Saturday, December 31, 2016

12/31/16

Usually I post one of these images on Sundays as I co-curate Steamy Sunday over on G+.  I decided to do things here in reverse.  This is an older image of the beautiful Southern Pacific Daylight locomotive during a photo run-by.  We had ridden an excursion behind this locomotive while in Michigan a few years ago and it included a couple of times where we were allowed to get off the train while it backed up and then went past us to allow for photos.  It was a fun experience.



Friday, December 30, 2016

12/30/16

I had captured this image one day on a trip out to Milford Lake.  I was actually on the way home and spotted this Red Tail Hawk in a tree.  It let me get a few shots but it was difficult because of all the branches around it.  Best viewed large by clicking on it.


Thursday, December 29, 2016

12/29/16

Today's image I had taken early this year when my Amaryllis was in bloom.  3 of the 4 blooms were open at this time and I put it in the sunlight and shot it against a dark background.  I am trying to make it re-bloom this year but I didn't get started till late so right now it is in it's "dark phase".  Hopefully I can get it to work, we shall see.




Wednesday, December 28, 2016

12/28/16

I got this image on my in-laws deck in Missouri.  I was watching this line of geese and hoping they would come closer and they did, in fact right over my head.  I was not very prepared when they did that because of shooting with a zoom and trying to follow their path.  Ah well, I did get this one when they were pretty close and captured them in the late afternoon sunlight.


Tuesday, December 27, 2016

12/27/16

It's the last Tuesday of the year and quite the nice sunny day.  I was in Missouri the last few days and most of the time it was pretty dreary and foggy.  The fog did make nice conditions for Hoar Frost to develop.  This is a Foxtail Grass seed head with a frosty coating on it.  You can see why the grass has that name and is one I can actually remember what it is.  :-)


Monday, December 26, 2016

12/26/16

So last week I posted a male Cardinal, this week here is it's counterpart.  This is a lovely female that was sitting in the tree on a windy winter day.  She's a bit puffed while trying to keep warm.  


Sunday, December 25, 2016

12/25/16

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  Happy Sunday to all!  This image is of one of the Christmas trees set up in the Historic Opera House in Junction City.  The Opera House has been beautifully restored and it was decorated with various Christmas decor and looked even more beautiful for the holidays.


Saturday, December 24, 2016

12/24/16

Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate!  Santa is on his way.  :-)  This is an image of one of my "Train Tree" ornaments in front of that tree.  It is decorated only with train related ones.  I shot it for the purpose of getting the bokeh of the lights behind.


Friday, December 23, 2016

12/23/16

We are really heading into the holiday now even though the weather doesn't feel like it.  I don't mind a warmer Christmas but I am sure a lot would like a white one, we definitely won't have that here.  I took this image about a year ago now and saved it for use during this time.  We had an ice storm and afterwards the trees and plants were quite interesting with ice as my image from the other day was from this time as well.  Here I was getting a little artsy.  :-)


Thursday, December 22, 2016

12/22/16

So going from a very winter post to a summer like post which is what the weather will be doing.  We are having winter the next couple of days and then for Christmas warm weather with a Weather Advisory for thunderstorms and wind.  How crazy is that!  This image is actually an Autumn shot but it was quite warm and the butterflies were out and about.  These are a male, the one above, and female Alfalfa Caterpillars enjoying the Zinnias in the garden.  Not a wonderful name but lovely little butterflies in the afternoon sun.


Wednesday, December 21, 2016

12/21/16

Well I guess we got lucky compared to other areas not so far from here where they received a lot of ice.  My image today is from an ice storm we had last year.  At times i like to get back to my roots where I started out doing a lot of B&W photography and the days of printing my own.  I thought this image lent itself to a monochrome treatment.  This is a view of a small waterfall in the newer housing area near where I live.  One of the good things that resulted from that, just wish they kept it more accessible.  Anyway, I thought the foliage around it covered in ice made for an interesting image.


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

12/20/16

Only 5 days till Christmas, are you all ready?  I am not!  Hope to change that a bit today.  My image is of one of my rather unique flowers I found while looking for shade loving plants.  This is called a Toad Lily but the flower reminds of an Orchid.  I had moved the plant from where I had originally planted it due to rats eating it and not allowing it to bloom.  It really seemed to enjoy where I moved it because it grew larger than it had ever been and produced more blooms. This is a macro of several of the blooms it produced.  As always, clicking on it will enlarge it to view details better.


Monday, December 19, 2016

12/19/16

My image today is an older one but taken under pretty similar conditions.  It's very cold out today and the birds are quite enjoying the bird seed from the feeder and water from the heated bird bath I have provided.  I got an image of this male Cardinal on a day like today when it stopped to sit after feeding.  I love their pop of color in the bare trees.


Sunday, December 18, 2016

12/18/16

Yikes it is 0 F or -17.7 C out this morning while I post this!  Winter has definitely arrived.  We ended up with some snow as well, maybe half an inch to an inch, it blew a lot.  My image today is from Minnesota but a much warmer day that was also foggy.  The ex Soo Line 353 was pulling out with one of it's first loads of passengers and the steam from the cylinders in these conditions made for quite the steamy sight.



Saturday, December 17, 2016

12/17/16

Today starts my vacation and winter has really set in.  Our first snow flurry where you can see it on the ground.  It's just a dusting but it's cold and windy out as well.  A day like today makes me dream of warmer days.  This photo was taken on a much warmer evening just south of where I live in Kansas.  These Sunflowers were past their peak but still lovely.


Friday, December 16, 2016

12/16/16

So my image today is mainly for the festive bokeh I got while taking it.  I have a Geranium that is an indoor plant and it is blooming right now so I shot a macro image of it in front of the Christmas tree.  The blue-ish color comes from the LED lights and the gold comes from the regular string I have on it for some special light up ornaments.  The shape is the result of the shutter's aperture when taking the photo. 


Thursday, December 15, 2016

12/15/16

So winter has really come, only a high of 26F or about -3C today and by Saturday even colder.  Have I mentioned lately I don't like winter?  :-)  I am dreaming of warmer days and looking at images of warmer days.  I got this image on a lovely warm day.  This Ladybug was looking for aphids on these Daisy Fleabanes and I was able to get a shot when it sat still for a moment.


Wednesday, December 14, 2016

12/14/16

I captured this image on the first day of this month, my how time flies, I thought I took it just last weekend.  It's rare when a Black Cap Chickadee sits still and even rarer when it does it in a spot where I can get a shot and extremely rare when it's fairly close.  I got really lucky with this image.  The ISO on my camera was set pretty high so it's kind of grainy in the tree area but it allowed me to get this shot on a very cloudy morning.




Tuesday, December 13, 2016

12/13/16

This is from my trip to South Dakota last year and the Badlands there.  I saw this grass in several areas and found it interesting.  The seed heads are flat, a lot like the feathers of an arrow.  I don't know the actual name, I call it Flat Grass.  I took this image of it to show the Badlands behind.  A really beautiful area and like a desert with very little vegetation.  This grass grew on the edges. 


Monday, December 12, 2016

12/12/16

I took this image a few weeks ago before the first frost when I brought in several of my Zinnias to enjoy.  I set up a few of them on a black background and used a supplemental light and took this macro image of them.


Sunday, December 11, 2016

12/11/16

This is an image of the locomotive that pulled our train to the Grand Canyon and back from Williams, Arizona on my trip there a few years back.  It was a great experience and I am not sure they do steam any longer.  I decided to give this photo a black and white treatment and I think it made for a bit more dramatic image.  Locomotives usually don't have much color anyway.  


Saturday, December 10, 2016

12/10/16

Choosing a color to paint a room is difficult, you have to decide on something you can live with for many years.  That's my current dilemma. :-)  The colors of the Grand Canyon are quite beautiful even under cloudy light.  I took this shot on a day we were walking the trail you can see in the shot.  I didn't have enough time to walk the whole way because we had to catch the train but I was on the part you can see in the image.  The black dot in the sky is not dust but is actually a Condor.  Very cool birds and I was able to capture one up fairly close.


Friday, December 9, 2016

12/9/16

Another really cold day and winter is not officially here.  This is from much warmer days when the butterflies were coming to visit.  I captured this shot of a Painted Beauty on the Autumn Sedum with another out of focus in the background creating some lovely bokeh.


Thursday, December 8, 2016

12/8/16

So it was pretty cold out this morning, only about 13 F or -10.5 C while I was going to work.  Winter has arrived.  We were spoiled with a lovely warm autumn.  These are some leaves that were still on my in-law's Ornamental Pear tree at Thanksgiving time because of that.  Caught them seeming to glow in the afternoon light.


Wednesday, December 7, 2016

12/7/16

Heading into a few really cold days now.  This image is from a warmer day in July in Michigan along the shore of Lake Huron.  This is another image of the Heron I was able to get so close to.  It was really amazing as here I can't get within a hundred yards it seems.  This one came so close I could hardly get it all in frame at times.  Cool birds with their long legs and Legs is the game for Bird Poker this week on G+.  


Tuesday, December 6, 2016

12/6/16

I saw this tree while in Missouri at the in-law's.  This Red Maple is in their neighbor's front yard and in the afternoon sunshine it seemed to be on fire, it was just beautiful.


Monday, December 5, 2016

12/5/16

Starting off today with a couple of renovation tips.  Don't ever do Popcorn ceiling removal by yourself, it is a mess!  Bonus tip, don't do major renovations at the Holiday Season.  They are busy enough.  Sigh.  My image today is of a lovely Barrel Cactus bloom that was a vibrant red.  Red is a very hard color to photograph and get detail, about as bad a s white.  I think I did OK here though.  :-)


Sunday, December 4, 2016

12/4/16

Quite dreary out this morning after a rainy day.  My image for today goes back to a much warmer day in September at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion.  The locomotive I get to fire on was pulling one of it's first loads of passengers around the grounds.  It was passing by Gunderson Pond which is not named for any relatives as far as we know but is sometimes fun to make people wonder.  :-)  The display engine the train is pulling is a Minneapolis Steam traction Engine as the featured engines for 2016 were Minneapolis.



Saturday, December 3, 2016

12/3/16

A dreary day here today.  I thought I would brighten things up with one of the sunrises I saw in November.  I was treated to several photogenic ones and I was able to capture this one mid month.  Very colorful, I even went a bit out of my way going to work to capture it.


Friday, December 2, 2016

12/2/16

Well winter sure arrived this morning.  It was only 18F out when I went to work.  Possibility of snow tomorrow too.  Yikes.  :-)  So now, of course, I am dreaming of summer and flowers again.  At least this time of year is festive.  My image today is of Zinnias in my garden and one has a buddy on it of some type.  I like the bokeh produced by the second one and the leaves behind as well plus a nice bright color and undamaged flower bloom. 




Thursday, December 1, 2016

12/1/16

December is here and ice formed on my pond this morning so feels more like the season now after the warm Autumn we have been having.  Because of how warm it has been, I was able to get this image at the in-law's home of their Ornamental Pear tree as it still had a lot of it's leaves that had yet to fall.  I liked those in the late afternoon sun, reminded me of little flames.