Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
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
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
Pops Digital
Bejeweled Bleeding Heart
This photo has been on my hard drive for many years. I wanted a colorful image for today’s post – something to revive and encourage spring-like expectations.
This solitary bloom on a bleeding heart plant in our flower bed is bejeweled with the remains of a spring shower.
To see a larger version of this image, click on the photo.
Solitude on Ice
The morning was cold. The sun was rising…and so was a mist from the patches of open water near the lighthouse that stands at the Alogma, Wisconsin harbor.
I posted a color image from this same morning a week ago – Frigid Sunrise Fog.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Family in the Woods
I photograph a lot of different subjects – sunrises, lighthouse, birds, bugs, flowers, scenic landscapes, etc.; just browse through this website. The one subject that intimidates me and always proves to be my greatest challenge is people.
I can go to shoot one of my favorite lighthouses at sunrise and if the finished product doesn’t live up to my expectations, no big deal. They’ll be another day and another sunrise. The only person who is out anything is me and the only real loss is my time. When I photograph a sunrise, I’m trying to capture a moment. With a portrait, you have to first try and create “the moment” and then successfully capture it.
When photographing people, I’m not the only one who has a stake in the outcome. Others are investing their time and come with their own expectations. If I take fifty shots of a sunrise and I mess up some camera setting or I just don’t like the way any of them turned out – nobody knows but me. When you take fifty shots of a person, make them go through a battery of facial and body contortions, you’d like to have something of value to reward their patience and effort.
This photo is from a family portrait session last fall. A great group to work with – and a good lookin’ bunch, too. I like the way this turned out, but it comes in low on my “satisfaction” scale. There are a number of technical issues that spoil it for me (I won’t bore you with the specifics). I did a lot of post processing, trying to overcome those issues, and it’s still not quite there.
The good news is, each portrait session is a learning experience. And, as they say…”Practice makes perfect.”
You can view a larger version of this image by clicking on the photo.
Garden Kitty
This is our cat, Dory! She was hanging around while I snapped photos around our yard, so…
Actually, I say she’s our cat, but lately it’s not so clear. We’ve had her since she was a kitten. She’s an outside cat with a generous food plan and comfy place to sleep – previously on our back porch, now in our garage. Still, she has a tendency to disappear on a regular basis – sometimes for a few days, sometimes for weeks at a time. We figure she has another spot in our rural area that she considers her second home.
To get a better view of Dory, click on the photo and a larger version will open in another browser tab.
Flowing Silk Linens
This is a simple, yet elegant, poppy bloom from the flower bed near our back door. The petals reminded me of linens on a clothes line, flowing under the influence of a warm summer breeze.
It’s original color was the typical poppy red, but I decided to process it as a monochrome image. I love the subtle variations in tone and texture that are not as noticeable with the color version.
To get a view at a larger version, click on the image.
Lawn Twinklers
Now and then, we need to look at the simple things around us with new eyes…from different angles.
This is a photo of my lawn early last spring – before the first mowing. I took this photo from just a couple of inches from the ground, early in the morning while it was still wet with dew. The circles in the background are all dew drops on grass in the background catching the light. Because I used a short depth of field with a telephoto lens, the background sparkles are out of focus.
It’s a simple image…but something about it is very appealing to me.
To get a closer look, click on the image.
Frigid Sunrise Fog
It was a mighty cold Sunday morning in Algoma, Wisconsin! The temperature was right around zero. The harbor was mostly frozen.
A mist was rising from the small area of open water in the harbor. Beyond the harbor, the larger body of open water we call Lake Michigan, created a fog bank that picked up the color of the rising sun (peeking from behind the lighthouse).
To get a closer look, click on the image and a larger version will open in another browser window.
Valentine’s Rose
This is a rose I post for my forever Valentine – my lovely wive, Sara.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Sweetie!
To view a larger version of this image, click on the photo.
Shark Tank Trident
Sharks swim in and out of this scene I photographed at the Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To view a larger version, click on the image.
Tail of the Dragon
This is an emerging fern found near one of our flowerbeds. This one escaped the flowerbed border and was sprouting up through the grass.
The roughness and the curl – not to mention the green color – reminded me of a dragon’s tail.
To see a larger version of this image, simply click on it.