Better use of our time and staying fit in the winter

Image taken with Nikkor 85mm @ f/2.0 1/60 second, ISO 800

Consider this suggestion!

Recently, I heard a great tip with multiple ways to stay in shape when there appears to be no time. I was listening to the podcast, 'Get it done ' and he had a guest speaker on that gave a few tips on staying in shape when no time is available. I suggest listening to the entire show for all the great tips but the two that I started doing last week and plan to do all winter are:

• Pushups every hour- Yes, those dreaded pushups from gym class are a great body toning tool and do help release some of the stress and fatigue associated to office work. The suggestion is that every hour you do 20 pushups and after the normal office day of 9 hours you will perform 180 pushups. You say, "I cannot do 20 pushups." OK, start with 10, 5, 1 per hour then each day build up to 20 or more. By the end of winter you will be fit and will have added a nice workout every day to your day without losing any time. I do mine using the 'perfect pushup' device and I get a nice workout daily.
Perfect Pushup - Original
• Cardiac exercise via the steps in your office building. Multiple times per day go for a walk up and down the stairs in your office building. The office I work in has four floors and the steps are not far from my office door. The first day I did the jaunt from the second floor to the fourth floor down to the first floor and but to the second floor got my heart pounding. Each day it is getting easier but I can tell you that it is tougher climbing steps then going for a walk at the mall.

I hope this helps! As always, get out and capture the beauty of life!

Power of one

A determined person can change the course of history through the power of love. These three images represent three historical figures that changed the course of time. In the lower left is Queen Ester who through the power of her love and the Love of God stopped the plot by Haman to destroy the Jews.

And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. Esther 7:6

The image in the lower right represents Martin Luther King Jr. who through the power of words set forth a movement in the sixties that changed the course of history [for the better]. "I have a dream..."

Finally, the top image represents the Lord, Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us from our sin.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Many other historical figures changed history for the worse, Hitler, Madeline Murray O'Hare, and many others spilled out their vile hatred on others. They put forth a mark that proves that a determined person can influence history. Hence, the greatest message we can gain from this brief illustration is that every one of us can impact history for the better or worse. It is our choice.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The images werer shot at f/5.6, 1/15 second, ISO 1000, spot metering and shot in manual.
They were hand held with my body resting on a ledge for support with an effective focal length of 405 [35 mm range]. This was shot with my Nikkor 70-300vr with vr enabled. There are multiple reasons these shots were possible with a slow shutter speed of 1/15 second and a long focal length. 1. The subjects were not moving. Their part in the 'performance' was to remain still. 2. I was leaning on a ledge for support. This support reduced the amount of movement in my body. {Exhale just prior to pressing the shutter. This will reduce some movement.} 3. The VR on the lens reduced camera shake.

By using manual mode over any of the programmed modes, I was able to control the exposure to achieve a gretter effect of the lights behind the subject. Finally, I used spot metering to ensure I metered on the subject only and the camera meter did not take into account the entire scene.

Fun with sunsets

Sunsets bring an amazing palette of colors. Although the colors are amazing by themselves, I like to try and capture a subject within the sunset/sunrise to magnify the sun.

In this example I wanted to create a silhouette and the sky was displaying an amazing backdrop.

The easiest way to capture a silhouette is to switch to manual mode in your camera and meter the exposure off the sky. Attempt to pick a section of the sky where the sun is not 'shining', e.g. a cloud. In the case of this photo, I did not have a cloud use and experimented with the exposure. The greatest challenge is to keep your subject 'entertained' while you experiment. :-)

Both images were shot at f/18, 1/250 sec, ISO 200.

I shot with 1/250 of a second to freeze any motion from my subject and used f/18 to reduce the amount of light coming into the camera.

If your subject continues to move then you might need to adjust your shutter speed to 1/500 or faster.


In the second image I wanted to capture the sun coming through the handle bars to create a different look. Again, keeping the subject interested in my experiment was more of a challenge than the photo itself.

For both images, I was on the ground shooting up. Experiment with getting more of the sky in the photo which reduces the amount of 'black' in the photo.


As always, get out and capture the beauty of life!