I always carry a camera(or two) with me. You never know what you might see. Sometimes, I think people are too busy moving through life to see all the neat things they pass by. Today presented me with two wonderful moments in which I was glad I took the time to look around and take stock in the things happening near me.
The first opportunity was quite a unique one. Despite living on an island, we don't often see a lot of sea creatures in the wild. They don't seem to care for the bustling harbor and usually, my family is out during parts of the day in which the animals are in deeper water. Today though, we were able to observe a spotted eagle ray.
He was exploring the shallows near the docks.I happened to spy him and knew right away he wasn't just a piece of trash floating in the water. A lot of people walked by but none stopped to look. Whenever I see someone with a camera, I always want to see what they are photographing. It must be something cool if they took that moment to pause and capture it. Everyone was too busy bustling to their boat or to the restaurant. Think about what they missed! This little guy is so cool and with a tail this long, he fits the
Baby Got Back Prompt.
The second moment happened so fast today that I missed the opportunity with my camera. We were sitting in traffic and we spotted a hummingbird flitting around some pink flowers. I can remember a time when I had never seen a real live hummingbird. I see them every now and again around the island. Every time I see one, I always appreciate that moment.
Slim Pickin's or maybe not such slim pickings afterall. I captured this moment earlier in the week. The bird on the left is an adult red legged thrush. She is feeding a caterpillar to her fledgling. The adult bird picked a variety of insects which included a centipede from a rotten log. She would bang each one on the ground to kill it before feeding the fledgling. Yet another example of the cool things one can observe if they pause and look around a bit during their day.
Sweet, Sour or Sassy: This cart belongs to a man who calls himself potcake. He pushes this cart around the island, feeds pigeons in a few spots and sells hub caps. The roads here are very rough and people lose a lot of hub caps. He calls himself potcake in reference to the stray dogs who wander the island, in much the same manner that he does. Potcakes are the scrapings at the bottom of a pan of food which people then feed the dogs.That's where the name comes from. Anyhow, we don't believe Potcake is homeless. He has an iPod and can be seen in the grocery store buying food. In this case he parked his cart in front of the pharmacy. He likes to make signs which almost always start off with " Potcake says" and which usually have a political statement or opinion about Bahamian culture or government. Some of them can be quite sassy.
Get to the Point: These are sandpipers sitting on one of the rocky points of the island. There are sand beaches in the Bahamas, but many people don't realize just how rocky the islands are.
Cat Nap: My cat fell asleep in her box after playing. She is just the cutest thing ever! Sometimes, people ask me how I get good photos of my cats. I take the time to lay down on the floor with them and get to their point of view.
I know life gets busy. That's why I always keep a camera close at hand. Stopping and taking the time to just look around can really yield some interesting results. Even if you don't take a photo of every moment, think about what you might miss if you just keep going through with blinders on, head down just moving forward to the next place you need to be. It really doesn't take much effort to look around as you move on to that destination. You may not always have time to stop and smell the roses, but you can open up your eyes.
Meanwhile, if you need a little photo inspiration,
you can join us in the Photo A Day challenge in the Get It Scrapped forums. The prompts can be a fun way of making yourself more aware of your surroundings.
