Friday, September 30, 2016

9/30/16

It's the last day of September.  The year is going quickly.  I took the image I am sharing today last year during my vacation to the Badlands of South Dakota.  There was a large Prairie Dog area and they were quite fun to watch.  These two were greeting each other and were so sweet.


Thursday, September 29, 2016

9/29/16

Some beautiful days we are having this week.  Too bad I have been busy inside to enjoy them much.  Ah well.  My image for today is of a fuzzy Bumble Bee that was enjoying my Butterfly Milkweed.  I liked that I was able to capture the blur of it's wings as it was moving them quickly.


Wednesday, September 28, 2016

9/28/16

I decided to share something fun and different today.  When I was in Rapid City South Dakota I saw this.  There is a park, called Dinosaur Park, high on a hill overlooking the city that had seven dinosaur figures made of concrete.  They were created during the Depression by the Chamber of Commerce as a way to create jobs, get the government to pay for them and to get some of the tourist traffic to Mount Rushmore.  They were dedicated on May 22, 1936.


Tuesday, September 27, 2016

9/27/16

Another chilly clear morning we had today.  My image goes back a bit to a warm day in Nebraska at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Scotts Bluff is a landmark on the Oregon Trail and I walked a tiny bit of it while there. I photographed this gnarly old tree standing sentinel on one of the bluffs there.  I loved the shape of it against the rocks.


Monday, September 26, 2016

9/26/16

Well Autumn is here, it was quite chilly last night, only in the mid 40s.  Great for sleeping.  My image today goes back to a day in June where I captured a Pondhawk Dragonfly at a pond.  it was resting for a moment on a reed so I got a quick shot.


Sunday, September 25, 2016

9/25/16

Well we cooled off a lot now so today doesn't seem so steamy but I have a steamy shot.  This is one from the archives from a Steamfest in Michigan I was able to attend and a night shoot opportunity.  In this image, which I tried to shoot from a different perspective than the other photographers there, you can see 3 well known US locomotives.  Locomotive 1225 is the Pere Marquette that was used as the model for the movie The Polar Express, locomotive 4449 is the Southern Pacific Daylight with it's distinct red white and black coloring and styling and Nickel Plate locomotive 765.  Locomotive 110 is from the Prairie River Railroad and Number 1 was a traveling Tank style locomotive.



Saturday, September 24, 2016

9/24/16

So due to construction, I have to detour out of my way to work 2 miles.  It could be worse and some mornings it also gives me a nice view.  This was a lovely and colorful sunrise that I got to see one morning about a couple of weeks ago now.  I loved that I was able to capture the sunflowers in it as well.


Friday, September 23, 2016

9/23/16

I am finally seeing a good amount of butterflies around.  I am even seeing a Monarch or 2 and have been able to get images.  My Autumn Sedum is quite the butterfly magnet and here is a lovely Monarch enjoying it from last weekend.  It's great to see so many butterflies around enjoying the blooms after going all summer and hardly seeing any.


Thursday, September 22, 2016

9/22/16

Another warm one today.  I'll be glad when these 90s are done.  My image for today is a bit of a cheat.  I was photographing bees the other day and was disappointed that my clearest one in flight was partly off the photo.  I liked the photo I got of the one coming towards the flowers though it was a bit out of focus so I moved the partial bee into this image.  I titled this one, Incoming.  :-)  I don't feel that bad about putting them together as I did shoot both of them, just not in the same frame.  :-)



Wednesday, September 21, 2016

9/21/16

So it's really Autumn now but you would never know it as hot as it is.  Didn't even cool down decently over night.  I hate that.  My image today is a cooling image of an Egret I was able to get several photos of in Michigan.  I've shared another shot of this Egret before but this is one I shot of it before that one and fit the requirements of this week's Bird Poker Game on G+.  This was the first time I was able to get that close to one in the wild and get several good shots of it.


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

9/20/16

So Autumn officially starts today I believe?  You wouldn't know it with our temps today in the mid 90s F.  Yuck.  Not all that happy that winter is coming fast but definitely will be glad when the 90 degree weather is done.  My image today I took at the railroad I volunteer at east of Topeka.  I kept seeing this Pampas Grass and loved how it looked so silvery and almost glowing against the blue sky so tried to capture that.  I think I did OK.  :-)


Monday, September 19, 2016

9/19/16

Well, back in the heat this week with highs in the 90s.  Thought maybe we were done with that.  Ah well.  My image today is of one of the Ladybugs I had visiting my yard this year.  I seemed to see more of them this year than usual.  My milkweed that I planted for the Monarchs was a big draw because it had aphids on it.  That's where I captured this one as it was moving around finding aphids.


Sunday, September 18, 2016

9/18/16

It's a beautiful day here in Kansas today.  My image for today goes back to a day in July in Dearborn, Michigan at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village.  This is locomotive No. 7 as it was passing the old wooden coaling and water towers in the Roundhouse area.  I gave it a bit of a vintage feel with a black and white treatment.


Saturday, September 17, 2016

9/17/16

The Sunflowers in the area have been blooming like crazy this year.  They must be liking all the rain we got.  There are several varieties of Sunflowers in our area and I believe these are the Plains variety.  I shot this group this past week against one of the stormy skies we were experiencing on my way home from work one day.  My alternate route right now due to the construction is providing different views of nature for me so i guess there is a positive side to it.


Friday, September 16, 2016

9/16/16

More rain today.  I am wondering how wet winter will be.  Are we getting all our moisture now or will we have lots of snow too.  Could be interesting.  My image today I captured this past Sunday.  My Sedum is beginning to bloom and is proving to be a magnet for bees and butterflies again which is great.  It's nice to see butterflies around finally.  I captured these two at once, a Cotton Square Borer which is pretty tiny and a Painted Lady enjoying the blooms.  I love the colorful bokeh created by some out of focus flowers.



Thursday, September 15, 2016

9/15/16

Saw the sun this morning.  That was nice, yesterday was dreary.  :-)  Wanted a happy shot for today so here is a bumble bee on a Daisy bloom that I captured this past weekend.  My Shasta Daisy has been doing very well this year.


Wednesday, September 14, 2016

9/14/16

So having a couple wet days.  It's nice to get some rain to get things ready for winter.  Usually we are very dry at this time.  My image for today is another Heron shot that I was able to get in Michigan.  This Heron was just walking along the shoreline and did not seem to care much that people were fairly close.  I had a hard time getting the whole bird in at times.  It was very cool to see it that close.  Here, you get within 100 yards and they are gone.


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

9/13/16

So I am posting another flower image today.  This one is different though because these are flowers from a tree.  These are 2 blooms from a Magnolia tree in town by the Historical Society that is quite beautiful when it blooms.  Shot these two up close and their shape reminds me of pink flames.  :-)


Monday, September 12, 2016

9/12/16

So this is an image I shot a couple weeks ago of a wildflower that grows rather abundantly in our area.  This is Snow On the Mountain which is in the Poinsettia family.  I played around with the image to give it a more artsy effect.


Sunday, September 11, 2016

9/11/16

We don't get much fog here in Kansas.  I have to go to Minnesota to see and experience most of the time.  This image is from last weekend and is of the locomotive I get to play fireman on.  It was just pulling out with passengers and with the misty morning the steam from the open cylinders was putting out quite the nice cloud of steam.



Saturday, September 10, 2016

9/10/16

Posting late once again because out of town once again.  This is a bit different image.  It's a combination of 2 images to show a female, on the left, and male, on the right, Cardinal.  This was part of the game on G+ for Bird Poker this week, male and female combinations.


Friday, September 9, 2016

9/9/16

I shot this image exactly 2 weeks ago today.  This was my first sighting of a Buckeye butterfly.  It was enjoying a group of wildflowers and I caught it when it rested for a moment on a Snow On the Mountain bloom.


Thursday, September 8, 2016

9/8/16

Still having crazy days.  Not sure what the deal is, what is the moon phase?  Sigh.  This is a Honey Bee I was able to capture in flight and was amazed when I saw how clear it was.  


Wednesday, September 7, 2016

9/7/16

Posting late today because it's been a rather crap day.  I need something lovely to look at so here is a nice waterfall image.  I shot this last year on vacation in Spearfish Canyon in South Dakota.  This is Bridal Veil Falls.


Tuesday, September 6, 2016

9/6/16

This is another image from Minnesota that I got back in June.  I took this one at a stop by one of the 10,000 lakes they are famous for on our way to Tamarac Wildlife Refuge.  This was some grass in bloom that I loved the pink seed heads and wispyness of it against the blurred background.


Monday, September 5, 2016

9/5/16

I took this image back in June when I was at Tamarac Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota.  There were Dragonflies everywhere.  I captured this lovely golden one on a leaf of a milkweed plant when it sat still long enough to capture.


Sunday, September 4, 2016

9/4/16

I have a bit better internet connection today so let's see if I can get this posted.  I am in the land of steam but didn't have time to check out any current photos I took so this one dips into the archives from when I was able to see Locomotive 765 that is owned by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society in Indiana.  It's a beautifully restored locomotive and it was great to be able to see and chase it that day. 


Saturday, September 3, 2016

9/3/16

Posting late and maybe not on the correct day due to a terrible internet connection.  We have been getting so much rain lately that the mushrooms are popping up.  These are 3 flat top ones that I captured in the backyard.




Friday, September 2, 2016

9/2/16

I shot this image of a couple of blooms on my Rose of Sharon bush the other day and thought that the top one was like a little Luminary.  It seemed to glow.  When I looked at the photo on the computer I loved the festive bokeh behind it created by some purple Rose of Sharon blooms and light on the leaves.  


Thursday, September 1, 2016

9/1/16

Last Saturday I was taking some images and got this photo of a Bumble Bee flying around some wildflowers which I had to look up.  It is a Showy Partridge Pea plant.