A Look Back at 2012

A few representative nature shots:

2012 in Review: NOT the Biggest Fish of the Year

This gizzard shad made my smallest catch of the year when it came in on the Roostertail I was casting to feeding white bass in Stockton Lake. What were they feeding on? Gizzard shad.

Statuesque Humor

Hey, somebody get this pigeon off my head. An otherwise distinguished sculpture in Padua, Italy. But, alas, a pigeon awaits every statue.

5 Years Ago Today

Five years ago today I took one of my favorite bird shots in Arizona. Cousin Dick Callender, whom we lost this year, was my guide in Arizona. Great Egret Fishing Ardea alba, in winter plumage, stalks the shallows of a small lake in Arizona. Someone asked if the water was really that blue. My response: Yes, I had a magical vantage point for this shot. Increased the contrast a bit, but other than that, that's how it looked. I was shooting a War Memorial at a lakeside when the egret cruised in and invited me to do a photo shoot. The actual experience was even better than the photo.

Last Year with Dick

One year ago today we were happily hiking in Arizona with Peggy's cousins Dick and Melba after spending Christmas with them, never suspecting it would be our last together. Dick, we all miss you. Dick Callender (1938-2012)

Remembering My Sis on Christmas

My first without her. My thoughts and prayers go out to her 4 wonderful kids and their families. This is a freshly cropped picture of Patsy on her eighth birthday, before I was around. I love you sis, and I miss you. Patricia Ann Horn Brown (1937-2012)

Traditional Site of Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem

This 14-point silver star marks the traditional place of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, in the Cave (or Grotto) of the Nativity. I saw it for the second time this November. It was disappointing both times. Visiting Israel is a must, but the level of ceremonial ornamentation at the traditional sites is not one of the highlights. The Church of Nativity is located in an area of the West Bank governed by the Palestinian Authority. The Church itself has been subdivided between Christian sects. This actual nativity area is officially neutral but co-administered by Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox (or Apostolic), which influences the ornamentation. Preparing for Orthodox Christmas in 2007, about 80 Greek and Armenian priests got into a fist fight, leaving several slightly injured, and requiring the presence of Palestinian police. All, ironically, at the traditional birthplace of the Prince of Peace.

Photo of the Day: St. John's Church

St. John's Church, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Oldest Catholic parish in Indianapolis, built in in 1867.

Photo of the Day: Charlemagne Statue, Notre Dame Plaza

Statue of the legendary King Charles the Great, in the plaza of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.

Photo of the Day: The Erechtheion, Athens

The Erechtheion (or Erechtheum), built c. 420 B.C., sports the porch of the Caryatids (or porch of the Maidens), architectural supports used as pillars and fashioned as women. The main temple was dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus, in two separate areas. This is located across from the Parthenon.

Photo of the Day: Mars Hill, Athens, Greece

This is Mars Hill, or the Areopagus, where the apostle Paul preached the sermon on the unknown God in the book of Acts. (I shot this in November, 2005.)

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, “For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Acts 17:22-31, NKJV

Photo of the Day: Cow Pie Walls, Tajik Village

Cow pies dry on mud walls in a village in Tajikistan.