The Heavens Declare

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1

All we need to do is look to the sky to see the handiwork of God.

For every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

Psalm 50:10

Even the Bison belong to our God.

I am the Lord, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God.

I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me,

Isaiah 45:5

 So that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:6

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7

To God Be The Glory!

Sunday Afternoon Drive

I invite you to join me on a Sunday afternoon drive around the countryside. Make sure you are dressed warm, just in case you want to step out of the car.

We have no special destination, or even ideas of what we hope to see.

As we slowly drive down a country road, the following scene presents itself. It's just two rows of trees with a path of snow between them. It loos like someone else has enjoyed some activity in there as well.

A short distance further down the road is a small pond. The water is all frozen solid at this point, but last years Cattails still stand proudly, as though guarding the area.

I have no idea what kind of plant this may be, but it adds interest to the barren scene.

After a fair drive I spot this lone tree. I have driven down that particular road, perhaps hundreds of times and never taken note of this tree. I think that perhaps the barren landscape of winter causes me to see things I might not catch in summer.

Still at another location, I see this fence line snaking it's way up the small hill. Once again, the snow causes the fence to stand out more, so I have to stop and get a picture.

Today is a gift…an opportunity to live with courage and wonder and a sense of adventure and with eyes wide open to the beauty all around me.

Silent Beauty

Winter has a silent beauty about it, in my opinion. Yes, there can be howling winds at times, but often there is a calm and quiet beauty in winter.

Snow drifts into delightful forms almost anywhere you look. I trust that as you drive along, if you have snow in the area, you will notice this silent beauty.

Tiny particles of frost cling to the trees. They have arrived overnight and decorated the trees and every little weed with pure beauty.

This shot shows one of the roads leading through the Pembina Valley. It's not a rugged valley, or even very deep, but it can be quite a beautiful place.

On this particular day, it was the frost covered trees that stole the show.

I have photographed this particular tree in all seasons, but I believe this was my first chance to capture it's beauty while covered with frost.

LISTEN and SILENT are spelled with the same letters.

Think about this.

Colourful Flowers on a Cold Winter Day

Today the sun is shining brightly, but that can be deceiving, as it is very cold outside and the temperatures are to drop as the day wears on.

With that in mind,I think some cheery flowers are in order.

Let's start inside, with one of the Amaryllis which was blooming in my home recently. I enjoy these large tropical like flowers in winter.

Oh but, we must take a walk into the flower garden, during the heat of a summer day.

The showy Sunflower is always a good photo subject, even when we look at the back side of it. I love seeing all that detail.

As we look down, we see the Hens and Chicks plants. I have not had great luck in growing these, but I do enjoy seeing them. There are many different varieties, some smooth and some like this one which shows small hairs on each leaf.

The simple Geranium brightens up any day. One of the things I like about these plants is that they will keep on producing new flowers right up until we have a heavy frost.

 For the last flower today, we head back inside to see a different Amaryllis.

Hope you enjoyed this short walk among the flowers.

Closing Thought:

Flowers are heaven’s masterpiece.

A SCHOOL BUS DRIVER? ME? Chapter 8

Once again I will share part of the short story I wrote years ago, about School Bus Driving.

The pictures have nothing to do with the writing, but because southern Manitoba is in a cold snap,I thought it would be nice to look at some flowers from summer.

This episode I have entitled 

It's All In A Days Work

 It’s all in a days work, from the early morning phone call on a Saturday, to the dog that kicks stones at the bus, the job of a school bus driver is never boring. 

We all complain about various aspects of the job from time to time, but if we want to be honest, we have to admit that this job has a certain lure about it, that keeps us going.  It is hard to understand just what this is. It may well be the challenge of the various driving conditions, then again it may be the camaraderie among the drivers. To begin with each driver probably took this job for two reasons, it gives a pay check and it’s available. But it doesn’t take long to realize that what keeps one going day after day, year after year is much more than that. Certainly the students are in large part a reason that this job is enjoyable. 

 When this driver, having missed a week of work because of illness, came back it almost brought tears to her eyes when one little girl, beaming from ear to ear, got on the bus and said, “ Mrs. Hiebert I’m sure glad to have you back.”  Moments like this are very special and certainly make up for the difficult experiences with some of the more disruptive students. 

 Without a doubt, being a school bus driver brings with it it’s own set of problems, but it also carries with it some definite joys and rewards.. 

    Surely these are part of what keeps us bus drivers going. 

The story really never has an end, because daily we experience new things and make some new mistakes. It is the mistakes that usually make the good stories especially when they happen to someone else. 

 It has been my desire, in writing about our experiences, to show that being a school bus driver is both trying and rewarding. 

        HAPPY DRIVING 

There will likely be two more episodes to finish this series, but it may take a while to post them.

Find the Difference - Guest Post

Hi everyone, this is Steve Hiebert writing this post, Ruth's son.

Around Christmas both Mom and myself bought new cameras.  For myself it was a huge change, having shot Nikon for over 30yrs, totally switching brands was big.  What did we both switch to you may ask... well we both moved over to Sony.  Mom as you may have seen bought a Sony RX 10 Mark IV, a fantastic all-in-one camera!  It's small, very portable and packs quite a punch for small package.  Being a professional photographer I opted for the Sony A7R IV which is a 61MP beast of a camera, with RAW files coming off the camera that are 128MB/image you need a lot of storage space to work with them.

Now I don't like talking about how much money was spent on this item or that, however in this modern age of photography it is often a gauge as to the level of equipment and what to expect from it, so I will be sharing some prices below, in Canadian dollars, as a reference only.

Comparison of the 2 cameras and lenses

The RX 10 IV zoomed to 600mm vs the 200-600mm lens

When I say it packs quite a punch, the RX 10 IV comes with a 24-600mm f/4 lens... 600mm f/4!!!  If you are familar with photography equipment you'll know that a 600mm f/4 lens would run you in the neighbourhood of $17,000.00, that is not a typo... $17,000.00 just for a lens, and the Sony RX 10 IV has a lens of that focal length and speed!  That fact alone is pretty amazing, but what about the quality of the lens, that always plays a big part in your image quality.  Well I was curious on this very thing!  How would a 38.4oz (1090g), $2000.00 camera hold up against a 112.1oz (3056g) $7500.00 camera kit.

The night was clear so I decided to grab both cameras and a tripod and point these cameras at the moon and see what the results were... I'll tell you I was sure hoping that there was a difference between these two or I'd be feeling pretty stupid having spent all that money.

Here are the two shots, one was done with a heavy professional kit, the other was done with an "amateur" all-in-one camera... can you see the difference?  I won't tell you yet which is which.

Like I said this is a section of the full frame from the cameras, lets zoom in to 100% and I'll match the file size of the A7R IV to that of the RX10 IV...

Ok well this had me feeling a little better as you can start to see the difference between the two images.  The Sony A7R IV is on the right side, you start seeing a little more definition and clarity... but for what the RX10 IV is, it really put up a great fight and gives some stunning images!

We can take this one step farther though... remember I scaled the A7R IV file down to match the file coming from the RX10 IV, well now lets look at a 100% view from the original files on both cameras, keep in mind that A7R IV is a 61MP camera which gives it a lot more power and resolving power than the 20.5MP files from the RX10 IV...

There it is... there definitely is a difference between these two cameras, but I can tell you that mom sure won't be tired walking around all day with her camera, where this is only 1 of 4 lenses that I carry with me, I'll definitely feel that.  

So yes there definitely is a difference between these two cameras... if you're shooting professionally and deliver work to paying corporate clients and produce large prints or canvases frequently, yes the A7R IV is the camera of choice, but if you just love photography and want to get out and have fun shooting without being weighed down, you definitely won't regret investing in something like the RX10 IV.  Both cameras have their place, but for the average hobbyist you won't regret the full featured camera like the RX 10 IV.

I hope this has been of value for you and if you're interested in seeing more of my work check out my  Facebook or Instagram @stevehiebert

New Year, New Camera

I have started the new year off right, by getting a new camera.

So with a new camera comes the need to get out and try it.

All pictures were taken with the Sony RX10 Mark4.

I am very happy with the results and can't wait to try it once there are more birds and also flowers outside.

This is shot at 600mm, handheld. This is an Amaryllis.

Unfortunately I have lots of snow to practice on.

Another shot at full zoom, which is 600mm.The Eagle was too far away, but even on a cropped picture it shows good focus and sharpness.

The day I went out some of the trees had a layer of hoar frost on them. That always makes a pleasing scene.

As I was about ready to head for home, the fog, or perhaps ice crystals rolled in. 

These trees caught my eye, as they were somewhat shrouded by the fog.

Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands.

Psalm 66:1