Pain and pleasure. Shoveling snow and it’s a bright, sunny day, leaving no doubt that baseballs and golf balls will soon replace the snow filling our sky. During the evening of the storm, I snapped a few pictures, not knowing if the light would be sufficient. It was a quiet and beautiful scene. Once downloaded, I played around a bit with Microsoft Photo Editor to see if I could clean them up a bit. The color photo is raw, not altered at all, yet it seems to depict warmth on what was a cold winter night.

In contrast, this photo was “balanced” using the Autobalance feature, and then converted to monochrome. It appears cold, barren and lifeless.

We see the world through our own lenses. Even clear lenses can sometimes become foggy, unbalanced, or even splattered with rain. Experience helps us know when to clean the lens. Emotions can completely obscure the view or blur our perception to seeing things that aren’t really there. In that case, it’s good to have a friend with the patience help you see by wiping your lens clean.