10/31/15

Happy Halloween!  I took this image out at the railroad I volunteer at last weekend and thought it was appropriate for me and the day.  Look at the headstone names.  :-)  Also, we got rain!  Not just a tiny sprinkle either.  Still not enough but better than those barely sprinkles.  Be careful out there tonight if you are Trick or treating!  Don't do too much mischief either.  ;-)

10/30/15

We have this variety of Sunflower in Kansas but I shot this particular example of it in Minnesota.  This is called a Sawtooth Sunflower because the petals resemble a circular saw blade.  Here's hoping we get a decent amount of rain but I am not holding my breath.

10/29/15

So we had our first cold night and fairly chilly day.  Winter is on it's way.   I mentioned several posts ago that one of the only good things about getting up early to go to work is the beautiful skies I get to see but don't get to photograph.  Well,  I made time on a couple of occasions to try and get an image of the Planet Convergence that was happening this year in the past couple of weeks.  I think at one point they were a lot closer together than I ever saw them but I obviously did not get that.  I did however, get this image.  My first tries did not turn out well at all.  I was surprised to see how much they moved during a long exposure but afterwards when I thought about it, it does make sense since they are much closer than stars.  Anyway, on Monday, it was clear out and I tried again with different types of settings and succeeded.  I liked how the star patterns from only reflected light were created by my lens.  I believe the brightest one is Venus.  When I look at this image I am reminded of a line from a song by Paul McCartney and Wings, "Venus and Mars (and Jupiter) are alright tonight".  :-)  I believe Venus is the one that looks most star-like.

10/28/15

Well Autumn is here, have to bring in plants today because we are supposed to get to freezing for the first time.  I'm a bit surprised it waited this long to happen.  Today's image I got a couple of weekend's ago when I was out at Milford Lake.  I was pretty happy with the images I got because i have limited capabilities due to not having the big birding lenses and the fact that the birds are a bit skittish and won't let you get too close.  In fact I got this Cormorant in flight because it had taken off from the water because it thought I was too close to it.  I was happy it turned out nice and clear even though I was tracking it as it flew past.  

10/27/15

When I was in South Dakota I saw this grass in a couple of different locations.  The heads on it reminded me of the feathers on an arrow.  I tried to find it on the internet to see just what type it is but it was surprisingly difficult. I found it on a couple of sites that were not anything official where they called it "Flat Grass" and that may be it's name as it is a good description.  I'm still trying to find an ID.  I like the look of it a lot no matter what it is called. 

10/26/15

Pretty chilly out again today so really feeling like Autumn.  On Saturday at the railroad I help at east of Topeka they have a pond there that usually has something interesting to photograph.  As I was walking along the edge I would hear this "eep" noise and then there would be several splashes.  There were a great many frogs sitting on the bank of the pond and then jumping in.  It was comical to hear that noise they made.  Sounded almost like a person being surprised.  At one spot there were all kinds of tiny frogs, only 1 to 1 1/2 cm long hoping all over the place.  I was able to get a few who sat still long enough for a photo including these two that were hanging out on a leaf from the Poplar tree that grows beside the pond.  

10/25/15

I saw my first frost today on the roof of part of our house.  I hope my plants are OK, I wasn't aware it was supposed to frost.  For today's image I am going back to the Cumbres & Toltec railroad, my favorite that is located in Colorado and New Mexico.  I caught this image of the train up near Cumbres Pass as it was crossing a very small trestle.