“ The Seagull Stands Alone ” I had a lot of fun documenting the iced over creek this week. I tried to capture it at different times of day and with different cloud/sun/moon lighting. This was an overcast day, one of the colder days of the week when the ice was thicker - not that it has to be very thick for the seagulls to stand and walk across the creek. Even the geese did a lot of walking rather than swimming this week. I took a lot of photos this week for my own documentati

"Natural Curves" I took photos throughout the week and there were several I wanted to submit and didn't, but there was some wailing and gnashing of teeth trying to decide. Even the 4 people I rely on to break the tie in my head all had a different favorite. Finally today (Sunday) they all "liked" my last photo which I am submitting. Now mind you - it's still no ones favorite but they all thought it was in the top 2 or 3 of my photos this week, so I ran with it. I thought abou

"Finding Peace" I didn't feel like taking photos much this week after I took so many pics of my dear Reagan dog while he was dying. I originally had planned on using his curly hair as my texture photo. So this photo will have to do to keep my streak alive. I am very blessed to live so close to the water and many different little beaches and docks. This one that we came upon on Saturday is at a quiet retreat for veterans who need to recover. I really liked how the sand was was

"Let's Talk" A simple early morning selfie as I took to the radio airwaves on Friday morning. I'm not normally a talk radio host, but lately I've been filling in when needed at a local station. I'm also not normally a morning person, but I'm making it work. Three hours goes fast behind the microphone between all the weather and traffic updates, advertising, news, and phone calls from listeners - it's usually quite fun. Well except for the time when the power went out! Taking

"Just Breathe... just breathe... JUST BREATHE!" I have had lightning hit an object I was holding causing the energy to surge through my body. Another time it hit a building I was leaning against throwing me 15 ft. Then last year it hit my condo building causing an evacuation - so the anxiety of a thunderstorm is real. In my attempt to break the fear, I have tried to photograph the storms. Immersing myself in them was working (while repeating "just breathe" while photographing

"Beauty Before the Bloom" Without macro challenge this week I might not have stopped & looked at the hydrangea bushes & the "pre-bloom" buds. While I find the flowers pretty, they aren't my favorite or even my favorite color so I'll admit I just don't intensely look at them. The challenge made me look this week. LOL. I was looking & snapping photos of everything this week - hair, feathers, glass, old ink bottles with separated ink, cicadas, tree bark - literally anything BUT

So this week I originally submitted this photo, but for the first time ever - I changed my submission. Scroll down to see the final submission and then an additional option I contemplated submitting. Why was this week so hard? I don't know. “ Favorite Tree ” This is my favorite tree in my yard and I think the wide angle looking up the trunk shows off the wide canopy it provides my walkway to the porch. It really isn't too tall and it's sprawled out like an umbrella under tall

“New Life” On Sunday we found a birds nest in our front door wreath. It had 4 eggs and an upset momma bird whenever we tried to use the door. On Tuesday we had this - a baby bird and 2 eggs. Unfortunately I found the little lifeless body of another bird on the doormat below the nest in the wreath, but I know that sometimes a momma bird knows that one will not survive. On Saturday momma bird took off when I was looking out the window so I cracked open the door and grabbed a vi

“Favorite Beach” This is the first good sunset I've been able to enjoy on the Eastern Shore in 2021. I decided to do a few fast shutter photos of the waves coming in just to be a little different than the normal water drip photos. Like last week, I am not that enthused with fast shutter (although more than slow shutter) and I didn't have a lot of time to figure out another scenario to photograph. My 14 year old dog said he didn't feel like running this week and his hair is cu

“Bookend Snow Storms” This week was bookended with snow storms. We started last Sunday through Tuesday morning with snow and we've ended this week with another storm today. So what better subject matter for my single focus?! I love having four seasons of weather and feel robbed if we go a winter without at least one good accumulation. This year it feels different because the snow isn't giving us a day off, a change of pace - it's just another day working/schooling from home

“Solitude” This solitary tree stands high on this hill overlooking the farmland around it. I imagine in the summer that kids run through the corn fields to climb this tree and look around. It must be a quiet and beautiful place to ponder life's questions while being alone, yet one can still see life happening down the hill in every direction. In the snow today it seemed a little sad, perhaps it too is feeling a little too isolated and alone in 2020. It appears to have a broke

“ Last Show ” This is my favorite tree on the block when it comes to fall foliage (I have some others that I favor in the spring.) The perfect blue sky and sunshine helped to set the leaves on fire as the complementary colors did their thing. Spring and summer like to try and claim the beautiful colors in photography, but autumn holds its own. This was the last great showing of the autumn colors on my neighbor's tree this season. Just a few hours later the wind picked up and

“Not Quite Ripe” So I'm going to be really honest, I dislike food. I really don't enjoy eating and having someone say "let's grab dinner" as a get together is painful for me. I eat to survive and nothing more. So this week's challenge really isn't my thing. That said, I love gardening and growing my food as much as possible. It is soothing while challenging, and it's an incredibly humbling and teaching experience every year. This year I added citrus trees to the little orchar

“Best of Both Worlds” I love the water, but I also love greenery. This photo is taken at my favorite corner around the shore home. There's a big pine tree and marshy grasses at this corner and at the end of summer - they leave just this slender opening to peek through and see the marina beyond. #shootthrough #ndbhphotography #nicolebeusharris #waterphotography #naturephotography

“ Midnight Mischief ” There's a heron that's been around all summer & he has recently taken over the dock & the turtle float since the Ospreys have left their nest. On Friday night I saw an image in the dark & I could barely make out the heron from my 3rd floor balcony. I grabbed my tripod & quickly set up for a photo knowing he would fly off quickly & he did. A bit later he came back & walked around the dock so I kept taking long shutter photos as he walked, so there's some

“The Bird” I spent all week hoping for better weather & a sky full of stars, I even drove hours in the middle of the night to try & capture the perfect shot this week, but nature didn't cooperate. One night I started at one of my favorite locations - the Choptank Lighthouse & started to take some photos on a pitch black night. The lighthouse reflected well on a fairly calm river, but it just wasn't doing anything for me. Then I moved my position just slightly & captured this

“An Ant's View” This week brought Tropical Storm Isaias right over us & provided the new experience of seeing people paddle board & kayak through our town, which I did document in photos. I also tried photographing the sunset clouds with a telescopic lens making the clouds seem like their own planets. The photo I chose this week is what I'm calling "an ant's view." On my way to swim the day after the storm there was this solitary little mushroom in the grass. It was so small

"Blue Jay Bobbing" This was a rare week for me because I only took 18 photos all week - that's including work photos. This is my single shot of the blue jay on one of my afternoon walks. I tried to line up several shots of him in the grass, but every time I was almost ready, he would jump or fly a couple feet away. He also flew up and down the block a few times and I had to stand in one place waiting for him to land where I could see him. Working with a live object is always