More Smokies Images

Well, I am home now and will be processing images for a while longer. Here are a few more... mostly wildflowers. I know I am getting better at macro photography. However, it is very difficult, and I still feel that I have more improvements to make. Mostly in the areas of getting sharper images and getting better at checking backgrounds for distracting elements. Getting sharp macro images of wildflowers is tough because the flowers are always dancing in the wind. Pictured here are trillums grouped with bishops cap and white phacelia. This was taken along the Porter Creek Trail. The fire pink (red flower) was taken along Big Creek, which is one of my favorite places in the Smokies. And finally, the wild geranium (below) was taken along the trail leading to the Ramsey Cascades.

Greetings from the Smokies

Greetings from the Great Smoky Mountains. I took the opportunity to enjoy an early spring before things green up in the northwoods. So, off to the Smokies. It has been a bit of a late spring in the there. However, there have been many things in bloom. Most of my photos were close-ups of wildflowers, but I did get a few of the streams such as this one on Tremont Creek. The wildflowers in the Smokies are phenomenal this time of year. This grape vine leads through a carpet of trilliums. Other images also caught my eye such as the raindrops on the leaves of a blue cohosh.

April 2009 Newsletter

My April 2009 Newsletter is now available online at http://www.tomhaxbyphotos.com/Newsletter/April_2009_Newsletter.htm

Moonlight on the Manistee

Last month when the moon was just past full and the moonset was after sunrise I did something that I have not done before. I took a morning hike by moonlight!! I hit the trail at approximately 6:30 a.m., which in early March it is still quite dark. On snowshoes I hiked about a mile to the overlook on the Manistee River. What a great experience it was. I was thinking of the Van Morrison song "Moondance" as I hiked through the snow lit by the moonlight. As I arrived the scene was of the moon reflected in the Manistee River from the overlooking bluffs. As the only access here in the winter is via snowshoes, skis or snowmobile, and being very early in the day when most are still sleeping, I had it all to myself. It was quiet and peaceful and really not all that cold. I took many photos as the sun rose to the east and the moon set to the west. I would like to say that I got great images from the trip, but this was more of an experiment and adventure. However, the adventure was the best part. I hiked out to bright sunlight glistening on the winter snow, feeling energized and excited by the morning adventure. Hungry too from the good workout.

March Newsletter Online

My March Newsletter is now available online at http://www.tomhaxbyphotos.com/Newsletter/March_2009_Newsletter.htm As an extra here is something new for me. The image below is a panorama of 4 photos stitched together from the Three Rivers Petroglyphs area in New Mexico. This is the Tularosa Basin just north of Alamogordo New Mexico. Click on the image to see the larger version.

Spring is hopefully just around the corner.

Hawk Identification

I need an ID on this hawk. Maybe some type of broad winged hawk. This was taken on the Wacissa River in Florida several years ago.

Anyone know let me know at thaxby02@yahoo.com

Back in Michigan

Meanwhile, back in Michigan it is still freezing cold. So, I am back to doing bird photos. Here is a red poll from just off of my back deck. I did a little more manipulation in photoshop than I might normally do to tone down the clutter in the background. Oh well, it is what it is. Anybody that is good at bird identification. Is this a Hoary Red Poll?