Blog Archives
Do not disturb-Bald eagle dinner
Friends, this time of year we see lots of bald eagles along the road, usually perched on a road-killed deer or in a tree alongside the road overlooking roadkill. They prefer fish but most of the water is still frozen and fishing is not an option. When they have found unfrozen dinner, they are reluctant to leave and are “sitting ducks” for the nature photographer. This one gave me the “eye” and i took his picture from across the road. til Tomorrow MJ
Red rock in black and white
Friends, working again on my black and white renditions. This is Bell Rock just south of Sedona. We visited near sundown and the face of the rock was still lit, but the trees in the foreground were just going into evening shadows. The original image is in color, but too many shades of red made a monotonous statement. So in an effort to simplify the colors, a black and white conversion seemed the right thing to do. I think that the topography of the rock is more vivid in black and white. I can also bring the shadows to pure black to further define the roughness of the landscape. Practicing my Ansel Adams styles. What do you think? til Tomorrow MJ
Hole in the Wall-near Sedona
Friends, this hole in the wall opens all kinds of questions for me. Has this been a former hide-out for Butch Cassidy and Sundance? Probably not, no place to park the horses. Does a mountain lion live in the dark recesses of this cave? Not likely as the cave is very near downtown Sedona. Maybe a giant bird makes this cave a home with a giant nest and eggs. Stories to tell the grandchildren about mythical beasts and birds. Again more questions than answers. I love warm red rock and lots of it in Sedona. til Tomorrow MJ
Red Rock-Garden of the Gods
Friends, this red rock place is named, the Garden of the Gods and is located in Colorado Springs. This photo was taken early in the morning just as the sun was rising. I was enchanted by the red rock and as we walked the paths, I shot hundreds of image (thanks to digital capture), but this is one of my favorites. No saturation adjustment was needed, the sun was the warming filter and sunshine the light source. This place was magical, so enjoy. til Tomorrow MJ
Balanced Rock
Friends, this balanced rock sits on a slant in the Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs. Someday it will probably crash from its pedestal into the valley below, but in the meantime the rock reminds us to keep my life in balance. Family ( including a loving husband) , friends and especially grandchildren are first on my list. After that i rank my photography and writing second in my priorities. So WordPress becomes for me an important link to others of like minds. Thank you to all those who are following my blog and sharing my photos. I now have a purpose in retirement, to provide some color and maybe help you to lighten your load. Stay balanced my friends. til Tomorrow MJ
Tetraptych-watching snow melt
Friends, my father was easily bored after a winter of under-snowing, in other words, a winter that did not produce enough snow to ski, but too much snow to go play golf. This winter was such a winter. I remember him looking out the picture window and proclaiming that the season was “as exciting as watching snow melt”. So i made this time-lapse sequence of snow melting on an oak leaf. Since i do not want to upgrade my account to show you the video, I made this panel of four images (tetraptych) to show you the exciting winter up north. til Tomorrow MJ
Weekly Photo Challenge:Ready
Friends, this young bison bull is ready for the winter winds to blow across the prairie and encase the land in ice and snow. Even though the wet snow of this first winter storm has melted all over him, he is still ready to take on all adversaries, even the larger bulls. His horns have not yet been torn up in battle and with his black head he looks rather menacing. I did not test his courage and after taking his picture, retreated to my vehicle. til Tomorrow MJ
Another close-up-Boreal Chickadee
Friends, another closeup of a chickadee, this is a boreal chickadee, a small bird that occupies the tamarack and black spruce bogs of northern Minnesota. His coloring is very different from our more common black-capped chickadee, but I love all the feathered textures in this image. They love suet and will come to an undisturbed feeder like those in the Sax-Zim bog. So how do you like this tiny bird?, til Tomorrow MJ
Grouse in the Grasses
Friends, today we return to color and the wild birds. This is a grouse from the badlands of North Dakota, taken in late summer or early fall. Not sure if it is a sharp-tail grouse or a sage grouse( or other?). I am not a very good birder so I don’t know all the differences between the species. But these birds come to the road in the early morning light to get their gravel and pose for pictures :). I didn’t crop this image closely because i wanted to show the relationship between the grouse and her grassy environment. What do you think? til Tomorrow MJ
Badlands in Black and White
Friends, i know this looks like a moonscape, but it is a black and white image of the badlands of North Dakota, one of our favorite places to visit. I shot this photo at an aperture of f/16 to get the great depth of field, but every time i looked at it, it looked like a jumbled mess. no clear subject was evident. Further analysis revealed that the foreground was really the subject. So i made two layers, blurring the bottom layer and painting away the top sharper layer to reveal the blurred layer underneath. I had used this technique earlier to produce bokeh in other images. I also converted to black and white to further simplify the image and emphasize the rugged topography of the eroded landscape. What do you think? did I succeed ? til Tomorrow MJ
MJ Springett 