BigDan first visited us here. He came back for more. Silly, silly boy.
Dan always says it best himself so I'll turn things over to him....
Sere's picture made me immediately think of finding a place where Kath and I could have 5, 10, maybe 15 dogs. We absolutely love them. Both of our dogs are special needs dogs and when we went on her web site and found out she had retired breeders, we almost called the realtor. But, as cute as the puppy is, I also thought Christmas.
After mass, I took a couple or twenty beautiful shots of the Nativity Window in our historical landmark Church. It was back lit by the morning light and the central birth scene is gloriously surrounded by hundreds of pieces of glass, all picking up bits of light. The window is two stories high and was originally made in the 1880s. It is truly irreplaceable. On the drive home, I was beginning to compose a paragraph about the progression of various ethnic groups that have made up the congregation in its 150 year history and how the art of the church reflects those changes when we were stopped at Western and Roosevelt by a couple of cops and and a private van blocking the intersection. We pulled into the White Castle parking lot, got out of the car and watched motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle parade by in their journey from 83rd Street to Belmont. I was shooting like mad, but pretty soon slowed down and started waving. Within minutes I had tears streaming down my face as Kath and I waved and they honked back. The sound was incredible, almost moving your soul... and then, every once in a while people would laugh as some scooter would putt by. It seems we had run into the annual Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade.
I am a sucker for acts of kindness. Whether it is God's Son coming to us to teach us about Peace or several hundred motorcyclists riding down Western Avenue to bring toys for kids in need, to me, it is all Christmas.
Nikon D3000
VR 18-200 mm F/3.5-5.6
Focal Length 170 mm
F/10
1/200s
ISO 400
Thank you Dan. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for being a wonderful, kind, human being. Thank you for hanging out with us here at 3C1D.
Go check out Dan's blog here. While you're there (or here if you like) wish Dan a Happy Birthday, for today is his special day.
Thanks again, Dan. Come back anytime, we love having you.
What a great, great human interest picture. I love it, his decorations are awesome! I am with you on the Christmas thing, it's all about showing kindness and unselfish acts. So glad to have you back again.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see your nativity shots sometime as well. Those old churches are just gorgeous.
Thanks for checking out my site, both my girls that are retired are big sweethearts and still doing great. I just want to find homes for them, where they can get more attention then I can give them.
Great story, great shot! Thanks for sharing both.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the only photography "trick" I used was to use the burst setting. I ended up with about 6 pictures of this guy, but of those, this is the best.
ReplyDeleteAwesome capture of one of Santa's rogue elves. Do you think his wifey elf spent all winter sewing the oversized toaster cozy to fit the bike? I can't stop checking out the details he put into his get up.... FABULOUS !
ReplyDeleteHe still has his leather jacket on- this is no scooter dude! I really wish I could have seen the whole entourage parading down the street. LOVE IT Big Dan
@ Jay'me: One of the things I learned in the Nikon School was that one functions of a still shot is the ability to stop time. It gives the viewer a chance to examine the subject in detail, where in real time you might have had only a few seconds to absorb it all.
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