Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
As I was checking out a small creek in the Colorado foothills for critters, this ice formation caught my eye. A near perfect heart with eyes and a nose! No real, great photographic allure to the image other than it is just kind of fun.
The first part of our winter here on the Colorado Front Range was kind of odd. We were extremely dry and what storms we received were different than normal. Such was the case on Christmas Eve when we actually received rain instead of the more typical snow.
I had to run a quick errand to pick up some last-minute things late that afternoon for the holiday and the storm clouds were brewing. What was notable was how they looked much more like a May or June thunderstorm, including mammatus clouds. Mammatus is usually more associated with severe thunderstorms so it made for quite an unusual Christmastime scene over a local open space.
Check this out! Driving to work this morning I saw these and despite the -10 degree temperature, I had to stop and snap a few pics.
Light pillars are a reflection of the light off of ice crystals in the atmosphere. We don’t see them often here in Colorado so it was a pretty unique opportunity. Unfortunately I didn’t have a tripod with me and had to get to work so these are quick, high ISO shots but still very fun to see.
Taken in north Denver, the lights are coming from the Union Pacific Railroad yard.
What to do when you are standing around in 15 degree weather, shivering, waiting for hours for an elusive creature to appear? Point your camera down!
As we get further into the depths of winter, lakes, ponds, creeks and some rivers are icing over. As I noticed this past weekend, it creates some pretty cool shapes and crystals along the water. You really need to view these full screen and study them a bit to fully appreciate the crazy detail.
Best of all, it provided a distraction from the miserable cold and the fact I was waiting for hours for an animal that never appeared. 😉
Needless to say, it was COLD this morning! The thermometer on my truck was showing 3 degrees as I arrived at my photo destination and it felt colder thanks to a bit of a breeze.
Despite the frigid mercury readings, I couldn’t resist braving the cold to take pictures of the hoar frost that had coated the grasses. Sticking out a half inch or so from the plant, it was absolutely gorgeous and just way cool to see.
I did not linger much though as a warm truck was beckoning. 😉
A very persistent, thick fog fell over the Colorado Front Range this morning. If a photo subject wasn’t close to the road, there was no hope in getting pics of it and even then, it made shooting tough. This tree stood out alone against the mist. A conversion to black and white gave it kind of a cool feel.
The weather in the Denver area over the holiday weekend was a bit touch and go. Friday in particular was a challenge when it comes to photography.
A persistent fog that at times was ridiculously thick made it tough to get quality captures. It did however make for some cool scenes.
Frost had coated all the trees overnight and lingering snow from the snowstorm three days prior left everything quite white. Throw in fog creating a seemingly endless road in the distance and this, to me, is a pretty cool capture – figuratively and literally. 😉
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.
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.
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!
 |
 |
 |
 |