Palms and Snow

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Snow on the mountains rising above Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Snow on the mountains rising above Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

Between a multi hour road closure leaving Seward, below zero temperatures in Alaska, snow and ice in Seattle, and almost an inch of rain in Palm Springs – our travels were interesting, but all in all, went very smoothly.

It seems strange to see palm trees and snow in the mountains surrounding the desert, and it sounds like much more is in store for this area tomorrow.

Hitting the Road

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Orange County, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

We hit the road yesterday for another photo trip.  We will spend some time in Anza Borrego in California.  This puts us close to family for the holidays, and gives us a fun place for photography and office work.

After that, we plan on spending a month in Orange County doing some travel photography.  My coverage of that area is fairly limited – it is a place I have been intending to spend some time at for awhile now.  We are kicking around some other ideas, our plans always seem to change, but hopefully I will have some fun stuff to post here!

Seward Moonrise

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

Moonrise, Seward, Alaska.

Moonrise, Seward, Alaska.

This was captured last night right at about sunset – a little before 4:00.

It is very similar to a mountain moonrise photo I captured and posted here a month ago.  I think it is interesting how different the hues are in this image compared to that image, even though it is basically the same scene at the same time of day.

Flares

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

A couple times a year, students from the marine program at AVTEC (a local vocational school), light off a wide variety of signal flares along the waterfront.  This allows them become familiar with there operation and use.  I thought it made for an interesting photo opp.

Pine Grosbeak

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 16 Comments

Pine Grosbeak, Seward, Alaska.

Pine Grosbeak, Seward, Alaska.

Another visitor to our backyard mountain ash.  These guys are a little more approachable, but nothing like the crows.  I actually tried to slowly touch one of the crows feeding in this tree the other day – I thought he might let me, but he finally hopped to another branch once I got within a foot.

I have had a number of questions about the settings used for some of my recent photos, I will try to get into the habit of posting such information after the jump – that way those that don’t care can ignore it!Read More

Bohemian Waxwing

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 13 Comments

Bohemian Waxwing in the Mountain Ash in our backyard, Seward, Alaska.
Bohemian Waxwing on the Mountain Ash in our backyard, Seward, Alaska.

I love these colorful birds, but they sure can be tough to photograph.  Hundreds would descend on the tree at a time, and then they would feed in constant motion.  It was hard to pick a single bird out to photograph.  Then, all it takes is a crow to fly by, and the hundreds leave in a giant mass.  I almost got hit by birds a couple of times!

That pattern was repeated a number of times before I was finally able to get this photo.

I usually use flash for some fill light, but here, because it was so dark, I made it the main light source.