The sky was singing

I was working very late last night.  I was overwhelmed by paperwork I'd been putting off and feeling rather frustrated by the whole mess.  I had the TV on and was half-watching Oprah when she announced The Canadian Tenors would be on her show.  They had no idea that they were going to be surprised by Celine Dion (whom they'd admired for years.)

Just watching this and listening to their beautiful vocals was everything I needed to end my day.  It was amazing how a great song could so quickly change my mood. (Their reaction to Celine was equally priceless.)  And it got me thinking about how a great image can do the same thing.  A great image should make you pause. 

I shot this image after a long day of meetings and various errands.  I was tired and my drive home was made even longer by slow traffic and rain showers.  As I neared my house, the clouds and the sky started to take on this beautiful hue.  For half a second I was tempted to just continue on home, I was so tired.  But the sky was SO incredibly striking and I had my camera with me, so I pulled into this park and started shooting.  Even after the sun went down, I just stood there amazed.   It was the same feeling after listening to this song.  I hope you'll pause a moment take this all in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tubL9EaiztM&feature=player_embedded

Song:  Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.  I first heard it by kd lang at the Winter Olympics and I was mesmerized.

Who says you can't have a second chance?

A few weeks ago I got a nice pic of a rainbow.  My biggest disappointment was that I didn't have my wide angle lens with me.  The rainbow was so big that I couldn't get it fully in the frame from my vantage point.  I knew I'd have to have just the right conditions to try and capture it again--late afternoon, showers coming in, and I'd have to be up on the hill with my camera ready--not an easy thing to plan since I don't generally have time to camp out and wait for rain.

So when showers started rolling in again, I made sure my camera was ready and that I had my wide angle lens on it.  Fortunately, I was at home when it started raining and could see the possibility for a good rainbow.  So I grabbed my camera and drove to this spot near my home.  I was rewarded with this insanely beautiful rainbow.  And this time I was ready!

Draw whatever conclusions you'd like, but there's a lot to the saying that "Success happens when preparation meets opportunity."  I thought it would be a long time before I'd have the opporunity for a shot like this again, but fortunately, I was ready for it to happen sooner than expected!

Are you ready?

Rain brings rainbows!

Last Wednesday was a very busy day for me.  I started out with a meeting in town in the morning, followed by another meeting and some errands.  By the time I was ready to head home, I was tired, hungry, and stuck in rush-hour traffic.  Off and on showers made the traffic even slower than normal.

Rather than do battle with traffic, I decided to stop and pick up a mock-chicken salad wrap from Down To Earth (if you've never tried it, you absolutely must!).  That perked me up and I didn't mind the slow drive home.

As I neared my house, I saw a beautiful rainbow forming overhead.  I drove to a good vantage point and pulled out my camera.   This was one of the hugest, most perfect rainbows I'd ever seen.  In fact, it was a double rainbow!!  It was so big I couldn't get all of it in the frame! (If I'd moved, there would've been a huge ugly fence in the picture.)  This is a shot looking from Makakilo towards Honolulu.

What can I say about rainbows.  They come out after the rain.  They make a brief, spectacular appearance.  You have to be quick to catch the moment.   But usually, things are always brighter after the rain.  Rainbows are proof of that.