Wednesday, September 30, 2020

9/30/20

 It's the last day of September, wow this seemed like such a long month. It's also Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog as well.  The Tall Joe Pye is in bloom right now and I captured this image on a walk one evening last week.  I liked the bubbly bokeh behind and bokeh is good any day too!

Don't forget, I have pages here on the Blog listed at the top on the main page which you can use for reference to identify what you are seeing these days when you are out and about.



Tuesday, September 29, 2020

9/29/20

 I have been given some neat opportunities for photographing Hummingbirds this year.  I let some wild Sunflowers grow in my garden and this female Ruby Throat took advantage of them one evening to sit and rest in between feeding and I was able to capture her through the door window.



Monday, September 28, 2020

9/28/20

 This is one of my regular Morning Glory flowers shot in macro.  I don't get to see these flowers open very often because they are over by my large pond.  I basically only see them open on cloudy days because I am rarely over there in the mornings.  I love how they look like they are lit up from the center.  This really comes out well when I shoot them backlit.



Sunday, September 27, 2020

9/27/20

 It's Steamy Sunday on the Blog once again!  This image goes back a bit in my archives.  I took this image on a trip out to California one year and at a visit to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.  This museum had lovely presentations of locomotives in great displays like this one of the Governor Stanford seeming to emerge from a tunnel.  This locomotive was built in 1862 and was from the Central Pacific.  You can read much more about it at the Museum's website.  https://www.californiarailroad.museum/visit/exhibits   The museum is another of many in need of donations as it has been closed due to the Co-vid situation.



Saturday, September 26, 2020

9/26/20

 As I mentioned, a friend of mine saw this field on her way back from Wichita and alerted me to it.  It was a couple miles south of the State Lake that I have shot and shared images from.  I was very happy to see that some of the blooms still were quite lovely looking and the heads had not started to droop as yet.  Our skies are being affected by the wildfires out west so the sun was very hazy and fiery red as it was setting in the west.



Friday, September 25, 2020

9/25/20

 TGIF!  As I mentioned last week in my Wildflower post, the Dotted Gayfeather is blooming and it is attracting all kinds of nature as well.  I was able to see and capture this Buckeye butterfly enjoying the blooms.  I chose to share this image today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious and I liked the bokeh behind created by other grasses.



Thursday, September 24, 2020

9/24/29

 The Autumn Sedumn is blooming and attracting the bees and butterflies again.  It is quite the magnet for both.  It was nice to see these Honey Bees enjoying the blooms.  When I looked at this image on computer I saw there was something else flying in to join them as well, possibly another bee.



Wednesday, September 23, 2020

9/23/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday!  This wildflower has been very abundant and has lasted quite a long time but is just about finished for the year.  I love to photograph it as I think it's details and delicate look make for a lovely subject.  Even from behind, as this was shot makes for a lovely subject.  This is Queen Anne's Lace.  I have saved some seeds to plant in my garden and hopefully get them to grow there next year.




Tuesday, September 22, 2020

9/22/20

 I had another neat visitor to my yard recently.  I was weeding in a section of my garden railroad and I looked over and almost missed this.  A very green Praying Mantis was in the area I had just weeded and was looking at me weed.  I imagine it was wondering where everything was going that it had been hiding among.  I believe, from it's size that it is a female.


 
 

Monday, September 21, 2020

9/21/20

 So I was whining a little over a week ago about not having a Sunflower field to shoot when a friend of mine was coming back from out of town and told me there was one just south of us.  I headed out on Tuesday evening to have a look and, Yay, most of the heads were still upright and lovely.  Some had not even fully opened liked the one in this image.  I thought the petals that were showing reminded me of flames reaching for the sky.  This is the type of fire I like.  My thoughts are with my friends out west dealing with the devastating wildfires, hope it will be over soon and you all stay safe.



Sunday, September 20, 2020

9/20/20

 It's a triple number day 9/20/2020  and it's also Steamy Sunday here on the Blog.  😃  This is what I was doing one of the days over Labor Day weekend instead on being up in Minnesota.  We had a get together of families at the railroad I get to play at outside of Topeka Kansas.  We all stayed socially distanced and ran one of the locomotives around with family members.  It was a fun time and a nice chance to do something steamy this year.  This is a 12 inch gauge Ottaway locomotive.  The person engineering was blowing down the engine a bit to get scale out of the locomotive boiler.



Saturday, September 19, 2020

9/19/20

 This is another beautiful sunrise that I was treated to on my way to work last month.  Lately the skies have not been so beautiful and dramatic.  I think last night's sunset was affected by the western wildfires, the sky was hazy looking and the sun was very red and disappeared before the horizon.



Friday, September 18, 2020

9/18/20

 TGIF and Fridays Are Bokehlicious!   Today's bokeh image is of the blooms of one of my Obedient plants.  I always say they are not very obedient because they will spread everywhere but they are rather lovely.  It apparently got it's name because you can bend the flowers in any direction.  It spreads quite aggressively by rhizomes.  It is in the Mint family.



Thursday, September 17, 2020

9/17/20

 I am not sure if I have ever done this before but today's image explains why I shoot in RAW instead of just JPEG.  If your camera has the ability to shoot RAW it is a good idea to do that because you can recover a lot of data if your settings are wrong and you mess up a photo, especially if it happens to be something very important.  I had been shooting something in the dark the night before and forgot to change my settings back until after I had shot several photos of this Painted Lady Butterfly on the Lantana.  I was able to change them and get some other shots fortunately but I thought this worked well to show how you can still get a good image out of a bad shot.  I also liked the artistic look of the over exposed image.  The flowers on the repaired image still have a bit of an odd look to them and I maybe could have done more with the image but I was mainly concerned with the look of the butterfly and it turned out very well.


Wednesday, September 16, 2020

9/16/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Remember you can use my Wildflowers by color pages to ID ones that are growing.  The pages are located at the top of the main Blog page.

This flower is Dotted Gayfeather which is blooming quite abundantly right now.  The bees and butterflies are quite enjoying it.  This was growing across the way at a schoolhouse I mow but let the wildflowers grow at.  



Tuesday, September 15, 2020

9/15/20

 This is another neat visitor I had in my yard recently.  This is a Clearwing Moth visiting the Lantana flowers one afternoon.  



Monday, September 14, 2020

9/14/20

 I have a neat flower that is blooming in the garden right now.  It is red Salvia and it's quite different than the purple variety.  The blooms are quite small and remind me of an orchid type flower.



Sunday, September 13, 2020

9/13/20

 It's Steamy Sunday!  This is the other locomotive I should have been working with last weekend at the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher's Reunion that is usually held every Labor Day weekend except this past one due to the Vid.  This is the 14 3/4 gauge Wagner I get to help operate.  This is quite an older image of it as this shed is no longer there due to the new Roundhouse but it was a nice steamy shot of it.  I decided to give it a B&W treatment but didn't go fully on it as you can still see the red accents.




Saturday, September 12, 2020

9/12/20

 I didn't get to go out looking for a Sunflower field this year.  Not sure why, I didn't have anywhere else to go but seemed quite busy anyway.  This is one from several years ago in a field south of where I live that hadn't seemed to plant any after.  I'm not sure if they don't bring enough money or they need to rotate or what.  I had better luck finding fields in Minnesota even though Kansas is the Sunflower State but that's because of the wild ones that grow here.



Friday, September 11, 2020

9/11/20

 9/11 Anniversary, Never Forget.

It's Friday and Friday's Are Bokehlicious!  Today's bokeh filled image is one I was able to capture last weekend outside Topeka, Kansas at the railroad I get to play at.  We were having a very small get together to celebrate the owner's birthday.  On a break I went to take some photos and I had no more sat in the crook of a tree than about 8 feet away from me this Hummingbird came and sat on this branch.  It stayed there for quite some time and allowed me to get a number of shots.  I liked this one because for some reason it was sticking it's tongue out like it was tasting the air.  This is a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird.



Thursday, September 10, 2020

9/10/20

 I had not seen many smaller butterflies around for a while but they were back like crazy on Monday.  I'll see what happens when the cold snap hits on Tuesday.  These have been around fairly steadily and I captured this one on a Butterfly Bush bloom not long ago.  It is an Alfalfa Caterpillar butterfly, not the greatest name for a kind of lovely one.



Wednesday, September 9, 2020

9/9/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Remember, you can always check out the Wildflowers By Colors pages of the Blog to help you ID the ones you are seeing.  

Today's image is of Wild Burgamot or Bee Balm.  It is well named because the bees, especially Bumbles sure seem to love it.  There is a Bumble in this image feeding on a bloom.



Tuesday, September 8, 2020

9/8/20

 I posted an image of one of the Green Frogs that lives in my large pond a couple weeks ago and said that they were about the size of a Leopard frog.  That is not true I found out when I saw this guy recently and got a shot of it before it hopped off the rock.  This guy was a good 6 to 7 inches in length and very stout compared to a Leopard.  They are much more skittish than my Leopard frog buddies and now I know why I hear such big splashes from them.  They are also the ones who seem to squeak as they jump off the bank as well.  😁



Monday, September 7, 2020

9/7/20

 Happy Labor Day in the US, a lot of people have it as a holiday including me.  Today's image is of some beautiful Fushia flowers that a friend of mine has.  I need to get some of these next year.  I just love the shape of the blooms, they remind me of dancers even though they have too many arms and legs.  😃



Sunday, September 6, 2020

9/6/20

 It's Steamy Sunday on Labor Day weekend and I should be in Minnesota doing steamy things but due to the vid I can't.  It's the 100th Birthday of this locomotive and I had hoped to be on it and firing it around the grounds during it's special year.  353 is a former Soo Line Switch engine and for many years has been pulling passengers around the 2 miles of track at the Western Minnesota Steam thresher's reunion in Rollag.  Happy 100th Birthday 353!



Saturday, September 5, 2020

9/5/20

 I have been posting a lot of sunsets lately but this one was a sunrise that I saw on my way to work during the first week of August.  I pulled over to the side of the road and took a quick shot with my phone.



Friday, September 4, 2020

9/4/20

 We made it to Friday, TGIF!  Today's image is of a dainty Damselfly I captured on a rock in the big pond.  I think it's a Blue damsel.  I liked the bubbly bokeh on the right side so of course I had to share it today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!



Thursday, September 3, 2020

9/3/20

 Today's image is an older one I was able to get very early this spring.  I like Blue Jays.  I have heard they can be bullies but they don't seem to bully the other birds about food, they all eat together.  This is one I captured after he picked out a peanut from the mix I gave them.



Wednesday, September 2, 2020

9/2/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday once again here on the Blog!  Today's flower is the Common Sunflower which is the State flower of Kansas.  It is blooming everywhere now and is quite lovely!  There are huge groups of them along I-70.  The plants can grow quite tall, I have a few that must be about 10 feet high.

Hope you also check out my Wildflowers by Color Pages located at the top of the Blog where there are many listed along with their bloom time.



Tuesday, September 1, 2020

9/1/20

 Happy September!  My image to start off the month is of a gorgeous Giant Swallowtail butterfly that came to visit my Lantana flowers that I have growing in a large pot on the deck.  I was able to get this shot through the storm door of it enjoying the blooms.  It was lovely to see it up close like that.