Wildlife

I haven't had a chance to get out and take many pictures this last week, so it was a joy to stop and take some time to travel around this weekend. My objective was to capture a few shots of Wagner's mares and colts along with stopping by Cervi's bucking horses again. The weather threatened me a couple of times with looming clouds, but somehow managed to miss our area. During my travels, wildlife wandered across my path...or rather, I wandered across theirs.

Coyote. Pronounced many different ways and loved and hated in as many. Their name means "barking dog", but I believe it would be better suited to be called yipping dog. Each evening just about dusk and each morning just about dawn you can hear packs of them yipping and howling to reconnect with their families. Sometimes that means that our domestic dogs also join in for a harmony of howling as well. It is interesting to note that this is one of the only animals that has been extensively hunted by man, but has managed to enlarge it's territory and hunting range. They are very intelligent hunters. I was privileged to witness a coyote and a badger cooperatively hunting prairie dogs. I even managed to capture some pictures on multiple occasions about 6 years ago. (for more info - Badger & Coyote Cooperative Hunting)

They say that when you see deer or antelope with twins it is Mother Nature's prediction that we will have an easy winter. There are many mother antelope around this year with twins. I wonder if the prediction will hold true.

And here is a sneak peek at an image from Wagner's colts. They were curious and playful, then needed a nap.

Harvest Time

It is harvest time of year again. Between the semi trucks, combines and pickups driving around for harvest along with the crews putting up the windtowers, our dusty, lonely county roads have turned into mini highways. Who would have thought we would see so much traffic on our little 'trail road'.
If you have never had a chance to hear the wind rustle through a field of wheat, you are missing out on a wonderful sound. You don't have to be a farmer to appreciate how nature can grow such a crop. It takes the right timing of rain, soil temperatures, winter freeze and hot summer days to bring it all to a harvest.
My husband has been out on the combine and helping with harvest this last week. I think his two favorite times of year are branding season and harvesting. I even climbed on for a round this year. It is nice to see the harvest bringing in a yeild after so many years of low prices, drought and disease. I hope that the blessings continue to all the farmers and ranchers this year.

Seniors 2008 and Bird Dogs

Time has flown. I was post processing Daniel's senior pictures and getting them ready for him to preview and I noticed I had written 2007 on some of them! 2008 Seniors. Wow. Daniel was a great model and has some handsome portraits to choose from.




Seniors - I only have 2 spots left, so call me soon to book your senior pictures!

I also had the privilege of photographing some bird dogs for the Panhandle Hunting Retrievers Club in Bridgeport Nebraska. What a fun day. The young started dogs were great to watch and were so excited to retrieve birds for their owners.

Buckskin Herd & Tornado Lesson

I finally got a chance to photograph a herd of 20 mares, their foals and their overseeing stallion. He wasn't too happy that I was around when I started photographing them. After I changed locations and moved downwind, he seemed to settle down and allow me to walk around a bit more without being so wary.

The one photo that I missed today was a picture of a small tornado that touched down just east of Peetz at about 2:45pm. It was one of those moments where I kicked myself for leaving my camera bag at home. It was a small twister that touched down in a tilled field and did not damage. This was the first tornado I had ever seen and I missed my photo op... So. The tip for the day.. Always, Always have your camera with you and ready, out of it's case and on a setting where you can take any picture. I will sure adhere to my own advice for a while.

Life Unplugged

I feel like I have been unplugged. Over June 1-3rd, I spent the weekend at Rollin H Arena between Brush and Akron shooting the Eastern Plains Barrel Bash and the Saturday Rodeos that are held there. Over the 3 days, I shot over 1,400 pictures and captured some fabulous moments. My mother (and slave for the weekend) caught me in a couple as well.





Each day of the Barrel Bash, I choose a photo that I liked the most for the Photo of the Day contest. The winner receives a free 8x10 print. This is Friday's winning photo at the open jackpot race. The sun was setting and the lighting was gorgeous.



Saturday's photo of the day was tough. This photo stood out when I was going through the images because of the perfect form they both had going into the second barrel. The horse is relaxed and the rider is soft in her hands and they are in perfect position. She is setting her horse well and has him well prepared. Good job Kathy!



Sunday's picture was harder to choose. I went through all the images and this one was the one that stood out in my mind. I remember taking it and thinking that it was such a sweet and gentle moment between horse and boy.

So, my story of being unplugged. Rarely do I ever spend DAYS away from the Internet. Over the few days at the Barrel Bash, I was without Internet. It was rather nice to just be focusing on photographing and not worrying about my email. I returned from the event at about 6:00pm on Sunday, plugged in for about 20 minutes and then fell into bed after a long weekend. At 3:30 am the next morning, I was up and headed to Cortez, Colorado with a group of FFA (Future Farmers of America) students for their state convention.


I was rather excited about the trip because I knew I would get some time to just wander the territory and take some photos. I was not disappointed. The image above is looking southwest from Mancos, Colorado toward the Sleeping Ute Mountain. I was blessed to have some horses at our lodge for models. Our lodge was the Sundance Bear Lodge and was tucked back in the mountains with great views, but NO Internet, NO cell phone service and NO phone! It was a rather strange feeling to be so isolated, but a good experience. I had a chance to just veg.

Sonja, an artist and friend from Cortez, toured me through the Aspen Guard Station and the National Forest in Mancos. There we came across the horses of the Aspen's she has been telling me about.

Sonja was patient as I stopped and took in the sights and clicked the shutter to my hearts content. The forest was amazing. These trees have been twisted by heavy snows. I am always intrigued by nature's unique forms.

And last, but not least, I have to include a photo from my file that I was looking through over the weekend. This is from my Lost and Found collection.

While I am plugged back in for the moment, I will again be unplugged as the summer moves along and I continue on my wanderings. I am heading to Copper Mountain next week where I will be teaching a workshop at the Technology in Education Conference about creating artwork using Photoshop. Should be loads of fun and well attended. This is my second year teaching this workshop and I look forward to hearing new and interesting ideas from the participants. Actually... I may be plugged in there since it is a technology conference. We will see.