I drove to Alamogordo this morning to deliver a proposal. It was a three-hour drive straight through with one short stop along the way. On the way to Alamogordo, I made mental notes at places I needed to stop and take photos on the way back. Needless, to say It took me six hours to drive back after all the stops. Here are a few photos of the landscapes I got on the drive back.
Jupiter with four moons.
Thunderheads explode
Under clear blue skies
Taunting sunset’s
Cast of colors
Streaming light
Reds, yellows
Blur to orange
Turquoise dances
In the wings
Reflections rippled
Flowing waters
Stilled
Violent thunder
Silenced
Tranquil scene
Exploding beauty
Falling darkness
Soon to cover
All that once had light
Waterway through the cotton
Storm clouds building over the Sandias
A wall of rain
Z. macroura convention
The first day lily bloomed this afternoon.
Graham Thomas
Tatones on Resa’s Tree. They will open soon sending cotton blowing in the wind.
Cotton blowing in the wind from tatones on other cottonwoods in Corrales.
May Peace be with you.
Wild, pre-sunset clouds looking east.
The color remained close to the horizon as the sun was tucked away for the night.
I went out a 4:30 am this morning to let in the irrigation water. The sunrise had a bit of color. A vulture circled over head eyeing me the whole time. I assure him, no matter what he thought I looked like from getting up a 4:30, I was alive and kicking. I got to work late because of the irrigating, and left work late getting work done. Alameda Blvd was at a standstill at the office, so I went south to Paseo Del Norte, which was slow but moved along. It took me 30 minutes to get home instead of 15 minutes. I would have probably been in traffic for an hour or longer on Alameda. The sunset was not very colorful, but I did take it from the four cardinal directions.
Pink Peony
I was going to post flowers and roses for Memorial Day, but the skies go in the way.
Chuckles
Spunk kiss!
Iris partying with Dr. Huey.
Rose bush, Marina’s Incognito Pear Tree, Julie’s Giant Dr. Huey, and the tops of Gigi’s and Tiffany’s trees in the background.
Spunk eyes!
Another pink Peony
The sky from sunrise to sunset.
Thirty-nine wild skies. One for each year Laurie and I have been married. Be sure to click on the gallery to view a slide show of the photos.
All of the clouds to the north at sunset tonight were contrails.
The owlets were lined up tonight in their order of age. Major Tom Peepers on the highest branch in front. Mona Lisa in the middle, and Sleepy mostly hidden farthest back.
The Flowers: Mutant Peace, Peonies and Rio Samba.
The western clouds were beautiful, but not promising for a clear sky in the wee hours of the morning when the Super Flower Moon gets bloody. I’ll get up a 3:00am and check the sky.
The Super Flower Moon Rise.
Super Flower Moon
Super-wide-angle view of the Super Flower Moon rising over the Sandias and Rio Grande.
Super Flower Moon in the clouds.
Can you find Venus?
You should be able to see Venus in the above photo.
There was nice color in the west, but I missed most of it photographing the moon.
I was going to buy a ultra-wide-angle lens for my Fuji XE-1 that I used to use as a carry camera. But the 10-24mm zoom lens is quite large, which makes it not as desirable to carry when I’m also carrying the Bazooka on a 7D Mark II body, and the 70-200mm zoom lens a 5Ds body. I have been using my iPhone XE for all street photography and wide-angle photos, stitching together panoramas for ultra-wide-angle shots. I finally decided that since an iPhone 12 Mini was the same price as a Fuji 10-24mm lens, I might as well upgrade my iPhone to the iPhone 12 Mini. The 12 Mini is the same form factor as the old iPhone 5, which is my favorite style of iPhone case, and the camera has wide-angle and super-wide-angle. The iPhone 12 Pro has telephoto, also, but I have the Bazooka and the iPhone 12 is bigger than I like.
What’s really nice with the iPhone 12 Mini is the “Portrait” setting works for any abject or critter as you can see in the photos of the kitties and the America Rose above. The “Portrait” setting on my iPhone SE only worked on human faces. When I tried using it on the cats, or anything else, it said “No faces recognized” and would not take a photo. I’m really happy with the camera on the iPhone 12 Mini.
All photos below were shot with the Bazooka 400mm lens on a Canon 7D Mark II body.
Off Center & Not Even 