Tuesday, June 30, 2015

6/30/15

Wow, it's the last day of June already.  Going to be hot as well, mid 90s.  Yuck.  I took this image back in the early part of June when we were having rain and cooler weather.  This is an image from the Annual Bi-plane Fly-In that was held in Junction City, KS.  This Mohawk Bi-plane is owned and flown by a local car dealer.  He was giving rides to the public in order to raise money for an aeronautics group for young adults.  At the time this picture was taken he was changing passengers.  I decided to give the image a different look and process in B&W with a tone.


Monday, June 29, 2015

6/29/15

While I was in Minnesota, I was finally able to capture a Nuthatch!  I was steaming up the large scale locomotive that I help run one morning and saw this guy walking down the tree.  I hurried and grabbed my camera and got off a few shots.  I got mad at myself when I realized a couple in that I had not zoomed in as much as I could in my haste so this is not as close as it could have been or that I would have liked.  I still like the image and wanted to share it though as it shows how they walk down tree trunks looking for food.  Cute little birds.


Sunday, June 28, 2015

6/28/15

This image goes back to the archives from our first trip to the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.  We were treated to a double header on the day after riding when we were out photographing them.  At this point they are heading out of Chama, New Mexico on the way to Antonito, Colorado.  It's a mostly uphill trip for half of the way and they are working hard.  You can tell by the very dark smoke of the rear locomotive that they just had a load of coal shoveled in.  When it first goes in, it's very dark due to blowing off all the dust and that's where the ciders come from that fall on you and the train as you ride.  White clothes on a steam train aren't the best.  :-)  Hardly any of this black dust stays in the air.



Saturday, June 27, 2015

6/27/15

Light My Fire

This Spring was a good one for Tulips.  My antique ones had more than ever and ones that I planted came up and bloomed as well.  This is a new one that when I took it I loved the light caught and even was able to come up with a title for it.  I have never been good at that.
I have a question if anyone knows.  Tulips propagate by bulb but several of these new tulips had large seed pod heads.  What are those for? 


Friday, June 26, 2015

6/26/15

We got a bit of rain last night which mostly makes me happy in that it cooled it off here.  We have been up at 100F for several days and for a few will now be in the 80s.  I took this image at the railroad several weeks ago when we were there after it had rained most of the morning.  This lovely water Iris was blooming and still had some rain drops on it.


Thursday, June 25, 2015

6/25/15

I was able to get this image earlier this Spring while out at the Railroad.  There is a nice pond there that usually has lots of Dragonflies and frogs and I got lucky with this shot and caught them both.  I was photographing the frog who seemed to be lying in wait for lunch to fly by and caught this Dragonfly on a flyby.  I am guessing he was not what the frog wanted on the menu as it swam off shortly after or maybe it caught it and I didn't see.  :-)


Wednesday, June 24, 2015

6/24/15

This is an image that is made up of 3 shots put together into this panorama of the view just around Butterfly Hill on Konza Prairie.  I took this a few weekends ago in the evening as we were heading in from a hike.  This clearly shows that this area of Kansas is definitely not flat.  This view looks out over the Flint Hills.  Needs to be viewed larger to truly appreciate, just click on the image.


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

6/23/15

This image is from the Bi-Plane fly-In that was held here a couple of weekends ago.  This is from one of the several formation flight demonstrations that they did at the end of the show.  As you can see, there is an impostor in there but it made for a nice formation.  :-)


Monday, June 22, 2015

6/22/15

Today we are heading back from Minnesota so sharing an image from our area today.  This is from a few weekends ago out on Konza Prairie.  I caught this Meadowlark singing for a mate in the late evening sun.  I love to see and hear these birds and was glad to capture it even though it was some distance away.



Sunday, June 21, 2015

6/21/15

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  
This image is of the 2 steam traction engines that were putting on the ride last night during the lovely evening that my photo from yesterday came from.  The engine on the left is a 20HP Minneapolis that the hubster gets to run and the one on the right is a huge Rumley with a great sounding whistle.  :-)  They pulled us around the large pond that is on the showgrounds of the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion in Rollag, MN.


Saturday, June 20, 2015

6/20/15

Posting late once again.  Had a busy day.  The sun sets let here due to the fact that it is pretty flat so the light travels far.  :-)  Tonight's sunset was made even more lovely by the clouds from storms that were in the distance.  It was beautiful here but quite hot back home.


Friday, June 19, 2015

6/19/15

For my Black & White Project I am doing, the theme this week was Shallow Depth of Field.  I got this image of this Assassin Bug on a leaf this past weekend and thought it was perfect for the theme.  He was trying to look all threatening while I was taking it's photo.


Thursday, June 18, 2015

6/18/15

Posting late today.  I was at Itasca State Park today where the head waters of the Mississippi River are.  In the image, Lake Itasca is in the background.  The overflow goes over those rocks and there begins the mighty Mississippi.  I walked across the river at this point, the water was not as cold as I thought it would be.  It's quite the beautiful area.


Wednesday, June 17, 2015

6/17/15

So yesterday's image posted while we were driving part of the way to Minnesota.  We made it here this afternoon.  While the hubster set up our camper I decided to keep myself busy and out of his way and keep from watching all the mosquitoes getting in by taking photos.  I saw the most Blue Damselflys in one place that I have ever seen before.  I got this one with lunch in it's mouth.


Tuesday, June 16, 2015

6/16/15

This is another image from the Bi-plane Fly-In that was held in Junction City a couple of weekends ago.  This plane was flying around putting on a show and sending out smoke trails like the one I was able to catch here.  It made for an impressive show.





Monday, June 15, 2015

6/15/15

This is a lovely Thistle bud that I just loved the pattern of leaves on.  I had wanted to try this style on a flower and I thought this one worked well for it.  This is a copper toned B & W image.  I found these growing in a field in the housing area behind where I live.


Sunday, June 14, 2015

6/14/15

Late posting today.  I was off playing trains all day till it decided to pur down rain at about 3pm.  Had a good day though and this locomotive ran very well.  I was taking a break and photos at the time so the hubster was running.  The guy waving is one of the owners of this locomotive and lets us come play with them.



Saturday, June 13, 2015

6/13/15

Well, more rain last night, about 3/4 inch.  Some flowers like this, others, not so much.  The grass is loving it unfortunately.  I really need to mow.  Due to all the rain we are seeing some different types of fungus around.  I found this very small, only about 2 inches tall, type at the railroad a couple of weekends ago growing among some moss.  It was very dainty and needed a toad.  :-)


Friday, June 12, 2015

6/12/15

Well, I think it is safe to say we are out of a drought right now.  I think we are leaning toward too much now.  We got another inch over night again.  Now it's a lot like a sauna with mosquitoes when you go outside.  Not fond of that.  It is making it easier to weed though I have to admit.  This image I got a couple of weeks ago after one of our earlier rains.  This is my neighbor's yellow Iris with rain drops on it.


Thursday, June 11, 2015

6/11/15

So we got more rain last night, an inch!  Yay but I think we are probably good for a while now and we are in for more for the foreseeable future.  I wanted something bright today so I am sharing a female Black Swallowtail that i captured on the Butterfly Milkweed, the plant i mentioned in yesterday's photo.  This image was taken in that area.  I was happy to get good images of this butterfly because she was moving around quite a bit and really fluttering her wings.  The Black Swallowtail is supposed to be the most numerous in Kansas but I see more of the Tiger type so I found that interesting.




Wednesday, June 10, 2015

6/10/15

Kansas is the place I have lived the longest due to certain circumstances but not a place I would have chosen.  However, when I first started going out to Konza Prairie I found a reason to love at least a part of it.  The views out there are just incredible and beautiful.  This is a 3 frame image that I stitched together of a view of the prairie.  In the foreground, and it's easier to see if you click on it and view big, but the orange patches especially on the left are Butterfly Milkweed that is in bloom now. I loved how the low sun of the evening lit the scene.


Tuesday, June 9, 2015

6/9/15

The annual Bi-plane Fly-In was held in Junction City, KS this past Saturday.  It was a smaller attended show because of the very rainy weather we have been having but it was very nice.  At the end of the day there was a demonstration of formation flying with 3 of the Bi-planes and then 3 single wings.  Formation flying is difficult due to the air currents produced by the wings of the planes but they did a great job and it was very fun to see.


Monday, June 8, 2015

6/8/15

So Friday evening was spent hiking on Konza Prairie and viewing the lovely wildflowers and also doing a bit of birding.  This is a male Dickcissel that I caught calling to it's mate.  They are supposed to be the most abundant bird in Kansas.  I usually only see them out on the prairie though.



Sunday, June 7, 2015

6/7/15

This is a view of my first Live Steam locomotive that I ever got from a couple weekends ago at our friend's Steam Up.  His track is nice and level and this locomotive runs well on it.  He is constructing a new area that is lower to the ground and with some cool ideas on how to make more stable track and has me re-doing my own.  I'll hopefully be able to run this locomotive on it when done.  This locomotive is called Mimi and runs on butane and water and that is steam coming out the stack.



Saturday, June 6, 2015

6/6/15

I spent the evening out at Konza Prairie last night for dinner and then a hike.  Turned out to be a lovely evening and the rain stayed away.  The mosquitoes are out in full force though.  :-)  There were some clouds in the distance that made for a lovely sunset.


Friday, June 5, 2015

6/5/15

We must be about caught up on rain by now. It seems it is either feast or famine with the rain these days.  We got another inch and one third last night.  The wind was really something too, woke me up.  Anyway, today's image is an homage to the rain.  This is an image of a Blanket Flower after a rain we had last year.  I played around with it and made it a bit artsy as well.  :-)


Thursday, June 4, 2015

6/4/15

Well, got a bit more rain today, this time at home but not at work.  Usually the other way around.  Weird.  Anyway, felt like sharing a bee photo that's not a butt.  :-)  This is an older one from late last summer of this Bumble Bee enjoying a Rose of Sharon bloom.


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

6/3/15

So this year is the 17 year Cycle for Cicadas in Kansas.  When I was in Topeka on Saturday at the place where the railroad is I was walking around the grounds.  I spotted this guy on this leaf and took a few shots.  When I looked up into the trees I could see a whole bunch of them.  They all were silent though.  If you know about Cicadas they make quite a racket and I can't imagine what that many of them would have sounded like.  I'm guessing they were quiet because it was cold and drizzly at the time.  It would have been interesting to hear them. 



Tuesday, June 2, 2015

6/2/15

We had a surprise rainstorm this morning.  At 80% chance and more we get nothing, at only 20% we get a nice rain.  Whatever.  I'm glad for the rain but now it's rather humid out. The Spiderwort is in bloom now but this is an older image of some after a rain we had.


Monday, June 1, 2015

6/1/15

Well, June is here already and official starts the summer since summer work is in full swing now even though the actual day is a few days away yet.  It was a lovely sunny one but clouding up a bit at this time.  My image is back from very early Spring with this Tufted Titmouse who posed so nicely for me.  Usually they are flying from one place to the other or busy eating so it's hard to get an image of one sitting still.  I got very lucky with this shot.  :-)