Clear Skies

After the first storm passed, blue skies followed. With no clouds blocking my view, I was able to look for miles at the mountains that surrounded me. The clouds in this picture are from the snowstorm that the last pictures were in. The contrast that is on the mountains is also very interesting. The white snow contrasts the dark trees and greenery that grow on the mountain.

Spring

After not receiving a snowstorm in weeks, the village at the base of this mountain was completely bare of snow. I took this picture between the first and second storms. After the second storm the village was completely covered by 3 inches of snow, but for now, it is bare.

Sun and Snow

The clouds rolled out but the snow stayed. On the top of the 10,000-foot mountain, we were almost in the clouds. The clouds dropped heavy snow and nearly made a whiteout. On one of the lifts, there were so many clouds, I couldn't even see the chair ahead of us. The clouds also brought 5 inches of snow, temperatures in the twenties, and a wind chill in the single digits.

Pine Cones

These pine cones must have thought the warmth meant spring. They appear to have started growing to bigger pine cones but the snow covered them up. What happens to the pine cones, or any plant, when this happens? Do they stop growing and wait for the warmer temperatures to return? Do they continue growing?

Old Wagon, New Snow

The snow continued to fall in big flakes as I walked by the wagon. It was very hard to take this picture since I had to keep my camera warm and protect it from the falling snow. I was able to put a plastic bag over my camera then cover it with some cloth to keep it warm. I must have been weird to see someone with a plastic bag and cloth taking pictures of an old wagon.

Standing Tall

This snow fell and stayed in its crystal formation. It is very easy to see the snow flake on the top of the intersection of the branch. The snow flake seems to stick out among the others. The flake is on top of the others which helps it be seen and it also has the most shape out of any of the flakes. It is mostly intact with the bottom half of the pile of snow with the other snowflakes.

Wet Snow

Towards the end of the snowstorm, heavier and more wet snow fell. This is caused by temperatures that are higher to freezing. As the snow falls, it melts on the outside but still has a frozen core. Closer to the ground, the snow starts to freeze again but the temperature must not have been cold enough for the snow to completely freeze.

Fallen Branch

The snow came down all around this pine branch that fell. The bright green branch seems to blend in with the snow. I focussed on the branch trying to capture the detail of the snow on the branch. I belive I succeded since it is easy to distinguish the different snow flakes that fell on the branch.

Ice

As the snow fell, the warm branch instantly melted it. The water formed into droplets and the droplets hung from the branch. I like how there are water droplets in focus than out of focus is the snow that is still falling.

Falling Light

While on a walk during the snow storm, I found this light lighting up a sign not seen in this picture. The snow turned to the color is the light as it fell into the light's path. I found it interesting that the snow looks like pieces of burning ash falling to the ground when it is in the path of the light. 

Fresh and Old

From this picture, it is clear to see that new snow has fallen. The trees are covered in the new snow and the rocky mountainside has no new snow on it. I like to see the white trees since it is something that I nearly don't take pictures of. Most of the pictures I take of trees, the trees are only green or have an interesting flower on it. These trees are green and white.

Accumulation

Another pine tree, more accumulation fell. The snow fell so lightly that if you zoom in on the picture, it is easy to see the flakes. From this picture, it is clear that the snow stopped falling. This is true but only for a few hours. The snow fell very heavily for two hours then stopped then resumed snowing very heavily after about three hours of no snow.

Pine Needles

This pine tree was the first on many to accumulate snow. One of the reasons why is because this tree is an evergreen, meaning that it always has leaves/needles on it. The needles help to hold the snow on the tree which makes it one of the first trees to collect snow. I like how close I was able to get to this tree. We are able to the shape of the snow on the tree and some of the snow that has already melted. 

Down the Road

One of the cool things that snow does, is it turns anything it lands on white. If the conditions are right, the snow will fall on itself and start to accumulate. When not touched, you are able to see the separation of the flakes. I took this picture at the beginning of the storm but the accumulation is coming and the trees are just started to get covered.

Snow Time

As the heavy snow continued to fall, I found this clock. As the snow fell all around it, I knew it was the perfect picture. If I could change one thing about this picture, it is the red sign in the top right corner. I would have liked for the background to be a perfect white from the snow, but I still do like this background.

Spring Snow

One of the days while we were in Colorado, a heavy snowstorm blew in. Snow fell in the mountains and in the valleys. In the valley, heavy snow fell for a couple of hours, stopped, then heavy snow fell again four hours later. Overall, about six inches of snow fell. I tried to capture both the branch and the falling snow. The snow almost paints the photograph with white dots.

Split Forest

The next night, more than a dusting of snow fell. The snow was carried by a strong wind from the West. It blew the snow across the picture from the right side to the left side. This is why half of the forest of white and the other half of forest is the normal color green. What doesn't make sense, is the trees that are covered in snow are covered in what seems to be almost a foot of snow. It must have been one crazy storm that blew through.

Snow on Ice

During the same night as the Snow Specks, rain fell before the snow fell. The rain hit this grill and froze, this created the domes on the grill. As the temperature dropped, snow started to fall. Since the ice is frozen, the snow fell on top of the ice domes and stayed there. When I first saw this I didn't understand. I touched the water to see if it was frozen or not. When it didn't move, I knew it was frozen and perfect to post.

Snow Specks

Very very light snow fell overnight. Some of the snow, when it hit the Earth, split into smaller specks. These specks are really cool to photograph. The wood grains give a scale to show how small the snow really is. While I wasn't able to capture a full snowflake, these snow specks are just of great.

Winter Bird

Birds like this bird are very interesting. They are able to live and strive in freezing temperatures. I have never understood how they do this. Their small body mass shouldn't be able to hold much heat but it must if it wants to live in Colorado during the winter.

Icy Reflection

As the sun started to set, I took a reflecting shot of this bush growing out of the icy water. This water is from the snow that has melted, froze, then melted again. At night, the temperatures reached around ten degrees below freezing, this froze the water. During the day, the temperatures reached at least 40 and if not then higher. All of this freezing and melting made the snow start to look more like ice and not snow. 

Snow Line

On this smooth snow, I focused on this single line. The snow is perfectly white and you are able to distinguish between the different flakes. This picture has more snow circles than the last picture. The circles closer to the focused line are smaller and more defined. As you move away from the focus line, the circle become much bigger and the boundaries of the circle start to blend with other circles.

Textured Snow

I find the top of snow very interesting. It can be perfectly white or have dirt scattered over it. It can be smooth or in chunks. The snow could look like individual flakes or one big flake. This snow is slightly different than the other snow I have pictured. It has dirt scattered over it, it's chunky, and the flakes all seem to be one big flake. The place your eyes want to focus on in this picture is the middle, focused part. If you look below the focused part, the snow jumps out at the camera. It reflects the sun back to the camera which makes the flakes look like circles.

Aspen Eyes

These are the eyes that I was explaining yesterday. Some look more like eyes than others, but they really do look like eyes. The tree has a unique white bark that is very thin and easy to peel off. In the fall, when the leaves turn color, the Aspen Trees make the forest a very interesting place to be. The bright yellow leaves and white bark light up the forest.

Aspen Snow

The tree that is focussed on, is an Aspen Tree. This tree is known to have 'eyes' on them. As the branch gets too heavy for the tree to hold, it falls off. Before it falls off, it strains the bark around the tree giving the shape of the top of a eye. Once the branch falls, dark bark grows where the branch was. These help to make the 'eyes' on the Aspen Tree.

Snowmen

Unlike the last snow peaks, these snow peaks look like something. The snow going up on the right looks like a person and the snow in the back left looks like a bull or an animal. It might just be me, but I can really see that in this picture.

Snow Shapes

As the sun hit the snow in different spots, it melted that spot. This formed very interesting snow shapes. I crouched down low and shot level with the snow. I was trying to show its shape as it rose and fell. I like how there are some different colors in the snow. It makes the picture not all white and gives depth to the snow. You are able to distinguish the different snow shapes more easily with more definition.

Snow Flakes

All snowflakes are different. This makes every snowflake different. It is what also makes every snowflake interesting. When the snowflake falls down naturally, and it doesn't get deformed, it makes a crystal. These snow crystals are very fun to photograph. They might be very small, but if enough snowflakes are together, they can sometimes form hundreds of feet of solid snow.

Black and White Bird

During all of the trips I go on, I try to look for birds. Birds are different everywhere you go. In Texas, birds have to learn how to survive in hot and dry summers. In Colorado, birds have to learn to survive cold and wet winters. Most birds are not able to live in both climates. This means that there are new birds nearly everytime the climate changes. This draws my camera to the sky to try to capture the new bird.

Snow Rock

Even though the temperature was in the 40s, some snow remained on the ground. This rock had been completely covered in snow. After multiple days of above freezing temperatures, the snow melted and more of the rock was shown every day. The snow during this picture covered only around half of the rock. I tried to capture both the snow and the rock, I think I was able to do that even though half of the snow was gone.

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.