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Sunday, June 19, 2011

The lushness of summer

I've been having breakfast with the Flycatcher couple every morning recently. They've just started incubating eggs on a nest tray under our deck, and the male keeps a close eye on me when I'm on the deck.
After breakfast, K and I headed out for a mountain bike ride. I was overjoyed to see a Columbine blooming in an aspen grove. I honestly didn't know if we'd visit this oasis in the aspen grove together again when she had the bone infection in her paw. We made it!
A little later, she stood triumphant among wildflowers on a lookout point.
You can see the clouds building behind K. They grew during my solo ride, and the wind shifted uneasily around me, bringing cooler air from the Divide toward me. It felt like big storms were homing in on us.
The storms grew quickly, and you can see the looming clouds behind the gorgeous flower ("Bistort", Bistorta bistortoides) that I saw near the end of my ride.
When I arrived home, I checked a memory card that I'd picked up from a wildlife camera. It showed that, on the last day that I checked the camera, a bear sauntered past it just 10 minutes after I departed! I wonder if he watched me while I fiddled with the camera!

I don't recognize this bear but I wished that he'd shown his chest so that I could check for a white blaze. The young bears who were in the den that I monitored two winters ago had white blazes on their chests. This bear looks small and young to me.
We finished our day with a hike through the meadow with stunning blue skies over the wildflower-studded meadow.
For those who are curious, the above photo is the real deal. I didn't fiddle with the blue sky in Photoshop. By using a "neutral density graduated filter" that has a dark half and clear half that I just purchased, I've finally been able to capture landscape photos that are exposed correctly for both the bright sky and the world below it. I wish that I'd learned about this filter a long time ago. It lets me show the lushness of summer with the endless sky above it.

19 comments:

  1. So very beautiful! Every picture, every time! How you do it is beyond me but I sure am enjoying your blog so much!! Thanks for sharing your world...it is just wonderful! Lots of love, Debbie & Holly

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  2. As always...beautiful fotos! :)

    Woofs and Licks,
    MAggie Mae

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  3. your world is so beautiful!
    congratulations on enjoying your new lens filter, fun and wonderful.

    love seeing the bear, wouldn't be surprised at all if had been watching you!

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  4. I have never seen a sky anywhere near this blue, or any of your other sunrise, sunset photos. Someday I would like to see it in person. Is it the altitude that creates it? A knockout to say the least!

    Cheers,
    Stella & Jo

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  5. Hi Y'all!

    What beautiful landscapes. In rural areas away from the cities on a clear day the skies are incredible and the stars at night...wow! But your shot tops all!

    Y'all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  6. I don't guess you need to fiddle with Photoshop with vistas like that! I'm always envious of the natural beauty you see every day.

    I'm pretty sure K was born to be photographed in wildflower fields! :)

    I hope that young bear does turn out to have a white blaze. It would be nice to be able to keep track of the little cutie!

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  7. Awww the little plump bird is so cute!

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  8. What a beautiful sky.
    You may have mentioned this before, but if you don't mind me asking, what type of camera do you use?
    -I am in the market for a new camera.

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  9. Wow! So gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. That filter really works . You made me laugh. Scottish estate agents often photo shop the sky in their adverts to get rid of the grey and replace it with the azure blue colour found in the south of France.

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  11. The color in the sky and mountains are just so fabulous! It is just so BLUE!! Lovely pics.

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  12. Gotta love a bird with a name like Flycatcher. If it lives up to its name, wouldn't mind having them move East in pretty large numbers. Gorgeous photos, as always. Columbines are really beautiful flowers. So glad R is doing better in all the ways that really matter.

    Jed & Abby

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  13. Amazing photos. That blue stormy sky is something! Luv all the wild flowers on the hills with the snowy mountains in the background. Beautiful!

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

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  14. I think you must live in one of the most beautiful areas on earth. I'm glad that you appreciate it. So many people would not even notice all that loveliness around them.

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  15. Such beautiful images! Hope you have a great week!
    xoxo

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  16. I feel like I am right there,, seeing all this beauty,, right this very moment.
    You capture,, exactly what I need to feel, and you do it every time!
    love
    tweedles

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  17. Oh, that last photo is amazing. One day, I WILL learn to take good photos like you do - it's on my bucket list.

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  18. I'm going to have to learn more about that filter. The photo with K in it has some great color in it too. Gorgeous!

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  19. K and the wildflower field/vista is just magical...some day Sophie will experience this, maybe not in your State but close to home perhaps in the Cape Breton Highlands, 5 hours from here.

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