use your talents

We all have talents & abilities of various kinds; stuff that just comes naturally and we really enjoy doing. Sadly, I think in our day the majority of people tend to abandon theirs for the 'cool', 'popular', 'trendy' things... and they don't even realize it! I'm telling you, it annoys me to no end. I'm not saying that you should totally and completely drop a hobby/dream just because you're not talented. No, I firmly believe that with most things, more work than actual skill is required to achieve success. However, I do also believe that we were given the skills we have for a reason - to glorify God's name - and saying they're 'not as cool compared to _____'s' is just the same as saying that God made a mistake... and God never makes mistakes. We were each given just enough, not too little & not too much.

"And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability..." ~ Matthew 25:15

Let's not bury our talents in the ground... let's use them to make a difference.

The Extraordinary Beauty of Ordinary Days

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curves adjustment

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curves & hue adjustments

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colour balance adjustment

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black and white

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hue adjustment

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"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string."

~Anne of Green Gables~ 

There are can't-wait-for days, there are summer days & holidays, and then there are ordinary days. Beauty can be found in all of them, but with ordinary days, it's the hardest. We tend to rush through them, maybe because we're so excited about one of those hurry-up-and-arrive-I-know-you'll-be-amazing days, or maybe because we can't wait for summer. It takes looking, really looking, to see the extraordinary beauty of ordinary days. It's there, but sometimes it takes a walk to the park or a peek through a shutter button to unlock it. And when you do unlock it, realize just what you've been missing, & if you're also a photographer, like me, the only thing you can think to do is run outside with a camera. Because the beauty of the ordinary things in God's creation is swoon-worthy; more so than any actor, movie, or book character you've met/seen/read about.

Snowflake Bokeh & Giveaway Winner

I love snow. The pretty sight, the clean fresh smell, and the soundless way in which the snowflakes touch the ground.

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 It's unique...

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...special...

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...simply magical.

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And yet, it's still a normal occurrence.

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 The visit of pretty snowflakes... 

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 ...during that beautiful, icy cold, season of snow.

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But I guess that's what really makes snow special.

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It's simple, unique, beautiful, delicate, and still normal.

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 It's all those little adjectives squeezed into one teeny tiny package.

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A snowflake.

The winner of the 01.10.12 Giveaway (selected via Rafflecopter's random winner generator) is...


Abbie (forabbiesblog@...)!

Congratulations, Abbie! :) I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly!

A Snowy Hug

I can't believe I haven't posted in over a week! I'm so sorry! I was going to post on Saturday, but I got this spark of blog designer's inspiration (high five if you actually know what I'm talking about ;) and I decided to redesign my main blog instead. I love how it turned out! :)
Anyways, it snowed last week. The snow stuck around for a couple of days... during which I had some fun taking photos of it! :)

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Black & White

I currently have this on as my desktop background. LOVE it!!!

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It also snowed last night; but if things go on as they have, it'll probably be gone in two or three days.

Has snow given you any hugs recently?

Meet Ayra

I'd like you all to meet Ayra. My new Canon 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS telephoto zoom lens...

She is amazing! I can focus on even the tiniest things from an unbelievable distance with her, which saves me lots of moving around. Here are a few photos I took with Ayra yesterday...

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I have the shore in focus on this one, and you can just see tiny snowflakes falling down right in front of those ducks. I thought it was pretty cool how it turned out! You can zoom in (click on) the photo for a better view.

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Curves Adjustment

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Christmas light bokeh!

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We have lights outside that change colour (from red, to purple, to blue, to purple, and then to red again). I took this shot while they were changing from purple to blue. Love the colours!

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And my two personal favourites (which I am entering into Lily's photo challenge)...

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What did you get for Christmas? :)