Views of approaching thunderstorm from central Missouri

•  Clouds_02 
•  Clouds_01 

there is always theCool of the Morning 

[This is a panorama using 5 photos taken with 18mm lens.]

I thought I'd get here in time for the challenge, guess I missed it.  Anyway, here's one I took last night between storms.   stormy spring 

Hope y'all enjoy!

 Clouds Over a Kansas Grain Elevator I took the advice given on a prior photo of this scene and I certainly appreciate it. I had cropped it and then did a lot of work using Photoshops clone tool and paint tool along with some enhancements with filters. I left the foreground rather dark because it does not add to the photo except to create a foundation leading your eye to the clouds then from the clouds to the grain elevator. This is what was  Kansas Grain Elevator looked like prior to Clouds Over a Kansas Grain Elevator.

Duneshot

I thought to myself, "How do I photograph critters in such a way that I capture their essential critterness without taking an average, seen-it-a-million-times-doesn't-say-anything-unique-about-the-critter critter photograph?" So, even though the Houston heat index was over 100 degrees, I set out in search of critters. . .

Here's my first attempt for your consideration:

 Bat in Flight 

 Fozzy Bear Explains the Facts of Life to Mr. Rabbit. 

 Rover Bounds After His Quarry. 

 Troll Lectures, Hours and Hours of Troll Lectures 

 Samaritan Pigeon Arbitrates Dispute Between Lenny and Coleman (edit:  upon reflection of Leslie's comment)

 Tina the Cat Spies an Unsuspecting Lizard 

As usual, enjoy (or not).

Sure has been a lot of Landscape photos shown lately, hope no one is getting tired of seeing them..to me there is always something different in each one, even when same area is shown by so many different perspectives/people.  This past year there has not been a lot of pics by me, am hoping that this year will be different.  Of the scenes taken this is one of my better ones (at least to me)--taken on Boston trip in Oct.09

 Landscape 

A prayer for this year is that we all see an improvement in all aspects of our life/ better Good Will toward Mankind, and please be good to yourself.

Atlantic shoreline just before rain -->  Shoreline View

And now for some comments -- this was taken with a Sony point-and-shoot on a very dark day.  Every time I try to lighten the photo it gets grainy.  Any suggestions?

Well, I've gone on another long stretch without posting.  I thought I'd share a few from my trip to Oahu in January.

Rough Seas

In the Clouds

For the challenge - Palm Symmetry

Thanks for looking.  Don't let the cannons keep you from commenting honestly!

You can definitely count me among those who are not-so-much b/w fans - rarely take them, and rarely see photos I think are at their best without color. 

However, I am up for a challenge, so here are a few attempts:

   guitar                   weeds                     clouds

What, you ask, does that have to do with the title??  This last one is one I thought begged to be in b/w.  It is a sculpture at the United Nations in NYC.

I've been going through my photos and found a few I hadn't posted yet.

 ChantoClouds  Winnie2  cowcity 

Suggestions are always welcome.  Thanks for looking.

Here is a few pictures i've put together that last couple of days. these are my first semi-decent attempts at HDR using 'PhotoMatix.'

 cloudynight_hdr               moon             

the next one i took just one exposure and layered it on top of itself in PSElements2.0

                                               cloudynight

As Karen and I enjoyed dinner with my sister and brother-in-law at Newport Shores Restaurant, located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Port Washington, WI, we noticed lightning over the land some distance to the north - perhaps over Sheboygan, WI. As we ate, we watched the lightning moving ever eastward - first over the lake and then toward Michigan on the far side of the lake. It finally disappeared off into the skies of Michigan. As we were leaving the restaurant, we marveled at the dramatic sky in the east. I asked my sister and brother-in-law to let me take a couple shots of them. They wanted to pose as you see in the thumb, and then I asked them to turn and look out over the lake. The sky was breathtakingly beautiful.

 Looking out over Lake Michigan