Sunset Surprise, Hollow Rock Creek

After work yesterday I drove up into the woods to go for a mountain bike ride.  As I was nearing the end of my ride I came to an overlook and saw that the sunset was shaping up to be a good one.  We had rain throughout the morning and cloudy skies all afternoon so it was nice to see things start to clear up just as the sun was setting.  When I got back to the truck I threw my bike in the back and drove to this location to photograph the sunset.  As the clouds lit up with the colors from the setting sun the spring peeper frogs began singing.  It was a perfect end to the day!

Bumblebee and Dandelions

Most people seem to dislike dandelions.  Not me, I love them!  Mostly because the bees love them.  Ever since we got our honeybees a few summers ago I stopped mowing our dandelions.  On any given day when the dandelions are in bloom, our yard is filled not only with our own honeybees but with all the native bees  as well.  The ground literally buzzes with life!  As I walk around the yard I can hear the buzz of the bees as they diligently work to collect the pollen from the flowers.  I like to get right down on the ground with them and watch as they work their way over the flowers.  I found this nice arrangement of three flowers and waited for a bee to land on them.  I knew it was only a matter of time before one would wander into my shot.  I was hoping it would be one of our honeybees, but instead this bumblebee was the first to come along.  He worked each of the three flowers and I waited until he made his way from the middle flower to the one on the right, then I tripped the shutter and made this photo.  

Memorial Weekend Milky Way

It's been a beautiful weekend here so far.  Such nice weather for sitting under the stars and remembering all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.  Everyone either has a relative or knows somebody that has died while serving in our armed forces.  Take time on this beautiful weekend to remember them and all that they did.  This photo was taken early Saturday morning at the start of the weekend.  

Spring Hummingbird

Jessica put our hummingbird feeder out the other day and we've already had several birds frequenting it.  They are such beautiful little creatures, it sure is fun having them around.  I took some time trying to photograph them and came away with a few shots that I like.  This one is my favorite.

Mt. Josephine Aurora and Hat Point Moonrise

Well, I found another one from the night of May 13th that I want to share!  I thought I was done finding worthwhile images from that incredible night of aurora photography, but I was wrong.  It may be hard to tell at first glance but if you look closely at the right side of this photo, the second light from the right is actually the moon rising over Hat Point in Grand Portage, MN.  It would be easy to mistake the moon for a bright man-made light, since it is right at the edge of the tree line and it is only a crescent moon so it isn't very bright.   I think it makes for a rather interesting scene!

Driftwood Patterns

Every now and then when something catches my eye I like to turn my camera lens towards an abstract scene.  Such as this piece of driftwood that I came across recently.  The patterns and curves in the wood were very intriguing and I couldn't resist making a photograph of it.  

Milky Way and Pancake Island

The new moon was just the other night.  It is the time each month when our night sky is the darkest and the best time for photographing the Milky Way.  Unfortunately, our skies have been mostly cloudy lately and now I'm coming a bit under the weather so it looks like I may not get out for any night shooting in the immediate future.  So, here's a photo from last month's new moon that I've been saving for a time such as this!  

This photo was made on April 18th, 2015 at 3:30 in the morning over one of the islands along the Lake Superior shoreline in Grand Portage, MN.  The light that you see illuminating the left end of the island is from a yard light from a nearby home just around the point on the left side of the photo.  Normally I don't like artificial light at all in such a photo, but in this case part of me doesn't mind because it almost looks as though it is the Milky Way itself that is casting the light on the island.  This photo was made with a Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens, exposure length was 25 seconds at f/2.8 with an ISO of 6400.