landscapes

It's been a while since I've done any landscapes.  Sunset tonite was wonderful, just the right amount of clouds and no pollution!

 there was no color manipulation in the last two...

A Few More

So it snowed today...the birds were eating my seed so I got this guy.

I did have to crop a bit and the ISO was high given the dark background.

Another "Fire Within" Shot:

Woodpeckers

So I can't tell if he's a Downy or Hairy, since I can't see the tail.  But there's no cropping on these, taken  from my open kitchen window.  BTW:  That's ice, not water....

The Fire Within

So this week's theme is the fire within:

Using this fire:

Creates a lot of fire with this:

I have a few more ideas...they will come later

Things are Looking Up

This week's theme is Things are Looking Up.

The owl from Sat was a good catch of him looking up, but here are some others:

I overcooked the eggs (these are chicken, not the duck)

Sunny-side up (well, sort of)

Up we go!

The clouds were looking up through the haze:

Some random shots

Shots from the weekend....

Antelope on Antelope Island

Buck

I saw this guy on the wire and waited for over 5 minutes to try to catch him flying...he didn't.  This is cropped, but not a bad shot:

Kingfisher

Given the smog we have in the valley, I drove east about 1.5hrs to the National Forest (and blue skies):

Stand of trees

Footprints in snow

On Sat, driving home, I saw an owl fly up with it's catch.  I got to watch him eat it.  The he glared at me for watching!

Seeing Red

The Weekly shoot for 10-17 Jan is "Seeing Red".  At first I couldn't come up with anything...then I saw the monster!

Then I realized I was making lamb and garbanzo bean stew with...red wine!

12 Jan 12

Some photos from today...

Steller's Jay:  What a beautiful bird...I've got a pair of them hanging around the feeders and trees in my yard.

a shot from Antelope Island:

Driving home, I saw a bird flying toward a post...then as it landed realized it was an owl.  I've started to recognize their flight patterns...he was pretty patient as I approached in car and rolled down window.

Finally...given i had probably 2 feet of snow in the last two days:

It was interesting to see the snow falling over like it was yet staying up!

None of these are my theme of the week...'Red', so standby for another post once i figure that one out.

Downy Woodpecker

Found this guy as well today.  I cropped slightly, but he was pretty intent on getting food.

Moose!

I found moose today (or is it meese???)!  Went snowshoeing up in North Fork Park.  I had heard that they could be found there occasionally.  As I got to top, I started seeing evidence of some large animal, as I came down the female bolted across my path...

then slowed down to munch on some bushes.  I was able to backtrack up trail and get these...

Then further down the path, I saw the bull down the valley from the path...I got as close as I dared...no cropping on any of these shots used my 300mm (effectively 450mm on DX camera)

Did I mention...I like my snowshoes!

New Year Resolution

This year my Theme is the Nikon Cafe Collective Shoot.  Each week, usually Thurs-Thurs, someone chooses a theme to shoot.  I usually only participate when I'm interested in the subject.  This year, to challenge myself, I'm going to do all of them.  So let the fun begin:

Week #1 (3-10 Jan 13):  New Year's Resolution

Fly More:  (Mark was flying, not me...)

 Go Bird watching more:

Pick up a new hobby:

There's a few more, just haven't gotten around to the photo yet...