Dakota's Nature Photos

Friday, December 31, 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Snow-Capped Pine Needles


Did you notice my new watermark? I designed it this evening and I thought it turned out pretty neat. Let me know what you think.

Two Horse Power Transportation

Winter Coat


I love the lighting in the picture. It seems to give everything a warm feel even amidst the bitter cold of winter.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

A New Version of an Old Photo


This picture will no doubt look familiar to some, but I decided to change the way the text is presented so it will stand out more. The old version had black text against a gray and uneven background, making it somewhat difficult to distinguish. I like this version much better. How about you?

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Flaming Nail

 
 

Monday, December 27, 2010

A (Late) Christmas Gift

Here is a little video I put together last night with some of my more recent photos. This has to be of my favorite songs, and I picked out some of my favorite shots, so I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out. Hope you enjoy it!

Drip, Drop...



I enjoyed taking advantage of my new tripod this evening by getting this neat photo of a water droplet falling from an icicle. It's a tough shot, but it's worth it if you have the patience to take a dozen or so shots before getting the perfect one.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Humility

 

I recently started reading the book Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney. My mind has been contemplating humility a lot as a result of this book, and I couldn't help but think this verse and photo went perfectly together.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

White Christmas

 

Merry Christmas! I was so happy that we were blessed with snow this 25th of December, and have spent quite a bit of time today out enjoying the beautiful day.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

8 Turtle Doves, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

 

Yesterday this whole flock of doves landed in our yard and spent a little while snacking on some bird seed that had fallen to the ground. Thankfully they stuck around long enough for me to get a decent picture.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Watch the Birdie!

 

Birds are one of my favorite things to photograph, because (a) there is always a bird you haven't yet photographed, and (b) it's always a challenge. I really like this shot because the lighting and focus turned out wonderfully, not to mention that it's very difficult to capture a bird on camera without it looking dry and boring.

Peeling Pine

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Bringing out the Big Guns


I took this photo during a hunting trip I went on a while back of my new rifle. It was a great trip, not only because I had a successful hunt, but because some of my best photos were taken there. What stands out in my mind the most is the gorgeous sunsets I saw while there. I could have literally spent an entire day photographing this gorgeous piece of property.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Hungry


When picking a verse for this photo, I was torn between this Scripture and Psalm 92:14 which reads, "...they shall be fat and flourishing." J/K...

Friday, December 17, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Mountain Stream


I love this view of water streaming down this gorgeous mountain. There's been many times that we've hiked to the top of this mountain and just sat there looking out for miles and miles at the beauty of God's Creation.

Snowflakes

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Baby It's Cold Outside!

There Arose Such a Ladder


My Grandma has this old, wooden ladder leaning against a tree in her flower garden that has almost become part of the tree itself. I've always wanted to capture it on camera, but I've never really been able to figure out a good way to photograph it until today. I thought this shot turned out kind of neat.

Thawing Out

Monday, December 13, 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Somebody's Frozen the Waterhole!

Tiny Christmas Trees



I was so excited that we finally got our first snow, but I wasn't prepared for the extreme temperatures I'd have to deal with in order to get any pictures of it. I would take about 5 pictures, and then have to put my hands in my coat pocket to regain feeling in my fingers. Nevertheless, I have some neat photos to share with you guys that I think were well worth the freezing temps.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Wild Grapes


This is a photo I took back in July of some wild grapes I spotted during a camping trip of ours. Apparently the birds had missed this particular cluster, because they were much larger than any others in the surrounding area. I had to climb up onto a nearby bench, but I was finally able to get a satisfactory shot.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Purple

Sunday, December 5, 2010

New Kind of Bird?


Squirrels love birdseed. This is fine for photographers who enjoy snapping pictures of anything and everything they can, but birdwatchers in our area try everything within their power to keep these critters out of the bird feeders. As you can see from the picture, they can clean a person out fairly quickly.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Finger-Licking Good


The gray squirrel is a common little animal here where I live, but I actually took this photo at my cousin's birthday party yesterday. They had so many of them that I could have gotten a decent shot with my eyes closed.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Nature Getting a Perm

 

I thought this photo I took tonight was pretty neat. I really like the silk-like strands running all over the background, and the brownish strand that runs along the edge of each blade looks really neat to me. 

By the way, this is a yucca, in case you were wondering.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Veins

 

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Stairway to Heaven

 

I know I’ve read it at some point in my life, but I wasn’t familiar with this verse until I began searching for one to go with this shot. I really really like it.

Migrating Geese

 

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Collared Lizard

 

I took this picture several months ago of what I believe is an Eastern Collared Lizard. They were quite plentiful throughout this little glade, and I didn’t have much trouble in getting a decent photo of one.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Psalm 147:8

 

Discs

 

Already in awe of the gorgeous sunset, I walked past this farm equipment Friday and knew it would make the perfect picture. I hurriedly put my stuff down and got my camera out while there was still enough color in the sky to give this shot a really neat background.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Citrus Sunset

 
Here’s another shot of the same sunset from my last photo. I really like both of them and couldn’t decide which one was the best and so I posted both!

Great Ball of Fire

 

Wow! I just got back from a two day hunting trip up north, and I am so glad I brought my camera. I came within an inch of leaving it at home, but after debating it a bit I decided to take it along. This is a great view of the sunset that took place directly behind me early this evening. This photo is 100% unedited, coming straight off my camera. I’ve never before seen a sunset where you could look directly into the sun itself without so much as squinting your eyes. It was truly amazing!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Ouch!

 

These thorns are part of the same rosebush as my last photo. I actually got poked a couple times trying to get the perfect shot of this plant. 

Thirsty Rose

 

I snapped this photo early this afternoon of a late-blooming rose near our house. It was the only one left on the plant, and I’m glad I remembered to go check it out before it withered away.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Leafscape

 

No need to be jealous. This is a photo of the trees around here about a month ago, but I’m sure that by now they are bare like everybody else’s. We went to a conservation look-out tower near our home, and it provided me with a great vantage point to capture some beautiful landscapes such as this.

Print Your Photos for Pennies Each!

I normally don’t post stuff like this, but I just wanted to let you guys know about winkflash.com - a website that will print your photos for an amazingly cheap price and ship them to your home. A 4x6 costs $0.08, a 5x7 costs $0.25, and an 8x10 is only $1.49. Their site amazingly disproves the idea that “you get what you pay for.” I have to say that I’ve paid much more for photo printing in the past and have never been so happy with the quality of the image. I can honestly say they are significantly better than snapfish, and even slightly better than Wal-Mart’s new HP kiosks.

In case you’re still unsure, they offer 50 free prints to each new member. All you have to do is pay the $0.99 shipping cost. I received mine just a few minutes ago, and they are officially my new photo printer. And by the time you factor in their free image editing software and unlimited photo storage, it is more than worth the 5 minutes it takes to sign up. I highly recommend it!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sparrow Little Food?

 

Back in July, this sparrow wouldn’t leave until he’d picked up every last crumb from around our campsite. Hopefully this isn’t all he had to eat that day.

Make a Wish

 

I was surprised to see this dandelion so late in the year, and the late evening sun made for a great photo opportunity.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Watch

 

“Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

                                                                -Mark 13:35-37