Daily Photos 2013
Read MoreAll the white specks you see in this photo are white egrets or snowy egrets. I could not believe how many I saw that day. The Mississippi had gone out of its banks and this is water left when it receded full of fish. I don't know how they communicate but every one for 100 miles must have been there that day. 10.04.13
At one time this summer I could go out in the backyard and see anywhere from three to half dozen of these clear-wing hummingbird moths feeding on the lavender butterfly bush. They did not like the yellow butterfly bush for some reason, just this one. The are very quick and I only got a handful of decent photos out of over a hundred but I still went out in the heat and humidity (stop you whining Barbara) and shot away. Then, one day I went out in September and they were gone. 10.02.13
Taken in Weslaco, TX. I think this is a juvenile roseate spoonbill, may be wrong. I find it amusing that a bird that spends a lot of its time searching for food in water is shaking off a little bit he(or she) got on him (or her). Back to work today thankfully. Hope to see something interesting this week in Dallas. I am running out of ideas here. Have a good day. 10.1.13
Isn't this a magnificent tree. I tried taking multiple images and stitching them together but that didn't look right. I kind of like this image the way it is though. The top had many broken off limbs from previous storms. It must be 100 to 150 years old. It is at Columbia Bottoms in Missouri. I have eyeballed it many times and we commented on its before. This day was a dude as far as birds went so I stopped and shot a few frames of it. This is the best of the bunch.
Going to walk trails this morning and see if I can see any wildlife. Have a nice day! 9.30.13I have seen some fantastic photos on SmugMug of these little skipper butterflies. My shot here isn't one of them, unfortunately, but it's the best I've gotten so far.
Tomorrow I head for Texas where I will be staying for the next three months with my son. I am excited and a little nervous at the same time, but one thing I know for sure is that there will be lots for me to photograph there. Have a great weekend. 9.21.13Technically, this isn't the best photo, but I wanted to share it because of the interaction between the two hummingbirds. They are fiercely territorial and right now in the Midwest they are hammering the feeders getting ready to head south for the winter. It was shot against a cloudy sky, hence the white background. Hope you enjoy it. 9.17.13
How would you like to crawl into a sleeping bag with this? It's BIG and hairy.
I really need to face my fears. So many things I have wanted to do in my life that I didn't because I was afraid of this or that, such as snakes. Bugs don't bother me that much, but snakes do. So much so that I invested $150 for a pair of snake proof boots to wear in the brush in Texas. Jackie Bibby might not mind being a "one-legged snake hunter," but I don't want to be a one-legged photographer. Ha. 9.14.13An eastern king bird I believe. He was so kind to sit there looking so gorgeous and let me shoot away. I was quite a distance from him so I have a lot of background and a little bird, but I like it without doing a lot of cropping. Really has no PP except for removing some noise, Rick. Thanks for your comments and welcome any constructive criticisms. 9.11.13
Obviously, this is a composite. The term "artistic license" comes to mind here. I was trying to fill an unattractive background and one thing lead to another. I am not really crazy about the way Aaron is leaning over Becky, Randy's daughter, but I thought it was a pretty decent photo of the two of them. I'm in a hurry this morning and have to work later so here you have it. 9.7.13 PS View in large size and check out the sunglasses.
I've been looking at this photo for two days now and not quite sure what to do with it, so in an effort to clear out the photos in PS this morning I just started playing around, added a frame from OnOne and still thinking it needed something. I finally took a look at my actions and tried this one by PanosFX. Looks complete now, so here you have it.
Warming up for the weekend here. 9.5.13I was excited when I saw this butterfly in the garden, but the photo itself was so dark I didn't quit know what to do with it. I just started playing around and this is what I came up with thanks to an action I got on the web free from Panos FX. It's kind of "in your face," but certainly not dull. 9.3.13
For some reason the bees prefer the yellow butterfly bush and the butterflies and moths prefer the lavender one. Maybe they are a deal figured out on sharing. Who knows. Maybe a biologist. Anyway I am going to have to get out in the heat today and cut off the dead blooms. That's my big plan for Saturday and then work later. Whoohoo. 8.31.13
This is one of those lucky shots you get driving along and see a hawk perched in a tree. This red-tailed hawk was most cooperative and allowed me to get fairly close before he flew off. I was lucky too that there were no branches going across his face here. 8.28.13
Once again, I appreciate all your comments.Hot weather has arrived in STL. Two weeks of high humidity and temps over 90. Ugh. Have to be thankful for the wonderful summer we have had here so far and now is the time to pay our dues. If you view in larger size, you can see the snow blowing against the dark background of the trees and barn.
Going through some the archives I ran across this shot I took during the snow storm we had in late March of this year. Definitely looks "cool" temperature wise that is. 8.26.13Randy and I had been out in the country target shooting and the sun was setting as we were heading back to town. This is just outside Mascoutah, Illinois at the Farmall dealer (I think). I yelled stop and he pulled into their parking lot to take this shot.
It must be frustrating hanging out with a photographer if you're not a photographer yourself. He spends a lot of time just waiting patiently for me to take pictures while on the road.
Thanks for all your kind comments on my photos. 8.23.13I am way out of my comfort zone with this photograph. I shot it back in March of this year when we had a big snow. Something was missing by itself so I started playing around with textures after I had tweaked it a little in Topaz which was probably useless because I piled the textures on top of it. A total of 3 textures, one from Kim Klassen and the others from various contributors on the web. Please feel free to critique away. 8.21.13