Mud Ranch's Real Dirt » Nature Photography

Trinidad Sneak Peek

mudranch — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:43:59 +0000

My mom’s cousins (whom I’ve claimed as mine too!) were visiting us this past weekend and we had a few days of jam packed activity and seeing the sights. On Monday we went to the coast so that Lily, my cousin Kate’s 9 year old daughter, could see the magnificent giants. We also cruised up the coast and went to Trinidad and walked on the beach. I’ve just started to go through the photographs now but couldn’t stand not sharing until they were all done. So here’s some sneak peeks.

Finches & Flowers

mudranch — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:50:52 +0000

My recent entertainment has been quite amusing but fairly gratifying as well. I have a nice healthy plant of some sort of Rudbekia blooming out in my “sun bed” along my pasture fence and the finches have recently discovered them and made them their morning and evening buffet.

So now my hard drive is filled with various photos such as these.

What can I say? Us country girls are easily amused.

Close Encounters

mudranch — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:04:46 +0000

Annie and I have a lovely day of nice weather today and are expecting more rain so we decided to head out to the lake and take in the beauty. Of course, just like a moth drawn to a light bulb, I went directly to my little patch of lupine.

I’ve got issues, I know. I hope you don’t mind my craze for lupines but if you do, never fear the season will end soon and regular blogging will commence.

Once Annie was able to pull me away from the patch, we headed to the shore line to see what kind of things might cross our path. Our local lake is gorgeous, usually very calm water, very shallow but full of color and life. I’ve always seen a lot of birds here including bald eagles, geese and ducks of all kinds. It’s definitely a fun place to watch nature go by.

Off in the distance I saw this goose with her two goslings and started snapping away, thinking they’d avoid us like the plague and this would be the only shots I’d be able to get.

As the goose drew closer, two mallards went along behind her… Told you there’s a lot of action! In the back, just at the base of the grass is some specks in the water, that was two male mallards fighting over a female. There was a lot of splashing and flying by which made for a lot of entertainment.

And obviously Mrs. Goose had her own agenda and kept coming closer and closer much to our joy and surprise.

Annie was throwing small rocks in to the water at the time and I kept whispering to her that she would scare away the geese… I almost think it attracted them! They kept coming in closer. It was so fun to watch them dive and eat. The goslings would have their bottoms up and come up with water plants in their mouths and now and then Mrs. Goose would too.

They went past a couple times then went across to the patch of grass out there in the middle of the water and grazed a bit on that too. Then they headed on back from where they came from. I do wonder where the Gander was though as usually the pair is there together.

Meanwhile, Annie went a little deep with her rain boots and we decided to take off the wet boots and socks so she could wade. She enjoys throwing rocks in the water and could do that for hours I think. Which is a big deal for such an active little girl.

I found a goose feather for her at one point and she said it needed a drink. So, this is what a feather looks like when it’s thirsty.

Our only other visitor besides birds of all sorts was this kayaker out enjoying the serenity of it all.

Yes, I do live in one of the most beautiful places in the world… We just try to keep it a secret.

By the way, not bad scenes for a macro lens eh!? Yep, this is all taken with my 105mm macro on manual mode for the camera and the focusing with very little photoshopping except to sharpen.

Yellow lupine, for a change

mudranch — Wed, 19 May 2010 22:13:58 +0000

I’ve been noticing, on my drives to the Big City, a striking yellow lupine that has most likely been seeded as it grows in a newly constructed area.

I finally took the advantage of not having anyone with me in the truck yesterday evening to stop and take some photos. I’m sure glad I did, as I think I might have missed the opportunity if I waited much longer.

I love the one above… I’m hoping to do a watercolor treatment to the photograph. My favorite part about it is the bokeh in the background of blue lupines and California poppies.

I also played a bit with the yellow lupine being the bokeh in the background of the blue. Kind of a fun look on things, I think.

And the last that I’ll post (more in my Flickr account) that is a favorite because of the texture the leaves provide for bokeh in this background.

This time of year is so hard for me while driving. I’m safe as I’d rather not get into an accident while staring at flowers along the roadside but I would much rather be riding along so that I can stare!

My mom and I found a few neat native flowers growing up on the side of a dirt road near by her house.

This is called Star Flower (for obvious reasons) and it grows in family groupings of low growing plants.

The grouping of leaves around the dainty flowers just grabs me. I adore these flowers! I’m so happy that I had come back to the place I had noticed just the beautiful leaves along the bank, only to discover that they bloom!

And of course, the Dogwood trees are in full bloom. I just love these trees, the blossoms are so attractive, especially in the shaded areas that they grow.

And the above is a Hawthorn tree that my mom has bought for herbal properties. They are lovely trees! A member of the rose family which is quite obvious.

And a different take on some Clematis at a friend’s house…

More of these also in my Flickr account. I hope you enjoy my new wanderings with my very beloved macro lens!

Take a Walk with Us

mudranch — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:51:36 +0000