Pop Fly

Sometimes your hits aren't always where you want them to be, this was one of them. The Rangers had a hit straight up and straight down. The straight into the left fielder's glove. This was another one of the 27 outs, but this one just one of those outs that just had to happen.

Out

If you predicted that Mike would get out, You were correct. Mike hit the ball to the right fielder and the was thrown out. This was just one of the 27 outs that are needed to receive the win or loss. In this game, the Rangers won one of few up until the 10-day winning streak. Now they are around 50% wins and losses.

Hit

Mike Moustakas had is hit, this was his pitch. I lined up and as Yu Darvish threw the pitch, I started my 10 picture series of pictures. This was the best picture out of the 10. Mike had just hit the ball and the ball just hit the ground. Tomorrow's picture will give you the ending of the hit. Will he make it to first or will he be one of the 27 outs?

Swing and a Miss

When batting at the major league level, you sometimes miss. This is what Rougned Odor did, he took a huge swing and missed. Luckily for him, he had a hit the next pitch. Sometimes when swinging, in life and baseball, you miss. But you never know when that 'home run' is about to come. It could even be your next pitch.

Sunset Flight

These ducks were in my pool when I ran out and scared them away. They took a slight running start, then they took flight. They flew over my head and through the trees. Like the Canadian Geese, from Colorado, these birds were also flying in unison. I wonder if this is a thing or if it is just a convenience.

Sea Scapes

These might not be your normal skyscrapers, but this wooden platform extends into the ocean. In the last picture, you could only see the blue and green, in this picture we can see another color. The dark blue created by the sand, the light blue is the sun reflecting off of the sand that is close to the surface. Another stunning shot by Chris C.

Folding Wave

Spring is a world wide season, in this picture we see it from the beach. The green and blue water that are flowing onto the sand. We even have the whitecaps, the white bubble on the top of the waves. What an amazing shot Chris C. Come back tomorrow for another shot by Chris.

Shaded Walk

Nothing beats a good old walk. Except for a good old walk in the shade. This short shaded walkway led to a series of four large frogs. Luckily for me, the people weren't in the walkway at this time so I was able to get a good shot without all of the people. At least the shade wasn't complete so you could still see something under the trees.

Wavy Waterfall

This is the 300th post. We now have 5000 page views from all around the world including Europe and Asia. Coming from the higher pond to the lower pond, these miniature waves are the cause of the uneven rocks below. Then the waves all off the ledge and into the smaller, lower pond. There must have been some algae on the rocks below because the water turned green as soon as it hit the rocks before the ledge. What a cool water feature, since I'm all into the water and water features.

Monkey Snack

These sculpted Monkeys were hungry, so they got a banana. I like how the sculptor made the face have a different texture and color from the rest of the body. It's like the face is glowing from the sunlight. This sculptor must have been really good because I know I could have not done this.

Tree Bright

As the sun shined directly behind this tree and surrounding plants, it brightened them up and made them pop out more. You can really see the color palettes from every single tree. The red one, green, and brown. If I could go back and change one thing, it would be taking down the exposure to make the picture not as bright and not as white.

Waterfall Forest

This forest opens with a waterfall. It's not the prettiest or the most recognizable, but it still is a waterfall. It has water falling over the rocks. This pool of water is cool in its own way too, the reflection from the forest makes the water green and blue. Since there are no fish in this pond, you can't see tiny orange spots everywhere.

Rain Drop

The best thing about spring rain, is after the rain stops and there are droplets all over the leaves. This is even more unique because this picture has leaves that are right side up and upside down. I probably should have zoomed in on the upside down leaves to get an even more cool rain droplet shot.

Eagle Tall

A few steps later from yesterdays picture, was this eagle. Standing tall and proud this mini, stone craved animal looks very real. Minus the colors. You can see his every feather and his short curved beak. This carver had a very good hand and perfectly made this wonderful Eagle.

Stairway to Statue

As I walked by in the arboretum, I looked right and saw this statue. It's a nice and shiny gold statue on top of a light green and blue colored pedestal. I like the way I took the picture but if there was one more thing to make it even more interesting I would have put my camera closer to the ground to make it look more stairway-y up to the statue

Wisest of the Wise

Ever heard the phrase "The wise ones are the elders"? This is what this is about. The wise one being the bigger and more white fish. He must be the leader of the other fish. The elders have experience, I don't know how much more experience because they were in a very small pond, but the older you get the more experience you receive.

Bee Happy

With spring comes Bees. With Bees comes flowers and trees, and the blossoming of them. As the Bees spread their wonderful, colorful, and joyful cheers, so should you. There is never a day when you shouldn't be happy. What's not to love about flowers and colors that the world provides for us? We have so much to offer, and we can make it even better by offering our strengths with happiness.

Catnap

The best thing about coming home after a long day is coming back and taking a catnap. Now, this might not be your usual catnap, but it works. Thanks to Caroline G. we can see the difference from the cat's catnap versus the human's catnap. I think the cats are better nappers than us. They are at least better than me.

Water Window

Water may be clear when you drink it or when it's still, but when it's falling from a ten-foot spout it makes the things behind it blurry and unfocused. Another part of this is the bottom. The water starts off smooth and uniform but them you move down it and it falls apart. It breaks up into these pieces of hollowed water.

Lily Pads

At a fish pond, which will come later, were Lily Pads. I took this picture from a side angle because the angle that was good was blocked, that I didn't like but when I looked at it again I liked. I like it because you can see the water and the things under the water the give the picture more depth and character.

Bloomed or Not

As Spring comes flowers bloom. Not all of the flowers bloomed though. This one was in-between the two, one bloomed and one decided to wait for a better day. Even though it has not yet bloomed I still find it very interesting. The texture on it is very nice. The curves must be the flowers for the soon to come flower.

Hoo Hoo

This statue of an owl stood on the side of a walkway. My favorite thing about this statue of that the owls head is tilted. I think it is like the owl is asking a question. It seems to be looking deeply at something. What is he looking at? It wasn't a person because he never moved.

Water Works

The way the water flows is downstream. You can't see it but the rest of this, but this flows downhill and ends up in the Infinity Pool. I decided that the best way to view this was through the top of the waterway where the fountains are and the waterway starts.

Infinity Reflection

As I start a mini-series, still in the larger series of Spring, I am opening up with an infinity pool opening onto a lake. This mini-series come from the Dallas Arboretum. There will be many flowers, water features, pools, streams, fish, birds, and much more Spring-like things.

Feather Flashing

Only of the only two times when Peacocks are beautiful to photograph is when they are calling to each other or when they raise their feathers. Luckily for me, this one raised his feathers. I took several rounds of photos of it, so be ready for more. At one point I must have annoyed him because he moved his feathers over me so I couldn't see him.

Bird Tree

In the lower part of the tree where "Hiding Bird" was shot, I spotted another type of bird. I couldn't tell you what type it is, but it's beautiful. It flew in, rested for a minute, called to its friends, then it left. Just like that.

Crouching Cat

Earlier I said there was a cat, here it is. The problem with the cat is that I couldn't get very close to it because it was scared of me. This was about the closest I got to it before it ran away. Although it ran away, I followed it and got some shots but it was hard to run and take pictures at the same time. The pictures were very blurry.

Hiding Bird

Up high in the trees were several Crows. They came in, probably ate, then starting talking to each other. They chirped, clicked, and made all sorts of sound to each other. As they did this more birds came and then, even more, birds came. Soon I was like a bird party. What did that make me? The photographer?

Squirrel Glare

As I walked around, nature was all over the place. There were squirrels, peacocks, birds, and even a cat. This squirrel was looking around, probably at me, as I set my camera close to the ground and take some shots like these. He was in between eating so I think he was a little angry at me for interrupting his dinner.

Spring Squirrel

Happy late Easter! Since this theme is spring and because spring has Easter in it, why not have a picture of the Easter Bunny (squirrel). As this squirrel feasted on some nuts, I crept up and took incredible close-up, eating action shots. I wonder if he ever noticed me.

Eyes

Peacocks have many eyes. They have eyes on their head and on their feathers. As we jump into the new theme at TMannphotography expect to see flowers, springtime bugs, insects, and animals. Animals like birds, squirrels, ducks, and sometimes peacocks. Get excited about this theme because it's going to be a great one. 

Smile

Let's start our transition into Spring! On a wall that was in a kids play area, there was some rain left over and someone decided to draw on it. I believe it is a deformed smiley face, but you can decide. I like how the 2 climbing pieces are in the picture. They add another layer of depth to the picture.

Gone

It's the final day of Colorado. As I close I wanted to end with a bang, so I think I did. The two birds lifted off the rocky beach and flew 20 feet the are about to land in the water. The two geese somehow got the movement on rhythm and flew in unison. I really don't know how because when you walk with someone do you walk in the same stride as them? I think I might have just been lucky.

Lift Off

We have only one bird left. I slowly crept up to the goose and took several pictures every five-ish feet not wanting the goose to leave and me not get a close-up shot. Luckily for me, I was about to take another round of photos when the goose left. It started to run and get speed the stretched out its wings and started to create a force that lifted him up, that's for tomorrow.

2 Left


Continuing from yesterday's picture is this picture. This was the bird that left. As he lifts his wings and starts to fly, his legs drag on the water. He breaks the water and forces it to move while his feet go through. Next we have the other two birds left. What will they be doing?

Stay or Go 

As I crept up to the geese they started to walk away. I knew that once I was close enough to them that they would fly away, but I didn't know how close was close. Obviously, I was too close to one of the geese. Over the next, two to five days will be the final pictures of these birds and Colorado. Then I will move on to a new and more current selection of photo's.

Goose Talk

On our final days and pictures up in beautiful Colorado, I will end it with five-ish goose pictures. I will save some of my best for last so keep checking every day. They might be eating, swimming, flying or anything that geese might do. Probably warning the other goose about me approaching, the right goose 'talked.'

Ice Water

I noticed something falling in the corner of my eye and went over to it. It was some of the ice melting. Crouching down and trying not to fall into the close river, I took the shot. Taking 15 pictures in a row only before deleting 14 of them leaving me with this one. Cropped the sides a little then posted here.

Winding River

On the other side of the last picture seems to be a river that never ends. Curving left, right, left, right as it snakes down the mountain. But to where is the question. Another river? A bigger river? A lake, or body of water?

Up River

On a bridge, that overlooked an ice covered, snow covered, and somewhat flowing river was me and my car. The river was only a few inches deep and made the river bumpy and gave it some depth. They were similar to multiple miniature waterfalls. Some of the times the rocks were too big and went out of the river and didn't make the waterfall.

Mountain High

Any place on a high mountain you can see forever. The way that the snow tracks are to the way the snow on the mountains is what makes this picture. The main color in this picture is white, the snow and clouds. The picture is simple, a third of it is snow tracks, another is mountain and the final third is the blue and mostly clear sky.

Slope

The snow was exactly how you would like it to be in the spring, not too slushy and not too icy but something in between. This is what the snow was like, even though it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 20 something at night. Unfortunately for some other ski slopes, their snow was either icy or slushy, not what we had.

Hive

On the side of a cliff, which I did climb, were multiple hives of some insect. I believe it is either a Mud Dabber or Hornets home. There was no insect in them and no evidence about who or what built them. They must have been built before the first freeze and probably before winter if the insect builder wanted to stay and not die.

Train Sunset

It's another scenic movie where the sunset is on the horizon behind something, this time it's a train. The bright sunset contradicts with the dark train. What I like the most out of this picture is that I used the train to block out the sun. I positioned, not really, it so that it wouldn't be too much train or too much sun. Just kidding, this was just one of the lucky car ride shots that I took, nothing special.

Snow

There is snow in the sky and on the ground. These clouds are over the high, snow-capped mountain. The clouds over it might have been the clouds that dumped all of that snow. I don't know have much is up there but I think that there are at least 2 feet of snow. The elevation must be about 12,000- 14,000 feet so that much snow is not that uncommon.

Leaf

This dead leaf is resting in a bed of soft (not really) snow. I focused mostly of the ice particles but I also had just a little on the leaf.

Sunset Mountains

Although this is no multi red, yellow, and orange colors this still is a sunset. The sun, clouds, and mountains or the new colors of the sunset.

Flood Slopes

These are no ski slopes, they are probably flood slopes for when the snow melts. There is no gondola if you want to walk up it, you will find your perfect ski slope that's all to yourself.

Spring Melt

Spring in colder and snowier places always have a time when the ice melts and the ground starts to show. The beautiful rocks are peaking out of the once ice ground.

Ice Pancakes

The ice pancakes in the bottom right of the picture are pretty but not so tasty. Hi, would you like an ice-cake? No, thanks. After all this talk about pancakes and ice, I didn't even talk about the ice around the rocks.