just passing through

Mt. Silverheels

I do a lot of quick photos from the car window as I ride through landscapes I like to photograph on the way from here to there and back again. I save some of the photos to remind me of places I want to return on foot to photograph. Some are used as composite parts of other images I create and print.

Barn

I focus through dirty glass or reflections a lot, but sometimes must lower the windows to get a better image. The dirty glass is similar to sensor dust spots in the barn image above. The tree and cloud below was captured through the dirty windshield, but at a larger aperture allowing me to focus through the dirt on the glass.

tree and cloud

I’m almost as serious about making these drive by images as I am the slowly and carefully executed captures with camera steady on tripod. Not only do I get more images than if I always waited until we stopped the car, but I use the time as a passenger to practice and increase my speed with the lenses and cameras I use.

red and white ranch structures

Fences, vegetation, the big house (not in this view), and the changing perspective with the background as we speed past this red and white ranch challenge me to choose the best moment to click the shutter.

South Twin Cone and metal-clad log structure

With camera in my hand as we travel to and from I always capture an image or two and hope each trip for beautiful light to illuminate my world.

snow plow

Disclaimer: Don’t try this alone! Remember I said I was a passenger in the car, not the driver!

elk

elk

elk herd running in South Park

These two November photographs were made just a few days apart and forgotten until today. The first one was made on a very cold morning in Pine using a fence post as a tripod. The second photograph was made from the passenger seat while traveling at highway speed in South Park.

not chocolate

moose

Friday I ate chocolate mousse for my birthday. Two days later I saw a moose munching on willows by a creek and posing for photographs. The moose was backlit and the sun shone into my lens making a huge blue flare (which I cropped from these images).Why care the moose was too far away across beaver ponds and creek? Distance with a moose is probably a good thing. Ok, I admit I did deplore the abundance of sunlight from a difficult direction.  But, I’ve met a moose and it made me smile. I smiled at a moose and she may have smiled back at me. Happy.

moose

goodbye to summer

the last paintbrush in the meadow

The transition to autumn has begun. Late summer wildflowers are fewer and smaller, many have gone all to seed with no blooms left. Aspens leaves are turning golden yellow and contrast beautifully with the greens of the conifers. The broadtail hummingbirds are leaving the area and will be remembered fondly until next spring. Their rival, rufous, is long gone. Nights are very cool and mid-days warm. I want to write that it’s my favorite time of year, but in January I may contradict that when I proclaim my love for winter.

hummingbird farewell

tripod

tripod

I first saw his magnificent head ornament as he grazed with two smaller bulls at late dusk. Then I saw the short hind leg and knew it was “tripod” a bull elk I’d heard about and seen in a recent newspaper photo. I chose an ISO of 1000 to make a few images of him on August 21 in the minutes available before darkness came to the meadow.

elk at dusk

moon and lions head

moon and lions head

This was yesterday morning in which two of my favorite subjects offered an image I could not ignore! I woke at sunrise and grabbed tripod and camera and hit the deck barefoot. The temperature was 49 degrees F, but I didn’t notice my cold feet until I’d spent 25 min. watching and photographing the moon setting alongside lions head. I love the way the shadow of the mountains behind me slip away to reveal the a radiant lion as the sun rises.

moon and lions head

Some people say they can’t see the lion in this over 9,000 ft rock outcrop, but I know he’s there for he motivates me to get out of my warm bed and photograph. The lion performs well with clouds and fog, snow and trees, and early light. I adore him with the moon. Some people do morning yoga salutations to the sun, but my morning salutations often point to the lion on my western horizon.

Rufous

rufous' bright gorget

rufous on aspen twig

rufous on the feeder hook

Beautiful little rufous arrives in July and the property disputes begin as he tries to claim ownership of all the feeders, flowers, and the good lookout perches. The Broadtails give way to him and sneak in to sip when he’s not watching. The smallest of our bird community, Rufous is only here to rest and feed for a bit on his long migration south, so the broadtails who stay all summer only have to put up with Rufous ruling for part of their time here. I’ve read Rufous is the faster and more agile flier and my natural light shutter speeds confirm this.

rufous in flight