Tuesday, December 31, 2013

12/31/13

Happy New Years Eve!  I thought that since it is still, technically the 12 Days of Christmas, that I would share this photo today since I finally finished working on it last night.  This is the Christmas tree at the state capitol in Topeka.  It was surrounded by caution tape, which I took out, due to some work that was continuing on the dome above it.  The photo has an HDR effect on it to bring out details.  Happy last day of 2013!  Remember you can always enlarge the image to see more detail.


Monday, December 30, 2013

12/30/13

A bit different bird photo for today.  I was watching this Bluejay get peanuts from a feeder.  He would take them off and hide them in different places.  This was just after he had hidden his peanut in the snow.  I wonder if he remembered where he put it and got it later.  Seemed like a silly hiding place to me.  :-)



Sunday, December 29, 2013

12/29/13

Well, it's the last Sunday of 2013 and since it's Steamy Sunday over on Google + where I had to share a train I will share it here as well.  It's an older image of one of my favorite railroads in Colorado, the Georgetown Loop.  Here the locomotive is heading around the train from the rear at Georgetown in preparation for the trip back to Silver plume.



Saturday, December 28, 2013

12/28/13

Sheesh, almost forgot again.  I am sick of seeing white stuff on the ground so here is a view of Konza Prairie in the summer in the evening.  I loved the light on the hills.


Friday, December 27, 2013

12/27/13

We got to visit the Kansas State capitol in Topeka last week and got a tour that was rather nice because we were basically the only ones there so easy to get a photo.  They have been restoring the capitol and it's absolutely gorgeous with all the copper and brass and beautiful limestone and woodwork.  This is an image of one of the staircases that I used for my B&W project today.  I almost hated to take the color out of it since it was so rich.  I processed this as HDR to really bring out the details.  


Thursday, December 26, 2013

12/26/13

While we were away for a few days I was able to bird watch.  I saw and captured this White Throated Sparrow which was a type I had not seen before.  I was able to get fairly close to them so this was taken with a 300mm lens and is un-cropped.


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

12/25/13

Merry Christmas!  It's the 12th Day of Christmas and the actual day of Christmas.  I am sharing an alternate version of my Christmas card for this year.  Hope you enjoy it and Happy Holidays!



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

12/24/13

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  It's the 11th Day of Christmas!  Today's image is an appropriate view for me of my Christmas Village, a train at the station.  :-)  Hope everyone is having a great Holiday!


Monday, December 23, 2013

12/23/13

It's the 10th Day of Christmas!  Today I am sharing a view into one of my doll houses that has a tree up for the holidays.  The geeks out there might recognize the couple in the room.  We are getting more snow.  Already have 8 inches from Saturday night.  Probably will end up with another 1 inch.


Sunday, December 22, 2013

12/22/13

It's the 9th Day of Christmas!  Very close now!  Hope you have that shopping done.  This is an ornament I received form the people I work with at the railroad outside Topeka.  They send a lovely ornament every year a bit personalized for the railroad.  I took this in front of the tree for a bit of light bokeh.


Saturday, December 21, 2013

12/21/13

It's the 8th Day of Christmas!  I was playing around with lighting and ornaments and this is the result.  


Friday, December 20, 2013

12/17/13 Late

Of for goodness sake, I can't seem to not miss a day lately.  I somehow missed this one.  Sorry.  The 4th Day of Christmas.  Today was my geeky image of my ornament of Han Solo's Millennium Falcon from Star Wars.


12/20/13

It's the 7th Day of Christmas!  Today's image is the color version of my B&W photo project over on Google +.  In this version you can see the moon coming up outside which I thought was pretty cool and didn't notice till I was processing the image.  This is a view of my Christmas Village and the tree in our living room.  Remember you can always enlarge to see more detail by clicking on the image.


Thursday, December 19, 2013

12/19/13

It's the 6th Day of Christmas!  On the downhill slide now.  Can't believe how fast it's coming.  Today I am sharing a lovely Gingerbread looking house that my mom had made for me several years ago.  It's resin and though it looks edible will last a long time.  I've been enjoying it each Christmas and hope you do too.





Wednesday, December 18, 2013

12/18/13

It's the 5th day of Christmas.  Time's running out, is your shopping done yet?  This is a Hot Air Balloon ornament on my home office tree.  It's filled with gifts on it's way to someone lucky.  :-)



Monday, December 16, 2013

12/16/13

It's the third Day of Christmas and Santa is hungry and looking for something in the fridge!  This is an ornament that hangs on the tree in my home office.  


Sunday, December 15, 2013

12/15/13

It's the second day of Christmas.  This is one of the ornaments off my Train Tree in my kitchen.  Pretty much all the ornaments except for those blue beads and some red glass balls are train related.  I believe this was a Hallmark ornament one year.



Saturday, December 14, 2013

12/14/13

It's the First Day of Christmas!  Can't believe it's coming so fast.  I'm doing a 12 Days of Christmas Project on G+ so decided to share on the Blog as well.  This is an image of my Poinsettia that is turning back red.  It sits in a south window and must enjoy itself because I have done nothing to it other than water it and it's the first time I ever had one turn back red.  



Friday, December 13, 2013

12/13/13

For my Black & White Project on Google + the theme was "Bokeh".  That's the aesthetic quality of  blur or out of focus area of a photo that can have a pleasing appearance.  I wanted to make it fun so put one of my favorite subjects in the image as well.  


12/10/13 Late

I haven't posted a sunset photo in a while.  I found a beautiful sunset from November that I had never posted so sharing with you now.  :-)  I liked the way the low light was illuminating the grass.


12/9/13 Late

Well, I have been a very bad blogger.  I missed two days n a row and didn't even realize it till one of my followers told me about it, thanks so much.
This is a Hibiscus flower in the rain from this summer.  A macro image.


Thursday, December 12, 2013

12/12/13

Posting late, quite the busy day.  Remembering summer and warmth with a photo of a Monarch Butterfly on a milkweed leaf.


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

12/11/13

This is an old shot from when I had gone to San Francisco of a couple of Seagulls I was able to get up close to and take their photo.  I was sharing it on Google + today for someone's birthday and thought it was a fun shot so I'd share it here as well.


Sunday, December 8, 2013

12/8/13

Time for a train today!  This is an image from the Durango &Silverton Railway in Colorado that I decided to make a bit timeless by processing it in B&W and I liked the result.  It's very cold and dreary here this morning so dreaming of warmer days and steam trains.



Saturday, December 7, 2013

12/7/13

This is a view of Konza Prairie in early winter.  I love how the grasses look when late afternoon sun hits them.  Brings out the reds and oranges in them and gives some color to a blah winter.


Friday, December 6, 2013

12/6/13

I don't remember ever seeing a Swedish Ivy in bloom.  I saw one a couple of weeks ago and took a few shots.  The flowers remind me of a type of orchid a bit.  Quite lovely and dainty when viewed in a macro image.


Thursday, December 5, 2013

12/5/13

Posting during lunch today because have lots to do tonight.  Dreaming of warmer days as it is bitterly cold out today.  This was taken this past summer, a grass head with 2 Ladybugs looking for lunch.


Wednesday, December 4, 2013

12/4/13

This is an older shot that I found while going through some photos.  I reworked it a bit and liked the results.  It's one of the larger waterfalls in Ricketts Glenn State Park in Pennsylvania.  It was so lush and green.  Miss that on this bitterly cold day.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

12/3/13

Saw this Red Tail Hawk hanging out around at work one day.  He got up fairly close so I could get a decent shot through the window of him.  Such pretty birds.  Very elusive to photograph most of the time.



Monday, December 2, 2013

12/2/13

This is a lovely little group of purple flowers.  I don't know what they are but in a macro image like this they reminded me of Fireworks!  


12/1/13

This is an image of the Norris Geyser Basin area in Yellowstone National Park.  I found it very interesting with the color of the water and the steam rising off the hillside.  Very alien looking.  And oops, forgot to post this yesterday. ;-)


Friday, November 29, 2013

11/29/13

This is a macro image of a Crown of Thorns plant bloom.  I had a theme of Symmetry for my Black and White project and I liked the color version of it as well.  Symmetry in Nature.


Thursday, November 28, 2013

11/28/13

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US!  Hope you are enjoying your day.  This is an image I got earlier this fall of some 5 Leaf Ivy growing in limestone in it's autumn coloration.


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

11/27/13

This is an image I got a little while back.  I liked the light on the geese and the fact that I was able to capture them in front of the rising moon.  They are flying south which is appropriate for now as it is very cold these days.  :-)



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

11/26/13

Here is more playing with light.  I was trying to bring out the detail in this geranium leaf.  I liked how it turned out.  You can tell how fuzzy it is.  Plus the vein lines running through it as well.


Monday, November 25, 2013

11/25/13

I was playing around with light and some red mums.  I really liked how this image turned out.  It has a bit of a glow on it as well.


Sunday, November 24, 2013

11/24/13

Time for one of my favorite subject, trains!  This is an image from a few years ago of the Durango & Silverton Railroad in Colorado.  We were photographing a train on the High Line, made famous by photographer William Henry Jackson, heading back to Durango.


Saturday, November 23, 2013

11/23/13

This is a Spring House used to get water from at the Hokanson Farmstead on Konza Prairie.  It was built around 1880 and the concrete work in the trough inside is just amazing.  Better than modern work.  The stonework of the building is just so interesting but the roof is long gone.  This was taken on a lovely fall day last Saturday.


Friday, November 22, 2013

11/22/13

The theme for my Black & White project was Candles.  I liked the image I used in color as well as the B&W version so this is it.  


Thursday, November 21, 2013

11/21/13

This is a warm image on a very cold and dreary day of a plant that is usually regarded as one you don't want to have around.  In Fall it is quite lovely but you still don't want to touch it!  This is Poison Ivy in it's Autumn color.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

11/20/13

Needed something bright and colorful today so to warm us up for the winter weather ahead, this is a red lily in the garden this summer.  As you can see it has a young Praying Mantis bonus on it as well!


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

11/19/13

This was a survivor I saw this fall of some clover.  I liked the light on it in the late afternoon on a cloudy day.  Really made the flower stand out from the background.


Monday, November 18, 2013

11/18/13

This is a more natural view of the Toad Lily that was blooming this fall.  To think I almost pulled this up as a weed.  Glad I realized it really was a plant I had put there that actually survived!  :-)



Sunday, November 17, 2013

11/17/13

This is an image from our trip to Yellowstone this summer.  This is in the Norris Geyser area where you could find very alien looking landscapes.  This was an active pool made colorful by minerals.  I put a bit of an HDR effect on it to bring out highlights as the cloudy day made the original a bit flat.


Saturday, November 16, 2013

11/16/13

What crazy weather today.  It's up to 60 degrees already at only 8am.  Windy as well of course.  Can't have it be warm and not windy.
Anyway, this is another of my night long exposure images at the railroad bridge.  I liked how this one turned out with the dark bridge and the sky full of stars.


Friday, November 15, 2013

11/15/13

A sunny sunflower for a fall day.  I put a bit of a glow effect on it as well.  Seen on a walk a few weeks ago.


Thursday, November 14, 2013

11/14/13

This is an image of the Smokey Hill River in Junction City, KS a week or so ago.  I got this on a very windy day and you can see that some of the leaves are already gone from the trees but I was able to get the shot before they were all gone.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

11/13/13

This is one of the several waterfalls that we saw in Yellowstone National Park.  This is an image of Tower Falls.  I put a bit of an HDR effect to bring out some highlights.  It was also a long exposure to get the water effect as well.


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

11/12/13

Cool number day today.  :-)  It was very cold outside and I wanted something to help me feel warmer so I had this image from this summer.  This is a Painted Beauty Butterfly and a Silver Spotted Skipper on the butterfly bush in my yard.


Monday, November 11, 2013

11/11/13

Happy Veteran's Day!  I don't have anything really related to the day but wanted to share this photo.  We have had two killing frosts so far yet yesterday I saw this little Zinnia which had not bloomed all summer still alive and blooming and just blooming now.  It's not the prettiest Zinnia ever but it was lovely to see.  I titled this shot "Survivor".