Sunday afternoon, we headed downtown to Union Station. From there, Angela and I crossed the Millennium Bridge to head for the South Platte River. We strolled along the riverside — Angela was spotting birds along the river while I made the some photographs — some of the first images for 2020.
Bridge Tower Along South Platte River.
Close to the bridge that carries Speer Boulevard across the river, I noticed the sunlight that reflected off the river onto the underside of the bridge arch. It took a while to find an ideal location to capture an image without the sun in the frame. Later, after downloading the image, I noticed the star shape of the sun peeking around the bridge.
Speer Boulevard Bridge Over South Platte.
Later, when we headed back to Union Station, we crossed the sidewalk that was recently cleaned by water spray. I made this image of the reflections from the wet surface.
Reflections From A Wet Sidewalk.
While, waiting for the light rail, the low afternoon sun created some amazing light on the towers located at the station. Reflections off the nearby buildings also contributed to creating more shadows and also filling in some of the shadows.
Tower And Razor Scooter At Union Station.
Here is another image, that looks really stunning converted to monochrome.
Tower At Union Station.
Several people were walking between the towers. I waited until one passerby was caught as a shadow on the tower
So, sometime during the year, I must have added an extra post. So here is a bonus. This afternoon I headed down to the Platte River to check out the bird life. At this time of year, there are several hundred Northen Shovelers in this section of the river. However, they are very skittish, so it is difficult to approach them.
Pair Of Northern Shovelers.
There was one Hooded Merganser that I found. The banks of the river are wooded, so one has to wait until birds come out of the shadows. I waited patiently until the Meganser paddled down into a clear area for this image.
Lone Hooded Merganser.
Several Shovelers were grooming themselves. While doing this, they often flap their wings. I made several images while this male Shoveler proceed with flapping his wings. This was the best one that shows his outstretched wings.
Northern Shoveler, Flapping Wings.
Finally, close to where I had parked, were some Canada geese. This group allowed me to get really close, so I made a portrait of one individual.
Canada Goose Portrait.
That concludes my Project 52 work for the year. Best wishes for 2020.
After visiting our daughter, I headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey. From here, I headed back to Lone Pine for the return trip home. Soon after sunrise, I arrived at the Alabama Hills, where I made this image of the granite boulders with Mount Whitney and the Sierra Nevada as the backdrop. The morning sunset lit up the Sierra with a pink light. I was too late to capture this.
Alabama Hills And Mount Whitney.
A short stretch of the road to Death Valley has Joshua trees growing at the roadside. Stopping for a break from driving, I made some images at this location.
Joshua Tree, Death Valley.
A detailed shot of one of the trees, has the remains of a flower
Joshua Tree Detail.
The next stop on the return trip was at Zion National Park. The canyon adjacent to the tunnels have these magnificent sandstone cliff walls that are a few hundred feet in height.
Canyon Wall, Zion.
Later that day, I stopped at Devil’s Garden where there are some rock arches in the sandstone.
Devil’s Garden Arch.
Also at this location are some hoodoos, that I captured in this image.
Standing Stones, Devil’s Garden.
Those are the final images from my road trip before returning home for Christmas.
This weekend, I started a road trip to California. This included a stay of two nights in Death Valley. As the sun was about to set, I made my way to the Playa, where I captured this spectacular sunset.
Death Valley Sunset.
Yesterday, I headed to Titus Canyon. Stopping along the way, I found some interesting plants. At this point, the sky was filled with various clouds during the late morning, so I captured in this image.
Road To Titus Canyon.
This morning, while waiting for the sun to rise, I made this image at Zabriskie Point.
Sunrise, Zabriskie Point.
Heading down to the coast, I drove past Lake Isabelle and followed the route along the Kern River. There are still fall colors this late in the season.
Fall Colors, Kern River.
The sun was coming in and out from the clouds. In this image, the sun lit up the mountain hillside in the center background.
View Across Kern River.
As I exited the Kern River canyon, the sun was setting on arrival to Bakersfield.
This week we had a huge snowstorm that dumped some 12-inches of snow at home. Near work, much less snow had fallen. After the storm, I noticed that the low sun had cast long shadows in the morning. I liked how the sun had reflected off the window of the office block, casting shadows of the flag staffs in this image.
Morning Sun, After The Snow Storm.
Closer to the office, I noticed the long shadows cast by the fence grills. When I noticed the red covers on the fire hydrants, that made the image.
Fence Shadow Grill.
On another morning, I passed by these chimes. Someone hanged these chimes during the spring. Over the months, I made several images as the seasons changed
Not So Hidden Chimes.
Farther along my commute, the trees were covered with Christmas lights. Having made a close up shot of the chimes, the lights were out of focus. I preferred the look with large blobs for the lights in this image.
Avenue Of Christmas Lights.
As the week passed, the snow continued to melt. leaving little evidence of the amount of snow that had fallen.
The images from last week’s visit to Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge have been downloaded. Here are a selection of these images. I found this pair of pheasants at the roadside. I managed to capture a single image of this pair. During later visits to the same location, I never got to find any pheasant.
Pair Of Pheasants, Bosque Del Apache.
There is a large population of these magnificent Sandhill Cranes that migrate to Bosque Del Apache. During the course of the day they fly between ponds, where they spend the night, and in the fields where they feed. I was lucky to get a clean image of 5 cranes in flight.
Five Sandhill Cranes In Flight.
Another winter visitor to Bosque are the Snow Geese. Here is one individual that I captured in flight.
Snow Goose In Flight, Bosque Del Apache.
During the early mornings, just after sunrise, the Sandhill Cranes leave the safety of the ponds where they spend the night. Here is one crane taking off.
Sandhill Crane, Taking Off.
Raptors, such as this Red-Tailed Hawk, spend many hours hunting. This hawk was hunting over the fields where the cranes and geese were feeding. They became agitated until the hawk left.
Red Tailed Hawk, Bosque Del Apache.
Several species of ducks inhabit the ponds. I found these two female Northern Shovelers while we were waiting for the Sandhill Cranes to return to the ponds around sunset.
Pair Of Northern Shovelers.
Snow Geese frequently spread their wings while in the ponds; this typically lasts for a second or two. After several attempts, I managed to capture an image when one of the geese spread wings.
Snow Goose, Spreading Wings.
After leaving Bosque, on the final day, a Road Runner was scratching in the low bushes along the roadside. I stopped to capture this image.
Road Runner.
This Road Runner made my day before heading back home later that same day.
On Thursday, I headed to Socorro, New Mexico, for a welcome break, where I could do some bird photography. Last week also was the annual “Festival of Cranes” in Socorro and Bosque del Apache. In between visiting the Wildlife Refuge, I spent some time in Socorro. Here is one of the murals next to a parking lot.
Bull Mural, Socorro.
Often we stop at Mountain Coffee. This is the mural at the entrance to to cafe.
Welcome, Entrance Here, Mountain Coffee.
Across the road is Ace Hardware, that looks like it had some new window dressing. In the adjacent building is the fabulous blue door.
Blue Door Outside Ace Hardware, Socorro.
At the south end of the Plaza is a clock with four faces.
Clock, City Of Socorro.
Several buildings are in run-down or in disrepair around the city. I found this one that had stepped walls.
Stepped Wall, Socorro.
Driving back to the city, from a distance, I noticed a building with a conical turret. I had not noticed in prior visits to Socorro, so I decided to find its location. It turned out to be quite close to the plaza!
House With Conical Turret, Socorro.
I made some images of birds in the Refuge. Maybe in another post later?
For yesterday and today, I headed down to the South Platte River, at Littleton to practice some more bird photography. Beside the river is a pond where couple of geese were preening themselves.
Pair Of Geese Preening, South Platte River.
Hanging around here for a half hour, one goose looked towards me, allowing me the capture this image.
Canada Goose On Tree Stump.
This afternoon, a Red-Tailed Hawk was perched in one of the trees near the river bank, facing away from me. I continued to walk until I could get a better view and made this image.
Red-Tailed Hawk, Littleton.
Heading south along the river, there were several Buffelhead Ducks. These little ducks feed by diving to find food.
Eight Buffelhead Ducks, South Platte River.
On the far bank, was a deer grazing among the grass. This deer had one horn that looked like it was deformed — growing forwards instead of upwards.
Deer At South Platte Riverside.
I made my way back to the parking lot, and arrived home to see an amazing sunset at the end of the day.
