Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Light pillars appear above the railyard

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Light pillars appear above the railyard
Light pillars rise above a railyard in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

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.

Light pillars rise above a railyard in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony's Takes)
Light pillars rise above a railyard in Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Winter ice coats a Colorado creek

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Winter ice coats a Colorado creek
Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

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. 😉

Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony's Takes)
Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony's Takes)
Ice on a frozen creek in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Hoar frost coats the plains

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Hoar frost coats the plains
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

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. 😉

Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony's Takes)
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony's Takes)
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony's Takes)
Hoar frost coats the grasses and plants on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lonely tree in the fog

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Lonely tree in the fog
A tree stands alone in the fog on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

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.

A foggy, frozen, frosty road

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A foggy, frozen, frosty road
Fog and frost along a backroad of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. (© Tony’s Takes)

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. 😉

Golden, stormy sunset over sunflowers

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Golden, stormy sunset over sunflowers
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.

Shocking sunflowers

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Shocking sunflowers
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)

Storms over the Collegiate Peaks

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Storms over the Collegiate Peaks
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!

Icicles pop against the blue sky

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Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Coming home from work the other day I noticed we had a bunch of icicles hanging from the gutters on our front porch.

Most were the ‘run of the mill’ type – long and skinny. However, there were a few hanging from a downspout that had some crazy cool shapes to them for some reason. Best of all, the corner where they were at was bathed in the late afternoon light which made them really pop against those gorgeous Colorado skies.

Closing down the lens to f/16 helped to create a starburst effect on some of them. Kind of a fun, easy photo opportunity and a reminder that sometimes the coolest pics can be had right in your backyard.

Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles pop against the blue sky. Coming home from work the other day I noticed we had a bunch of #icicles…
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Solitary reflections in black and white

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Solitary reflections in black and white
A bare tree in the fog is reflected on the surface of a pond at St Vrain State Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Solitary reflections in black and white. Jumping back to almost exactly one year ago today. Thick fog had settled in on the St Vrain River in northern Colorado and spotting wildlife became pretty much impossible. It did however create some very cool scenes like this one, taken in St. Vrain State Park.