Reflections

Thirty five years ago I returned home from an LDS church mission to the Philippines in mid December, the cultural shock returning home was scary but getting used to the cold and dry climate of Utah was even more difficult, my eyes burned, my nose was dry and stung all the time and I could not get warm. One of the things that greatly helped in my transition was taking pictures. I brought home with me the Nikon Nikomat camera that I had purchased used from one of the other missionaries. I loved that camera it took great pictures. One of the first things I remember doing was going out on a cold, foggy Saturday morning to take pictures with my dad. We went of course to Farmington Bay I got great shots of ice crystals on all the plants but the picture I remember most was a picture of a Killdeer standing in a small puddle, the reflection of the bird in the water was so good it was hard to tell which was upright or upside down. I had that picture for years in fact I placed it in a frame and it hung in our restaurant lobby. We have since moved several times and the picture has been misplaced. It was the first time I was moved by one of my own photographs. It's hard to explain why but looking at reflection pictures are calming to me. If a picture says a thousand words a picture of a reflection says two thousand. Here are some of my recent reflection photos, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Snowy Egret

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Great Blue Heron

Solitary Sandpiper

Wood Duck

White-faced Ibis

American Avocet, this is one of my favorites

American Avocets and Black-necked Stilts are great subjects for reflection shots

Black-necked Stilt

Eared Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

Clark's Grebe

Ruddy Duck

Common Goldeneye