Pine Needles

I have talked about the temperature in three previous pictures. The temperature dipped below freezing during the night, then reached the high 40s during the day. This high temperature melted all of the snow on the trees. Luckily, later in the theme, it snowed. I took a similar picture of snow on pine needles just like this picture. The only difference is the location of where the tree is and there is snow on the needles.

A Ski Down the Mountain

On a different part of the mountain, I took another picture from the middle of a ski run. Like the last picture, all of the elements that could ruin a picture worked for me. The sun/clouds, temperature, and snow. The snow still has its white, soft looking texture before it turned to slush later in the day. The clouds were able to stay out of my way again and let this picture carry on to mountains very far away.

Snow Capped Sunrise

As the sun rose, it lit up the top of this snow-capped mountain before the bottom. In that process, it was also able to change the color of the snow to a yellow-orange color. This picture only lasted for a few minutes before the sun's light was able to reach the lower parts of the mountain.

Snowy Ice

To be honest, I have no idea how this picture was formed. During the night, the temperature was below freezing. What likely happened is the water vapor in the air, condensed and stuck to this grill. As the water froze on the grill, it created these crystal shapes. Other possibilities of it actually snowing can't be true because nothing else had this ice formation on it. My only question about these mysterious ice crystals is, how are there small spots on snow on the ice?

Mountain High

Our first day of skiing was nearly perfect. It was not too cold, sunny, and the snow was fairly decent. These factors also helped in this picture. The cold has nothing to do with the picture, but the sun allows us to see for miles. Some clouds are in the picture, but this don't block out the mountains. The snow helps make the picture better since it gives color to the mountains and the viewer something else to look at.

Snowy Sunset

After driving for hours, we were able to make it to the mountain. While we were eating dinner, this sunset arose. It turned the clouds in the sky yellow and orange as I took pictures. I was able to capture the mountain scenery as well as the sunset. The bottom line in the picture is the mountain and in that area, you can see some snow.

Snow Covered Trees

As we drove through a pass, heading to the slopes, I found these snow covered trees. I was surprised to see so much snow on the trees since there wasn't much snow anywhere else. I wish I could have had a close up of the snow-covered branches, but it is hard to focus on something when you are moving at 30 miles per hour.

Snow

Unlike the last mountain, this mountain has snow almost everywhere on it. This wouldn't be a mountain that you might ski on because there is too little snow on the mountain. The quality of the picture is very high. You can see exactly where the snow meets the rock as well as the details on the trees.

Rocky Mountain

Not only is this a rocky mountain, but it is in the Rocky Mountain Mountain Range. This mountain is very similar to other mountains. There is not much snow on the mountain and its rocks are showing. During this theme, some pictures might have better quality than others. Since I don't want to take my big camera up on the mountain, I will be using a much smaller camera. Once I get off of the mountain, I will be using my big camera.

Full Bloom

Another flower that bloomed was this one. Like the rose, the colors go from light pink to dark pink. These bright pinks make the flower standout against the other flowers. They are bright and contrast the dark branches they are on.

Rose

As I continue to take pictures of the mountain and the surrounding terrain, I am going to post a few more pictures of the spring bloom in Texas. This rose is fully bloomed and in its prime and it is only the second week in March. It has been a hot winter. There were only two days with freezing precipitation. There was not any snow, but any water that was on the ground, froze several times.

Perfect Pink

This is another one of the blooming flowers that are in full bloom and in full color. The flower has a perfect pink color. The bottom is a dark pink then as you move your eyes upon the flower the pink turns to a lighter pink. You can sort of see the light pink inside of the flower. While I might be posting today, this was a scheduled post. I am driving to Colorado to enjoy the snow and the mountains. This coming week, except the beginning, because I might not have pictures yet, will be filled the snow and mountains. The snow conditions should be more than last year. The temperatures are around 40 with periodic snow days. I hope to post as many awesome snow pictures as I can.

Pink Flowers

This was another one of the trees that has bloomed. Shooting from underneath the pink flower and into the gray cloudy sky, made the flower turn to a very dark pink. You can just barely differentiate the color between the flower and the branch. It is clear to see what the different parts are because they have different shapes, but besides that, they look very similar.

Full Bloom

Some trees are started to bloom earlier this year. The temperatures have been around or over 60℉ for the past two weeks. There has also been lots of rain. Both of these things seem to be helping the flowers and tree grow. That means more colorful pictures of flowers and trees as they bloom and show themselves to the world.

Color

This small bush has lots of colors all on it. From the purple stock out, there is more purple of the leaves than green on the tips of the leaves. At the very top and in the middle are some small yellow-green buds. Thue bush is definitely not lacking in color.

Bush Lettuce

This small bush looks very much like a head of lettuce. The only difference I can viable see is the leaves on this head are white and green. On a head of lettuce, the head is mostly green with a few white spots. Maybe I found a wild lettuce. I doubt it, it is probably just a wild small bush that looks like lettuce.

Small Bird, Big World

I wonder how these small birds see the world. Are we giants to them? If we are, then trees must be humongous. If you click the picture, you can see all of the smalle details on the bird. This includes the grass, the feathers on the bird, and the beak. It is a very sharp and focused picture. The only thing that is blurry is the front grass and the concrete behind the bird.

Looking Back

As I crept closer to try and get a close picture of this squirrel, the squirrel ran up a tree. I shot from far away but I was close enough to be able to see the tiny details on it. Then I was taking the pictures, the squirrel turned around and stared at me. Afterward, he ran up the tree and out of sight.

Early Bird

This early crow was able to get his worm. In his beak is a tiny worm. The crow was resting on the porch when he swooped down and grabbed this worm. He flew back to the fence then started to eat. Unlike yesterday's picture of the all black crow, this crow has several colors on him. The blue/black wings, the black body, and the gray beak.

American Crow

During the middle of the day, I looked on the powerline and saw this crow. When I was taking the pictures, you could see the different colors on the crow. When I downloaded the picture, all of the colors on the bird turned black. You can still see the lighter black beak and same of the yellow eye but everything else is pitch black.

Red Bird

This red bird has everything a photographer and bird watcher would want. The bright red body, the perfect black ring around the light red mouth and the long tall. I was first taking pictures through a tree then I relocated and moved to this location. The red bird was pecking at the nuts before flying away.

Birds

As I was biking just off of the trail, I heard several bird sounds. I turned my bike around to the sound of the birds. I saw two crows chasing a hawk. They chased the hawk. When the hawk landed, the birds sat next to the hawk. When the hawk took flight, the crows would attack it then this process would repeat.

Multi Sunset

I like the other sunset pictures, but this picture has deeper colors. That is what I like the most about this picture. The deep and rich colors draw your eyes around the colorful clouds. Today I am moving to another house. I will not have the access to the trail I use to bike to far places, but I will still be able to take great pictures.

Single Ear Stud for Athena

I know I don't normally post on Sunday's, but I am going to ask you for a favor today. I participated in a Latin contest yesterday and I won fifth place with this photo. I am proud of that but I feel I can do better. Could you take a minute and add a comment about what would make this a better image? I can change almost anything about this image. One of the obvious fixes is centring the ear stud. Anything else?

Layered Sunset

I turned my camera to the left and found this layered section of the sunset. There are three layers in this picture. The bottom is the red sunset, then there is blue sky, then the semi-colored clouds. This pattern seems to repeat itself as you move from the bottom of the picture up.

Deep Red

As the sunset continued, the colors changed again. The dark red moved behind the trees. I like how the trees just grow on the picture with the sunset behind. If I could retake this picture, I would zoom in closer on the branches and have the branches divide the picture.

Red Sunset

This is the same sunset that has been in the previous days of pictures. The only difference is, I moved to a different spot. As I raced from one spot to another to photograph, the sunset changed dramatically. The once light yellow sunset turned into a deep red. It was like the sunset waited for me to arrive at the new location before showing its full effects.

Sharp Sunset

When the sunset occurs, all other objects go into silhouettes. I focussed on the once brown branch, that had now turned black. We can see every tiny detail on the branch and we can see some of the details on the trees in the background. Above the background trees is the cloudy sunset. This picture is basically split into four parts, the foucssed tree branch, the background blurred trees, the lower sunset, and the cloudy sunset.

Silhouette Tree

As the sun set, it turned this tree black. Even the once light green leaves turned black. I like how the tree is all one color, it keeps the picture simple and interesting at the same time. The simpleness is from the single color and basic shapes. The interesting part is all of the details on the branches and the bright sky in the background.

Invading the Sunset

During this sunset, it was partly cloudy. Towards the beginning of the sunset, there were several big clouds that were in the way. I hoped they didn't ruin my sunset. As the sun set, the clouds started to go over my head and out of my pictures. Then as the sunset continued, I was happy to have the clouds because they started to change colors and add to the sunset.

Reflecting Tree

While waiting for the sun to set, I looked and found some water. I positioned myself so I was able to get the full reflection of the huge oak tree. I like how even though we are reflecting the tree, we can still make out the detail on it. I can almost see the curve on the trunk and I can see the tiniest of details on the branches and twigs.

Pink Sunset

Today is the starting of my next theme, sunsets. I posted some of my pictures last week, but I have plenty more. I took pictures during two sunsets. This sunset, along with the last sunset pictures, is more pink than the next sunset. The next sunset starts very yellow then ends in a very dark red. 

Hungry Bird

A few days after I took pictures of the yellow bird eating, I saw this gray bird eating. I was able to figure out which type of bird this is, it is a Clark's Nutcracker. Clark's Nutcracker has a special pouch under its tongue to hold seeds long distances. This is why it is eating these seeds, it will probably have some now then save some more for later.

Reflection Sunset

During the same sunset as yesterday's picture, I saw this little pool of water on the side of the road. I crouched down as low as I could, trying the get the trees in the reflection and took this shot. Focusing on the tree, we are able to see the details on the tree without actully looking at it. Then you move to the outside of the pool of water and see the fuzzy edges of the water where it meets with the grass.

Golden Sunset

As the sunset on this day, it caused the clouds to change color. They were a soft white in the light blue sky that turned to a light yellow then a dark yellow as the sunset continued. Of this picture and the Volcanic Sunset picture, I like the Volcanic Sunset picture better becuause the clouds are a deeper shade of red and the mountain adds another layer to the picture. In this picture, the silhouette is the trees, which are nice but they don't make the clouds look like volcanic ash.

Snow Chips

As temperatures dropped and some precipitation was in the air, these snow chips formed. They felt like a mixture of snow and ice. It was a hard outer shell with a softer middle. The snow chips didn't fall everywhere. There was just enough to cover this part of the leaf. If you were able to scroll out of the picture, you wouldn't see any more snow chips.

Looking Around

After finishing all of the nuts that were on this branch, the bird started to look around. He looked around, trying to find a branch with more nuts on it, then flew off. I was surprised that the bird barely noticed me. I was standing below him taking these pictures for about 10 minutes before he moved onto another tree and I couldn't get a good shot of him.

Eating

This same bird started looking down and eating. I like how I was able to get a clear shot of the fur on it and the detail on the wings. The bird is in perfect focus which allows us to see the individual feathers on the body of the bird.

Looking for Food

This bird climbed up high to search for food. Using my 300mm lens, I was able to shoot through the trees and focus on the bird. This was one of my farther shots. The posts that are coming soon, will be much closer and the bird will have much more detail on it. The next shots will also be clearer because I moved around under the bird and took different shots from different spots.

Standing Tall

The thing I like most about this picture is how much detail you can see on the bird. Since the bird is standing on the edge of the tree, you can see all the detail on the wings, some of the legs, and the head. The picture is overexposed but overwise a very good clear picture.

Bug Hunter

This woodpecker uses its sharp beak to drill holes in trees like this one. They drill like a jack-hammer to try and find the bugs inside. They also use the tree as a home. They find holes in the tree or make holes in the tree for their home.

Icy Snow

After cracking the ice, smaller chips flew out. Some flew away others went onto the other ice. The key when photographing ice, is not to let the sun ruin the picture. The sun can travel through the ice and directly into the lens of the camera. This ruins the picture because the bright spots distract the viewer's eye and make it hard to concentrate on what you were trying to photograph.

Ice Snail

After a deep freeze in Dallas, all standing water froze. I went to the side of a road and broke some of the ice, some accidentally, mostly on purpose. I positioned the ice and I found a snail on one. I focussed on it then shot this picture. You can see the bubbles on the ice and the details on the snail.

Bird Silhouette

This bird was surprisingly in a silhouette. You can see all of the feathers on the bird. The beak and head feathers are really showcased in this picture. They are clear and easy to recognize. The bird looks like a red bird but I don't know exactly what type of bird it is. The chest is red which is why I think it's a red bird but a lot of birds have red chests so I might be wrong.

City Life

Over the years, birds and other animals have adapted to the ways of the city. The birds have learned to get food from bird feeders and rest on power lines. This red bird was resting on the power line before he jumped and flew away. If you look closely, you can see that the bird is bending its knees before jumping. It bent its knees and leaned forward.

Moon Tree

Through the tree comes the moon. I have learned that using my DSLR camera, you can't take pictures of the moon at night. The moon turns out to be completely white and you can't even tell it's a moon, it just looks like a white dot. By waiting until the sun rises, you can take pictures of the moon without worrying about the quality of the picture. You get all of the cracks and holes in the moon with a nice bright blue background.

Bleeding Yellows

This is another type of bleeding flower. Unlike and like yesterdays flower, this flower also bleeds but it is not purple. The center of this flower is brown, unlike yesterdays flower. It also doesn't bleed at all, there is no brown mixing into the yellow. The edges of the brown in this flower are not as sharp but they still give the flower sharp points.

Bleeding Flowers

These flowers are bleeding. It is not a bad thing, it's just what these flowers do to show their colors. The lower flower has edges of color but it doesn't bleed. The top flower is much bigger and is bleeding. The purple is spread out in the white part and gets brighter as you move toward the center. The top flower is also the only flower that has a purple center while the other purple flowers just have a black center.

Pokey Nature

Yesterday's nature had soft but rigid edges, today's nature has sharp pokey edges. This is the pokey ball that was out of focus yesterday. I like this picture because of the colorful background that it has. The leaves give the background different colors that show off the pokey ball. The brown stands out off of the colorful background, making the ball the star focus.

Simple Nature

Nature can be as simple as this or as sophisticated as wildlife. This is just a focussed dry leaf and a blurred pokey ball that falls from this sweet gum tree. You can see the tiny details on the leaf including the specs in it and the jagged edges. You can also see the shape of the pokey ball. It's sharp edges hurt the skin but don't break it.