snowflakes - first try

Merry Christmas! We had a white Christmas so I tried my first attempt at snowflakes early this morning. Here are my first results.   Click on them to see them bigger.  What do you think?

cropped

uncropped - see below for cropped

same as above, but cropped

uncropped

uncropped

uncropped

uncropped

I used a Nikon L24 with a 50mm reversed lens in front of it. 14Mpixels and close up setting

Macro photography

Inspired by pictures of snowflakes I saw online, I am trying my hand at macro photography... These are not touched up. Click on the pictures to see them bigger.
Now waiting for the next snowfall. I have tried to take pictures of snow for many years. This time I may have found the right setup.

winter wonderland

Chilly Thanksgiving day walk.

Denver in the distance

A Catholic picture!

I am excited to announce the launch of a website I have been praying about for a long time. I named it “A Catholic Picture” because it reflects my love for the truths of the Catholic faith and my interest for photography. My faith, like a camera, helps me focus on what is true and beautiful. My photos help me appreciate and hold on to the beauty around me.  Faith opens our limited human lives to eternity. In a way, pictures also capture something that is momentary and make it eternal.

I intend to combine my reflections and photos to convey the beauty and richness of the Catholic faith. At times I may provide links to more authoritative Catholic articles and videos.

What to expect? One or two weekly posting with very occasional emails communications like this one. I promise not to flood your Inbox.

If you access the website, you will notice a link for Signup/Login. This is for an area of the website that I plan to launch before Christmas. It will be for members only. As faithful Catholics, our family has struggled for years to find others who not only share our faith, but also our desire for community and friendship. Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all strongly encouraged us to learn and share our faith with others. This is the New Evangelization. It is my hope that the members-only section of the website will help us develop friendship and faith with fellow Catholics and then reach out to others.   

Please signup for automatic updates, by entering your email in the Subscribe for Updates field at the bottom of the website and let me know what you think.

May God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving.

Enrico

All Souls and All Saints Day

The end of October and the beginning of November is an interesting and fun time for our family. Norine's birthday, Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It's the first time I dress up (sort of) in .... so many years.

And our friend Matt reminds us of the honor we should give to the "multitude of saints" that went before us.

 

Fall colors

What do you fall-colors remind you of?

artistic potential

Fields of gold 

Backyard wonders

Harvest moon from Bear Creek Park

Leaves' true colors are revealed only in autumn. It's like a beautiful surprise that is unwrapped for us before the sleeping time of winter. At times I feel that our human true color may not come out till later in life, when the business and haste have subsided and we have more time to think and reflect.  Wherever you are in life, take that time now, to pray and search your soul for your true color. Be patient and don't get discouraged, it may take some time for it to reveal itself.

"Orange gold" a.k.a --> A trip to the pumpkin patch

Family tradition: a family trip to the pumpkin patch on a weekday, to avoid the crowds and have more fun.
We did just that today. Rock Creek Farm is fantastic!
I also visited a great one in Kalamazoo, Michigan many years ago when Norine and I were still dating. It was called: Gene, the Pumpkin Man. That is pretty awesome also.

Contolini love pumpkins; we love picking them, carving them (although a little slimy at times), light them with candles, eat the seeds, eat pumpkin pie and more....

alone in the fields

Isabella goes to college next year. Will she still join us for the annual Contolini pumpkin patch day? I hope she does. We love you, Isabella.

I am curious how many people read this sentence at the end, so let me know your opinion with a comment.

You can do the cube

Once upon more than one year ago, Pietro learned to solve the Rubik's cube from his cousin James in Indiana.
Today, he participated in his first Rubik's cube competition. He solved it in about 52 seconds and was in the top ten among kids from the Colorado Springs area.

Not too shabby, especially for me, since i have not learned to solve completely yet.

http://www.youcandothecube.com/

great idea!