3/31/22

 Today is the last day of March.  This year is moving along somewhat quickly it seems.  Today's image has 2 of my favorite things to photograph, bees and flowers.  This is a Bumblebee I captured on one of my Cone Flowers last summer.

3/30/22

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is one of my favorites that I had never seen till I was out on Konza Prairie but have since found closer to me.  This is a Cobaea Penstemon or Prairie Penstemon also known as a Beardtongue.  The latter name comes from the pollen free stamen that resembles a Bearded Iris or looks somewhat hairy.  These flowers vary from a pale pink to deep purple and can grow in clusters.

3/29/22

 While bike riding one day recently I saw these birds in a farm field and was able to capture one of them.  I learned while researching that this is a new bird for me.  This is a Horned Lark even though I cannot see the "horn".  They are fairly common in Kansas and are mainly seen in farmers fields.  

3/28/22

 So today is my day of the year so I am posting one of my favorite things to photograph.  I don't get to photograph these often and they are quite challenging to do correctly.  I still have a way to go to get them like my inspiration, Don Komarechka, but I think I am improving all the time.  This is an 18 image focus stack of a Snowflake I captured in late February.  I thought it turned out really well and is another that had at least 2 snowflakes growing together plus bits of sleet it looked like.

3/27/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  This is an older image that I got the first time I was able to see the Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy locomotive when I went to Nebraska to see it.  Caught it here while it was on the way to Omaha NE.  It's a beautifully restored locomotive and is quite the "big boy" indeed.

3/26/22

 Today's image is a bit different for me.  My camera got a firmware update which allows me to capture the night sky in long exposures without using a GPS addition.  It does it with the sensor of the camera.  It's very involved but very cool.  If you do long exposures without GPS help or without additional help the stars can start to trail and not look round any longer.    Before it got all cloudy and rainy I have been experimenting.  One of the few things I like about winter is that I get to see the constellation of Orion.  This is an image I made of that that I thought turned out pretty well.  This was a 25 second exposure.  I am still working on lenses and other issues for more telephoto type images that I will be sharing when I am happy with them.  This image is definitely best viewed large by clicking on it.

3/25/22

 It's Friday!  TGIF for sure this week, it's been a long one.  Flowers are starting to open even though it's been pretty cold but I have not had a chance to do any photos since it is rainy too.  Happy about the rain, we were very dry.  Anyway, today's image is from last spring and is of one of my Iris in bloom with some lovely bubbly type bokeh behind.  Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!  😁

3/24/22

 It's spring but I still have a lot of snowflakes I can share.  It's gotten a lot colder for a couple of days and it may snow again but it won't stay around or amount to anything if it does.  This one turned out pretty well I thought and was a stack of only 4 images at F11.

3/23/22

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Today's flower is Common Milkweed.  The Monarchs use it as a staple but, as you can see, bees enjoy it as well.  I was pleased to be able to transplant and have grow a plant of it when they had done some roadwork near my house several years ago now.  I find the blooms of it quite interesting with all the small flowers making up a ball.

3/22/22

 It's a double digit day today!  😊  The Red Tail Hawks were around a lot this past winter and I had a lot of opportunities to capture them.  I captured this one last week on a bike ride.  I thought it was pretty cool how it was looking at me as well as being fairly close.

3/21/22

 Happy Monday and Happy Spring which arrived yesterday officially!  It's finally here.  I have flowers coming up but none blooming so far so this is a pic of the Tulip I received for Valentine's Day.

3/20/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image goes back to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.  This is Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive 3750, a K4s Pacific type.  The K4s was iconic to the PA RR as they were known for their speed and power and were the standard for their passenger trains.  This locomotive was built in 1920 and retired in 1958.  The museum is planning on building more indoor storage space.  I hope they do because this locomotive is deteriorating badly due to sitting out in the weather from the photo I saw on their site while researching it.  It did make for a nice B&W subject though.

3/19/22

 Spring is officially arriving here in Kansas.  The Crocus and Daffodils are emerging and the Meadowlarks are back!  I captured this photo on Tuesday while on a bike ride west of my house.  I saw one fly by but heard another so I stopped and found where it was sitting and singing and got this shot of it.  Meadowlarks are the state bird of Kansas.

3/18/22

 It's Friday and Friday's Are Bokehlicious!  Today's Bokeh image is of a Dragonfly I captured while I was in Minnesota at Tamarac Wildlife refuge.  The amount of dragonflies in that area is amazing, they are everywhere.

3/17/22

 We had 2 significant snows here in Kansas in one week last week.  The first was about 4 inches and then the second was almost 6 and got me a day off and some more great snowflakes to photograph.   Now we are back in the 50s and 70s.  Crazy weather.  Anyway, this snowflake is from February and is a stack of only 5 images due to shooting at a higher aperture again.  These were difficult to process because the high aperture made them dark and hard to see to refine but I figured out a process to make them work. If you look closely at this one, it is actually 2 snowflakes stuck together.  I believe they grew together, not stuck together as they landed.

3/16/22

 It's Wildflower Wednesday!  Today's beauty is one of my favorite flowers that grows wild here in Kansas.  There are many varieties of this flower, the pink and purple are probably best known but they don't seem to do all that well in my area.  I have one I am hoping will come back this year but we shall see.  Anyway, this is a very close up shot of a Columbine flower.

3/15/22

 The Kestrel seems to be allowing me to get closer to it these days.  This is cropped but still way closer than I have ever been to it.  Still on a wire though but....

3/14/22

 Happy Monday!  I find these flowers difficult to get an interesting photo of.  I think this one turned out fairly well though.  This is my "Christmas" Cactus that is still putting out some blooms here in March.

3/13/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today we go back to Strasburg Pennsylvania and actually to Paradise PA.  This is the Strasburg Railroad's locomotive 475 pulling out for the return trip to Strasburg.  It has just changed from pulling the train backward and moved around to pull frontward back.  It's a short but fun trip if you get the chance with lovely scenery.

 

3/12/22

 On a walk a week ago now I went to the large pond near where I live where I have seen various birds migrating though.  I saw this one by itself out on the pond.  We do have these in Kansas so probably wasn't migrating.  This is a male Ring Necked Duck.

3/11/22

 It's Friday, TGIF!  I felt like a butterfly image as I am eager for spring to arrive and stay for good.  We have spring flowers coming up but we are still experiencing snow and cold weather.  This is a Clouded Sulphur that I captured on one of the Coneflowers in my yard this past summer.  I chose this image for the lovely creamy like bokeh behind because Friday's Are Bokehlicious as well!

3/10/22

 We had a surprise snow on Sunday.  It was the most we have had at one time all winter, about 5 inches, maybe 6.  It was not good for macro photographs though.  I captured this flake back on February 24.  It is a different one for me, it is a single image, not focus stacked.  I took several shots of it but I was doing it at a high aperture of F11, by mistake actually, and it turned out really well with just the single image.

3/9/22

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  Todays beauty is Common Yarrow or Western Yarrow as it is called in Kansas.  Yarrow is in the Aster - Sunflower Family of flowers.  It has soft, fern-like leaves and is supposed to be good in drought.  I am doubtful that the plants I planted and babied along last year are coming back.  We shall see I guess.

3/8/22

 On a recent walk I captured a Red Shouldered Hawk in flight fairly close.

3/7/22

 Happy Monday!  Today's image is a close up of one of the new Zinnias I had in my garden this past year.  It reminded me of a peppermint candy.  That may even be the name of the variety but I don't have the package any longer.  The butterflies sure liked them as I have several images with butterflies on them.

3/6/22

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  I don't do B&W images very often but I enjoy them a lot.  Not sure if others do.  I think some images lend themselves to it rather well.  Steam trains, to me, are great subjects for B&W, seems to make them more dramatic.  This is Union Pacific Big Boy heading out from Junction City Kansas to Salina on it's trip a couple of years ago now.  I missed it coming through last year unfortunately.

3/5/22

 This winter has been great for bird shots and then on one day snow as well.  I could share bird and snow pics all week for several weeks but I won't bore you.  😊  Anyway I captured this Carolina Wren calling one morning outside my window in the Walnut tree.  They have a rather distinctive call and it's rather loud as well.

If you go to this link and scroll down to Songs & Calls, Song #1 is the exact one I hear and heard on this day.  Audubon.org Carolina Wren

3/4/22

 It's Friday, TGIF!  It's been a long week.  My photo for today is another of the lovely Hollyhock flowers that grow near the Shower House at Rollag where I get to play trains.  I chose this image for the lovely and my favorite, bubbly bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

3/3/22

 We finally had a good snow this past week.  It snowed pretty much all day but didn't really amount to much.  That was good but it also produced a lot of photogenic flakes.  This is one of them.  This image is a stack of several images and one of my smaller stacks, only 5 images for this one.

3/2/22

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  I have another beauty for today.  This is a group of Blue Wild Indigo or False Indigo that was growing alongside the road where I live.  I have a plant of this as well in my garden.  Wish the blooms lasted longer than they do. They bloom in May and June typically.

3/1/22

 Happy first of March!  We are getting closer to spring!  I captured this shot recently of the Kestrel.  I wish it was in a tree but this is the closest I have gotten yet.  They are cool looking small raptors.