We were headed to Galveston the other day and I happened to notice just south of Marlin there was a windmill and a tree on the side of the road. I made not of it and went back the other day to get some pictures. I had been thinking about black and white images, and thought this would make a good one.
Driving there, I noticed along the side of the road in Riesel there was an old barn and a field in which there were several bales of hay. So, I stopped there on the way home and got that as well.
Our second Port was St. Kitts. The capital of the Island is Basseterre. This is the city from the ship.
We took a tour that took us first to Romney Plantation. This is a Pendulous Crab Claw plant growing there.
This is a small ruins on the plantation.
From there we went to Brimstone Hill Fortress. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was a fortress not he top of the highest hill on the island.
A week ago, while mowing the lawn, I noticed a peony blooming. I thought it would make a nice picture. So, the next day, I took my camera out and started taking pictures. While I was doing that, the mailman came. So, after I thought I had enough images, I took my camera up to the porch and walked out to the mailbox. Sometimes, things just are aligned in a unique way. Debbie has a rose bush next to the mailbox and some of the roses were blooming. It just so happened that the sun coming through the leaves of the trees created a kind of spotlight on one of the roses.
I took a few more than did an HDR bracket. I had watched a video on using some additional software to create a detailed look in the petals. So, I played around with that and came up with this one.
There is a “festival” in Galveston to celebrate the spring bird migration. A friend of Debbie’s from Wisconsin is into birds, and she and her husband came to Galveston for the weekend to attend the festival. On Saturday, we drove all over the island looking for birds. We went to one spot, and didn’t really find much, but I saw this rather cool cats that was in the process of setting buds of a blossom.
We did find birds in the place where I go to look for Sandhill Cranes. One of the things I have always wanted was a good picture of a bird flying. I finally got one. This is a white Ibis that had just taken off.
I took Hwy 7 to Crockett and then 287 down to Port Arthur. On Hwy 287, I saw this old structure in an area that was being used to store hay.
I had to go to Lake Charles, Louisiana last week for a meeting. On the way over, there were several places where there was lots of standing water in fields as a result of the recent rains. I topped one place over by the Trinity River and took these:
Sunday was a rare combination of a lunar eclipse and a “Supermoon.” During such an event, as a result of the nature of the light, the moon appears to take on a deep red color. It wasn’t the easiest picture to take, as the area in shadow is extremely dark and the area not in shadow is bright. So, an exposure fusion ended up being the best way to get a good picture.
The August Guild Image Competition included a “Challenge” Competition. The Challenge was a Black and White natural light photograph. One day last week when I went to get the mail, I noticed cobwebs forming on the remnants of the roses by the mailbox. So, I used those as my subject. I took a series of images, that were pretty good, but when I sent one to Pounds to have it printed, it came back and the focus was not sharp enough. I still had time. So, I took some more images and found one with really sharp focus. I quickly sent it to Pounds. That was last Friday. They did not process it until Monday and shipped it for Tuesday. The competition was Tuesday evening. So, things were tight. At about 5:45, it had not come yet. So, I decided to go without it. I got down to Franklin and New Road, and Debbie called that it had just been delivered. So, I raced back home to get it. The competition was supposed to start at 6:30. So, I had a little time. I drove down to Coach’s and got there in plenty of time. They set up the prints, and all went well. That is, until the prints were revealed. I was amazed at the extraordinary quality of the prints for this competition. Let’s face it, the prints are always strong, but these images were beyond that. Turns out, I didn’t place. But, I am not disappointed The images that won were really better than mine.
While in Galveston for Mardi Gras, I took a morning out to look for Sandhill Cranes. I drove out West of town to my usual spots and got this pic of one.
I also got a Nice pic of this Yellow Crowned Hight Heron.
I had a little spare time on Friday. So, I ran over to the zoo. I knew I did not have enough time to do the entire zoo, so I went to the Asia and Africa areas. The female orangutan gave birth not too long ago, and she and her baby were out.
In the Africa exhibit, the flamingoes were all next to the water, and that made a nice reflection shot.
Finally, right next tot he Flamingoes, there was a flock of Black Vultures in a tree.
