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
Sky
Sunflower Superstar
I purposely lined up this shot so the afternoon sun would be hidden behind the sunflower. That sneaky summer sun still found a way to crash the party.
These are sunflowers growing in the farm field behind my rural Wisconsin home. They are very tall; over my head in most places. The fields around our house are usually planted in wheat, oats or corn. It’s always cool when sunflowers make it into the rotation.
If you have a large monitor, you can view a larger, more detailed, version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
A Clear Calling
The vibrant color of a summer sunrise along with the wooden pathway to calm waters provide an irresistible invitation to the Lake Michigan shoreline at Selner Park Beach in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.
When I glanced out my window and saw the early morning sky – long before the sunrise – I thought it looked promising for a cool sunrise. I dropped everything to get to the lake shore and was able to capture a great batch of lighthouse sunrise photos. (Watch for future posts.) Just as I was packing up my camera (I was running late for an early morning appointment elsewhere) I decided to throw my wide-angle lens on and see what I could capture. At this distance, the wide-angle makes the lighthouse just a dot on the horizon but it captures a whole lot more of the sky, which was the goal. Framing up the wooden path in the foreground makes it all the more interesting.
This is the last shot I snapped that morning. This is actually an HDR image. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. To try to capture the full dynamic range of this scene I blended four separate shots at different levels of exposures (from light to dark). Without blending the images/exposures you would end up with either a normal looking sky and everything else in darkness or a normal looking lake and land in the foreground with a colorless, completely white sky. The camera is not able to adequately handle such a wide dynamic range on its on so a little processing magic is needed to get these results.
This is one you will want to view the larger, full-screen size. To do so, simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Youthful Vigor
Summertime is sunflower time in our area. We live near a seed farm that always has a few fields of sunflowers planted in our rural neighborhood. This year, they’ve planted sunflowers in the field that adjoins our home.
I finally got out to grab a few photos of the sunflowers. The variety they plant to produce seeds (as opposed to just bright, cheerful flowers) don’t last long in bloom. It seems like just a couple of weeks from first bloom to droop.
In this photo, you will notice, the main subject is in peak bloom while the others that surround it are already beginning to droop. This flower is a “late bloomer.” It also is not as tall or as big as its nearby rivals but, it is pretty.
You can view a larger version of this image by clicking on the photo. When you do, a near full-screen version will open in another browser tab.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Talk about a wild ride! This spectacular light painting was created by a pair of acrobatic airplanes flying huge loop-the-loops in the night sky while shooting fireworks off their wings. Though this long exposure image gives the impression of a colorful chaos, it is actually very graceful and beautiful to watch. This was part of the night airshow at the EAA’s AirVenture 2019.
Because this is a long exposure shot, the people on the ground have a ghostly/blurry quality to them caused by them moving during the 26-seconds the shutter was open. The airplane on the ground didn’t move, so it remains sharp.
The night, fireworks-enhanced air show has improved over the years. You can view some long exposure shots I took at AirVenture 2013 by visiting this earlier post – Pathway to Glory.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
The Flight Brothers
A beautiful historical display – these two venerated ,war birds flew together through the blue skies over Oshkosh, Wisconsin during an airshow at the EAA AirVenture 2019. The upper plane is “Quick Silver, a P-51D, Mustang. The lower plane is a Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair.
One of the aspects of AirVenture I appreciate most is their emphasis on honoring our veterans and the hardware our true heroes used to protect and serve. Both of these were used to protect and secure the freedom of others. You can learn more about these vintage war planes through their respective websites – Quick Silver P-51D MUstang and Chance-Vought F4U-4 Corsair.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Sudden Downpour
This amphibian, firefighting plane, operated by Viking, demonstrated it’s ability to smother a wildfire with water at this year’s AirVenture airshow.
After take off, this unique aircraft would skim the surface of nearby Lake Winnebago for ten seconds and scoop up 15,000 gallons of water and then return to the airfield. The total time to make its circuit and deliver a drenching to its target was only two minutes. Amazing technology and service.
You can view a larger, full screen view of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Festival of Flights
Fireworks are a favorite, and fitting, way to end the evening air show at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture.
This is like a little slice of photographer heaven for me – combining fireworks, aircraft and long exposures. I almost didn’t get any fireworks shots on this trip because I forgot to bring my tripod with me. Thankfully, I was able to improvise a suitable camera platform by strapping my monopod to folding lawn chair. It was not a very sturdy/stable set up but, fortunately, there was no wind to speak of. Of course, I use a remote trigger when shooting long exposures to avoid even the slightest movement of the camera.
The blurring of people in this image was caused by their movement during the time the shutter was open; about 23 seconds.
As always, the best of this image can be experienced by viewing the larger, full-screen version. To do so, simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Angel on Assignment
A United States Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet is seen climbing against the backdrop of a tumultuous summer sky.
This photo the combination of an airshow performance, a setting sun and a billowing thunderhead in the distance. As the jet was quite a distance away, likely banking to return to the delighted airshow fans. The storm front was miles away, causing no threat but providing majestic beauty. The setting sun colored the clouds in an orange-ish hue, making the scene more dramatic.
If you look real close, you can see the fire of the jet engines trailing the aircraft. I’d like to have a better view of the Jet, but the real star in this shot is the sky. To see a larger version (and get a little better view of the jet) just click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Good Morning Oshkosh
The United States Air Force’s Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, a transport plane that ranks as one of the world’s largest aircraft, greeted visitors at the EAA AirVenture 2019 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Shortly after this photo was taken, they allowed visitors to walk through the plane. The angle of this photo makes the plane seem much smaller than it is. This is a behemoth! The cargo compartment is 121 ft long, 19 ft wide and 13.5 ft high. It is capable of hauling nearly every type of military equipment. The nose and aft cargo-bay doors open the full width and height of the cargo bay to maximize efficient loading of over-sized equipment. Full-width ramps enable loading double rows of vehicles from either end of the cargo hold. Aside from the cargo hold, the plane also has an upper deck that can accommodate 75 pasengers.
The lens flare, created by the sun in the background, was an unexpected artifact in this shot. I’m not sure I like it. On one hand, it’s kind of cool. On the other, it’s kind of distracting.
You can view a larger, more detailed version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
To the Crowd’s Delight
The crowd’s were delighted, and clearly captivated, by the fireworks display that closed out EAA’s Airventure 2014.
Looking forward to AirVenture 2019, I was looking through my past images and found this one. This is a cool image to view in the larger, full-screen format (click on the photo to see) because of the variety of people – many of which are recording the display with their smart phones. Also, if you look close, you will notice a couple of small planes parked amidst the crowd.
This was a long exposure (2-sec) and most folks were still. However, you can see two ghost like blurs in the lower right of the frame who happened to move while the shutter was open.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.