Monday, November 30, 2020

11/30/20

 I planted some mini Mums by the Gazebo this year and this one I had to put a cage around.  It was closest to the Gazebo and must be tasty as something, I believe a Pack Rat kept eating on it.  After I did that it recovered and did pretty well.  I took this image after the first hard frost we had and, as you can see, it was still blooming nicely.  I planted this color and then a more golden one that must not have tasted as good.  😏



Sunday, November 29, 2020

11/29/20

 It's Steamy Sunday! So I have never shared a photo of myself here and also one not actually taken by me.  Times are different though and this one was taken by my camera by the hubster and shows off the locomotive well.  I believe this is the experience that started it all, my first cab ride in a steam locomotive at the Black Hawk & Central City Railroad in Colorado.  The people running it were so friendly and informative and it was a great experience.  I really hope they are able to get this railroad up and running again as they are trying to.  All my pics from this were slightly blurry, not sure what was going on, we were usually better photographers than that.  This is an actual film pic that has been copied from back around 1990-ish.



Saturday, November 28, 2020

11/28/20

 November has been good for lovely skies both in the morning and evening.  This is a 3 image panorama that I shot on the evening of the 16th while out for a walk.



Friday, November 27, 2020

11/27/20

 It's Friday, TGIF!  Fridays are Bokehlicious as well!  This image is one I took in early September of a Painted Lady butterfly that was enjoying the Marigolds in my garden.  The blurred leaves provide the lovely contrasting bokeh.



Thursday, November 26, 2020

11/26/20

 It's Thanksgiving here in the US today.  It's going to be a different one.  I hope you all stay safe.  The virus is real, it's not political and it's not a scam.  I lost a good friend to it who tried to take precautions just 1 1/2 weeks ago.  Please protect your loved ones.  We at least have them to be thankful for in these trying times.  I am going to smoke some turkey which we will be eating by ourselves for the first time ever on a Thanksgiving day.  it's Ok though because we will see our family again when it's safe to.
The image is some autumn color turned leaves on a very old Oak tree in our yard.



Wednesday, November 25, 2020

11/25/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday!  Today's flower is a lovely small one that was even paler than usual.  It's name is Pale Poppy Mallow and it usually is a bit more pink or blue in color.  This one was basically white.



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

11/24/20

 I knew I had an even closer photo of a frog buddy on a Lily pad.  This one even has the bonus of the flower.  This guy is one of my Bullfrogs but a smaller one than some of them.



Monday, November 23, 2020

11/23/20

 My mini Hostas did pretty well this year.  This is an image of one of them that was blooming rather late in the summer.  I took this image in mid September.



Sunday, November 22, 2020

11/22/20

 Today's Steamy Sunday image goes back to the Black Hawk & Central City Railroad.  This is another scan of an old photo I took probably around 1990.  This image shows a bit of the line there.  At this time is was a point to point, backing out and then pulling forward on the return.  It didn't go horribly far due to a bridge that needed replacing but it was a nice ride on a neat old train.  I hope they can get it back up and running again.



Saturday, November 21, 2020

11/21/20

 In November we have been treated to some lovely skies once again.  This was the sunrise on the 12th as I was heading in the door at work.



Friday, November 20, 2020

11/20/20

 It's Friday, TGIF, and a triple number day, 11/20/2020.  😀  Friday's are also Bokehlicious and today's image has some lovely bokeh.  This is a switch of an earlier image I posted of these two butterflies on a Snakeroot plant by my large pond late this summer.  In the foreground this time is a Pearl Crescent and in the rear is a Painted Lady.



Thursday, November 19, 2020

11/19/20

 Our autumn this year was not as colorful as some years and definitely not as colorful as other areas of North America.  We had some very early low temps and very high winds of 45 mph and over which blew most of them down early.  The few that survived and clung to my Maple tree the longest did turn a quite lovely red like this group I captured in the late afternoon sun.



Wednesday, November 18, 2020

11/18/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  The wildflowers are done blooming now so I have to start digging into this past spring and summer's images.  Todays image is showing the underside of the bell shaped bloom of a Common Ground Cherry.  On my Yellow Kansas Wildflowers by Color Page I have a shot of the plant and how the flowers hang on it.  I had to do a lot of fancy maneuvering to get this shot. 



Tuesday, November 17, 2020

11/17/20

 Because of the Vid situation I have actually become more healthy due to starting up regular exercise again.  Since late March, I have been walking or riding a bike every day.  I guess some good has to come from the bad.  Due to the walking I have been able to see and capture different birds in my area.  Very early this month I was able to capture this American Kestrel sitting on a wire.  I rarely see these birds and this is only the second time I have been able to capture one. 



Monday, November 16, 2020

11/16/20

 My large pond had a nice surprise in it after I had had cleaned out numerous Cattails, this yellow Water Lily plant.  It has been blooming quite a lot now that it is more free of the Cattails.  This is one of the images I got of it late this past summer.  With the cold weather, the Lilies are all done blooming and we have to wait until next summer for sights like this.



Sunday, November 15, 2020

11/15/20

 Welcome to Steamy Sunday on the Blog!  A friend of mine and frequent visitor to the Blog tipped me to a video on a different technique on processing images that works rather well with train images.  Here is Norfolk & Western locomotive 611 and it's train in Pennsylvania last year processed to appear as though it is emerging from a pencil drawing.  Let me know in the comments if you like the look.



Saturday, November 14, 2020

11/14/20

 On Wednesday November 4 we were treated to a quite beautiful sunrise.  I had not seen such a beautiful sunrise in quite a while.  I took this shot as I headed out the driveway for work.  It was a great way to start the day.



Friday, November 13, 2020

11/13/20

 TGIF!  Happy Friday the 13th!  Hope it will be a good day for you, usually it is for me.  Friday's Are also Bokehlicious as well so that's why I chose this image for today.  This is a Monarch butterfly I captured in late summer enjoying the Butterfly bush or Buddleja blooms.  More of the bush and the ornamental grass I have growing are providing the lovely stranded bokeh.



Thursday, November 12, 2020

11/12/20

 I captured a lot of nature enjoying the Autumn Sedum this year.  This is an image of 2 Honey Bees enjoying the blooms with a Metallic bee on the way in.



Wednesday, November 11, 2020

11/11/20

 Happy Veteran's Day!  Thanks to all the veterans for their service.  

It's Wildflower Wednesday on the Blog.  Today's flower is one of my favorites.  This one is rather hardy as well because I found it still blooming on a walk even after having several days of nights in the low 20s F.  This is a trio of Black Eyed Susans.




Tuesday, November 10, 2020

11/10/20

 This was my second snowflake and best that I took during our first snowfall this year.  This was actually a double flake and quite beautiful I thought. This one was 8 images focus stacked together.  I now have a new ring light so I am ready for the next one.  If it has to be cold out, I hope I get the opportunity for more snowflake images.  



Monday, November 9, 2020

11/9/20

 My Pickerel Rush plant in the large pond did very well this year.  Every year it gets larger and produces more flowers.  I am quite happy about that.  This image shows off the leaves fairly well which can be quite long in some cases, about 10 inches or so.  This one was probably a good 6 or 7.  I liked how it framed the flower.



Sunday, November 8, 2020

11/8/20

 Today's image really goes way back in my archives to either 1989 or 1990ish and a trip out to Colorado.  This is the Black Hawk & Central City Railroad.  It was a short point to point railroad but it was quite fun.  I was even able to have a ride in the cab, my first steam train cab ride in locomotive No. 71.  Unfortunately this railroad does not exist any longer.  The locomotive in recent years has been on display in front of the Grand Z in Central City.  There was talk of moving and restoring the locomotive back to operation in late 2019 but I am not sure where that went and now may be staled out due to the Vid.



Saturday, November 7, 2020

11/7/20

 This is an image of a lovely sunset we had a couple of weeks ago.  You can see my gazebo where the lights have come on for the evening.  Also visible is my 550 gallon rainwater collection tank to fill my large pond which the gazebo sits on the edge of.



Friday, November 6, 2020

11/6/20

 TGIF!  We made it to Friday!  Last week we had crazy weather setting record lows for the month.  It was like January in October with highs in the 20s and snow.  This is an image of a few of my Marigolds still covered in snow before they turned brown.  Because Friday's are Bokehlicious, this image has some lovely soft bokeh created by other flowers and snow behind them.



Thursday, November 5, 2020

11/5/20

 Normally my butterfly shots are good for bokeh images too.  This one has basically the absence of bokeh or in reality, quite smooth bokeh.  Anyway, this is a Painted Lady I captured on the Butterfly bush enjoying the blooms one afternoon.

 


Wednesday, November 4, 2020

11/4/20

 It's Wildflower Wednesday on the Blog!  With the bitter cold temps we had, almost 20F a couple of nights, last week, I was surprised to see any wildflowers still alive.  This group of Aromatic Asters surprised me though.  I wonder if the heat from the sidewalk helped.  They were very short due to being mowed over several times.  They do normally bloom into October.



Tuesday, November 3, 2020

11/3/20

 Today is Election Day, I hope you got out and voted.

Last week we had record cold and our first snow of the year.  This week it is back in the 50s and 60s.  Crazy weather.  Anyway, I was able to capture my first snowflakes.  I only got a few due to issues with my light having a short and not lighting correctly and also the snow was very light at the time.  These were 2 of the ones I captured.  They had a lot of rhime, or sleet, on them but I thought their general shapes were lovely through it.  They are both focus stacked images and cropped a good deal.  In my haste I also forgot my macro extender.  Hope to get another chance this winter where I am better prepared.  



Monday, November 2, 2020

11/2/20

 Every once in a while I see my frog buddies doing cliché things like sitting on a Lily pad.  I think I have a closer up photo somewhere but I liked this one because it showed how huge the Lily pads got on this plant.  This is the new one that I just transferred over to this pond and some of the pads were at least 8 inches across.  This is one of my Leopard frog buddies hanging out on one.  



Sunday, November 1, 2020

11/1/20

 Today's image is going back in the archives quite a bit, as will most images from this point on due to this wacky year and not being able to do steamy things.  This is another image from the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, it's a beautiful, well set up and displayed museum and you should go when it opens again, it's well worth the trip.  This is North Pacific Coast Railroad No. 12 Sonoma built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1876.  The locomotive has been restored by the museum, after acquiring it in 1978, to it's as built appearance.