My 2011 Calendar is available online through my website at http://www.tomhaxbyphotos.com/galleries/PostersHTML/Calendar_2011.html . It features some of my best images from throughout Michigan. Here is the back cover which shows the thumbnails for the monthly images.
This was taken from a hot air balloon thanks to Grand Traverse Balloons . This was quite the adventure and a difficult photo expedition. Really like the fall colors - they are not enhanced, and the blue water with the hint of reflected clouds. I would encourage anyone to take the opportunity to go up in a hot air balloon, especially now with the fall colors.
This image was taken on perhaps on one of those days that will stand out for a long time. Rainbows, fantastic sunsets, wild weather on Lake Superior, fall colors - this day had it all. This stunning scene on the Hiawatha National Forest was captured after several hours and was after I was almost ready to pack it in for the morning.
Spending some time in the UP this weekend for the fall colors. Good in some places. This was on Miner's Beach this evening.
Well, today I had chickadees whizzing around my head. The hard part was not flinching. A couple of the images are keepers, and here is one. The ISO was bumped up to about 1,000 and I used a flash to add a little sparkle to the eyes - well at least the eye that is visible.
This was taken on the last day of July. Unusually foggy morning as the fog lasted until well after 11:00 a.m. Lots of dust on my sensor though and it too some cleaning up. This maple tree will be the subject of many more images.
I had the pleasure of photographing at the Second Annual Traverse City Schooner Festival. Friday I got a few shots from the shoreline on West Bay. Saturday it rained most of the day and Sunday it was sunny and bright. Here are 2 that I got on Sunday. Wish this event would happen more often and that there were more schooners. 
really sharp images.
On the second night of the full moon, I captured this image of the moonrise over Traverse City. There were some high clouds partially obscuring the view of the moon.
I have been planting native wildflowers in my yard for a few years now. Some are doing quite well. Who needs to mow grass when you can grow flowers? Of course they become models for my camera when they look their best. This columbine was just outside of my back door. The dark background was part the dark area under my deck and part a few tweaks in Photoshop©.
Here is another from one of my favorite places in the Smokies the day after a night of heavy rainfall. What a great place.
Went to the Pickney Wildlife Refuge on the South Carolina coast yesterday. There were so many birds and one gator. The gator kinda startled me as I did not see it at first and it was close to the trail. Kinda makes you nervous being about 25 feet away from an alligator. Many of the birds were nesting and some had young birds. Unfortunately, I could not get a photo of the young birds.
I was in the Smoky Mountains when the flooding hit Memphis and Nashville, TN, and the Smokies fortunately did not get the flooding rains. However, we did get a lot of rain and it was quite dramatic on one of the streams.
Two photos from the Smoky Mountains today. The photo of the trees was taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Nice that it shows that spring is on it's way, even in the higher elevations. The flower is a crested dwarf iris.
Taken this afternoon in the Great Smoky Mountains. Yes, that is snow on the high peaks of Mt. LeConte. Gatlinburg is just to the left of the image. It is spring in the lower elevations and looks like the last of winter at the high elevations. Am here for a few days for a North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) workshop. Hope that I can get some good images.
Finally, well kinda sorta, spring has arrived. This really was a short winter, as November was mild and March has been warm and dry. However, the longer daylight hours and the warmer temperatures have finally made me want to go out and shoot photos. Here are a couple from Sleeping Bear Dunes:
This photo of an Ibis was taken from a kayak last fall in Florida. Sure wish I were down there again for the spring breeding and nesting season.
A friend is really into collecting guitars and he and I worked on photographing some of them. Using only a penlight for light. There are a few other images which are still a work in progress.
And finally, this image may appear on the cover of Michigan Blue Magazine in late February.
It is so rare to see any color in the landscape these days. Even seeing the sun for more than a few minutes is cause for celebration. So, here is an image that I took just before Halloween. Yes, that is a bee in the sunflower.
