Al Larson Photography

I would not like to have been present when this activity took place. Evidence shows that lightning struck this tree during an electrical storm. The tree stands on a hillside with few neighbors. The bolt traveled down the trunk knocking a corner from a nestbox hanging there. A few chips from the box were located on the ground below and a larger piece was found some 15 feet away. Sap flowed freely from the wound as evidenced by the drippings on the box top. Luckily the box contained only an abandoned rodent nest.

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Here is a night photo, shot in my backyard. The spotlight highlights the bridge, oak tree and the ornamental windmill. No filters were used. The warm sepia hue is probably due to the incandescent  spotlight. If you look closely you will see animal tracks all through the new fallen snow. Several elk had been carousing around the yard a short time earlier.

It’s that time of year again when Autumn colors burst forth in all their beauty. This year, however, has been an exception. It seems as though most of the deciduous leaves dried  at the first frost and withered away. After several periods of rain some trees and shrubs that had not yet lost their foliage began to turn to typical Fall colors.

This small cluster of shrubs situated on a barren dry hillside prompted me to break out the camera and fire away. It was several hundred yards away so I cranked up the zoom to about 370 mm. It almost looks like a large bouquet of flowers