Sending Out the Old Year with... Crab Apple Blossoms (Dry Brush Filter)

Ok, so it's not much of a surprise to anyone who has visited my photo blog that I should choose a crab apple blossom photo to end 2015. I count it as one of my top favorite parts of the year for that week or so when the crab apple blossoms come out in May/June. Here are my hopes that you had a good 2015 and that 2016 will also be a good year for you! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunlight through the Crab Apple Blossoms (Dry Brush Filter)

The light, as a stream

that is flowing through flowers,

illumines the tree.

Tangled Web of Tree Branches

The woven branches overhead

make up a wooden sheet --

their canopy, too thinly spread,

for winter's snow and sleet.

Spring Begins a Bit Brown

What color is the spring?

Amid winter, remember,

it starts a bit brown.

Snow by Trees (Dry Brush Filter)

If fallen snow is resting low

but wind is working high, 

what lies below will surely grow,

when storm clouds fill the sky.

A Little Bit of Green

A little bit of green

in the winter time season

can go a long way.

I picked this little seedling out of a crack in my deck. I potted it, and when the fall came, its tiny leaves turned colors and fell off. This winter, I've got some green parts growing on it, which you can see in this picture. It's kind of nice to see (inside) when everything else looks pretty dead outside. Thanks for stopping by!

October Evening over the Mackinac Bridge (Dry Brush Filter)

The late clouds in fall

cast a storm drawn appearance.

The sunset gleams gold.

Merry Christmas! -- Sunrise (Paint Daubs Filter)

That long time ago

When the guest room was taken,  

the Christ child was born. 

Light Reflected Off the Water

The light reflects white

with some blue in the post-noon.

Warm November day

November Waters Waiting for Ice Fishing (Dry Brush Filter)

November is cold,

yet the water, unfrozen,

for ice fishing, waits.

Folded Brown Leaves (Dry Brush Filter)

A tree, filled with leaves,

brown and folded, as winged birds,

observed in their flight.

Red Berries, Dark Blue Sky (Dry Brush Filter)

For looking, the eye

is well pleased by red berries

which hang from the sky. 

A Bend in the Road

A bend in the road

with snow on the side,

in need of a plow.

The End of the Snow Plow (BW)

The end of the plow

pushes snow to the pavement

and over the edge.

A Flicker at Attention (Cut out Filter)

A Flicker attends

to the daily routine watch

before it digs prey.

Juvenile Bluebird in a Tree (Sponge/Dry Brush Filter)

A juvenile bird,

having stopped for a visit,

won't stay but a while. 

Desolate Trees Waiting for Spring

The desolate trees

without leaves and dead branches

are waiting for spring.

There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Tree

A hole in the tree,

what should live in the bottom? 

A puzzle unsolved.

The Flowers of May -- Crab Apple Blossoms (Dry Brush Filter)

The flowers of May

Come before the long June day.

By then, they are gone. 

Crab Apple Blossoms (Dry Brush / Palette Knife Filters)

Crab apples in May,

are a blossom, and fading.

The fruit, in fall, yields. 

Forest Scene from Lake (Poster Edges Filter)

A comic book scene

of a forest near water:

A hero on leave.

Revisiting my photos from a couple of years ago, I found this one of a forest scene shot from a boat. I eventually used the Poster Edges filter, which gives (at least, to my eye) a comic book appearance to the photo. (Superhero not included in photo. He must be on vacation.) Thanks for stopping by! 

Sunrise on the Water (Dry Brush Filter)

The morning star shines

with a bright burst of gold rays.

In water, it gleams.

Lakeside Sunrise (Dry Brush Filter)

How early, then, does

the sun rise in the morning?

Ask one who can't sleep.

Cloudy Lines in the Sky (Dry Brush Filter)

A finger drew lines

in the sky at the sunset.

The writing is light.

I had processed this image before, merging three exposures into an HDR image. In today's post, I processed a single image (not for HDR, though). Thanks for stopping by!

Orange Flowers (Dry Brush Filter)

If orange could rhyme,

Should flower now cower,

Its color, its crime?

Green Stems with Red-Shaded Petals (Dry Brush Filter)

Where green stems arise

under shaded red petals,

the flowers have grown.

Yellow Flowers (Dry Brush Filter)

When yellow can bloom,

Into loveliest flowers,

Then winter can cease.

Dismal Winter Scene of Snow and Trees (Black and White)

If winter should be

A long, dismal endurance,

The heart yearns for spring.

Little Flock of House Finches (Dry Brush Filter)

Birds, looking for worms,

In the grass which is greener

Until summer's gone.

Fun with Fisheye - Leaves on a Curb (Dry Brush Filter)

When I went out for a walk yesterday I took my little Sony HDR-AS100V (in its waterproof case) with me. The camera shoots in fisheye, which... the jury's still out on how I feel about fisheye. Actually, with practice, I think it's possible to get some really cool images. I'm hoping that this camera will make a good outdoor winter camera, but... we'll see. Thanks for stopping by!

Flicker on the Deck (Dry Brush Filter)

For all its faults, what I really liked about this picture was how close I was to the Flicker. Close-up, you can see all sorts of details on its body. I like the stripes on the wings. I like how the under-body looks something like a sponge, or like one some tree that a woodpecker has punched all sorts of holes into. I like the little red mark on the back of the Flicker's head. It's a cool bird. Thanks for stopping by!

Flicker Checks Out a Hole in a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

The holes in the tree were preexisting, at least, they were there before the Flicker came poking around. What was interesting to me was that the Flicker came and poked its head into the hole; maybe there was something in there worth finding? (It's a little too high up for me to check - ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Bird in a Tree, Maybe a Phoebe?

Here the Phoebe (I think it's a Phoebe...) was posing very nicely for me in the tree. I like the quizzical look on the bird's head as it is looking in my direction, probably wondering what I was doing....

Thanks for stopping by!

Juvenile Bluebird (Dry Brush Filter)

A couple of days later (after yesterday's picture), the juvenile bluebird landed on top of my lamppost and posed for a few pictures. I dry brushed the background and pasted the original as a second layer, erasing everything around the bird for today's picture. Thanks for stopping by!

August Juvenile Bluebird (Dry Brush Filter)

On the other side of the tree (from yesterday's photo), I saw this juvenile bluebird resting. (I don't think that they were quite on the same tree at the same time, but they were on two different sides of the same tree on the same day.) Thanks for stopping by!

August Bluebird (Dry Brush Filter)

I was really surprised when I saw the bluebirds come back again in August. I hadn't seen them around for a little while, at least, not in my backyard. And then, the kids said, "Hey, there's a bluebird!" So, I got out my camera, and... here's a bluebird! Thanks for stopping by!

Yesterday's Bird, Preening (Dry Brush Filter)

The dry brush filter makes this look like an abstract image. I really liked how the bird was preening, but the movement was such that the bird was blurry in the picture. With the filter, the bird is still blurry, although, the filter application makes it look like some wild creature in the branches. I like it. Thanks for stopping by!

Bird in the Tree Leaves (Dry Brush Filter)

I know that I've seen (and identified) this little bird before, but at the moment, its name escapes me. I like the way that it's kind of hiding out in the leaves here, probably hoping that no one will notice it. The picture reminds me of a puzzle, or maybe one of those "Where's Waldo" games that I used to play. (Ok, maybe not as sophisticated as Waldo, but it's still fun to find the bird in the image.) Thanks for stopping by!

Gopher in the Grass

It was great to look outside one day and see this gopher, standing in the grass. It reminded me of a trip to the zoo in which we saw the prairie dogs. The prairie dogs held a similar posture, many of them even moving in unison, which was kind of crazy and cool all at the same time. There was only one gopher for me to take pictures of here, though. Thanks for stopping by!

Female House Finch in the Grass (Dry Brush Filter)

Whenever I see house finches, there is usually a male and a female together; rarely do I see either of them separately. This was one of those rare instances, when a female house finch was combing the grass. Almost immediately prior to this picture, she had grabbed a leaf with her beak and tossed it, probably looking for worms or bugs. Thanks for stopping by!

More Purple Flowers (Dry Brush Filter)

As winter begins to settle in upon us here in Minnesota it's nice to be able to go back (to July) and look at pictures when the weather was warmer and the flowers were blooming. Thanks for stopping by!

Purple Flower (Dry Brush Filter)

The bumblebee having flown away, I was left with this image of the flower. Even without the bumblebee, I liked it well enough to share it with you as my picture of the day. Thanks for stopping by!

Bumblebee at the Flower (Part 2) (Dry Brush Filter)

Of bees, the bumblebee is probably my favorite. (Honeybees are cool, too, though.) If I had to put my finger on a reason, it's probably because, long ago in some now forgotten memory, I enjoyed a children's story or poem in which a bumblebee made its appearance. Nothing so memorable that I could call it to mind today, but memorable enough to make some kind of favorable impression. Thanks for stopping by!

Bumblebee at the Flower (Dry Brush Filter)

It was fun to look at the bumblebees this past summer. (It wasn't necessarily so easy to get a picture of them, weaving in and out of the flowers.) I liked the shape of the flower here, although the bee was just a little bit fuzzy. (When you process things through the dry brush filter, everything gets a little bit brushed over.) Thanks for stopping by!

Woodpecker on a Tree

Today's picture comes in two version, the faraway and the close-up. The bird is a woodpecker, although, what kind of woodpecker, I cannot say. Using Google's "search visually similar images" feature, the most similar bird that I found was the juvenile version of the Red-bellied Woodpecker. (Although, that bird lacks the white stripes that you see around the eye and leading up to the beak on this bird.) Hmm... mystery woodpecker. If you have any ideas, leave them in the comments. Thanks for stopping by!

Things Are Looking Up -- Woodpecker (Dry Brush Filter)

I knew that this was some sort of woodpecker, but the best that I can come up with for a more specific identification is a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker. No, the belly doesn't look yellow (at least, not in this picture.) However, what I'm going on here is the head, with a red tuft both on the top and underneath the beak. I'm not completely convinced, but going from my bird book and from the pictures that I found online, this was the best with which I could come up. Thanks for stopping by!

Two Birds with One Shot (Dry Brush Filter)

This picture reminded me of an old saying about killing two birds with one stone, except that no birds were actually harmed in the taking of this picture. ;) As a bonus, both birds are even looking in the same direction! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Eastern Bluebird, Juvenile with Yellow Background (Dry Brush Filter)

I followed my juvenile bluebird from the other day to another spot, this time where there was a yellow building in the background. (I was able to crop the building out for the picture that you see above.) Thanks for stopping by!

Juvenile Eastern Bluebird in a Tree (Dry Brush Filter)

Being right now on the verge of snow, it's kind of nice to look back at the warmer days of summer (this picture is from August) when the bluebirds were out. This juvenile has such deep blue colored feathers; I don't think the feathers are quite that dark in the adult birds. Thanks for stopping by!