Nevada Falls and rainbow in Yosemite National Park, California

We were on a hike in Yosemite National Park and were between Vernal and Nevada Falls when we saw this view of Nevada Falls from next to the Merced River.

Nevada Falls is 594 feet tall and was gushing with water during our visit after a good snowfall year.  This flow of water kicked up a huge mist in front of the falls and produced this brilliant spectrum.

Vernal and Nevada Falls are both in Little Yosemite Valley, which, like many of Yosemite's features, was carved out by glaciers.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Bewick's Wren in Bob's backyard

Bob went into his backyard and heard this bird buzzing around, so he grabbed his camera and waited for the little guy to perch in an open spot.  Eventually during his flitting around, he perched on this camellia branch where Bob could get a clear shot of him.

Bob suspects that this little guy is nesting somewhere nearby.  Bewick's wrens nest in cavities such as old woodpecker holes or where an old branch has rotted out of a tree trunk.

This photo was shot with a 100-400 zoom lens set at 400 mm and is heavily cropped.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Cascade Creek flowing over granite boulders below the Fall, Yosemite NP

Cascade Creek flows through Yosemite National Park crossing under the road that enters the park from El Portal. Before the bridge, a small parking area provides access to the creek and a view of the Cascade Creek waterfall. The section of the creek in this image is below the fall as the water flows over granite boulders in the creek bed.

Because the creek was in full sun, I was able to use a fast shutter speed (1/1500 sec) even with the ISO at 100. I was perched on a granite boulder almost directly in front of the flow. The pattern in the water streaming over the boulder caught my attention. I could see it even without the benefit of high speed photography, so I wanted to capture it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

A white black phoebe in the American River Parkway in Sacramento, California

A heavily cropped photo of the white black phoebe that Bob had posted a different photo of earlier.  Black phoebes are members of the flycatcher family and tend to sit on a perch and dart out after a passing flying insect to feed on it and then return to the perch.  They usually have white bellies and are black everywhere else. The lack of pigment in the feathers while the eyes still have color means that this isn't albinism, but another condition called leucism, pronounced like "leukism." This condition means the body or feathers aren't producing pigment while the eyes or the bill can have pigment. Pigeons often exhibit this feature. We've seen many examples of white or blotchy white pigeons that are showing this same condition.

This photo was taken in January 2018, and Bob has not seen it so far in 2019.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Yosemite firefall with avalanche, El Capitan and Horsetail Falls

Yosemite has become famous for what's called the firefall effect.  In mid to late February the setting sun's last rays of light turn red and shine on the eastern flank of El Capitan right on a spot where an ephemeral waterfall is flowing, provided there's enough runoff from its small 40-acre watershed.  Of course, the effect also requires a clear horizon in the West.

This image, taken on February 16, 2019, shows the spot on El Capitan where the setting sun's reddening light shines during this time of year.  Although the Horsetail Falls' watershed had lots of snow in it, the weather had been cold enough that not a lot of it was melting off and flowing into the waterfall.  Some water was flowing in the fall, but there were also some spots where snow and ice was stuck on this cliff and would occasionally break off and avalanche.  In the vertical stripe of red above, the separate dash of red on the right near the bottom is actually an avalanche catching the setting sun's burning light.

We didn't catch this image with our still cameras.  This is actually a still frame from the video we shot of the firefall.  We didn't see this avalanche when it happened, but we saw it on our video clips after we left.  From our spot on the south side of the Merced River, we could hear an occasional avalanche, but by the time we heard them, they were done with, since the sound took so long to reach us.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Bear grass in bloom at Mount Rainier National Park

During a June 2006 trip to Washington state to visit family, Rick went to Mount Rainier National Park and got this picture of a bear grass in bloom. Interestingly enough, bear grass is neither a grass nor eaten by bears, so the name doesn't really mean what it sounds like. It's actually a member of the corn lily family of plants. It's other common name is Indian basket grass, which is a reference to how native people used it, but it's still not a grass. It's common throughout the Cascades, northern Sierra Nevada, and the Rockies.

Titus Canyon Road in Death Valley, panorama leading to the pass

This is Rick's old Kia Sportage, during a December 2007 trip to Death Valley. The road is the one-way road that leads to Titus Canyon. It was taken as a panorama to show the road that leads up to the pass. On the other side, the road drops steeply down to the abandoned mining town of Leadville, then on to Titus Canyon. Passenger cars can make the trip when the road is in good condition, but other times make 4-wheel drive and high ground clearance much more desirable. We have seen people back out of this drive and go against the one-way designation of the road in order to get out.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome by half moonlight on a snowy February night

We visited Yosemite Valley to try to capture the "firefall" effect of Horsetail Falls at sunset in mid-February 2019 (pictures of that will be forthcoming).  Afterwards, Bob cross-country skied a lap around Ahwahnee Meadow and noticed that the half moon was lighting up Half Dome in a way that brought it out, while not washing out the stars above it.  He got his tripod and camera and shot these long exposure shots from a corner of the meadow.

While Bob was taking the first photo, the Valley Shuttle bus approached while the shutter was open.  The second photo was without a vehicle approaching.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Great egret, American River Parkway, Sacramento, California

Bob was out for a ride along the American River in Sacramento, California when he saw this great egret out on the hunt for food.  He happened to have his camera with him, so he got these portraits of this bird while it was out stalking.  This long-legged bird was near the 12-mile mark on the bike path. Many of the animals along the river are so used to people, they'll behave normally, so it's a good place to view wildlife up close.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Desert bighorn sheep on red sandstone, Valley of Fire, Nevada

During a camping trip to Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada, a desert bighorn sheep strolled by the campground where we staying. After we followed it for a while, it joined a herd of about 20 consisting of a mix of females and yearlings. At one point, the male scrambled effortlessly up a red sandstone outcrop to get a better view of the terrain and might have checked for predators in the area, before continuing.

Canon EOS 70D, 250 mm focal length, ISO 200, 1/350 sec., f/11. This image has been cropped a little tighter to improve composition.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Lake Solitude, Grand Teton NP, panorama

Here is a panoramic image of Lake Solitude in the Grand Teton National Park wilderness. We stopped here to resupply our water bottles during our backpack trip up Cascade Canyon on our way to Paintbrush Canyon's lower camping zone. The Grand Teton peak appears at the left in this image, just to the left of the darker ridge with snow patches on it. The sun was getting lower on the horizon, so we realized we wouldn't be making it to camp during daylight.

The two vertical streaks on either side of the sun appear to be part of the panorama making process and wasn't something I, Rick, observed while capturing the image.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Starting a Backpacking Trip Along Jenny Lake in Grand Teton

Bob is stopped along the trail to get a photo of Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. This image was taken with Rick's smartphone camera app's panorama feature. You can see the trail we came from to the left in the image and the direction we're going to the right. Also to the right is Grand Teton, Teewinot, and Mount Owen in the Teton Range. For this backpacking trip, we were heading up Cascade Canyon and coming down Paintbrush Canyon, where we spent the night in the lower camping zone. We parked at String Lake and hiked south toward Cascade Canyon, which made the first day a long day of hiking and second day, much shorter. The first day took even longer for us because we kept stopping to take pictures and to enjoy the thimbleberries and huckleberries.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

A Setting Moon Over the Tetons

After waiting in line to get into the Jenny Lake Campground early one morning, we got to witness the setting moon over the Tetons the following morning. Grand Teton itself isn't in the picture, however, the moon is over Mount Owen. The taller mountain to the left is Mount Teewinot. It turns out that these two mountains block your view of Grand Teton, so anyone driving into and hiking around the Jenny Lake area can't see Grand Teton. Rick was just walking around the campground area and happened to look toward the highest mountains and noticed the moon there. So he rushed back to the car to get the camera and get some photos before the moon set.

The image was taken at ISO 100, f/16, 1/60 sec, with a zoom of about 4.5 power.

Remember, it's not just a story, it's a story!