Rugged mountains fill the foreground, sharp spires of stone in the distance. The sky is a wine-red bloody wash of aurora glow. The glow shines off hillsides.

So totally not ominous or anything, but northwest Nevada looked like the edges of Mordor tonight…. This is fine. Everything is fine. Just a blood red sky on bloody Veteran’s day is all.

Prints: wild-fotos.pixels.com/featured/in-...

Two bison graze quietly in the early morning fog of Custer State Park, South Dakota.

Sony A7IV
Tamron 150-600mm

#wildlifephotography #naturephotography #photography #southdakota #custerstatepark #sony

The tree has given up the ghost
#classicmono #photographers #EastCoastKin #landscapes #bnw

Ribbons of morning light dapple a gigantic cliffside, towards the top left is a bighorn sheep standing against a dark background of shadowed stone.

The cliffside from yesterday’s Canyon Wren post. Morning rays catching a Bighorn Sheep ewe keeping a close eye on me. Western Nevada for the win 🤘

It gets more wind, but it’s also pretty high elevation…5-6000 feet on average. Further from the Sierras means it gets more cold and dry continental air coming down from Canada. I used to make a kettle of hot water to unfreeze the car door in the morning before school, lol.

They match their environment so well! The cold isn’t too bad on this side of the state, growing up in Northeast NV was a lot worse! 🤣

Purple volcanic rock on the left covered in lichen of green, orange, and sage. A hazy blur of tans and olive background behind a white throated bird, dappled white patterns atop a brown head. Long slender beak perfect for pulling insects out of the tiniest crack in the stone. Belly of golden fire matching the oranges of the lichen. It stares to the right intently, perched moments from flying yet again.

I’m most at home exploring rocky crags in Northwest Nevada, and Canyon Wren are a favorite bird to find. They live their lives hanging off the sides of cliffs…and this one’s prized slot canyon territory has the most incredible lichen. #birds

Golden grasses glow in the sunrise, a black bear runs from our right to left. Ravens swirl above it, in the distant background tall pine trees barely visible in the smoke.

I’m not sure just what these raven were tormenting the black bear over, but it sure was a sight to see as the first light crept into the valley. The wildfire smoke was unfortunate but it definitely added depth to the composition.

Well said, thank you!

Thanks! There is definitely a lot I miss about the darkroom, but there’s no way I would be shooting as much wildlife as I do if I were still on film! 🤣

The upper two thirds of the black and white photo is well lit, sagebrush and a lonely juniper tree. The bottom third is a rocky outcrop in shadow with the south end of a northbound bighorn sheep running towards the light.

California Bighorn Sheep running over a rocky ridge line. No dodging or burning, just perfect timing from the sun. The shadow from the ridge I was on lined up with the outcrop of rock, providing a bizarre sense of depth for what moments later would be a fairly flat scene.

Black and white image, extremely high contrast. A shadow in reeds creates a circle of dark water that perfectly fills the square image. Cutting horizontally thru the middle is a group of white birds and their reflections glowing against the dark water.

A combination of Great and Snowy Egret gathered in a desert pond in western Nevada. #birds

Black and white image. An arc of light fur on the bear’s neck wraps around the top half of the photo, a dark ear anchoring the top right of the image. Bottom left a foot is on a barely visible rock, light claws glistening. Water drips off the fur of the neck into the stream below.

Sometimes things don’t go to plan and your massive lens ends up being way too much. It does provide the chance to almost treat the form of the bear as a landscape. Small features take on new dimensions when you are too close to see the whole.

In the foreground and left side of the frame is a black bear (species) with brown fur, a white stripe on the center of her chest, and a small white patch on her nose. In the background the blurred face of one cub peeks out from behind.

I was sitting trying to spot at least one of a couple of Pygmy Owl hooting above me in the trees. I heard a ‘chuff’ behind me and turned to find a first time mom and her two cubs closer than I would have liked. They backed off for a berry feast, giving me plenty of editing material to keep me busy!

Pine tree trunk rises along the left side of the frame, a brown cub faces the camera with a shy look. The background is green and yellow mottled bokeh.

One of my favorite times of year is back! Black Bear cub of the year.

Yellowed grasses fill the foreground, transitioning to blurred green halfway up the frame then finally vague shadow at the top. Out of the yellow band a curved neck rises, holding the impressive bill, red forehead punctuated with a golden eye.

Sandhill Crane, Lake Tahoe

Trees and shrubs fill the sides and top of the frame, a well-worn trail steps up stone to where we see two teens staring at a stone massif at the end of the valley, prominent veins cross the stone face.

Probably my favorite pic I’ve ever taken of my kids. I saw the framing begin to develop and fell behind them just in time to catch the scene. Little Lakes Valley, California.

Black and white photo mirrored on the vertical axis. A face appears in the clouds in the center, over a mirrored pine tree. Hard to describe the clouds, but they sweep violently from the sides to the center.

Mirrored clouds/pine. Reno provides for some amazing skies in August, and a quick mirror job turned up something awesome.

The yellow bird sits atop a plant, its body facing the left seamlessly matches with a leaf extending to the right. Its black eye is surrounded by a protective raised cone of tiny feathers, my favorite detail that lets me know I nailed the focus. The background is blurred green foliage.

Wilson’s Warbler, near Donner Pass. #birds

Black and white photo of a dog (weird mix of genetics but think of the physical appearance of a wolf-ish husky) stalking thru water that’s just below lens level. The background is blurred conifer on rock.

Took one of the dogs up to an alpine lake near Donner Pass to screw around. Normally I’m not a huge fan of such a high-key edit, but the combo of high elevation sun and a strobe just made the water appear crystalline and it seemed the right way to go. 🤷‍♂️

In the soft pre-dawn light a heron stands atop a rock in a mountain lake. Green reeds fill the space directly behind the elegantly tall blue bird, a dark olive hued bush and lichen covered rock fills the upper background.

Great Blue Heron, along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Donner Pass area. Besides the lighting just being exquisite the almost Picasso-ish composition leaps out at me thanks to my ridiculous pareidolia… too many Bev Doolittle works have left me seeing faces everywhere. 😆🤷‍♂️ #birds

One night at scout camp in the early 90’s we had a big camp-wide campfire w/ skits, etc. As I sat there waiting I turned to my right as an old guy w/ a diff unit sat next to me: Adam West. Had no clue who he was until he spoke and Batman’s voice came out. 🤣 so yeah, he saw me perform ‘beans’.

The bird stands atop a layer of conifer branch, the short needles making it appear like a soft green lawn. Backlit by vertical bands of completely defocused russet and cream, glowing. The backlighting highlights the the russet crest standing tall on the birds head, open beak exclaiming “get off my lawn!” That’s the attitude, right there. Such a weird contrast with the peaceful glow in the rest of the image. Might be why I like this one.

I love the glow of forests in the early morning! Green-tailed Towhee along the Pacific Crest Trail, near Donner Pass. #birds

A foreground of purple flowers with yellow stamen fading with blur and haze into a foggy (literally) white background. Hovering above the flowers is a smooth black bird, wings up stretched into the sky while its tail fans toward the ground slowing its speed as it prepares to land. Yellow eye focused ahead with a slightly downturned beak.

Brewer’s Blackbird, Northern California

A young ram stands in the center of the frame looking downhill to the right of our frame. A group of 3 ewe stand atop lichen-splattered volcanic rock in the extreme top left. Three more ewe follow a diagonal line down, underneath the the ram ending in the bottom right. The bottom center is occupied by six lamb. One has grass between its lips, most just scanning the rocks for vegetation. The background is low shrubs and grasses.

The other users of that very water (Bighorn Sheep) would like a word…the cover photo they used might look barren but this was taken not 5 miles away as the crow flies. Incredible petroglyphs as well. It’s tragic what’s happening here.

The turkey faces the camera with head twisted to look to our right. The twist separates the neck feathers into a spiral of layers catching the light with a deep purple glint. Green grass is covered in water droplets from the mist and light rain. The background includes blurred oranges and various greens from the forest.

Nothing satisfies like some wild Turkey on a cold and misty morning… #birds

The doe stares to our right, snowflakes fill the air over a blurred background of branches. Ears raised high and listening to my autofocus in the silence brought by a blanket of falling snow.

I can’t stand summer wildlife photography, but one last spring snowstorm gave me a taste of atmospherics that will hopefully carry me through the doldrums to come…. Mule Deer doe, Northern California.

Surrounded by falling spring snowflakes, the deer stares into the camera, ears raised to analyze every sound while mouth hangs agape. Blurred tree branches fill the background.

She didn’t know what to think of me, lol! Mule Deer doe, Northern California

The dawn glow creates a perfect rim light wrapping around fur covered antlers. The deer, presented in a ‘coffee’ monochrome states to our right, dark eyes and nose countering the diffuse white glow. Tiny crystals of ice cling to the hairs sprouting from his chin and eyebrows.

Mule Deer buck in velvet, Northern California

I love a shallow depth of field, especially with lots of layers like this! Thank you!