Trees, Turtles and a Cold Rolled Steel Crane

Steve and I took off this morning to scout locations for shooting sunrises and sunsets. We were also looking for good cottonwood trees. Some of these trees are already leafing out so our time is limited to get the great look that a naked cottonwood presents. A quick stop at the Rio Grande Nature Center, lunch and a visit to a camera store rounded out our day.

As the day progressed the sky became ominous and the wind really kicked up. We headed home, passing semi-trucks that had pulled over to wait out the wind.

Enjoy the photos.

Have you ever seen the flowers that the decorate the cottonwood in the spring?  Me neither.  Here you go.

 

 

Steve took full advantage of the dreary stormy skies, turning this black and white into a more sinister view than my first photo.

 

These turtles were sunning on a log just outside the windows of the comfortable viewing room at the Rio Grande Nature Center.  Good thing as the birds and ducks were few.

 

 

The statue of the crane, above, was one of the most difficult shots I have taken in a while. The background was just horrible for showing off such a wonderful creation. Steve fared better because he got in real close and then got tricky by placing an 8mm fisheye lens below the cranes making the sky the back ground. He has a huge backdrop curtain that he uses for shooting cars and we may just try putting that behind the statue tomorrow!

 

Sadly, the local camera shop did not have anything that we needed or wanted. Bummer!! But, we saved some money and came home happy campers from a great day of companionship, photo talk and learning new things.

Hope your weekend is shaping up just as you wanted.