old cottonwoods
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stand over field of green hay
cloudless sunset
Cloudless Sunset
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The Days Gift
receive the days gift
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placing trust in mystery
morning sunriseToday my parents celebrate their 72nd Wedding Anniversary. They have for the past 72 years placed trust in the mystery of each new sunrise., sometimes haltingly but never walking away. Congratulations mom and dad! I love you! ❤️
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I Like to Smile
cool breeze from the south
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sky filled with cotton ball clouds
wise kingbird singsThis time of year the sun rises early and I seem to follow suit. Made my chai latte and was out the door at roughly 5:06 am. The sky was filled with altocumulus clouds when I arrived at Pineridge Natural Area, where it seems nature had randomly thrown up cotton balls, bringing on a smile. I’m okay with that cuz I like to smile. Sat on the bench with my camera, binoculars, journal, my chai, a vitally needed coat and listened to all the birds singing.
In case you’re wondering, altocumulus clouds are a middle-altitude cloud genus that belongs mainly to the stratocumuliform physical category characterized by globular masses or rolls in layers or patches, the individual elements being larger and darker than those of cirrocumulus and smaller than those of stratocumulus. (Wikipedia) I think calling them cotton balls is easier and more understandable. 😁
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From the Heart
shared from the heart
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the joy of being alive
meadowlarks songSorry but you may be seeing more bird images as I play with this new lens. Already shot about 400 images with it. I thought I had a bad lens at first because I felt the motor was too loud and would continuously run. I have never experience this before with any lens using image stabilization. I talked to Pat at the store I purchased it from and and he was not aware of any such issues. And, of course I bought the only one he’s seen in the store. He pulled out the 80mm macro lens because it has quad linear motor for focusing, where there is a clunking noise when the lens is not powered up. Once the motor is powered up the noise goes away but the motor runs continuously. This is part of their floating focusing system in that lens and is being used more on mirrorless cameras. I have the same clunk with this lens when off the camera but it is very minimal compared to the 80mm macro. All information I have found says the 70-300mm lens has a linear autofocus motor, saying nothing about a floating focus system. What’s the difference? I’m still checking on this. Other than that, this lens seems to be a good addition to my camera bag but left a hole in my wallet.
Image information: 300mm f8.0 1/450 second and ISO 160; handheld with 70 year old hands and shooting from my car. 😁 No sharpening or clarity on this image.
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Stirring Up Mud
stirring up mud
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seeking aquatic insects
evening dinnerI see a lot of killdeer out here but I can’t remember ever seeing an American Avocet until last week. As I drove by a pond along Weld County Road 13 I noticed a very large killdeer so I stopped to check it out. That’s when I realized it was not a killdeer. This is a lovely bird with a lovely call. They use their long bills to stir up the mud, disturbing the aquatic insects and having a feast.
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Great to be Alive
meadowlarks song
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echos across green meadow
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Wind Shaped Clouds
captivating storm
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waves of ominous clouds
solitary treeTook this late yesterday afternoon on Larimer County Road 3. What initially drew me to this scene was the clouds and then I saw the the solitary tree. The combination got me excited. These clouds were all around me but no rain. They are however, predicting rain later today and over the next 3-4 days. Had a short night of sleep and will probably nap on the plane. I’m almost packed and ready to leave. Have a great day!
