Astrophotography – Starry Night by the Gulf of Mexico

After I got a new camera, I found out the lens that came with it was great for taking pictures of stars at night. Also called astrophotography, I was eager to give it a try. I had seen some photos online and the best way to describe my reaction: mesmerized.

I was recently in Florida visiting family, with one main photography goal – pictures of stars! So one evening I grabbed my camera and walked out to the beach. It was about 11:45pm with an almost perfectly clear sky, so I was pumped to take some photos of the stars and landscape around me. Without further ado, here– oh wait– before we get to the photos, here are the settings I used as a screen grab from a YouTube video on how to shoot astrophotography…

Ok, without further ad, here– oh wait– the lens! I was using a Sony 24mm f/1.4 lens which you can find on Amazon here. It is quite phenomenal and if you are on the fence about getting one, jump off the fence and get it!

Okkkkkk, without further ado, here– wait, wait, one last thing… (just kidding)… without further ado, here are a few photos from the beach. To see more from this session of astrophotography, go over to FineArtAmerica and check out the photos!

I have much more to learn so stay tuned and as always, thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

I called McDonald’s while I was in McDonald’s – embarrassing stories from an UberEats driver

I moonlight as an UberEats driver, delivering happiness to hungry people all over Nashville. Well, when everything goes perfectly then I’m happy, they’re happy, and everything is happy. After all, there are some amazing restaurants delivering through UberEats, so who wouldn’t love to have food delivered to their door? Check here for a list of popular Nashville restaurants.

But…. well, sometimes I fail. LIke the other day when McDonald’s was out of chocolate shakes and Sprite. In the UberEats app, I clicked the button to call the customer to find out what else they wanted instead. The person on the other end answered and I heard them in both ears, one on the phone and one in real life. Yes, I called McDonald’s while I was standing in the lobby of McDonald’s. I literally saw the woman on the phone with me. At least we both had a good laugh about it.

Here’s another one…

Once I pick up an order, I will usually message the customer with something like, “I’ll be there shortly with your order,” or “I’m on my way with your order.” Not this time. In my defense, typing is hard! You have autocorrect, word suggestions, and I’m trying to hurry– no wait, I’m trying to work efficiently, that sounds better. So to this customer I said (and remember, UberEats delivers food, only food)… so I wrote: “On the way with your hair!”

Yes, that is 100% real.

I’ll leave you with a final embarrassing story. I was delivering after dark one evening and made it all the way to the customer’s house without incident. I parked in the driveway and proceeded up the walkway to the front door. Only thing is, I didn’t make it to the front door when I had planned to because on this particular walkway was one single lonely step about halfway from the driveway to the front door? Who puts a random 6-inch step in the middle of the walkway, anyway? I fell all the way down, only barely bracing the fall with a hand and a shoulder. Their bag of food helped cushion my landing as well, and all I could hope for is that the customer liked flatbread burgers.

Do you have any embarrassing stories like that? Please, PLEASE share so I’m not alone in my misery…

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

We needed a bigger boat – catching a shark in the Gulf of Mexico

I didn’t expect to catch something so big– wait, this is fishing– I didn’t expect to catch anything! But there we were rocking back and forth 40 miles from the closest safe place. Yes, in my world, land is safe and ocean is scary. It’s where where people get their limbs bit off by sharks and barracudas. Or get stranded on a little rock with predators swimming around waiting for high tide. Hey, The Shallows was a true story, you know. Ok, no it wasn’t. But it’s true they made a movie called The Shallows. Think about it.

ANYWAYSSSSS, we were on the boat ready with baited hooks. Dropping our lines down 90 feet hoping for the grouper you write home about. All of the sudden, a tug on my line! Then just a bent pole and no bobbing up and down like the pole will do when you have a real fighter hooked on the other end.

Long story short, this fella gave me the workout of the year. But with the help of my brother in law and the other guys on the boat, we reeled in a 10-foot shark! Take a look at the moment captured on video.

To be truthful, the boat was plenty big but we had no way of getting the shark into said boat nor would we have wanted to, anyway. As you can see, when my dad cut the line the shark slowly drifted back down to the depths of the sea to terrorize us on a future day. Swim down and enjoy your life you beautiful creature.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

…and then there was the bombing

The other day I was talking with a guy here in Nashville about which part of town we live. He lives in east Nashville and works with a friend of mine in downtown Nashville. The place they work was affected by the Nashville bomb which was a crazy situation on Christmas day 2020.

While he and I were chatting about downtown businesses being closed from the pandemic, I said, “…and then there was the bombing.”

Later that day it amazed me how casually that line came out. It’s not that it was a minor event– a guy literally blew himself up in a RV camper and 2nd Ave was closed for months as they assessed the damage. Some businesses were severely affected and haven’t opened back up yet. Lots of damage. It was a big deal so the fact that I even said anything about a bomb in Nashville and it didn’t feel weird, felt weird.

We are living in crazy times here in the U.S. and maybe it’s just a taste of what other countries have faced on a more regular basis, but still it’s pretty interesting from the politics, to supposed racism (I say supposed because I really only hear about it on the news, not in real life as I’m interacting with real people), and all the other stuff going on here.

I wish talking about a bomb that happened in my city would be met with shock and disbelief (and it mostly was when it first happened) but lately it just seems to be part of the clown world we are living in now.

-Out of the Wilderness

John 18:28 really annoys me

“Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.”

I think it would be easy to just take this verse and be annoyed or angry at the soldiers and temple police for putting Jesus through this charade. That, in itself, is worthy of anger as a reader. What really stood out to me, though, the last time I read this is about them not entering the headquarters because it would make them unclean.

Talk about following rules to their own detriment! Here they have the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world, the One who calls things into existence that do not exist, He gives life to the dead… and their focus is on following rules.

Here is where I unleash harsh judgement on them, right? Well, no. I can’t. Because their “rule following” isn’t really what annoys me. It’s MY rule following that annoys me. If the Bible is a mirror, then when I read this verse I’m looking at a great reflection of myself.

Sometimes, maybe a lot of the time, I find myself focusing on rules. I should do this or that because that’s what a good person does. Not only that, though, I also deal out judgement on people that don’t do as I do. It’s disheartening to be able to so closely identify with those who miss the forest for the trees.

With that said, I’m thankful John 13:38 – 14:1. Jesus is talking to Peter…

“Jesus replied, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? I assure you: A rooster will not crow until you have denied Me three times. Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.'”

The first two sentences are part of chapter 13, the last two are 14 but I see no separation in what Jesus is offering. Yes, you will deny me. Yes you will pretend you don’t know me. But when you realize your own faults and failures, don’t beat yourself up. After all, I am not beating you up and I’m the one you hurt.

I love that about Jesus. His anger is always directed at the right things– people and ideas that are intentionally against God. But the Bible still shows Jesus having compassion, even to those that don’t like him, up to his very last breath. His love is always overflowing towards the right things, too– people who love God and want to do the right things but still make mistakes.

Awesome stuff! Have a super week.

-Out of the Wilderness