Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Video: Top Shots 2019 – Tony’s Favorites

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Goodbye, 2019. The last of my recap photo slideshows, this one features my personal overall ‘top 50’.

This covers the gamut of every type of picture I have taken from landscapes to wildlife to astrophotography. Some images I like because of the subject matter, some because I was pleased with the composition and others just because of the story behind them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these looks back at the previous year and hope you will follow along with me in 2020! From my family to yours, I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Bison bull grazes under an iridescent sky

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A bison bull grazes underneath an iridescent cloud. (© Tony’s Takes)
A bison bull grazes underneath an iridescent cloud. (© Tony’s Takes)

One for #TatankaTuesday taken this past weekend.

As seems to be the rule lately, temperatures were cold and conditions less than hospitable. Of course bison are well-built to handle winter conditions and this big buy was lazily pushing aside the snow to get to his breakfast.

Above him, an iridescent cloud, caused by ice crystals reflecting the sunlight. The rainbow colors were much more vivid when I first spotted it but by the time I put myself in position and stopped, they were fading. Nevertheless, there was enough of a hint to make it a cool capture.

Golden, stormy sunset over sunflowers

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Blooming sunflowers lie below a gorgeous, stormy sunset with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. (© Tony’s Takes)
Blooming sunflowers lie below a gorgeous, stormy sunset with the Rocky Mountains in the distance. (© Tony’s Takes)

Now that’s a sunset, eh? Sunflowers below, storm clouds with virga above and those Rocky Mountains dominating the horizon in the distance.

I was flipping through some recent pics and came across this one taken at the end of August that I hadn’t shared yet.

I was at this spot east of Denver, Colorado primarily to photograph the sunflowers but soon I became focused on also capturing the gathering storm clouds. They didn’t produce much but they did definitely add drama to the scene.

Image available for purchase here.

Lightning crawls across the post-sunset sky

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Lightning crawls across the bottom of a thunderstorm's clouds near Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning crawls across the bottom of a thunderstorm’s clouds near Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Going back to the end of August for this pic. I and some photo friends had spent the evening photographing the sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado with a few thunderstorms rolling through.

Even after the sun had dropped below the horizon, some of us hung around, enjoying the light and sound show Mother Nature was putting on in the sky above. I’d intermittently snap a few pics, hoping to catch a bolt or two and as luck would have it, I managed to grab this capture of a series of bolts – I love the ‘curley Q’ in the big one.

I used a long, 30 second exposure to maximize my chances of getting something. That indeed worked although with the wind the flowers ended up being blurred. Nevertheless, I think it is kind of a cool capture.

Shocking sunflowers

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Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A little bit of lightning fun on the plains of Colorado.

I was a bit late getting to this spot yesterday evening and missed much of the show. Thankfully, I did get there in time to get a few cool captures.

The thunderstorms were quite strong and very electrified sending many bolts to the ground. Throw in the orange glow of the setting sun and the flowers and it was pretty neat.

I don’t have a lightning trigger so just have to keep snapping pics repeatedly hoping lightning pops at the right time.

Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Lightning pops over a field of sunflowers east of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Resurrection Bay rainbow

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A rainbow stretches across the horizon of Resurrection Bay near Seward, Alaska. (© Tony’s Takes)
A rainbow stretches across the horizon of Resurrection Bay near Seward, Alaska. (© Tony’s Takes)

What a great way to end a fantastic day on the water!

We were returning to Seward, Alaska after eight hours or so touring Kenai Fjords National Park. A quick rain shower chased us inside but then I looked out and saw this incredibly colorful and dramatic display.

Rain wasn’t going to stop me from getting a pic of that! I grabbed my camera, ran out onto the deck and started clicking. My images really don’t do it justice either. The rainbow was one of the most bright I have ever seen.

Just extraordinary!

Storms over the Collegiate Peaks

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Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)
Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)

I am back from some much needed R & R in San Isabel National Forest overlooking Buena Vista, Colorado. I didn’t take many pics as family and relaxation were higher priorities but the skies in many of the evenings demanded attention.

This one from this past Friday. Mount Princeton is front and center. If I am not mistaken, Mount Yale is the tallest peak to the right then moving back left of Princeton, Mount Antero and Mount Shavano are the two most prominent on that side.

No matter their names, the view was awesome! Oh, and believe it or not, the next night we had snow!

In the wake of the storm

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A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

June means severe weather season here in Colorado and that can make for some fun afternoons. Today, we had a nice thunderstorm move through and, thankfully, no big hail.

After the storm passed, the clouds to the east looked awesome with bits of mammatus mixed in with the formations.

I tried my best to get some lightning shots but failed. It seemed no matter which way I pointed my camera, the bolts were the opposite way. 😉

A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A passing thunderstorm in Adams County, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Thunderstorm towers over the Great Plains

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A severe thunderstorm towers over a windmill and the Great Plains near Simla, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A severe thunderstorm towers over a windmill and the Great Plains near Simla, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A throwback image taken in June 2012. Yesterday we got our first taste of severe weather for the year and while it didn’t deliver much more than heavy rain and small hail, it certainly got my adrenaline pumping. 

I haven’t been able to do much storm chasing at all in recent years. I go to work very early in the morning and coming home at midnight after a chase to the Colorado / Kansas border and then functioning at work the next day just isn’t possible.

I do need to try to head out on those ‘backyard’ chases close to home as oftentimes you don’t have to go far to at least get some nice storm structures.

This particular chase was near Simla, Colorado in an area near the Palmer Divide that is famous for seeing gorgeous storms. The storm did generate an EF-2 tornado which we only saw briefly as it was heavily wrapped in rain. While I didn’t get any salvageable images of that, the structure of the storm was impressive.

Lone tree in black and white

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Black and white image of a tree standing along on the snow-covered plains of Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Black and white image of a tree standing along on the snow-covered plains of Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

A very pretty morning on the plains yesterday as our latest snowstorm moved out. Colors were subdued with the lingering clouds so I went to black and white for this one and am pleased with the result. This tree really stood out as the only feature on the snow-covered plains. Sometimes to stand out, you just need to stand apart.