Over the last week, I made several walks through our neighborhood with camera in hand. Often, I visit several alleys that usually offer a variety of different subjects. One evening, the late afternoon sun cast tree shadows against a garage door.
Garage Door Shadow.
While driving home from a local store, I noticed signs of an boarded up house. So I took the opportunity to visit that location during an evening walk to explore what could be found.
Boarded Up.
During a trip through one of the alleys, I found these branches growing in front of a blue wall.
Branches Against Blue Wall.
In another alley, I found a blue door. This was located in a garage that had been painted blue. The garage’s paint had started to peel, revealing the underlying white paint.
Blue Door.
In one front yard, the house owner had hang two hearts in a low bush.
Two Happy Hearts.
Valentine’s Day takes place in February, so there are still remnants of the celebration in the neighborhood. The hearts are probably a remnant. In the image below, I was drawn to this scene below by the two pots containing blue flowers.
Happy Valentines Day!
Blocked by two dumpsters.
This Door Is Blocked.
The low sun provides some interesting light. I found a monochrome rendition that showed the contrast created by the backlit cage.
Cage At Sunset.
One of the alleys backs onto a car dealership. At sunset, the setting sun highlighted some reflections of car parts, shining through a green mesh fence covering.
Sunset Car Dealer.
Our cat was due for an annual visit to the vet during the early morning. Behind their office were some colorful paint on the fence. So I decided to do a return trip on foot later in the day, when the sun lit up the fence.
During the last month, I made several visits in our neighborhood during mostly daily afternoon walks. During these walks, I frequently make images of interesting or unusual subjects. Close to Kunming Park, the evening sun lit up power lines against a blue sky at sunset.
Power lines At Sunset.
As I passed on the other side of the street, I noticed that this pole which supported a streetlamp was covered with a tangle of branches. Crossing to the other side, I made this image without the background clutter of the house behind me.
Tangled Streetlamp Pole.
We did get some snow during the last month! Several homes still had their Christmas lights out and switched on in the evenings. Returning home, I found this patch where the red lights were reflected in the street ice that was a remnant of a recent snow storm.
Reflections In The Street Ice.
Sometimes my route takes me through several alleys in our neighborhood. I found this abandoned rodeo cowboy. Perhaps this was a discard from a visit to the Stock Show which takes place every year in January?
Abandoned Rodeo Cowboy.
There are several trees that have interesting features during the winter. I found this gnarly tree along the sidewalk. A monochrome black and white rendition really shows the texture of the branches and trunk.
Gnarly Tree.
As the sun set lower in the horizon, the raking sun revealed the texture of the concrete and shadows cast by the curb of the sidewalk.
Sidewalk Shadow And Texture.
During another day’s walk, I pass the Harvard Gulch golf course. The edge of the fence casts a pronounced shadow on the grass near sunset.
Fence Shadows At Golf Course.
This week, I made another detour through an alley. One of fence posts was adorned with a cute bicycle helmet.
Cute Fence Cap.
Nearby, I found a parked car whose windows were reflecting the scene that included houses behind me that were lit by the setting sun.
Early in January, we visited Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to do some birding and some photography. At the end of our first day, we had some spectacular clouds that were lit up by the setting sun.
Bosque Del Apache Sunset.
The main pond generally has many ducks and geese that I had photographed earlier in the day. However, after the sun had set, I captured this pair of trees that were reflected in the water.
Bosque Del Apache Pond Reflections.
During our early morning outing the next day, we found a group of Javalina foraging along the roadside. I captured an image of one Javalina as it was working along the roadside.
Javalina At Roadside, Bosque Del Apache.
Close by, there were some grasses at the roadside. The sun had not yet lit up the grasses, so I captured this following image that was converted to monochrome black and white.
Grasses, Bosque Del Apache.
As a panned across the grasses, without refocusing the lens, I found some more grasses in a pleasing composition. That I also converted to monochrome.
Blurred Grasses, Bosque Del Apache.
I decided to post these images before January came to a close!
Last week, I made a trip to South Platte Park for some bird photography. During the winter months, many duck species can be found at this location. During a previous visit, some Kildeer were having some interesting interactions that I had witnessed. Maybe I would see something different this time?
On this day, Kildeer were wading along the sandbar and river side. There was another shorebird moving close to the Kildeer. With a long straight bill, this looked like maybe a snipe or a dowitcher?
Snipe With Kildeer, South Platte River.
One getting home, I confirmed that this bird was a Wilson’s Snipe. I don’t recall seeing one along this stretch of the river previously. Both Kildeer and Snipe are well-camouflaged, especially against the sandbar and muddy shore. Easy to miss when they are not moving.
I decided to wait and see whether the Snipe would move out into the water. Yes. And a captured this image with its long straight bill.
Wilson’s Snipe, South Platte River.
Soon both the Snipe and Killdeer were working along the shore, foraging for food in the mud.
Snipe And Kildeer, Foraging.
I was watching and waiting to see what would happen. Unexpectedly, another Snipe (No. 2) came running in from the left hand side of this pair. I managed to capture one image of this second snipe with its foot raised in the air.
Wilson’s Snipe No. 2, South Platte River.
Again, I just watched and waiting until Snipe No. 2. Maybe it would head for open water?
Wilson’s Snipe No. 2 At River Shore.
Yes. And I managed to capture a decent reflection as this bird stepped through the water.
For lunch on our first day of the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop, we stopped at Bodega Bay Harbor. After a delicious lunch, we headed down to the marina. I found this single stalk of a Pride of Madeira plant, along the quay.
Pride Of Madeira, Bodega Bay Harbor.
This stalk was the only one that still had color. All the remaining stalks had withered and dried earlier in the season. I made a monochrome image of some of the remaining withered stalks.
Pride Of Madeira Dried Flowers.
I found that this harbor had a lot of material that would make for some interesting photographs. There was a stack of fishing baskets with coiled ropes and floats close to quay side.
Fishing Baskets And Ropes.
Farther along the quay was a boat that had been loaded onto a trailer in the parking lot. I made an abstract image of the patterns of rust on the bright blue keel.
Rust Patterns On Keel, Bodega Bay.
There were some birds that were flying from tree to tree along the parking lot, so I attempted to capture some images of the birds. They were obscured behind the mosses that were growing on the trees. So I turned my attention to the mosses — at least they didn’t move!
Moss On Trees, Bodega Bay Harbor.
Later that afternoon we made our way to the Bodega Bay Head. There were several colonies of Cormorants along the coast. On one of rocks along the cliff, a group of Cormorants were drying off and preening themselves.
Cormorants On Rock, Bodega Bay Head.
Farther inland from the cliffs was a group of Cypress trees. A footpath led to a tunnel formed by the surrounding trees. I made several compositions of some of the trunks and branches of these trees in the tunnel. In the following image, I converted the capture into a monochrome rendition.
Cypress Trees, Bodega Bay Head.
Later we headed back to the workshop headquarters to complete the day’s events.
Continuing on… One of the locations that we visited during the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop, was “Safari West”. This is a wildlife park that is home to many African wild animals. Soon after arriving and greeting our host, we boarded the safari wagon. We made our way through to the first fenced enclosure where we were greeted by this fabulous giraffe.
Female Giraffe Greeting Us, Safari West.
I was amused by these two Waterbuck. “Kids These Days!” is what I titled this image. This reminds me of two elderly people commenting on kids.
Kids These Days! Waterbuck.
There is a herd of several Watusi cattle at Safari west. They are distinguished by their huge horns. Apparently, Texas Longhorn cattle are descendants of cattle breeds that were bred from Watusi cattle.
Watusi Cattle, Safari West.
There are several Cape Buffalo at Safari West. Cape Buffalo are notorious for their aggressive behavior. The following is the alpha male of the herd; he was busy at the feeding station.
Male Cape Buffalo.
Safari West is located in Oak forests on rolling hills. I captured this image of the oak trees that were backlit as the sun sank lower during the late afternoon.
Oak Forest On Rolling Hills.
Several Ostrich roam through the park. I like how the back lighting of the sun lit up the hairs on the bird’s neck and feathers.
Ostrich, Backlit, Safari West.
One of the Wildebeest strolled past us and made it’s way over the crest of the hill.
Wildebeest Walking Over Crest Of Hill.
Towards the end of our trip, we passed this female Ostrich. Our guide loves the animals and birds in the park. This ostrich was showing off to our guide by lifting her wings.
Female Ostrich, Safari West.
At the end of our tour, our safari wagon developed some mechanical issues. We were close to the enclosure when this Abyssinian Ground Hornbill was showing off!
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill.
I noticed this Cattle Egret perched on the fence. Apparently, Cattle Egret can also be found in Africa, that is the original home to many of the birds and animals of Safari West.
Cattle Egret, Safari West.
We all enjoyed our afternoon at Safari West. We made our way back to the workshop headquarters to complete the day’s events.
While on the beach at Salmon Creek, there were plenty of waves crashing against the rocks. This was one of my successful images that showed the peak action of the crashing waves.
Crashing Wave, Salmon Creek.
The view towards the north was also spectacular. In this image, I was lucky to include several gulls in flight above the stormy seas and crashing waves. Also, there are several birds swimming in the sea between the rocks.
Rocks, Waves And Gulls, Salmon Creek.
Several surfers were taking advantage of the surf. This surfer had just left the water.
Surfer At Salmon Creek.
Several people were busy fishing along the beach. I managed to capture one fisherman with all his fishing rods lining the beach.
Fisherman And Rods, Salmon Creek.
While at the beach, I found this really interestingly shaped rock being engulfed by the sea. The tide was gradually rising, so this rock was almost surrounded by the flow of water rising. I had waited for several minutes for a wave that would surround the entire rock. Unfortunately, I had to abandon that idea since our schedule on the beach was coming to an end!
Almost Surrounded.
We moved to another location further north along the coast. This location offered some interesting images of the sea from a different viewpoint. This image looks like a maelstrom swallowing a rock.
Maelstrom No 1.
I made to make a second image of another rock that was swallowed by the maelstrom. For both these, I converted the images to monochrome. This enhanced the contrast of the raging sea.
Early last month, I attended the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop hosted by Derrick Story. Our first location was the beach at Salmon Creek. There was a large accumulation of driftwood that was spread over the beach.
Beach Driftwood, Salmon Creek.
This driftwood provided plenty of resources to construct shelters along the beach. This was one of server shelters that we found.
Driftwood Shelter, Salmon Creek.
Crawling into the shelter, I captured this image looking out of the shelter towards the pacific ocean.
Looking Out Of Driftwood Shelter.
There were a variety of methods used to construct these shelters. I found this cord that was used to bind driftwood.
Driftwood Shelter Binding Detail.
Included among the driftwood were several strands of kelp that were washed up onto the beach. The following image reminds me of the Borg Queen!
Driftwood And Kelp, Salmon Creek.
Several pieces of driftwood had been buried below the beach sands. I found this large piece of partially buried driftwood.
Buried Driftwood, Salmon Creek.
After leaving the beach, we headed farther up the coast. Here I captured an image looking back towards Salmon Creek.
