12/31/17

Well, it's New Years Eve and for my last photo of the year and because Sundays are for steamy things, here is a photo from this summer and a MUCH warmer day at the Durango and Silverton Railway in Colorado. This is a shot of the train before ours departing the Durango station.  So goodbye to 2017 and may 2018 be better.

12/30/17

We are in our cold snap now.  Highs only around 10F, minus 12 C if we are lucky and probably not even that high.  I was in Missouri for a few days at Christmas and got lots of photos of birds.  My in-laws have a great viewing area with an upper deck and a nice Ornamental Pear tree for them to perch in.  I captured this Bluebird which was one of several to visit the bird bath for a drink.  It stretches it's head way up to swallow and made for a nice pose.

12/29/17

Heading into a cold spell after today so I am thinking of warmer days.  This was a lovely day back in September when the Painted Ladies were visiting in large numbers and it was kind of magical to walk by them and have them all fluttering around.  They were really enjoying my Autumn Sedum in the garden. 

12/28/17

I was able to capture this image in Pennsylvania over the Thanksgiving week.  This was the second time I had ever seen a Hooded Merganser duck and both times were there.  I captured it as it took off when it decided I was too close.  I liked the out of focus, unfortunately, splash it left behind but I was trying to get the bird in focus so that was good.

12/27/17

Yikes it's cold out.  A high of only 16 F today or -9 C.  I need something warm today so here is an image from summer with a nice summer feel to it.  This is Stiff Goldenrod, a lovely wildflower here in our area of Kansas.  It provides a lot of golden color in late summer and is not the culprit of most allergies.  😀

12/26/17

Well winter is finally here in temps and a bit of snow and I am wishing for summer.  This is a shot of a stalk of grass that I thought made for a lovely image that I took this past June in Minnesota.

12/25/17

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  Happy Monday to everyone as well!  Hope you have a lovely day!  Enjoy some yard art Snowmen.  

12/24/17

Happy Christmas Eve to all who celebrate and happy Sunday to all.  I took this image over a year ago now and it is a good thing I did since I never got another chance after.  This is another version of what I used for my holiday cards this year.  This is my G-scale locomotive and train out on my garden railway.

12/23/17

I took this image of my older Hallmark Ornament of the Millennium Falcon guarding my Christmas tree from the Dark Side.  I thought it appropriate since there is a new Star Wars movie out.  😃

12/22/17

Only 3 days till Christmas!  I think I am finally ready, are you.  😄 My image today is all about the bokeh.  The theme over on G+ was about Passion.  I am passionate about capturing photos of butterflies and I am passionate about the Christmas Season and festive lights now and any time of the year.This image combines it all with a Butterfly decoration from my tree photographed against the lights of the big tree.

12/21/17

Happy Winter Solstice!  Today is the first day of winter break so posting earlier than normal.  I took this image a while back and thought it was appropriate for the day.  We have not have cold enough temps this year to take anything similar.  Also, today marks the day it was exactly one year ago that we had a significant snowfall.  If this keeps up I won't be able to take my traditional Christmas card photo.  Anyway, this image is a macro of frost on our storm door.

12/20/17

I decided on something nice and bright today because even though we can't get rain or snow we seem to be headed into some dreary cloudy days.  I captured these flowers in a field in Minnesota this past June.  I believe they are wild Veronica.  I just love the bubbly bokeh in this image as well.

12/19/17

I captured this Canada Goose family in Minnesota this past June on one of the lakes there.  They were out for a leisurely swim.  The goslings were getting pretty large already.

12/18/17

This is an image I shot the next day after the image I shared yesterday.  I was riding the Durango & Silverton and we were on the way to Silverton.  This is a bit of the beautiful scenery you see along the way.  If you look close you can see a small waterfall that resulted from snow melt from the rocky peaks.  Some of these still had snow on them even in July.

12/17/17

My image today goes back to the Durango & Silverton Railway once again.  I took this image the day I was down in the canyon by the Las Animas River trying to get photos in the style of William Henry Jackson.  This is the locomotive that I rode behind the next day as it made it's way along the Hi Line.  At this point it is only moving along at 5 miles per hour due to the steep drop off.  This image shows the red granite in the hills here very well on the left.  

12/16/17

Eek, there are only 9 days till Christmas!  I am not ready.  My image today is one from this spring when we used to get rain.  I had been photographing the waterfall at the Geary State Fishing Lake and was on my way back to the car when I stopped to take this shot.  The Redbuds were in full bloom as you can see from the one in the foreground which added a nice pop of color.  The moon is visible as well.

12/15/17

Finally had a chance for rain yesterday and just got drizzle for a short while.  Sigh  This is an older shot in winter when we had some snow.  These are husks of Bitttersweet, the berries are gone, most likely eaten by birds.  The husk pops open when temps fall below freezing.  I like how these provide pops of color during an otherwise dull winter.

12/14/17

I'm staying in a warm spring mood today.  Actually, it was so warm this past weekend that some of these guys were out and about.  This is a Honey Bee that I captured on my Salvia that they really seem to enjoy.

12/13/17

I decided on a splash of nice bright color for today.  This is a male Baltimore Oriole that was enjoying some jelly from the deck feeder one day this spring.

12/12/17

Today's image goes back to the Grand Canyon in July.  This tree standing overlooking the Grand Canyon is a Utah Juniper, I had originally thought it was a close relative, a Cedar.  I love the character of their twisting trunks.  These trees can be quite old and this one due to it's size is likely over 100 years old.

12/11/17

I decided to start off the week with a cute little Chipmunk I saw in Colorado.  We were stopped to let hikers off on the Dirango & Silverton ride and a few Chipmunks were around looking for a treat.

12/10/17

My image today goes back to my trip to the Durango & Silverton Railway this past July.  This is back at the Durango station and our locomotive, 481, was about to set the passenger cars on their track for the next days service and then head to the turntable to be moved into the roundhouse for it's cleaning and servicing for the next day.

12/9/17

This is a photo i took back in July.  I had been out at the lake trying to get a Sunset photo and not really getting what I wanted.  I started to head home and as I was getting close I saw this sky color beginning to develop so I took a little detour to get a clear view.  I liked this shot best with the pond in the foreground.

12/8/17

It's Friday!  My image today is from this summer again, I'm thinking warm thoughts since it's cold out.  I captured this Blue Damselfly just outside my garden on a blade of grass.

12/7/17

Winter is here in temps today, only a high in the 30s.  My image today was taken on a nice summer day in June at a friend's house where she is lucky to have Barred Owls come and hunt in the yard.  I captured this young one in the tree in between it swooping down to the ground for a snack.  Owls are such cool, beautiful and mysterious birds. 

12/6/17

I am missing summer already.  Here is an almost perfect Red Sunflower I was able to grow this past year.  I'm still deciding on a new spot for them.  They were a bit to crowded.  I have several months to decide.  😏

12/5/17

Well the temps are more normal today.  Not used to it being cold.  My image today is of the Burr Oak tree in my side yard that I captured in late afternoon sunlight.  The leaves changed oddly this year and hung on for quite some time.  Some trees even still have leaves.  This one had very green bunches of leaves still while others turned color.  I put a bit of a glow on it as well to heighten the sunshine effect.  

12/4/17

So now we are not only dry but it's windy to dry it out even more.  Sigh.  No rain in sight for a week at least too.  Anyway, today's image is one from Minnesota.  I captured this Ladybug which, due to the fact that is has no spots, is the Asian Lady Beetle variety of Ladybug.  I captured this one on the new rail that was being laid for the large scale train I get to help with there.

12/3/17

I have had this image for awhile and never shared so this is one from the archives.  This is a night photo shoot I attended with some cool locomotives in attendance,  Here in this image are the noses of Nickel Plate 765 owned by the  Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.  Next is the former Southern Pacific Daylight 4449 currently owned by a Friends of group located in Oregon.  Then lastly is Pere Marquette 1225 currently owned by the Steam Railroading Institute in Michigan which is where I was for this event.  It was probably a once in a lifetime experience to be able to see so many famous steam trains at one time.

12/2/17

I was looking through images of the Grand Canyon and decided to share this one.  I took this shot while hiking a bit of the Bright Angel Trail back in July on a nice hot day.  It's true about drier air not feeling so hot as humid air.  

12/1/17

Yikes, it's December 1, only 24 days to Christmas and where has the year gone.  My image was taken on a summer day last year.  This is a Tiger Swallowtail enjoying the Butterfly or Buddleja Bush in my yard.

11/30/17

The last day of November.  Christmas is coming fast.  My image today is an older one of a Water Lily in my pond and it is one that I played around with quite a bit. 

11/29/17

I love the Conodoguinet Creek that runs near my Dad's home in Pennsylvania.  Every time I have been out there I have been able to capture some kind of wildlife image.  This last week I was able to get an image of this Heron that was wading in the creek looking for a meal.

11/28/17

The trees have now mostly lost their leaves so I spend a lot of time raking and leaf blowing.  This is an image of a tree at my friend's home while it was showing off it's lovely autumn colors.  This is a Sugar Maple tree and a quite lovely pop of color.

11/27/17

Today's image is really about the scenery but it does have the added bonus of a steam train in it as well.  I was capturing the scenery in Silverton, Colorado while shooting the trains coming into town.  The locomotive of this train was clearing out it's cylinder as I took this image of one of the mountains in the area that still had some snow on it in July.  Silverton is a beautiful area but I think it really only exists these days due to the tourist train.  

11/26/17

My image today goes back to early September in Rollag, Minnesota at the Steam Thresher's Reunion.  This is 353 pulling away from the water tower area with some passengers for an early morning run around the grounds.  It's about a 2 mile loop of track with a nice grade to work up at one point. I liked how the early morning sun was catching on the steam in this image.

11/25/17

Today's image is another view of the sunset at the Grand Canyon this past July.  The original image because of shooting at the sun made the canyon rather dark.  I used a new HDR software to bring out the canyon more and I really like what it did with it.

11/24/17

I shot this image this past summer in Colorado while I was waiting for our train to depart in Silverton.  I think this is a type of Metallic Bee on a Daisy that was growing by the tracks.

11/23/17

Happy Thanksgiving to those from the US and happy Thursday to everyone else.  This is just a little solar Turkey that I shot against some orange lights for bubbly bokeh.  The Turkey flaps it's wings in the sun.  😃

11/22/17

A five day holiday from work, nice.  This is an older image I got while I was up near Milford Lake one day awhile back.  This Red Tail Hawk was flying overhead and I was able to capture a few shots of it.  In this one it looks like it was checking me out.

11/21/17

I mentioned how the Maple trees in our area were putting on a show.  This is a friend's red Maple that I thought was quite lovely. I took this shot laying on the ground looking up the trunk.  

11/20/17

My image today is of a Columbine flower that I had growing in my garden this year.  I isolated one of the blooms and shot it against a white background.  I love Columbine and the wild ones do very well for me but the more specialized ones with bigger blooms, like this pink variety, I have to find just the right spot.

11/19/17

Today's image goes back to summer and Rollag, Minnesota and the 14/15 inch scale Wagner locomotive I get to help operate.  Here a friend of mine is running a group around.  Much progress has been made on the Roundhouse and turntable which are able to be seen in this image.  It will be a great place to store the locomotive and train.

11/18/17

I took this image of a lovely colorful evening sky over the Konza Prairie this past June.  This was looking to the north from the barn in an image I shared a few weeks ago or so.  The light was lovely on one of the hills along with the pinky sky.

11/17/17

Today felt a bit like late summer, in the 60s in the morning and 70s later.  Weird weather.  My image today is of a plant that gives our area some nice color in the autumn.  This is Virginia Creeper or Five Leaf Ivy back-lit in the afternoon sun.  It gets it's name from it's habit of growing up tree trunks like it has here.

11/16/17

I saw this flower at a friend's home and thought it was quite lovely looking.  It reminded me of a Columbine but I knew it was not that.  I found out it is called Angel Earring Fuchsia.  I may have to try to grow it this spring though it seems it is picky about light and water.  Needs to be damp and in shade.  It will take heat so that's good for my area.

11/15/17

It's Hump Day today and we get to see the sun as well, it's been a while since we started the day with a clear sky.  I took this image earlier this year and while these birds are what I think of more as "wild" birds they act like the regular little birds that come to visit.  The wild Turkeys come to the yard to visit the feeder as well, they just can't get up into it so they forage around on the ground.  This male was strutting his stuff for 3 females who are just out of frame and they were not as interested in him as I was.  😁

11/14/17

The day started out dreary once again.  I needed this to brighten things up.  A lovely summer day with Dame's Rocket in bloom and a Red Admiral butterfly enjoying the blossoms fit that need well.

11/13/17

I was looking back through some old photos and processing a few over the weekend.  I found this one of a beautiful scene in Rocky Mountain National Park and decided to share it.  It would be my dream to live where I could have this view every day.  I find the mountains very beautiful and relaxing.

11/12/17

So today I am sharing an image of two of the things I love to photograph in one shot.  I shared one from a different angle a while back.  This is the last train of the day arriving in Silverton, Colorado to let it's passengers off to walk around the town for a couple of hours like I was doing.  You can see in the background a couple of waterfalls that were being created by the snow melt that was still going on in July in the mountains.