Counting Blessings

Merry Christmas! Every Christmas season, I always watch my three favorite holiday movies -- "Elf," "Love Actually" and the classic Christmas musical, "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. I was shocked at Christmas Eve dinner this year to learn some have never seen "White Christmas." Ridiculous! With music and lyrics by the great songwriter Irving Berlin and entertaining performances by talented singers and comedians, it always gets me in the holiday spirit. While I love the songs "White Christmas," "Sisters," and "Snow," my favorite song in the film is "Count Your Blessings" sung as a duet by Crosby and Clooney.

As you mark this day with gift opening, church attending, movie watching, Chinese food ordering or other Christmas and/or Saturday activities (depending on your spiritual viewpoint), I leave you with the thoughtful lyrics of this song. May your day be filled with much joy, laughter, love and numerous blessings as there are stars in the sky.

When I'm worried and I can't sleep,
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small,
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds.

If you're worried and you can't sleep,
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings.

Nativity Scene

One of the photography skills that I'm still working on is when and how to use flash. In low light situations or at night, flash is essential to help sharpen your subject. However, it can blow out the subject as well, so it must be used appropriately.

When visiting the National Christmas Tree last year, I photographed the nearby Nativity scene. I took several photos with and without flash. Today's image with a fill flash was the best of the series. While it's not perfect -- Baby Jesus is a bit too bright and there's some flash reflection off of Joseph's sleeve -- some might think its unintended imperfections are poetic and appropriate for the subject of the photograph. Christians believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light, right? This is just another reason why I love photography. Sometimes your best photographs are the ones where you made mistakes or miscalculated. At times, the camera might know more about what's best for your subject than you do.

Tahoe Snowman

If I designed my own holiday card this year, this photo would have been the cover. Last year, I brought in 2010 (and Genevieve's 30th birthday) with friends in snowy Lake Tahoe in Northern California. We found this snowman in the backyard of our rental house when we arrived. My favorite holiday characters are snowmen (a close second is Buddy the Elf), so this photo had to be taken of our backyard Frosty. He's really a Californian snowman with those eyes made of oranges, instead of coal.

Bright Star

Looks like this year's National Christmas Tree is a beauty. Looking forward to seeing it in person next week. Here's another look at the 2009 National Christmas Tree which was decorated with white twinkle lights and large red and white stars like the one in this photograph.

National Christmas Tree

Tonight is an important night in Washington, DC. This evening, the President and his family will "flip the switch" and light the National Christmas Tree near the White House as part of the annual Pageant of Peace celebration. Other than the one in Rockefeller Center in New York City, this Christmas tree is the second most important one in the country.

While I didn't get tickets to the official lighting, I did visit the Christmas tree and its displays -- a small Christmas tree decorated by each state and a large toy train display -- last year. What a magnificent sight, especially from this perspective with the White House in the background. It was one of the moments when I felt so blessed to be living near the nation's capital.

Christmas Star, Up Close

This is a close-up of my very first Christmas tree in my first apartment. Other than some white lights, gold garland and red ornaments, it was a pretty basic Christmas tree. At the time, I couldn't afford anything fancy. Standing at a distance, my Christmas tree did not look impressive, but up close as in this photograph, you really could not tell. Instead of dwelling on what was missing, I used my camera to focus on what my tree did have on its branches and see its beauty.

During the holidays, we are often reminded that while we may have possessions this year, we may not the next. There are many people this Christmas who will celebrate the season with so little. We should take a strength-based approach and celebrate and enjoy what we do have, in order to truly appreciate the season and its many gifts even if it is only a sparsely, decorated Christmas tree.

Time for the Holidays

While out shopping at Pentagon Row last night, I came across this tree of lights near the skating rink. Since I was only holiday shopping, my digital camera was not with me. But, I did have my cell phone. I love the proximity of the clock tower to the Christmas tree. Even though the image quality is not as good as my usual camera, the cell phone camera got the job done and captured a new photo for the blog.

Deck the Halls

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, is the official start of the holiday season. Finally! I've been waiting all year for the holidays to begin. It's my favorite time of year. I love the vibrant colors, generosity and cheer. I try to ignore the materialism and commercialism that often accompanies the holidays and focus on the beauty of the season instead.

Last Christmas, I visited the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Memorial Continental Hall in Washington, DC during their Christmas open house. This photo was taken of one of the many decorated Christmas trees throughout the historic building. This year's open house will be on December 8 from 5:30-8 p.m. and shouldn't be missed. Can't wait to start decorating my Christmas tree. "Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la, la la la la ..."

Surprise Visitor

Be very, very careful not to startle photographers when filming. You never know what they're taking a picture of. Bottom line: Distracting the photographer may inadvertently place YOU in the center of their photograph.

Case in point, my co-worker Joe appearing in this photograph. While practicing close-ups on this holiday wreath at work last week, Joe thought it would be funny to wave at me from the conference room while I was busy with my camera. Little did he know that I was able to frame my next shot to include him in mid-wave. Ha! In spite of my amateur action photography skill, he's in pretty good focus and adds an interesting element to an otherwise basic holiday photo. And now I've posted this photo with a mischievous Joe on my blog. Not sure who the joke is on now. Bet if I asked Joe, he would say this was all part of his master plan and I fell for it. Oh well. At least the resulting photo makes me laugh, making the exercise totally worth it.