Flowers of the day viewed in my backyard: Mexican Sunflower.
Flowers of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Now that the “back 40” has been cleared, the pond that has been hidden behind tall brush and weeds is visible. Kermit and his many relatives survived the hot and dry summer.
Kermit the American Bullfrog and his relatives in the back pond. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Daily Electric Energy Used (66.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (46.6 kWh) from Sense. Sunny. Deficit of 20.0 kWh.
Wild Raspberry Cluster. Composite of 20 images taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 105 mm f/2.8 VR macro lens + TC-E III 20 teleconverter (ISO 100, 210 mm, f/6, 1/60 sec) with SB900 flash. Raw images processed with Capture One Pro 6 and Photoshop CS5. Helicon Focus used to make the focus-stacked composite of the images.
Turkey Vulture soaring. The Turkey Vultures population has increased significantly since the state quit picking up the road killed deer. This is both hunting and rutting season so we have many deer running across roads and being hit by automobiles. Robin feasting on fall “bittersweet” berries. I don’t know if this robin plans to winter, or is feasting before flying south. Finally, some fall mushrooms.
Gone to See Hawaii, Maui Day 1: Haleakala National Park.
While attending a scientific meeting in Hawaii, I had the afternoons free. For the first day I decided to drive to Haleakala National Park to check out a good location for a sunrise or sunset photo shoot on top of the volcano for later in the week. It is amazing going from sea level to Pu’U’Ula’Ula (Red Hill) the summit of Haleakala at 10,023 feet. There were not many bicycles riding up, but many riding down. It looks like the tour operations bring you up the mountain and then let you ride a bicycle down. Up at the summit, I got some images of the rare Haleakala Silversword plant (one in bloom), and the Haleakala US Air Force Satellite Observatory Station. Going down the mountain, I stopped at the Kalahaku Overlook to take a panorama of the volcano crater. Further down, near the visitor center there were a pair of Nēnē (Hawaiian Goose) at the side of the road. The Nēnē is the state bird of Hawaii. I had previously seen Nēnē on the Big Island of Hawaii during a photography workshop with Thom Hogan.