Fish Hunter

After a short beginning of summer/Memorial Day break, I found this bird in a creek hunting for fish. As this fish-hunting bird waited in the creek, I seized the opportunity and took pictures of it. I like the algae in the background since it gives the eyes something else to look at.

Streaks of Light

During the late dusk hours, I biked to the corner of two major streets and photographed the cars as they drove through the intersection. I decreased the shutter speed, decreased the aperture (close the hole that allows light into the camera), and lowered the ISO to the lowest it could be. Before I edited this picture, it was too bright. I couldn't darken the picture anymore because I was already at the settings that made the picture the darkest it could be.

Colorful Bloom

As the heat continues to increase in Texas, more and more flowers are starting to bloom. As these flowers bloomed, their petals are bright pink and orange. I tried decreasing the apurature (close the hole that allows light in the camera) to not blur the background as much with a higher apurature. There is less blur in the background in this picture, but there still is some.

Summer Blue

This blue is unlike any other blues that I have seen before. There are some petals that are bright blue and others that have turned to a green color. The difference in the colors makes the flowers more appealing to look at.

Red Moon

During dusk the of a full moon, the sun made the moon turn to a reddish color. I was able to take pictures of the moon before the sun went down. The sun turned the moon red, so the next time there is a full moon, look right at dusk and the moon will be a reddish color.

Family Reunion

After I faded away from the family of ducks, they reunited. The water in this small river is really clean with algae on the bottom. Just from this picture, we can see lots of other objects in the water. In the top left corner are many pieces not commonly found in water, but I can't figure out water they are from this picture. It looks as if some might be bubbles and others might be leaves, but they might also be pieces of trash and plastic.

Walking on Water

As I approached too close to the family of ducks, the baby ducks swam away in fear of me. The mother duck saw me approach but didn't move as fast as the baby ducks did. I like how I was able to capture the water droplets in the air but the droplets also overexposed the picture. I think that the rest of the water helped stop the reflection of the sun, but once the water separated, the sun was able to reflect through the droplets.

Ducks in a Pond

Along with metal, water also reflects the sun. This reflection creates the problem of having an underexposed picture to compensate for the overexposed spot. An easy way for photographers to avoid this problem is to take pictures during the first two hours and the last two hours the sun is out. The best weather to photograph, especially objects that reflect the sun, is cloudy with no humidity.

Painted Sunset

The heavy rains brought a colorful and different sunset. Even my wide-angle lens wasn't wide enough to capture all of the sky. This was the best part of the sky, the part where the sun was able to get through to the clouds enough to make some colored and others not. The clouds were really spread out, some were big clouds but most were smaller broken clouds.

Raindrop

As a heavy rain storm moved through Texas, my roof overflowed with rainwater. As the rain fell, I tried to capture a picture like this. The raindrop that is 'going up' is too far back in the frame. I wish that rain drop was closer up in the frame. It is a really interesting raindrop. It hit the roof just hundredths of a second earlier and in this picture, it moved up and started breaking into smaller droplets.

Bluebonnets

While biking past a group of bluebonnets, I thought they would be really interesting to take pictures of. After I took a few pictures, I found that the bluebonnets are really hard to photograph. This bluebonnet's top wasn't very white, but the other bluebonnets I took pictures of had a white top. The white makes the picture underexposed but the white spot is still overexposed.

Headshot

As the turkey was about to fly to the rest of its friends, it took a look at me to see if I was close to it or not. I believe that it was checking to see how close I was to it. One problem when taking pictures of things that are made of metal or reflect the sun is the glare that they make back into the lens. When I was taking this group of pictures, it was mostly cloudy with some intervals of sun. When I took this picture, the sun was hidden behind the clouds which is why there is no reflection blocking this turkey.

Stuck

After staying on the ground with me taking pictures of them, the turkeys flew to the top of a house. Three of the four turkeys flew to the very top, but this last turkey didn't make it up all the way. It was trying to fly up with the rest of its group, but the metal roof made standing up difficult. I took a few minutes to take pictures then walked away and found this last turkey with the rest of its group.

Single File

One of the times I got too close to the turkeys, they ran to the cover of a bush. Sometimes after I walked too close, I would try and hide to see if the turkeys would walk out so I could get a closer shot. These turkeys seemed to know where I was and they didn't come out until I was actually far away.

Turkey Thursday

On a regular bike ride, I was biking down a friends street when I saw these turkeys. I didn't have my camera on me, so I raced home then returned with my camera. I went to the spot where I saw them last but they weren't there. I continued down the street and found them a few houses down. Not that I have seen any turkeys before, but these turkeys seemed really scared. I couldn't get within twenty feet of them before they ran farther away from me.

Crane Flies

Near the flowers was this crane fly. While they look like big mosquitos, they are not like mosquitos. The crane flies do not bite humans and instead eat nectar. This would explain why it was near the flowers, to eat the nectar in the flowers.

Yellow Rain

Like the other flower, this flower turns the rain droplets a color. Since this flower is yellow, the rain turns to a yellow color. The rain on this flower made bigger droplets than on the last flower, especially the big drop in the middle of the flower.

Spring Rains

The morning after a night rainshower, this flower was covered in water droplets. The colors on the flower turn the water droplets that red-pink color. I like how most of the droplets are in focus. This allows us to see an edge on them.

Swinging Low

One of the things batters have to realize is where the pitch is. Especially at 90+ miles per hour, you only have a split decision to swing or not to swing. There are also different spins and ways a pitcher can make the ball move. The ball could shift to the inside of the plate or spin outside.

Home Run

During the Ranger's first at bat, they were able to score one run off of Joey Gallo's hit. I took multiple pictures (around ten) during this single pitch. I set my camera to take pictures with a shutter speed at 1/4000. This is the highest it can go and I set it to the most amount of pictures it could take in a single push of a button. During the entire time, the ball was out of the pitcher's hand, I took four pictures. The ball was moving so fast that none of those four pictures had the ball in it. This picture happened under a second before the home run.

Foul Ball

The batter after Jose Altuve was Carlos Correa. He ended up being the third out of the inning. While he was still hitting, he hit a foul ball that appears to brush his face. I don't think the ball is as close as it looks in this picture. I think the ball is about two feet away from his face but the angle I was taking the picture at made it seem like the ball is right next to his face.

Pop Fly

As Jose Altuve's pop fly fell from the sky, the Ranger's center fielder made the catch. I like how I was able to stop the ball and mostly keep it in focus as it fell into his glove. The ball looks spherical and not like a blur in the picture.

Pop Fly

On Jose Altuve's first at-bat, he hit a pop fly to center. The next picture will show the Rangers center fielder catching this fly ball. I was trying to take the picture right as the ball hit the bat but the angle of where I was sitting and the speed the ball made contact with the bat made that very hard to achieve.

First Pitch

As the winter season comes to an end, spring brings baseball. The pitcher for the Rangers, Max Minor, started the game. I chose this picture because we can see the ball as it leaves his glove. I like how in focus Max is and the ball is just slightly out of focus. If I could change one thing, I would put the ball closer to Max which would make it more in focus. 

Icicles

The second to last picture from Colorado are these icicles. Like the snow falling in front of the light, these icicles are lit from the back by a light. The light helps us to see the icicles better and with more focus. Without the light, I believe we wouldn't be able to see the are bubbles in the icicles.

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.