It’s Spirit Day (click to learn more), and in support of the LGBT community, many people wore purple shirts. Me, I can’t really wear purple. My skin gets an orange tint around too much purple… so I bought a tie instead.

Why do we need to support the LGBT community? Are you Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender? I’m not any of those things, but I remember the rumors when I was in high school. The kid who just killed himself? It’s because he was gay, and he couldn’t handle what people were saying about him. I remember listening to his best friend playing the bassoon at the end of the music corridor all day long… every time I walked by, the music was pouring out of this kid’s friend. A funeral dirge that lasted an entire day.

It was awful.

I think it’s better today, but we still have a way to go. LGBT kids are often confronted by intolerance, and that’s only IF they feel like they can admit that they are different. A lot of them pour their energy into hiding their true selves… so while they should be preparing for adulthood, and learning as much as they can, they instead spend their time trying to cloak their identities.

If I can help show support by wearing purple, guess what? I’m wearing purple.

You know what’s cool? I work for a company where we have a networking group that supports the LGBT community (I am a proud member). My step-daughter is a member of a group at her high school that promotes tolerance, too.

It gets better.

Photo information, for those who care. The flash is an SB700 shot through an umbrella, top right, very close to model. The camera is a Nikon D90 with a Nikkor 105mm lens at 1/200, f/20.0, ISO 200.

Spirit Day 2011 is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I took this shot at the J & F Farm. We had stopped for tomatoes and carrots, but ended up wandering by where they grow their flowers, too.

I was pleased with the focus on the subject, and the nice bokeh behind it.

Purple Flowers is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Get up and jump!

Celebrate is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I took these photos with a 50mm lens with a 4x Quantaray close up filter. The distance is so short, without a macro lens you have almost no depth of field. I do want to learn more about focus stacking so I can sharpen these up a bit in the future.

Chives is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I know I posted a crocus shot earlier, but I have these photos that I haven’t shared yet, and I thought they were worth posting.

March Crocuses is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I took these photos a few weeks ago, and have been saving them for today. Mom – happy Mother’s Day. Thanks for all the support over the years.

All my love,

James

Happy Mother’s Day is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

I’m not a complete  Tretorn shoes fanboy, but there are some that I really like.  Here are a half dozen shots I recently took. Especially my orange hightops (not pictured here).

What do you think? Any of these a winner?

Product shots: Tretorn Shoes is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Ready for your extreme close up?

I took this with a 50mm lens, then stacked x1, x2, and x4 Quantaray close-up filters to get really close to the action. These filters give the camera an extremely shallow DOF, and I think it really highlighted this flower nicely.

Crocus Macro is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

These were beautiful recently. They’ve given all they have to give, and it’s time for them to compost.

Dying Tulips is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal

Okay, I know the sun sets every day, but it’s rare that we get such spectacular coloration.

Rare New Hampshire Sunset is brought to you by j.ronald.lee - photography / journal