Archives
A Sample of Pop’s “Bee” Images

Another Day at Work

Apis Workers' Party

Predator

Some of Your Beeswax

Sedum Bumbler

Look of Defiance

Chicory Bee

Bumbling Bees

Garden Cafe

Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond

Pick Your Poison

Blind Side Attack

On a Mission

Honey Bee on Sedum

Covering the Cosmos

Center of the Cosmos

Three's a Crowd

Popular Spot

On A Pedestal

A Sample of Pop’s “People” Photo Collection

Big Harry Fireworks Display

To Impress the Girl

Different Perspective

Sweet Ride

Perfect Little Piggies B&W

Flipping the Light Fantastic

Festival of Flights

To the Crowd's Delight

Amish Go Round

Wondersome One

The Stars In Her Eyes

Tuesday's Child

Sleeper Hold

Considering the Next Move

Sugar and Spice

Front Porch Portrait

Caged Competitor

Early Adoration

Child In the Ligtht

Stroll Through the Weeds

Attention Grabbing

Eye Contact

On the Line

Eyes of Wonder

Rounding the Curve

Troubadours of Basin Spring Park

Down by the Creek

Sun Day

Catching Some Light

EAA Fireworks

Hear Me Roar

Tree

Crooked Spine Pine – 2013

Crooked, Curve, Curvy, Pine, Tree, Forest
FINALLY – We found it!!  As you can see, this is a very unique tree.  This tree has eluded me for years. Let me explain…

In 2006, while hiking on a trail through the woods, we came across this tree. It was in the middle of the trail, so we weren’t the only ones who’ve seen it. But I’m guessing most people didn’t look at it from the angle I photographed it, so they wouldn’t realize the cool curve of its growth.

I took a few photos of it.  Sometime after that, I posted my best photo of the “Crooked Spine Pine” on Flickr. (That was before I had this blog.) It turned out to be one of the most popular photos I’ve ever posted. A number of people questioned its authenticity – accusing me of “photoshopping” it.

Back when I took the original photo, in 2006, I had a simple 5-megapixel camera. The photo of this tree was unique, but it really wasn’t a great image, technically speaking. Since then I’ve upgraded considerably.

For the last several years, I’ve been trying to find this tree again – to get better photos. However, I wasn’t sure exactly where it was. I thought it was at Potawatomi State Park, near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. We spent a number of visits, hiking the trails looking for the tree. After having no success, I began to think maybe it was on a trail at Peninsula State Park, farther up Door County, near Sister Bay, WI. We had hiked trails and took photos at both parks.  We also had to consider the possibility that the tree was no longer there – blown over in a storm or claimed by disease or insects.

Pine, Tree, Forest, Woods, Trail, CrookedWe began to keep better track of what trails we had hiked on and in the process, we’ve hiked a lot of trails and even enlisted the help of friends, in search of this one tree. Recently, my wife and I spent a day hiking the trails at Peninsula State Park totaling about seven-and-a-half hours. No luck. So, maybe it wasn’t at Peninsula, but at Potawatomi.

Last Friday, Sara (my wife) and I decided to spend the day together.  It was a nice day so we decided to hike the trails at Potawatomi State Park. We hiked the Hemlock Trail – about a two mile loop. While hiking, I noticed a spur off the trail and thought we should check that out some time.  Hemlock turned back and we came along another spur that I thought might be the other end of the spur we passed earlier.  We decided to head up that little stretch to see what was there and, low and behold, there was the tree.

In our search over the years, no doubt we had hiked the Hemlock Trail before, but never took that little detour. We were joyful to have finally located it, took photos, marked it on a trail map, took GPS coordinates. We will not have any problems finding it in the future.  If you’d like to see it for yourself, hike the Hemlock Trail and take the bike trail in the northern part of the loop.

To view a larger version of either of these photos, just click on them.

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Opening Ceremony

Flowers, Bloom, Spring, Branch, Tree, Apple Blossoms, Monochrome, B&W

Early spring gives us some of it’s first blooming beauty on the trees. This bunch of blossoms, was part of springtime’s opening ceremony. They were perfectly position at the end of a low hanging branch, discovered on a walk through a local wooded area.

I decided to take on the challenge of processing these as a monochrome image. Since they were white flowers, it proved to be more of a challenge than I bargained for. It’s difficult to maintain any kind of detail with all that white.

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Shade Tree

Shadow, Shade, Silhouette, Brick Wall

 

The shadow of a tree on this wall caught my eye.  From where I was standing, it looked like this was a tree growing out of the green grass at the base of the wall.

The symmetry and texture of the bricks, combined with the random growth pattern of the tree’s shadow give my brain a workout.

You can view a larger version of this image by clicking on it.

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January Fog

Foggy, Fog, Field, Farm, Rural, Tree

Whatever lies beyond that tree has been swallowed up by a eerie mid-winter’s fog.

This is was snapped in the middle of the day, in the farm field across the road from our rural home in Kewaunee County, WI.  I’ve taken quite a few photos of this tree over the years.  See… Spring Enchantment, Day’s End Elm and Serene Sunset.

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Spring’s Serenade (textured effect)

 kg leaf photography red leaf photography karen leaf photography turning leaf photography almond leaf photography new leaf photography velvet leaf photography blog 4 leaf photography kris green messy textures textured vintage old

I’ve been fiddling with my images lately.  (You might have noticed yesterday’s post – Morning Friends)

This image was originally posted last April (see Spring’s Serenade).  When I first posted it I shared it with some friends and mentioned I thought it would be a perfect image for a textured effect.  Well, I finally got around to trying one on.

It changes the feel of the bright, vivid original image.  You should look at both and see which you prefer.

If you have a large monitor, you can view a larger version of this image by clicking on it.

Under a Marble Sky

This is a companion to a color image of the same scene I posted a few days ago – the one I titled: Spring Enchantment.

I always find it interesting to compare the same scene in color and monochrome versions and see which I think is more appealing.  Often times I can’t decide.  I think I like the relaxing tones of the color version…but then I like the dramatic tone of this one.  If I had to pick one…ummm…well…  I guess I’d go with the color.  The green grass won me over.

To see a larger version, simply click on the photo.

Spring Enchantment

The sunset and high clouds created a magical moment of enchanting color.

This was taken last Saturday in the farm field across the road from our rural Kewaunee, WI home.  I have taken many photos of this tree because it offers some interest and perspective to the beautiful sunsets we can experience.  I often wish there was an old barn or a little white chapel between me an the sunset.  Until something else pops up, the tree will have to do.

To see a larger version of this image, simply click on it.

Day’s End Elm

Sunset, Tree, RuralAlong a fence row, in a farm field, across the road from my house is a lone elm tree.  I’ve used it many times as the foreground for some beautiful sunsets.  It strikes quite a pose in the winter…without it’s leaves.

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Serene Sunset

Sunset, TreeThis was one of those, “Hey, Beautiful, where have you been all my life?” moments.

I’ve been working my way through my photo files and stumbled upon this one. I took this 4 years ago and, somehow, forgot about it.  There must have been something else I was working on that diverted my attention.

This was taken in the farm field across the road from my house.  There was an interesting fog moving in as the sun was setting behind the tree line. I’ve photographed that big tree a lot, because it’s the only thing around that I can add to the foreground of my sunset photos.

If you like this image…please, feel free to share it.

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