conversion or anything as dramatic as that. But taking photos has made my daily life much more interesting. I am never bored now and I used to find time to be bored. When you watch television a couple of hours every day it could be a sign that you are bored!

And I wasn’t that interested in going out either. Being in an interesting place like Virginia Beach or DC or even Disney World was not that fantastic an experience. I would become involved in watching people and seeing all the stuff that’s not so attractive about them. And then my feet and back would start to hurt too.

I was ready to go back to our home or the hotel and have a drink in short order. But taking photos changed that. Because I started looking for things that are beautiful instead of things that are ugly. I became enthusiastic about the search for the interesting and the artistic in nature or in the things man has created. I became very happy when I found it and ignored my physical discomfort. And I am sure my wife appreciated the new more happy, outgoing and energetic me!

I share this with you because I believe there are a lot of folks out there who could benefit from taking up photography. When we went up to DC recently I was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial and watching everyone taking photos of Abe. Ninety nine percent of them were using those little digital cameras that take about five seconds to capture a photo. Five seconds is an eternity to try and take a photo. People were moving in front of the photo taker. And I am sure the results were uniformly generic. Do you see what I mean? Did you ever want to take a photo that is unusual or original? Did you ever want to express the artistic side of your personality this way?

Try taking this photo with a small digital camera.

And then try taking it with a Nikon D70. You are standing on the beach just after sunrise. You have your camera in hand and your finger is on the button. As you watch the waves coming in a bird takes off behind you as you whirl, focus and shoot in less than a second. Because that is all the time you have and the camera is up to the job.

Here are a few photos I took when we were up in DC. Having a nice camera and a telephoto lens really makes things much nicer. Sure it can be expensive but not any more expensive than a new computer or a flat screen HDTV.

And it’s not just the taking of the photo. In these days its the editing with one of the many fine software programs that are available. You almost become a painter when you start working with the raw material of a new photo. But you need to start out with a great camera and probably a powerful lens or two in order to get that photo . Then you can capture what most are too busy to see with their own eyes and edit it until it is very clear. Finally you can share it with the world. And believe me people will thank you for it. Everyone wants to know that the world they live in still has beauty left in it.

Photography is an art form and you can become an artist. You don’t have to be an intellectual to be an artist. That was something that always put me off. Because I am not that smart. But I can practice taking photos by the hundreds and the thousands. And you know what? Some of them are going to turn out very well.

People have lots of nice things to say about them. And you can see them in my blogs and on Flickr and Picasa Web. But more importantly you can begin to see how someone with no experience or training like yourself perhaps can become a photographer and an artist.

You can create something that is beautiful and meaningful to thousands of people. You can share it in a blog just like this one. And you can become an artist and change your life.

My Photos here in Virginia Breeze

My Photoblog

My Photos on Flickr

My Photos on Picasa Web

I started taking photos in earnest about nine months ago. They have made my blogs much more entertaining according to my readers. And because I was learning to be creative I also started writing poetry. So one thing can lead to another and soon you will feel like you have done something that will be remembered twenty years down the road. You will be able to look back and see something about your life that was pretty nice. It will be much better than an old, musty diary. (There’s a reason people grab just average photos when their house is burning down).

But NOW in the present you will find out things about yourself and your world.

You will grow.

And you will discover the creative and energetic soul that is in there somewhere and hoping to come out and play!

Virginia Breeze is here to help you along this path. I’m not here to give you much technical knowledge about photography. But I can help you to see that you can do this too. You can take the photos and you can present them in a blog so that many readers will enjoy what you have done.

You can share your life in a way that is interesting and useful to your readers while it is fulfilling to you.

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Bahamas Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/29/bimini/

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Beach Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/10/22/sunrise-photo-virginia-beach/

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Bird Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/10/picture-of-big-old-owl/

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Butterfly Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/16/picture-of-butterfly/

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City of Richmond Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/10/18/something-new-richmond-building/

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Fall Foliage Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/11/24/finding-a-way-home/

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Family Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/12/11/i-bet-charlie-would-like-a-candy-cane/

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Flower Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/07/botanical-flower-photo-ginter-botanical-gardens-richmond/

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James River Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/12/01/river-breeze/

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Martha’s Vineyard Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/23/signs-of-marthas-vineyard/

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Mountains of Virginia

http://davidnotes.com/2007/11/13/this-is-why-they-are-the-blue-ridge-mountains/

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Park Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2008/01/06/waiting-for-someone-in-the-park/

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Sailboat Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/08/10/more-sailboats-at-marthas-vineyard-2/

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Snow Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2008/01/09/my-imaginary-winter/

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Surfing Photos

http://davidnotes.com/2007/09/30/well-balanced-surfer/

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University of Richmond

http://davidnotes.com/2007/09/08/the-university-of-richmond/

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Wildlife in Virginia

http://davidnotes.com/2007/09/23/my-favorite-commercial/

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