Post a beautiful nature picture

[gvallee]

I am not sure if this qualifies as a 'beautiful nature picture', in fact it's rather gruesome when you realise that the paralyzed caterpillar will be food for the babies,  but I was thrilled to have witnessed it and first of all photographed it.

 

[Betty LaRue]

Autumn sky, those are beautiful and I sure would upload them.

Gen, that is a nature shot. I don’t find it objectionable at all. In fact, I think it’s a brilliant capture, myself. It’s an insect. I send some of them to insect heaven.

 

But please no dead birds! 😁😊😂 I cry over those, lol. I gave away my cat because it killed a bird. The last straw was when it sprang for my parakeet in its cage. Cats are hunters. That’s what they are and made to be. it took me awhile to come to terms with that because I thought they were made to be a pet. That was the time when it was unheard of to keep a cat indoors with a litter box. I don’t have to see them kill birds when it upsets me so much.

[Betty LaRue]

10 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Aquiligia. (Grannies bonnet).

 

 

 

 

Allan

 

Beautiful, Allan. I got a black background for some flowers once because the light was so bright I had to use a very high shutter speed. Is that how you got this? Very dramatic.

[Allan Bell]

8 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Beautiful, Allan. I got a black background for some flowers once because the light was so bright I had to use a very high shutter speed. Is that how you got this? Very dramatic.

 

Actually the background was dark but you could see it in the original image which made it look rather confused so I did a some manipulation in LR and PSE to turn the background black.

 

I was thinking of turning it white but the lighter coloured flowers would not show up so well on white.

 

Allan

 

[gvallee]

25 minutes ago, Sally R said:

I thought I would share a photo I took in winter last year. I like the winter for photography because I don't have to get up so early to capture the sunrise 🙂 The beach is one of the places I like to go, and as the ocean is west here, I tend to head to the beach if the eastern sky is not showing promising sunrise clouds. Often when I'm there all rugged up setting up my tripod, someone comes along in their bathers and dives straight in, and I feel like a wimp with all my warm clothes. I'm sure there's something health giving about diving into the ocean on a winter morning, as the usually 60 plus age group who do it always look exceedingly fit, healthy and happy.

 

Anyway, this shot of a wave breaking came out kind of like a painting with the slightly longish shutter speed, and I thought it might be a nice one to share in this nature thread:

 

 

I absolutely love your image. I also got up many times before dawn to photograph a sunrise. Likewise, once in Kiama, NSW, I was all rugged up by the rock pool when several people were already swimming. Not for me!! This is one of the images I'm thinking about. The person diving actually saw me taking pictures and asked me if he could have one. I did send it to him. He loved it, used it as his screensaver and invited me for a coffee should I travel through his town. He was only a visitor.

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by gvallee

[Betty LaRue]

Yes, the wave image does have a painterly look, it’s beautiful. I love water images. It’s amazing how a boat on dead-clear water looks like it’s floating in the air. I always stare and stare, trying to make sense of it.  In this case, the shadow looks like it should be on the top of the water, boat above.

[Autumn Sky]

9 hours ago, Sally R said:

 

What amazing places to be able to cycle and hike to - beautiful images! So wonderful to have the opportunity to have those places to yourself too. I would love to visit Canada one day, but know many of the places I'd like to go are very popular. I was reading about Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario and the queues of traffic as people head there to see the colours in the autumn. I imagine the locals there too right now may be enjoying their beautiful places when they are quieter than usual. It does give nature some space too. I was reading about beaches in Thailand at the moment where many more turtle hatchlings are surviving than usual because of the lack of tourists on the beaches. 2020 may be a good year for nature in many places.

Sally - nature has began healing process.   There are reports from all over the world.   As if, from level we can not understand,  human race has been given a warning with this pandemic:  "Shape up, or else..."

 

Yes, major tourist places are always busy anywhere in the world.  But you just need to know where (and when) to go.  Lake Minnewanka I cycled to is one of these busy places in full tourist season.  But as soon as you move 1km away you can pretty much have it to yourself.  There is 30km trail on north side of the lake, with several back-country campgrounds, running all the way to east boundary of Banff National Park in Alberta Foothills.   Here are couple of nicer images I did over the years:

 

First aerial view from now abandoned Fire Lookout where you can appreciate the size of the lake;   tourist area I cycled to the other day is far right end of photo.  Pic taken early May, you can see left side still partially frozen:

 

 

And this moonshine long-exposure shot, late November timeframe few years back not far from parking area;  early snow but lake still not frozen:

 

 

[Johnnie5]

10 hours ago, Sally R said:

I thought I would share a photo I took in winter last year. I like the winter for photography because I don't have to get up so early to capture the sunrise 🙂 The beach is one of the places I like to go, and as the ocean is west here, I tend to head to the beach if the eastern sky is not showing promising sunrise clouds. Often when I'm there all rugged up setting up my tripod, someone comes along in their bathers and dives straight in, and I feel like a wimp with all my warm clothes. I'm sure there's something health giving about diving into the ocean on a winter morning, as the usually 60 plus age group who do it always look exceedingly fit, healthy and happy.

 

Anyway, this shot of a wave breaking came out kind of like a painting with the slightly longish shutter speed, and I thought it might be a nice one to share in this nature thread:

 

Sally, your photo reminded me of Andreas Gursky's Rhine II.  Now if Alamy could get the prices that his photos sell for.  I like yours more.

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/new-york-city/articles/andreas-gursky-the-world-s-most-expensive-photographer/

 

[Malcolm Park]

Some garden images taken in broad daylight with backlit flash

 

 

 

 

[R De Marigny]

On 21/04/2020 at 02:46, Marianne said:

 

Thanks for the info on the butterfly ...

and best of luck with your garden!  Let's hope we both have many opportunities to take photos of our new gardens filled with beautiful plants, butterflies and birds as the weather gets warmer! 

Thank you Marianne. I was ill for over a week before , so glad I have  now managed to Potter about. Next on the list pond vegetation & tie in supports for the runner beans they already have bamboo. I just need to remember where I put the Twine. They seem to have shot up quite fast in their pots, hoping to place outside mid May /early June once I'm sure no morning frosts. 

🤔

[Johnnie5]

A Pair of Cabbage White Butterflies

 

[Regis]

Not as beautiful or breath taking as many of the photographs in this thread.

But a very short nature walk near my place, that goes in the mangrove.

You can only do it at low tide, or on small tide.

On big high tide, the water comes over the walkway.

 

 

But when I don't have much time, I really enjoy going there for a few minutes.

 

[aphperspective]

I had been watching a Swans nest on a local pond waiting for the eggs to hatch(they still haven't) when this little chap came swimming by. Miles away from the female who was looking for him, obviously an independent streak.🙂

 

 

 

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, aphperspective said:

I had been watching a Swans nest on a local pond waiting for the eggs to hatch(they still haven't) when this little chap came swimming by. Miles away from the female who was looking for him, obviously an independent streak.🙂

 

 

 

 

Ugly duckling.

 

Allan

 

Cute really though.😊

 

ITMA

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Allan Bell

[aphperspective]

2 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Ugly duckling.

 

Allan

 

Cute really though.😊

 

ITMA

 

They do have an instant cuteness effect. Unfortunately for him if he carries on behaving like that he will be lunch for every passing fox, rat, owl, hawk, weasel, stoat or pike unless his mum gives him a good speaking to.🤕 

Andy

Edited May 6, 2020 by aphperspective
Edit

[Betty LaRue]

4 hours ago, aphperspective said:

I had been watching a Swans nest on a local pond waiting for the eggs to hatch(they still haven't) when this little chap came swimming by. Miles away from the female who was looking for him, obviously an independent streak.🙂

 

 

 

I like it.
My mare, Torchy, that I owned years ago, foaled an independent strawberry roan filly. Most foals stick by mama’s side. Brandy, my filly, from the outset would leave the mare and go into the horse barn alone. She would have mock fights with an imaginary aggressor, which I think was our other mare who would bite or kick her when given the chance.

Brandy kicked the tin of the barn in one spot enough to bow it out, and I watched her swing her head and bite at the air. Yet she was sweet and gentle with people.

Brandy’s mom had enough one day, and took care of the other mare after she kicked her foal. She maneuvered Cricket into the corner of their pasture and gave her a proper kick-beating. Cricket had hair skinned off her hindquarters. Of course, I was hysterical, but hubby said leave ‘em alone, Cricket had it coming.

Betty

ps...I had fun naming all of our horses.

Sunny...palomino gelding

Dolly...Welch pony pinto mare

Sin...dappled grey stallion

Torchy (commonly called Torch)...blood sorrel mare

Cricket...black mare

Brandy...my strawberry roan filly

Chance...Cricket’s- colt

Edited May 6, 2020 by Betty LaRue

[aphperspective]

Tough love works sometimes. I used to fish at a local lake for several years, every year a pair of ducks had 9-13 ducklings and by the end of summer they were always down to 1 or 2. The mortality of a ducklings is huge.

Andy 

[aphperspective]

I'm afraid me and horses don't get on. Never forgave the entire species since one took a chunk out of my fishing umbrella.

Andy 

[Marianne]

On 05/05/2020 at 09:06, R De Marigny said:

Thank you Marianne. I was ill for over a week before , so glad I have  now managed to Potter about. Next on the list pond vegetation & tie in supports for the runner beans they already have bamboo. I just need to remember where I put the Twine. They seem to have shot up quite fast in their pots, hoping to place outside mid May /early June once I'm sure no morning frosts. 

🤔

 

Glad you're feeling better.

 

This morning I ordered some lyme (to help break down the wood and leaf mulch), deer-repelling fertilizer, and potting soil that hubby picked up en route to the grocery store today, and have some young plum tomato plants on order being held in the local nursery's greenhouse until all chance of frost is gone here (snow is quite possible Friday!).

 

I got round one of my Heirloom grape tomato seeds and salvia planted, keeping moist on top of a radiator cover near a south-facing window until they sprout and then go into small pots until they are ready for their third transplant outdoors.  My Bee Balm seeds are in the fridge (I read they should be kept there for anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months - in two weeks I'll want to get them going so they germinate early enough to get them sown, so 2 weeks it is! I had a couple of spirea bushes along two walls of our south-facing barbecue area that died over the winter, so my husband is going to dig them out. The dead plants are right in the center of the two intersecting rows, so it's the perfect place to plant my butterfly garden with the well-established remaining spirea plants on either end. I plan to plant mostly perennials there with a few annuals for interest, and more in pots along some low stone walls. 

 

My non fruit-bearing apple and pear trees are beginning to bloom, and the lilacs are nearly in full bloom now, hoping they will be ready to cut tomorrow to avoid damage from the potential snow on Friday. I love the smell of lilacs and though one tree lost a very large limb due to a wind storm, they were my Mother's Day gift the year we bought the house 22 years ago and one tree still reaches our second floor office window, even after pruning it back last year. 

 

I'm so excited to be gardening again. When we bought our house a friend bought me a beautiful book on flower gardens (that has also helped me identify wildflowers I find in my travels), and I'm enjoying  re-reading it. I was an avid gardener for years, pottering in the yard at 6 am before getting my daughter ready for daycare then grammar school and myself off to my law firm (a lifetime ago it seems) until a series of accidents and two surgeries conspired with my RA to tamper my enthusiasm, so for over a decade now I've rarely done more than grow potted herbs, and zinnias, sunflowers, or other easy annuals. New meds for the RA has improved my outlook and I'm ready to get back to digging in the earth, and am really excited to grow some veggies along with herbs, and to get some new perennials established. And the photo opportunities....

 

More fodder for this thread come June!

[Marianne]

Horses, though one bit me and another stepped on and broke my pinky toe, the first year I took riding lessons (English saddle) at the tender age of 11, I still love them. Never bitten by a dog and had a German Shepherd and a Shepherd-Collie mix growing up, but I'm still wary of them. 

 

Betty, all those horses! I'm terribly jealous. Only the two rich girls in my class had their own. The rest of us rode whichever horse they assigned us each week. Some of them were less than sweet-tempered as you might imagine from their aggressive behavior. 

[gvallee]

A beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet. These birds are quite common in Australia. Sadly, I just read that they are now hit by a mystery virus and are dropping dead from the sky.

 

[Marianne]

2 hours ago, gvallee said:

A beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet. These birds are quite common in Australia. Sadly, I just read that they are now hit by a mystery virus and are dropping dead from the sky.

 

 

Australia has some of the most amazing wildlife - beautiful image - but how sad!  Hope they develop herd immunity to whatever it is soon and it runs its course. So beautiful juxtaposed against those flowers. What are they? i.e. what kind of tree?

Edited May 7, 2020 by Marianne

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, Marianne said:

 

Australia has some of the most amazing wildlife - beautiful image - but how sad!  Hope they develop herd immunity to whatever it is soon and it runs its course. So beautiful juxtaposed against those flowers. What are they? i.e. what kind of tree?

 

I'm not sure, it was taken in a botanical garden. I think it might have been this flower. Red Hot Poker plant?

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by gvallee

[Regis]

22 hours ago, Sally R said:

 

Thanks for sharing this Regis. I think it's so good to have nature places to go to, especially ones close by that we can visit even when we don't have much time. There's something healing about being around plants and in the outdoors. I have briefly seen mangroves at Bunbury here in Western Australia and at Port Augusta in South Australia, both of these being very southerly locations for mangroves. But one day I will get to the north and see them up there where they are much more plentiful.

 

Thank you Sally,

 

Yes mangroves are great, if you don't mind mozzies and midgies.

And yes, 15 to 20 minutes in nature among trees or on the beach, really washes the day away.

 

Have a good day,

Regis

[Allan Bell]

Teddy bears reading wildlife magazine on bed

 

 

Looked in my port for "Wildlife" and this is what I found.

 

The bears were a bit wild when they new I had taken a photo of them in their Jimjams.

 

Allan

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by Allan Bell