Still at home

Having the bird feeder is at least keeping me shooting until my next trip. I saw a Baltimore Oriole for the first time in my life in Illinois.

Only have to wait until June before my trip to Grand Canyon and Monument Valley. But in the meantime I'll do what I can here.

in my own backyard

I recently set up a bird feeder in my backyard. We have a large variety of birds in the area but they never stay still long enough or in one area in order to get a shot. The bird feeder is the solution. I attached a number of branches to the feeder so my shots don't include the feeder itself. After only a day in the yard I have, goldfinches, house finch, cardinal, redwing blackbird, and a woodpecker. Didn't get a shot of the woodpecker though. He was here and gone in about 3 seconds.

Color Efex Pro

You just never know when you have to make a quick decision. We were driving south on the highway from Albuquerque when I saw this group of trees. It was only accessible from the highway. We pulled onto the shoulder and shot from the window of our car. We found out later that these trees had burned last year. I finished the photo using Color Efex Pro. A quick way to get a cool sepia look.

D300 70-200VR