“Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” — Matt Hardy

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week, it helps keep me inspired.

Sunday, 03/09/2025: Posted photo — First Sunday of Lent.

Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is the time of year when we prepare for Easter, the holiest day in the Liturgical Year.

Lent is not only giving up chocolates or drinking or smoking, etc. but also doing a little extra for others. If you go to church and listen to the readings, they teach you to give up prejudice towards others. In this day, many of us are prejudice towards people unlike us, immigrants from other countries, people with different color skin or different social and political views. Jesus teaches up to get along with each other and respect others.

Some people forget this. Some people are very prejudice to immigrants and other. Remember what Jesus said — love one another as I have loved you. If you see yourself as being religious, you should follow his words and not those of false prophets.

Monday, 03/10/2025: Posted photo — Sunset.

This is the first sunset of the year from the summit. With the time change, my group was able to get to the summit in time for sunset.

The trails were very tricky tonight. With the warm temperatures, the trails were muddy, and the snow and ice patches were unstable. I started out without my microspikes but put them on shortly after the hike started.

My hike last Saturday was on Mount Chocorua in the White Mountain National Forest. The summit on Saturday had gusts of over 50 mph with temperatures in the high signal digits (F). We had to brace ourselves so that we did not blow off the mountain.

Two different mountains, two different locations, two different experiences.

Tuesday, 03/11/2025: Posted photo — Sunset Sky.

What a wonderful view from the summit. This looks like the last good night this week. I am hoping that the clouds hold off for Thursday night / Friday morning so that I can get at least one photo of the total lunar eclipse.

Wednesday, 03/12/2025: Posted photo — Lunch Time.

We were sitting down for lunch last Sunday and saw this squirrel sitting on the rail eating acorns. It was posing for me, so I took its photo. I kept waiting for it to run away but sat there for about 10 minutes.

Thursday, 03/13/2025: Posted photo — Roses.

Quick photo for today. Took a photo of some roses. I need to go to sleep to check out the eclipse tonight.

Friday, 03/14/2025: Post photo — Lunar Eclipse.

Will the clouds hold out? Will the moon clear the trees in our yard so that I do not have to drive to a location to take photos at 2 in the morning? No and Yes. We had partly cloudy skies tonight making it extremely difficult to focus on the moon. I would normally go out before the eclipse starts to focus on the full moon because I know that once the eclipse starts, it would be difficult to focus. I went out and it was difficult to focus on the moon due to the thin layer of clouds. The moon was in and out of the clouds, so I had to guess on the focus. With my lens, any bit of wind makes the photo out of focus.

I set my alarm for 1:45 in the morning so that I could check to see if the clouds covered the moon. I was able to see the moon through some breaks in the clouds, so I put on warm clothes and went to my side yard to take photos. The moon moves very fast, and I needed to set my exposure for over 2 seconds, something I do not like to do for moon photos. You can see in this photo that there is a star next to the moon that shows signs of motion blur.

Here are two total lunar eclipse photos taken 10 years apart. I did the best I could to save the photo from this year. The direction of the shadow is very evident in these photos. Enjoy.

Saturday, 03/15/2025: Post photo — Eggs.

Eggs. Have you seen the price of eggs go down? I have just seen the price skyrocket.

The topic of the week for one of my photo projects is eggs. I needed to go out and purchase eggs so that my wife could bake a birthday cake. I have seen the price as high as $8 for a dozen. I have seen a package of 24 for almost $30. My neighbor sells them at a much lower price. When you purchase eggs in the store, you do not know how old they are. There is a date on the carton but I like them fresh.

That is all for now. Until next week, be safe.

“Sumens imagines consolatur et inspirat me.”