Tangled Antlers

It is the beginning of the rut at Yellowstone, and the bull elk are coming around to check out the females. The sounds of the bugling bulls wake us up at night, and we have to look around as we walk outside, because the bull elk are dangerous and unpredictable.  Yesterday, two beautiful males with huge antlers appeared on the lawn and proceeded to circle each other and the tree between them, before engaging in some clashing of antlers. The fight didn’t last more than fifteen minutes or so, but the tourists gathered, getting ever closer until the rangers appeared to make them back up.  I was in the relative safety of the front porch, but ready to run inside if they got closer.

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The Visitor

20150915-MMA_2743_melinda_anderson-EditI’m used to being surrounded by elk at my daughter’s house here in Yellowstone, but yesterday we had a special visitor! It was pouring rain, but I managed to take this photo through the latticework on the back porch. Yes, he saw me, but I was very far away and using a zoom lens.  I chose to edit this photo in black and white, because a bison just doesn’t look right on a bright green lawn!

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Granite Mountain

Granite Mountain is the stark backdrop to the northwest area of Prescott and one of my favorite views.  On Labor Day, my husband and I decided to take a short hike on the trail leading over to the mountain.  As we walked along, we saw bikes and horses as well as hikers; it’s a popular area.  After walking for a half hour (and continually stopping for me to take photos), we could see the mountain getting closer, but we were not yet near the base.  It was time to turn around- we definitely plan to come back on another day.

Granite Mountain:

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Gates near the beginning of the trail:

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Sunnyflowers

My friend, Carol and I took a walk at Willow Lake the evening before she left- hoping for a dramatic sunset, some birds, and golden light on the rocks.  There was a lot of golden light, but no dramatic sunset and few birds.  I enjoyed photographing the weeds and flowers backlit by the sun, which was hanging low in the sky; here are a few of my favorites:

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I love how only one flower is facing the camera in this shot.

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A hazy Granite Mountain can be seen in the background here.

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Moon Over Prescott

My friend, the intrepid photographer, Carol, is here visiting- so of course we had to photograph last night’s super moon.  The moon kind of took us by surprise as we were out in the driveway photographing the sunset- and it quickly rose up into the clouds before I could even get my camera on the tripod. These photos won’t win any prizes, but I enjoyed seeing the huge moon over my neighborhood.  Next time, maybe I’ll take photos from a more picturesque spot!

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Cloudscape

skyscapeLast night’s sky called me outside at sunset. Looking out the window, I saw everything bathed in a warm glow . There were pink and orange clouds, the moon was peeking through wispy clouds, and there was thunder and lightning in the distance.  I had my Lensbaby with Edge 80 attached (a very zoomed in focal length for my crop sensor camera), but, knowing how quickly the light changes at this time of day, I didn’t dare stop to change lenses.  I have no images that capture the panoramic view of these majestic clouds across the sky.  I know, I know- I should have used my iPhone. . .

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Chapel of the Holy Cross

2Nov2013-7514-2Whenever we take out of town visitors to Sedona, we always take them to Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Built into the rocks with a spectacular view, it is a very special place.  Despite being full of visitors, you can always sense the spiritual and sacred essence of this spot.   When we visited Sedona a week or so ago, I took a few photos inside with my Lensbaby Edge 80.

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The top photo was taken a year or so ago, and I just re-edited it in Perfect Effects (my current go-to tool for editing landscapes) for today’s blog. The head of Christ and the candles at the bottom were edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.  The middle photo of the person lighting a candle was edited in Topaz Impression, using the Van Gogh filter (I wish there was a way of recording that so I could remember- maybe a post-it notes feature in Lightroom!).

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