Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada

Cathedral Gorge, Nevada

Last winter I was on a photo shoot with a group of photographers to an old west town in southern Utah called Modena.  (HERE and HERE are posts of Modena.)  After we were done there, several of us traveled a few miles across the border to this state park in Nevada where this photo was taken.

Gunlock, Utah #2

Upon request, here is the previous post zoomed in and cropped to a vertical orientation.

Gunlock, Utah

Gunlock, Utah

I have not done any outside photography for several months, and finally today I had to get outside, if only for a few minutes.  My challenge was to find a scene to photograph under the following conditions:

*  I only had about 45 minutes to find something of interest to photograph

*  I only had time to travel within 10 miles of home

*  It had to be a landscape and not a macro

*  It is winter here and that means there was no snow, no flowers, no leaves or anything else really green.  In other words, the scenery is mostly brown.

*  In addition, the sky today was mostly covered with high, gray boring clouds, with occasional patches of blue.

The best I could do was reflections in a small pond.  Oh well, it still felt great to be outside taking pictures!

Salt Lake Temple

Salt Lake Temple in Winter

I don't like winter! I don't like cold, snowy scenes unless I'm viewing them through a window as I'm sitting by a nice warm fireplace! Therefore, my winter photo collection is slim. And so this photo of the Salt Lake Temple is a first for me. Most of my pictures of the temple include the bright, colorful flowers of spring. And the only other winter photos I have of this temple are surrounded by a gazillion sparkly Christmas lights. But, somehow, the soft, muted neutral colors on this day seemed to match my mood. Haven't decided if it is a keeper or not.

My 13th Grandchild!

Welcome to the world, my sweet, little grandson.  

He is perfectly adorable and he is my 10th grandson, and 13th grandchild.

Nature Photo Challenge #7

Antelope Valley, California

For my last 'challenge' photo, I thought I'd post something to remind us that spring and summer will come again! This photo was taken in the Antelope Valley region of California's high desert. Often these hills are barren, however, in spring when the previous weather patterns and rain fall have been just right, they burst into riotous colors of blue, purple, gold, yellow, red and orange, dominated with California poppies and lupine that cover miles. It is a glorious sight. This post is something different with a bit of a painterly look.

Nature Photo Challenge #6

Sedona, Arizona

Sedona has some of the most beautiful red rock formations in the Southwest.

Nature Photo Challenge #5

Moorea, South Pacific

My photo today is of beautiful Moorea in the South Pacific. It is top of my list if you are looking for a small island paradise, with towering, craggy, lush cliffs and mountains, pristine turquoise water, minimal tourists, yet just enough accommodations from modest to luxury, and just a short ferry ride from Tahiti.

Nature Photo Challenge #4

Manukau, New Zealand

New Zealand is surrounded by the most picturesque beaches, bays, and coastline scenes.  They are clean, pristine and usually deserted.  Amazingly beautiful places.

Nature Photo Challenge #3

Cannon Beach, Oregon

 

It was just an ordinary day when we were there, but when the sun set, the magic happened!!





 

Nature Photo Challenge #2

Green Tree Frog

Costa Rica

If you are looking for some of the most colorful, plentiful wildlife on the planet, then Costa Rica is the place to go. This is a red eye tree frog. Pretty photogenic, don't you think?

Nature Photo Challenge #1

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

A facebook friend challenged me to post a nature image each day for seven days, which I have been doing.  Since I have put photography 'on the back burner' for awhile, I thought this would be a good challenge for me to look back at some favorite memories and pictures, and get me excited to do more shooting in 2016!

(Thought I'd post my 7 images here as well.)