Secret place

Here's another place that we snowshoe by on our trail.

Happy Anniversary Snowshoe

We went out this morning with Deb.  It was lovely.  The sky was blue and the snow was perfect.

60mm macro.

Yet more snowflakes

The conditions continue to be absolutely perfect.

More snowflakes from this morning

New Hobby - snowflake watching

For the first time - ever - I tried to photograph snowflakes.  I got this great book called Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide to Snowflakes.  It's amazing.  First you go catch your sample with a colored board - black works best.  Then you go in your garage where everything is nice and freezing.  You transfer the snowflake to a polarizer, then you shine a bright, diffused light through it and take the picture.  Afterwards, you celebrate by eating a piece of pie that was meant for another party, but since you're in a blizzard, you're not going anywhere!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  We have a blizzard going on outside.  Big, big drifts in my backyard.  How fun is that!  Well, this frost is pretty fun too.  Here are a few shots.  Converted them to black/white, since it is a totally gray day outside anyway.

Swans at Squaw Creek - one last visit of 2009

Check out this picture - be sure to scroll right at is is longer than most computer screens.  This was the only gathering of birds that we saw today.  The white birds are beautiful trumpeter swans.  How many eagles do you count?  Notice the spacing of them.  They have the entire flock captive, like police.

Muskrat mounds.

We drove down to Squaw Creek today before the storm rolls in.  It was sort of foggy and the light was diffused when we were down there.  Most of the birds were gone, but there were still a few swans.  The frozen lakes with the muskrat mounds were interesting to see too.

Snow Wave at work

I was greeted to this structure when I got to work.  Thanks Holly for the call!

State Capitol

Deb and I went down today to look at the Christmas tree.  This hall is very "cold".  However, we met the tour director, John, and he let us into the Court Chamber.  It was much "warmer".  Thanks John!

10-22 lens...not much light, so very high ISO (3,200)

Afternoon delight

70-200 F4 IS - wow is that ever a beautiful lens.

Walking in a winter wonderland

70-200 F4 IS lens.  It is still beautiful outside.  I think we might have a white Christmas this year!

Karron came out to the lake at 7 degrees below zero!

It was only 70 degrees lower than her "ideal" weather, but we went out anyway.  Saw lots of nice ice on everything.  I thought the silky seeds of the milk weed provided interesting contrast to the ice.

Sunroom at 7 degrees below zero

The windows that are opposite the heat source frost up inside.  Pretty neat!

Christmas on 84th St