Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

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az, lower antelope canyon, narrow, page, photography, postaday, weekly photo challenge

The Daily Post challenge is at: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/narrow/

One of the narrowest places I have ever been to is Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ. Walking through it, in many spots only one person at a time could pass through. The following photos attest to that.

Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ.

A photographer at Lower Antelope Canyon.

This last photo was a surprise for me. I first heard the bird or birds chirping, and when I saw one I quickly took a shot before it flew away. If you can recognize what kind of bird it was, please let me know in a comment.

Bird at Lower Antelope Canyon.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes

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death valley national park, Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, photography, postaday

Its has been very hot lately, so I did not try to go out to take photos of anything. However, going through my archives, I found some images of the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley National Park. Using my new DxO software I reprocessed the raw files to get the following photos, taken at sunrise one day in October of 2012.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park.

Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park.

The second image was taken less than a minute after the first one, just as the morning sun forcefully broke through the clouds. It was the most spectacular sight I had ever witnessed.

Albino Goose

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albino canada goose, chincoteague, photography, postaday

Going through my files from six years ago, I found photos of an albino Canada Goose taken at Chincoteague Island in Virginia. I don’t know why I ignored the pictures all these years, but here they are. Albino Canada Geese are somewhat rare, especially one so white all over.

Canada Geese, one is an albino, almost pure white.

Albino Canada Goose with companion.

Wordless Wednesday

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photography.mt rainier national park, postaday

A patch of blue sky over Mt Rainier National Park.

Anti Heat Dome

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crater lake, oregon, photography, postaday, wizard island

Like many in the country, we are under the influence of this year’s heat dome, with temperatures in the high 90’s °F (upper 30’s °C). The photo below taken at Crater Lake in Oregon last year may be a psychological antidote to that.

Crate Lake with Wizard Island in foreground.

Wordless Wednesday

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badlands national park, photography, postaday, sunset

Sunset over Badlands National Park.

White Lotus, Dragonfly

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carnegie center, dragonfly, lotus, photography, postaday

At the height of summer, a trip to the lotus pond near our home has become an annual event for me. The pond is not too large but well maintained, endowed with many white and pink lotus flowers. There are plenty of shade trees around it to protect photographers from the sun and the heat. This morning, at the golden hour I went there and “owned” the pond for a half hour before others arrived. All of the flowers were white, as the pink ones usually bloom as much as two weeks later.

For the following photos I used two Canon lenses: a 180 mm macro lens and a 400 mm lens, both reputed to be among the sharpest lenses with excellent colors.

Lotus with a dragonfly clinging to it, and a bee hovering above it.

White lotus.

White Lotus and bud.

White Lotus, with reflections of red and orange flowers in background.

White Lotus.

White Lotusd petal.

White Lotus petal.

Dragonfly on Lotus leaf.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Details

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daylily, details, photography, postaday, weekly photo challenge

This Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge is at the following link: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/details/

I submit two closeup photos of daylilies showing details at the core of each flower. The first photo was taken a couple weeks ago on a dry morning, the second one just after a heavy downpour this afternoon.

Pistil and stamens of Daylily.

Daylily after downpour.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Look Up

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brown pelicans, daily post weekly photo challenge, garrapata state park, look up, ocean city airport, Ocean City Welcome Center, photography, postaday

The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge Look Up is at this link:

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/look-up/

For photographers, it is always a good idea to look up when they are walking around taking pictures. In early May, that’s what I did while hiking in Garrapata State Park in Northern California, and saw a large band of Brown Pelicans flying high in the sky toward me. I just had enough time to capture 17 of them in the following photo.

Brown Pelicans over Garrapata State Park.

Later in the month, I was concentrating on getting good shots of Night Herons in the rookery near Ocean City Welcome Center. Then I heard the sound of a motor, looked up and took the following shot.

Plane landing in Ocean City, NJ.

Lotus, Bees, and Dragonflies

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blue dasher, carnegie center, dragonflye, eastern amberwing, lotus, photography, postaday

The Lotus flowers have started to bloom. This morning there were only two flowers that had opened up, but I still managed to take quite a few shots, especially with bees and dragonflies hovering and flitting near them.

White Lotus flower.

Bee aiming for core of Lotus flower.

Bee taking off after getting pollen from Lotus flower.

Blue Dasher dragonfly on Lotus leaf.

Eastern Amberwing dragonfly on Lotus leaf.

Blue Dasher on Lotus leaf.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bridges

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Bixby, bridges, Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, photography, postaday, rocky creek

Cee’s challenge is about bridges: https://ceenphotography.com/2016/07/05/cees-fun-foto-challenge-bridges-2/

I took the following photos along the famed Cabrillo Highway (or Highway 1) south of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Except for the footbridge below, the other bridges were built during the Depression from 1931 to 1932. Despite the challenging terrain and occasional bad weather, the bridges were built on schedule, and Bixby bridge was completed under budget! Today those terms, on schedule and under budget, are unheard of in major construction projects.

Footbridge at Gate 7 of Garrapata State Park.

One of several bridges built along Cabrillo Highway.

Rocky Creek bridge north of Bixby bridge.

Bixby bridge, a tourist magnet.

Bumblebees, Sweat Bees and Wild Flowers

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bumblebee, photograhy, postaday, sweat bee, wild prickly rose

Bees are everywhere in this weather, especially along the banks of the Delaware and Raritan canal. A few days ago, they were very busy visiting all the flowers growing wild, fulfilling their role of pollinators for the many fruit to come in the fall.

Bumblebee and wild flower.

Sweat Bee on Wild Prickly Rose (Rosa Acicularis).

Bumblebee on Wild Prickly Rose.

Widow Skimmer

Tags

dragonfly, photography, postaday, widow skimmer

The first dragonfly I saw this season was a Widow Skimmer standing still at the tip of a dried twig. It stayed there for a long time, leaving only briefly and coming back almost to the same spot. That allowed me to circle around it to take shots from different angles, at least from the Delaware & Raritan canal bank.

Widow Skimmer along the Delaware & Raritan canal.

Widow Skimmer along the Delaware & Raritan canal.

Wordless Wednesday: Three Flowers

Tags

cosmos, daffodil, hosta, photography, postaday

Cosmos.

Hosta flower.

Daffodil from May.

Hummingbird Caught in the Act

Tags

photography, postaday, Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird came to the nectar feeder today. I had set up my camera and was going to photograph her with her bill plunged into the feeder. Suddenly she flew up and backward, a maneuver that Hummingbirds can easily do. I followed her and took a shot, then she flew back down again. Only when I looked at the images on the computer did I see that the camera had caught her in the act.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird defecating.

A second later, she was back at the feeder.

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at nectar feeder.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Store Front Signs

Tags

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, Moss Landing, photography, postaday

Cee has a new challenge: store front signs in black and white: https://ceenphotography.com/2016/06/30/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-store-front-signs/

Last month in Moss Landing, CA we had lunch at a locally famous restaurant. I took the following photo as we arrived.

Phil’s Fish Market store front.

The parking lot was almost full. As they ate, customers were visited by blackbirds looking for food. As soon as people left a table, the birds gleaned bits and pieces from their plates!

This next photo displays the sign in front of John Steinbeck House in Salinas, CA. The restaurant is upstairs, and open only for lunch. Dowsntairs is a museum/shop.

Sign in front of John Steinbeck House in Salinas, CA.

Red, White, and Blue

Tags

blue jay, cardinal, great egret, photography, postaday

July 4, 2016 is a good day for Red, White, and Blue birds!

Cardinal.

Great Egrets.

Blue Jay.

Here are red, white, and blue, all in one photo, the banner image: East Point Lighthouse at the southern tip of New Jersey.

Flowers for the Fourth

Tags

passion fruit flower, photography, postaday, rose

Having a few days of respite from work, I went through my files and came up with the following flowers, taken early May in Northern California, to help celebrate the Fourth of July.  Having now acquired DxO Optics Pro version 11, I used it to process the images.

Rose for the Fourth.

More roses for the Fourth.

The branches were bent with these flowers, but I didn’t get their name.

Passion Fruit flowers.

Marguerite Daisy (identified by Doda).

Orange Gerbera Daisy (identified by Doda).

Osprey (Not Peregrine Falcon)

Tags

Ocean City Welcome Center, osprey, photography, postaday

The pictures below are those of an Osprey, not a Peregrine Falcon as I originally had thought. Thanks to Donna, I now realize my mistake and made the necessary corrections.

Osprey soaring over Ocean City Welcome Center.

Osprey flying over Ocean City Welcome Center.

Osprey on the hunt.

Osprey diving toward prey.