 A sunflower just starting to emerge. Like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon? | It is a great time of the year with many flowers blooming in the gardens around our yard. Click images to see larger. |
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 Click to see larger Pella, IA is famous for the annual Tulip Festival held in April every year. We avoided the crowds and went a week early when many or most of the tulips were in bloom and had a nice walk and drive around town to view the tulips. Click images to see larger.          (Photo by Jeanna Petree) Last evening we had a North Iowa Photo Club outing to take photos of prairie flowers, birds insects and more in a private prairie in North Iowa. It was a beautiful evening and fun to see how the other photographers approached taking photos in this location. The highlight for me was first time photos of several Bobolinks and one Dickcissel, both are birds that normally only found in prairie areas. There was a nice fiery sunset to top off the evening. [Click images to see larger.]      Purple Coneflowers and the Milky Way at Winnebago Oxbow Wildlife Area in north Iowa. Clear skies at night have been rather rare for awhile with storms, high humidity and haze, but I did get a few pictures between passing clouds. When I first saw these coneflowers during the day I knew I had to go back and try this night photo. It took a couple of attempts and I still didn't get a really clear sky. Taken looking a little toward the southwest the glow on the horizon is the city lights of Garner. This image is multiple exposures taken from the exact same location a few seconds apart and blended on the computer. I also donated blood to some of the dozens of mosquitoes that were swarming around me in the midnight hours.  I'm still finding lots of Monarch butterflies - hundreds in this prairie area near Galena, Illinois. I really enjoy taking photos of butterflies and prairie flowers and spider webs with morning dew among the prairie flowers. [Click an image to see larger.]        A Dickcissel singing among the prairie flowers. Or perhaps I should say a Dickcissel on a thistle (try to say that five times really fast). They often look like a small Meadowlark (different beak) or a female House Sparrow. They are found singing in the summer along fields, meadows and prairies. While looking for prairie flowers, Dickcissels and other birds (and feeding mosquitoes) a rainbow dropped down from the sky. A nice addition to a beautiful summer day. [Click images to see larger.]
  The setting Moon (Click to see larger) I missed the full Moon rising last night (I should put these things on my calendar), so I got up early to see it setting this morning. The moon set at 6:03 AM, so I needed to be out to the spot where I wanted to take a photo of it setting behind a local windmill about an hour earlier. When I went out in the dim twilight there was a clear, cloudless sky, bright moon and I could see clearly where I need to be, but the moon was still too high in the sky to get the photo that I wanted. Then it happened. Out of nowhere a thick fog rolled in across the fields and I could no longer see the windmill, and the moon was hazy. Ugh! Well, I waited around to see what would happen and as the sun came up, the fog did dissipate a little. I got a few photos, but the moon was rapidly fading away as it sank in the the fog. Not the sharp, clear picture of the moon behind the windmill that I had hoped for. The morning was not a total disappointment. In the road ditch where I was standing to take pictures of the moon there were many wild prairie flowers blooming, Monarch butterflies flitting from flower to flower, and I got a photo of a Dickcissel singing on a fence post. Click the photos below to see larger.           It was a wonderful Earth-Day weekend - sunny and warm and nice for taking photos. I got out to Lime Creek Conservation Area and the Claybanks Forest Conservation Area to take pictures of wildflowers. Bluebells (even some pink Bluebells), Trout Lilies, Bellwort, Dutchman's Breeches, Jack-in-the-Pulpits, and many more. Here are several of the images that I took over the weekend. Click one of the images below to see larger in a slide show.              I took a walk around the yard and gardens between rain showers yesterday and took a few photos of the raindrops on the leaves and flowers. (Click on the images to see larger.)        I gave in. I finally decided to post some pictures on Facebook also. Go to my Facebook page then click the Like or Follow button and you can stay updated on some of my photo adventures. Of course you will need to log in to Facebook to see them. -
https://www.facebook.com/brucegmckeephotos  Bloodroot flowers The Bloodroot blooms popped open on Saturday during a small window of sunshine between the storms. When the wildflowers start blooming is usually about the time that the migratory spring birds start arrive. Today I saw at least a dozen Rudy-crowned Kinglets a White-throated Sparrow, Brown Thrasher and Yellow-Rumped Warbler. I crept around the edge of the fence row and got a few pictures. I'm waiting patiently for more birds to stop in our backyard on their journey north.
I walked out in the backyard one evening last week, after the sun had gone behind the trees and noticed that there was a nice soft light on the flowers. Most people tend to think of bright sunlight as being the best light for photos. It seems surprising to learn that the quality of light in the shade or on a overcast day can produce very nice images of flowers. The same with people pictures. With the camera on the tripod, I took a few shots before the light faded. (Click for larger images)    |
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October 2023
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