Snowy Colorado Mountains with snow:

April Images

Here are some images from April. Rather than a sequence of a single subject this month I am including a single image from several different sequences.
April was cold and snowy and the following images were taken on some of the snowiest and coldest days.


Fresh snow on the rocks and trees makes for a good black and white image. A few hours later wind blew most of the snow from the trees. More on that in a later post to the blog.

Snow wind and an overcast sky can make an ethereal image.

This was a chance sighting of a Cooper's Hawk. Once again the dreary sky makes for an interesting image.

This is part of a series of images of this fox "collecting" voles. The image of the actual capture is somewhat disturbing. Yes, foxes are cute but not if you are a vole.

On a short hike to find foxes I came across, what I call, "Puddle Ice". The water in the puddle, which is in the middle of the hiking trail, has many minerals from the nearby rock. When freezing the minerals cause the ice to form in unusual crystaline structures.

Thanks for looking!

March images

Here are some images from March. I spent sometime at a wetland and over a few days I was able to get some interesting images of Red-winged Black Birds (RWBB).



After many... many attempts I was able to get a RWBB in backlight just as it took flight. At this point in early spring the RWBBs are gathering cattail "fluff" to work into nests.


Intermittently the RRWBs will stop nest building and perform a territorial call. Early in the morning the bird's breath is warmer than the air temperature and each modulation of their voice is mapped in puffs of "steam".

One RWBB had no one to compete for territory with and decided me and my large telephoto lens would do. I quickly conceded the territory by backing up a few feet.

Now unconcerned with me he rotated on his singular reed and called to anyone nearby. Note that the RWBB twists the light yellow feathers under the red feathers on his shoulders to elevate the red patch, "Epaulet".

One last call before heading down deep into the reeds for the rest of the day.

Thanks for looking!

Doug

February Images

I am posting 6 images from February. I'd like to do this monthly... we will see how well I do.

"Gale Force" A windy day in Boulder.

"Respite" gulls resting between being driven by Red Tail Hawks

"First Light"

"Red Sunrise" Happened upon this scene while setting up to photograph coyotes.


"Fog Revealed"


"Pine Street Abstract"

Thanks for looking!

Coyote Video

This is a test to see if I can attach a link to a vimeo video of mine.


Coyote from djg1082 on Vimeo.

Winter in Alaska

Some of you know that I am planning a trip to Alaska to shoot Northern Lights and potentially Muskox. I am supposed to leave Wednesday February 4th.
Some of you might also know about Mt Redoubt, a volcano near Anchorage that is planning an eruption very soon. Vulcanologists are saying that the Mt Redoubt could blow any hour or day. Anchorage isn't in any eminent danger from pyroclastic flows or lava spews but the ash cloud would most likely engulf the city. City officials are telling residents to stock up on food, purchase breathing masks and goggles.
So, most likely I will cancel my trip. Getting stuck in Anchorage in an ash cloud where you can't drive a car (the air filter clogs in minutes), can't fly a plane (jet engines die when flying through ash) and aren't supposed to leave your house (limiting your exposure to ash is advised) makes taking photographs of anything other than ash impossible.
Bummer...

Update: 5D Mark II black blobs

Downloaded the new level of Canon 5DMII firmware and the little black blobs have gone away! Yea!

Nuff said.