Chasing the light

As I have progressed in my photography I am much more aware of the light around me and the possibilities that are available - and of course, Mother Nature is constantly changing the light so one must always be ready!  Drinking coffee this morning and I see this light on the hills to the west - a hazy day with clouds and haze making the light very soft. Here's three views..Enjoy!

Stuffins

It's been a week since I posted - my how time goes by! Our focus this week has been on the landscaping we have going on, so we went to the rock place and picked out some big rocks for the dry streambed... well, they came today. We are very fortunate to have a landscaper who works very close with us so that makes it so much easier.
It looks like we will have the sprinkler system this week, sod next week and the dry streambed along the way. We bought two large Austrian pines and I planted them - think I would rather wrestle a bear than these pine trees!! They are at the back of the property and really make a difference just by themselves. A gardening shed is on order and should be here next week - one has to have an outbuilding on their property right?!
All the dust and dirt and being in the middle of everything makes life a bit challenging but so nice to see the end in sight!

A couple of shots from today - rocks, topsoil and stuff.

Nature's Gifts

At home yesterday afternoon we were given several gifts from Mother Nature - dramatic skies, lightning, rain, and rainbows! Sometimes all you can do is sit and click cause it is so perfect!

This is worth clicking on to see it bigger! Also note the stray lightning in the middle top of the photo.

Storm coming up from the south.

Looking NE at the play of light on the land and sky.

Double rainbows entertained and then devolved into the single bright light at the bottom.

Exploring

This afternoon Murph and I checked out James Walter Fitzgerald Wildlife Management Area south of Tooele about 25 miles. It's an easy drive down Hwy 36 and we got there and parked and walked across the dike. I'd planned to get Murph in the water, but it was so low that everything was almost quicksand and he didn't get wet.
Great big sky country with storm clouds around - we didn't get any rain there but as I am typing these a rain burst is going over the house! Looks like a lightning caused fire just east of Tooele in Pine Canyon - burning well cause I can see flames from here.
Here's a couple of shots from today!

Pelicans hanging out.

Storm clouds headed our way.

"Hunkered Down" - when the wind picked up ahead of the storm the pelicans just got down.

Around the neighborhood

An early morning rise was cool and comfortable on the front porch watching the light slowly rise behind the Oquirrh's. Murph and I meandered through town, then down to Stockton to view the burnt area from the fire yesterday. Then over past Rush Lake to 'Raptor Way' which runs down to Rush Valley and over Clover Springs and back up the Dugway road. We saw a LOT of hawks, many of which seemed young and had markings that were not immediately identifiable. A couple of them are below. Murphy had a good swim at Horseshoe Springs on the way up and we saw something that must have been there for a while - but I had not seen before - the Shoe Tree! Sometimes you are looking so hard for one thing that you miss the obvious!

These clouds/smoke were over the Oquirrh's yesterday morning but before the Stockton fire.

This guy looks like a real doofus!

The (now) infamous Shoe Tree!

Dragonfly at Horseshoe Springs - poetry in motion

This hawk looks awake and alive!

Horseshoe Springs visit

I had been promising Murph a visit to Horseshoe Springs so after dropping Diana at the airport we headed west. A warm day but not quite as bad as yesterday.
One pair of black-necked stilts was left at the springs and they buzzed us a couple of times, then went away. Mostly there were dragonflies and deer flies, the latter of which bite quite hard! We did see two large carp and they swam away quite quickly right under Murphy's nose - I thought (hoped) he would jump in after them but it was not to be!
On the way home a young hawk caught her dinner and let us take a couple of shots!

Big sky country again - always opens my heart!

Nature creates art - we just have to see it and enjoy it.

Heaven for a black lab is fresh cool water on a hot day!

This hawk was wary of us and then...

....off she went with her dinner.

Colors of the golden hour

While the super moon has been the focus this week, the golden hour continues to produce much beauty as shown below. Beautiful sunset photos are often a "dime a dozen" but I still love the beauty in the moment.

Antelope Island in the background with Ben Lomond way back!

The moon shone bright this morning

Summer scenes

Our house is situated so that we look out the front to the Oquirrh's and the back to the Stansbury's.  The early morning light on the Stansbury's is often breathtaking, sometimes just neat but never boring. In the mornings I sit looking at the Oquirrh's and marvel at the intricacy of the formations that are millions of hears old.
During a rainstorm in the valley Murph and I drove over to Timpie Springs and waded in the fresh spring water stream while enjoying the landscape and clouds.

Sunrise on the Stansbury Mountains

Sunsetting on the Oquirrh Mountains.

The windstorm yesterday let us know in advance that there was wind coming.

Ancient rocks by Timpie Springs.

Ever at the ready Murphy keeps us safe!

Rain!

Yesterday was a wonderful mix of heat and rain and wind resulting in some quite dramatic landscape scenes. Murphy and I took a ride in between showers and waded in the Grantsville reservoir followed by a circle tour including Rush Lake, Stockton, and back to home. Here's a few of the shots I liked..

Murphy watching the rain from inside the garage.

Horses don't get to come in out of the rain - unless they really want to.  These guys just went on eating! Sun on Antelope Island in the distance.

Looking east over the Oquirrh's from the Grantsville reservoir at the base of the Stansbury mountains.

Stansbury Island in a mix of rain and sun!

One of the adages in photography is to always look behind you - we were leaving the reservoir and looked back at the Stansbury Mts to see this combination.

A bit farther south we could see the storm coming up from the south. Rush Lake is in the left middle and the mountains on the left are the end of the Oquirrh's.

Home again in time to catch a game of tic-tac-toe in the skies!

Mountain scenes

Uinta mountain cabin stay Friday and Saturday yielded a number of nice shots - here's a couple for you.

Beautiful views and weather.

Inquisitive visitors!

Off to dinner - hawk has mouse in it's claws.

Day Lily's

We brought over 100 day lilies with us - thanks to Katy Nicolich.  Many of them are blooming and most will bloom in their pots this year. As the landscaping progresses we (Diana decides and I plant) will place them wherever.
Since just looking at a flower can be repetitious, here's another view...

Exploring the valley

Diana, Murphy and I took yesterday afternoon and drove around some areas in the valley that we hadn't been.  First was Pine Canyon, which looks like a wonderful place for hiking as well as for landscape photography as it sits nestled in the Oquirrhs overlooking the valley.
Next up was Middle Canyon which runs over the top of the Oquirrh's to Herriman and the Salt Lake Vally, albeit the road across the top is dirt.  We only went part way up but really enjoyed it - 10 minutes from the house! Lots more to explore!!
Here's a few shots along the way!

Looking north from Pine Canyon.

She watched us for quite a while.

North again, this time with some cloud action.

Speaking of cloud action, here's what the sun treated us to early in the sunset process.  Later on all the clouds were wonderfully pink and orange.