Sunday, March 31, 2019

3/31/19

Well it's a bit of a melancholy day for me.  Here on the Blog I have mentioned a place I play at as well called Google Plus.  It is the first Social Media site I had ever belonged to and I met some great photographers over there and gained some great inspiration from them.  One of the things I got to do was co-host a theme called Steamy Sunday and it was a great time since I like trains so much and people mostly shared images of steam trains around the world and also some other neat steamy things.  That's why Sundays here on the Blog have been about steam trains for the most part.  Today is the last Steamy Sunday on the Plus because Google, in their infinite wisdom, chose to drop their social media platform.  It all goes away on Tuesday so all of us there have been finding other places to play and keep in touch.  So anyway, my image for the last Steamy Sunday on  the Plus is this one from a night shoot in Michigan several years back.  I thought it fitting as the Plus goes dark.


Saturday, March 30, 2019

3/30/19

We have gotten cold again so I am looking forward to sights like this again.  These are starting to green up again.  Hope the cold doesn't hurt them.  They are Pink Echinacea also know as Cone Flowers.


Friday, March 29, 2019

3/29/19

Well we are going back to a bit of winter with gloomy weather, cold temps and maybe even a bit of snow.  Ugh.  I am dreaming of warm days when we are done with the cold.  This is a young Big Horn Sheep in the Badlands of South Dakota in a large field of grass providing some nice bokeh. 


Thursday, March 28, 2019

3/28/19

So we have a chance of rain the next few days.  Started out with a lovely pink sky this morning.  It's almost April and April showers bring May flowers so kind of hoping for that.  I am looking forward to sights like this in the summer.  This is a huge Bumblebee I captured on some Butterfly Milkweed this past summer.


Wednesday, March 27, 2019

3/27/19

Happy Hump Day!  We had a lot of snow this winter.  Not really in amounts but in longevity.  It was white most of the time.  At the pond there was color against the white with the Cat Tail fronds that had not quite dies yet and the glimpse of the Barberry bush which had turned red.




Tuesday, March 26, 2019

3/26/19

My image today isn't the best one ever but it was of an interesting visitor to my yard late this winter.  I was working at the dining room table and looked up and was quite surprised to see this bird hanging out in the tree.  All I had handy was my normal lens but I didn't want to miss getting a shot and it did fly off right after I snapped this image.  This is a Sharp Shin Hawk that was perched in the River Birch tree trying to prey on the little birds at the feeder.  I don't think it got any at this time.


Monday, March 25, 2019

3/25/19

March is going quickly it seems.  Spring is starting to spring around here finally.  My image today is from a previous spring though I hope to see sights like this soon.  These are the buds of a Magnolia tree.  I love how the buds are furry and then the bright pop of pink from the flower emerging. 


Sunday, March 24, 2019

3/24/19

Before I rode the Cumbres & Toltec train this past May I was taking some images of the locomotive as it got ready to hook on to our train.  I took this shot as it passed in front of the sun and liked the artsy looking rays in the image.


Saturday, March 23, 2019

3/23/19

My Crocus are really coming to life.  They are as eager for warmer weather as I am.  Here is an image of a group of them from Thursday.


Friday, March 22, 2019

3/22/19

Fridays are about the bokeh and this shot from this past summer from my garden has that.  This is my red Bee Balm in bloom.  I saw yesterday that it seems to have survived the winter and is starting to emerge.  I am looking forward to enjoying it again.


Thursday, March 21, 2019

3/21/19

We are finally warming up and feeling like spring here.  Nice.  This was from a bitter cold day not long ago. I rarely get Bluebirds but I had a couple who were using the River Birch tree for a place of rest.  They did not look happy about the cold and I couldn't blame them as it was windy as well making it worse.


Wednesday, March 20, 2019

3/20/19

Happy First Day of Spring!  It has finally arrived though we are still a bit chilly in the mornings.  It has been a long winter and I am looking forward to things greening up and flowers blooming.  This is the Clematis of some friends of mine in bloom from this past year. 


Tuesday, March 19, 2019

3/19/19

Looking back on the Airshow in Great Bend Kansas this past year where I was able to see these two World War II bombers Doc and Fifi.  I wasn't able to see them fly and still a bit bitter about that since the sky cleared up and all the other planes flew.  Sigh.  Anyway, it was still great to see them in person at the old B-29 hanger.


3/18/19

Not sure what is going on with my brain.  Posting late once again.  Spring has finally sprung here in my area.  I have a few Crocus up and these are 2 of them I captured on Sunday.


Sunday, March 17, 2019

3/17/19

Happy St. Patty's Day!  My image today has a lot of green in it to celebrate.  😜 This is the Cumbres & Toltec train heading for the Lobato Trestle on it's way back to Chama New Mexico.  This image shows off the northern area's landscape fairly well.  It's quite lovely and the scenery makes for a great ride.


3/16/19

Well the old brain failed me once again.  Guess I was eager to get outside as we finally had a really nice day.  This is a sunrise I captured on my way to work a couple of weeks ago.  I really had to stop and take this when I saw that beam of light the sun was producing.  This is actually a phone shot with my Google Pixel 3.  It does really well with photos.


Friday, March 15, 2019

3/15/19

This is another in my Frozen Bubble Series and another that I did in afternoon sunlight in the Spruce tree.  I really liked how these came out.  The  light was great but it was windy and difficult to get them to form without breaking even with the tree shielding the direct wind.  I thought the few I was able to get were lovely and the snow in the tree created some great bokeh too.


Thursday, March 14, 2019

3/14/19

Happy Pi Day - 3.141...  😊  Today's image is another of the birds in snow I have been able to capture this winter.  We had weather in the 60s yesterday and right now it is snowing again.  Sigh.  I'd like spring to stay.  Anyway, this is a Dark Eyed Junco on the railing post of my porch.


Wednesday, March 13, 2019

3/13/19

Well, we finally have a warm day but it is rainy and incredibly windy.  Sigh.  I am looking forward to nice days when I can plant flowers and when the flowers will come up as well.  I want to try these again.  I love them but they don't seem to do well in the areas I have tried them so I am going to try one more spot and see how it does.  This is the bloom of a pink Columbine that I shot at the Cumbres & Toltec station in Chama New Mexico.


Tuesday, March 12, 2019

3/12/19

Well, it's finally warmer out but now it's dreary and rainy.  Ah well.  My image today is a sight I have been seeing recently.  Huge flocks of Geese flying overhead to who knows where.  Last Wednesday while I was traveling out to western Kansas I saw a flock that was even larger than this and made the sky almost black in spots.  Kind of amazing.  I left this photo larger than I usually do because it is best viewed large and is more impressive seen that way.


Monday, March 11, 2019

3/11/19

I am on Spring Break this week, it's earlier than usual but not sure why, so I will be posting earlier in the day.  I was trying to think of a different way to showcase the snowflakes I have been able to capture since I am limited in the amount of magnification I can get.  I came up with this idea and liked it.  These are 4 of the best snowflakes I was able to capture during a snowfall where they were clean and well formed.


Sunday, March 10, 2019

3/10/19

Every now and then I like to get back to my roots in photography of black and white.  Steam trains make for great subjects as I think it creates a very timeless image.  This is the Cumbres & Toltec train as it was heading out of Chama New Mexico towards Antonito Colorado on a warm day in late May this past spring.


Saturday, March 9, 2019

3/9/19

I am tired of winter but today is finally warmer so I can imagine spring is on the way.  I do like how this past winter has provided opportunities for interesting images.  This is another from a few weeks ago when a bitter cold morning created ice patterns on the storm door.  A little playing around with the colors from the trees behind gave the feathery abstract patterns a rather metallic look I thought.


Friday, March 8, 2019

3/8/19

I was able to capture this rather Intense Chickadee (I have a title, rare 😃)  on the Mulberry tree a week or so ago.  The tree gave this Black Capped Chickadee some nice background bokeh.  


3/7/19

Yeesh, I was brain dead yesterday so posting late.  A beautiful little female Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly I was able to capture this past summer on the Butterfly Bush.  Winter has been fun with the bubbles and flakes but I am ready for it to be over.


Wednesday, March 6, 2019

3/6/19

It was so cold, here in Kansas yesterday that I could still freeze bubbles.  It was a pain because it was also somewhat windy but I was able to manage a few.  This is one that I shot in my snowy Spruce tree.



Tuesday, March 5, 2019

3/5/19

It's still quite cold here, high only in the 20s today.  I am still dreaming of warmer days.  This image was taking on a very warm day on the first weekend in June when the annual Bi-plane Fly-In is held in Junction City Kansas.  I have photographed this one before as it comes to the meet every year and is a beautifully restored example. 


Monday, March 4, 2019

3/4/19

So we are bitter cold today with the temp when I left for work of -1.  Crazy for March.  Hope this is the end of it.  With all the snow we have been getting it provides for opportunities to photograph birds in it.  This is a Tufted Titmouse sitting in the Mulberry tree during one of the recent snows.  


Sunday, March 3, 2019

3/3/19

Well we woke up to 4 to 5 inches of snow and bitter cold this morning.  The snow ended early so no chance of trying to photograph flakes.  Ah well.  I am still dreaming of warmer days.  This image was taken in late May just outside the campground I was staying in near the Cumbres & Toltec Railway.  The train was returning to Chama from Antonito Colorado and was just coming off the bridge over the Chama River as it was heading into the yard and station.


Saturday, March 2, 2019

3/2/19

We are under a Winter Storm Warning today once again.  It's getting old and I am dreaming of spring.  I thought I would share these Coneflowers or Echinacea from my garden this past summer to keep those thoughts going.  Hopefully this will be the last of the snow and cold but we shall see.


Friday, March 1, 2019

3/1/19

Well, it's finally March though it will not seem like it for a while here.  Snow this weekend is in the forecast and bitter cold on Monday.  Sigh  I am dreaming of summer days today.  This is an image of some Dreamy Chicory (I actually had a title) that I took in my garden this past summer.  I loved the bokeh in the image and Fridays are all about the bokeh.  😃