The Bold and the Beautiful?

Caught this Texas car pulling out of the library parking lot in Estes Park, Colorado. Dig the paint job??

Athletic

Visiting the old stomping grounds in Chicago this weekend with my visiting-from-Arizona pops, we came across these athletic young men practicing for a soccer match. The ball on the right was just head butted by the leaping man on the left. Kazowee!

Walk around the corner, and....

We caught this moose having a little snack in a pond in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Forest trail

This image was taken on the Angel Fall's Trail in the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. The hike led to an overlook of - you guessed it - waterfalls. The lush green of the forest really popped against the dusty trail.

We interrupt this blog for a "twin" moment

In cruising Karen's (alibony) blog, I came across this image of a pirate. I was quite amazed, because, while in Wrangell, Alaska in 2004, I had my photo taken with this pirate's twin brother. They are a perfect match...right down to the hole in the pant leg! Only difference is the hair.

What do you think? Are they twins??

What's more amazing, is that we spotted a TRIPLET, in 2008, near the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada. That pirate family gets around!

Of a common mind?

These pretty twin cockatiels from the Atlanta zoo are like-minded and ready for a simultaneous snooze.

Oriole of the orange sort

On our way through Nebraska, we wanted to stop and see Tammy, but, alas, she was otherwise occupied. Instead, we went to the Rowe Sanctuary, outside of Kearney, to stalk birds (a new hobby of my DBF Jon). He pointed out this lovely oriole, and I snapped away.

These used to be called Baltimore Orioles, but I believe they now carry the name of Northern Oriole. Either way, he's a beauty!

Bear Lake: Rocky Mountain National Park

Not much to add in the way of narrative.

Discovery!!

Driving up to the trailhead of yesterday's glacier hike, we made this discovery.

Glacier in the clouds

Driving between Summit County, Colorado, and Rocky Mountain National Park, we decided to take a detour to St. Mary's Glacier. At the end of the short, steep hike, we found a pretty little lake, and mountain tops hidden in a cloud. A brief hailstorm encouraged us to hurry off the hill.

Lesson learned

There are a couple of things wrong with this image. First, the manual focus is adjusted to the mountain tops. Second, my shutter speed is too slow. Both combine to make the subject of this image, my DBF Jon, crossing the log bridge, not as clear and sharp as it could be. There's some blur from incorrect focus, and some blur on the foot from slow shutter speed.

Look at the darkening sky and you'll know why I snapped in a hurry. High in the mountains is not a good place to be if a storm rolls in. (Thankfully, it blew past and we never saw a drop of rain!)

Clouds in the morning mean storms in the afternoon

This 8 AM shot foretold of rainy skies by noon, but what a start to the day! You can almost feel the movement in the clouds as they drift across the sky.

Edit: Several people have asked about technique. I didn't do much; just upped the Blacks slider a bit in Adobe Photoshop's Camera RAW editor (original photo was shot in RAW format.)

Night time, is the right time...

On the night that we experimented with taking pictures of stars, I also played around with painting with light. We were camping in Rocky Mtn. National Park, and our site was not too far from the restroom building. I aimed the camera at the lights, held down the remote cable, and moved my arm, releasing the cable when I thought I'd exposed enough. In this image, I painted a series of hearts. Light is mighty fun in the night, right?

Not all that glitters is gold

The surface of the river that flows through Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park glitters in the setting sun.

The final frontier?

Staring up at the stars in Rocky Mountain National Park, it's easy to see why people are driven to explore outer space. Enlarge for best effect.

Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main...

What's more nautical than a marina? The marina at Dillon, Colorado, is one of the highest marinas in the U. S., at over 9600 feet in elevation. Wow! The views aren't too shabby, either. Buffalo Mountain looms in the background.

Meanwhile, back on the 4th of July...

These folks were in a patriotic mood, and really decorated their house for Independence Day.

Fragile

It's amazing that these fragile mountain flowers can survive in such a harsh environment. This photo is taken at about 12,500 feet of elevation, along the Continental Divide in Colorado.

Photos from U. S. Independence Day

I love Independence Day (U.S. 4th of July). I love the corny parades, the people wearing red, white, and blue clothes, and mostly, I love fireworks! I followed the instructions in Scott Kelby's blog and captured these images over Lake Dillon in Colorado.

Settings: Camera on BULB mode; shooting with live view and a cable. ISO 200, f/11. Manual mode, manual focus set to infinity. Focal length varies. I zoomed in for quite a few, which was fun, but usually ended up chopping off the tops. Zooming out gave me some reflection in the lake (first image). It was fun shooting these!

Happy Fourth of July, USA!

This image has nothing to do with Independence Day, but I liked it, so here it is. A pair of goldfinches, hanging out. Check out my DBF Jon's blog for a red, white and blue bird!

Fantasy, or reality?

One exit out of Great Smoky Mountain National Park on the North Carolina side takes you into the Native American community of Cherokee. In and around the business district resides the bear project. Native American artists have painted a series of bears and placed them all around town. While some may view the scenes as fantasy, each tells a unique story. Three of my favorites appear below, with the last, the eagle, topping my list. Which do you like best?

A Red Panda?

To me, this little cutie looks more like a fox, with his luxuriant red fur. Here, he enjoys a little lunch at the Atlanta Zoo.

Put a little Spicify in your life!

Last night, I was playing around with the Topaz filters in Photoshop and Spicified this image from the Colorado National Monument. Zing!