1. Daily shots for the dailies forum on Dgrin

Dailies

These images are ones shot to post in the daily community on smugmug. I've been participating in this community for about twelve years. For the first few years, I tried to always post a shot taken either that day or the day before. Now, although I try to shoot everyday, I don't necessarily post the images on the same day they are shot.
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A male great blue heron has just returned to the nest with a branch, which he is presenting to his mate.  This image is best viewed in the largest size.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the shot of the aloe seedheads.  Enjoy your weekend!
1901 / 1959

A male great blue heron has just returned to the nest with a branch, which he is presenting to his mate. This image is best viewed in the largest size.

Thanks for the comments on the shot of the aloe seedheads. Enjoy your weekend!

great blue heronblue heronheronbirdwildlifefowlanimalnaturenestnestingmatearizona

  • A male great blue heron has just returned to the nest with a branch, which he is presenting to his mate.  This image is best viewed in the largest size.<br />
<br />
Thanks for the comments on the shot of the aloe seedheads.  Enjoy your weekend!
  • Seedheads of aloe; best viewed in the largest sizes.  Photographed at the Desert Botanical Garden near Scottsdale, AZ.<br />
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Thanks for all the nice comments on the colorful daisy shot.  Much appreciated that you took the time to comment.  We're having a garage sale with our two sets of kids, so we're going to spend most of today helping to get everything organized and priced for the sale, which begins on Friday.  We took the opportunity to clean out all our closets and pare down a bit.  It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate.  Hopefully, someone will think our "trash" is treasure.  Hope your Thursday is a nice one.
  • I'm not sure what kind of daisy this is, but I loved their bright colors; photographed at the Desert Botanical Garden near Scottsdale; best viewed in the larger sizes<br />
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Thanks to those of you who took the time to comment on my shot of the mother fox.  I spent about four hours staked out near the den today but did not get a glimpse of her or the kits today.  I'll try again tomorrow.  Hope your week is going well and that you have a great day today!
  • Mama Fox - I still have not gotten a chance to shoot the babies, but I got this shot of the mom this morning.  She sat and watched me watching her for quite a while, then got up and went about her business.  Later, we saw her go by with a rabbit, but I did not have a chance to get a shot of that.  Best viewed in the largest sizes. The light near her den is really quite nice in the morning.<br />
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Thanks for the response to my wildflower shot.  I'm spending much of the day processing the wedding pics, which is going to take a while.  Hope you enjoy your day!
  • Wildflowers along the road between Mesa and Globe, Arizona in late March.  They really do need to be viewed in the larger sizes.  The pink flowers are a variety of penstemon and there are also some California poppies, as well as some other type of daisy and a few others that I cannot identify.<br />
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I could not believe my hummingbird was #1 all day long.  You all have really made my week, with two #1s in the same week.  I think that may be the first time that has ever happened to me.  Anyway, thanks a bunch.  It really inspires me to keep doing my best.  Of course, like nearly all of us, photography is such a passion that I don't think I could stop if I wanted to.  Spring has clearly inspired many of us and there are so many wonderful images.<br />
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A couple of you wondered how I captured the shot of the hummer.  I did not do anything special, other than stake out a spot where I knew hummers would come with my 400mm lens and wait for opportunities.  I'm pretty patient, though, and willing to wait hours, if necessary.  It does require a really sunny day with that big lens, in order to use a high enough speed to catch the hummer in motion.  Otherwise, I get more noise than I like to have.  Some of you have asked about my luck with the foxes...so far, no luck, but I'm still trying every day.  Sooner or later I figure I'll get lucky.<br />
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Hope you week gets off to a good start.
  • The flower of the champas de cardon cactus, which I found to be exquisite.  I hope the image does justice to it.<br />
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Thanks for the nice comments on the flying egret.  Buckwheat is, indeed, home safe and drugged, but it was a pretty hairy day.  When we took him in this morning, we had about six inches of new snow with the snow still falling heavily.  It turned out that they lost the power at the vets during his surgery and they had to complete it using a flashlight for illumination.  We had a tough time getting back to the vets to pick him up, as, by then, we had about twelve inches of snow.  We couldn't get up our own driveway so had to carry him up, which wasn't a big deal.  Anyway, he seems to have come through the operation fine.  His incision is quite a bit bigger than I expected and he is on antibiotics and pain meds.  I have a wedding to shoot today, so my daughter and her family are going to take care of Buckwheat and Willoughby.  We are expected to get another six inches during the night, but, hopefully, some of it will melt starting around nine o'clock this morning.  This kind of late April snow is typical here in Colorado and it usually does not hang around very long.  Before the snow started, there were tornado warnings all around and lots of hail fell.  Wild weather!<br />
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Hope you guys enjoy your weekend!
  • A flying egret; best viewed in the largest sizes<br />
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Thanks for the comments on my shot of the vintage Corvette.  Much appreciated.<br />
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We are taking Buckwheat in to have a growth removed from his chest this morning.  It would normally be a pretty straightforward procedure, but, as he is nearly eleven and has a slight heart murmur, it is a bit more serious and I'm concerned.  He is my sweetie pie and I'd be devastated in anything happened to him.
  • The license plate says it all - A vintage Corvette convertible.  When we were on our way to visit some galleries in Scottsdale one afternoon, we passed a little lot where there was a small show of some vintage Corvettes.  On our way back to our campsite, we pulled in and I quickly grabbed a few shots.  I almost missed out because the cars were in the process of leaving.  This was one of the nicest at the little shot and I decided to play around with it a bit in PS.  One of the things I like about the image is the various starbursts I captured.  Hope you like it.<br />
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I have to say I was amazed at the response to my yellow columbine which kept it in the number one spot all day.  I guess I'm not a good judge of my own photos, since I thought it was a nice shot but nothing too great.  Anyway, you all certainly made me feel good today and I appreciate all the support.  And, to think that Maryann's shot of a columbine really had about the same number of comments as mine.  I loved her shot with the water drops.<br />
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It is raining here but I hope it clears out enough that I can stake out a fox's den about a half block from my house.  I spent 2.5 hours camped out near there today and did not get a single glimpse of the fox or babies.  But, I'm determined.  The kits are quite young, so, hopefully, before they leave the den I'll be able to get some decent shots.  Have a good day, everyone!
  • Yellow columbine; best viewed in the largest sizes.  I admit I like the detail and the light on this one.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the flying shot of the hawk.  I always appreciate that folks take the time to comment.  It really keeps me encouraged and inspired.
  • A prairie falcon in flight over the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico; best viewed in the largest size.  I've identified this bird as a prairie falcon, but if anyone has a different identification, please let me know, as I'd never seen this kind of bird before.  <br />
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Thanks so much for the kind comments on my black and white shot of the Grand Canyon.  I was very lucky that for the three days I was there shooting in March the visibility into the canyon was quite good.  A couple of years ago when we spent a week on the North Rim, it was fairly hazy most of the time.<br />
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Hope your week got off to a good start.  It was a lovely day here and I spent much of it cleaning up my perennial beds, although I'm only about 1/6 finished with the job.  It is so rewarding to see everything starting to come up.  Enjoy your day.
  • A variety of mimosa; must be viewed in the largest sizes to see the detail.  This is not a really big bloom, but is probably about an inch across.  The shrub generally seems to stay fairly short, just a couple of feet tall.<br />
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Thanks so much for all your encouragement on my shot of the gambel quail.  Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Our Saturday was quite chilly and dreary, with rain off an one.  However, we need the moisture, so we cannot complain.
  • A gambel quail, photographed at the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona; several of these little guys were running around under the tables in the outside snack area; although they did not seem very intimidated by the people, they were moving rapidly all the time, so it was difficult to capture a sharp shot; best viewed in the largest sizes.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the barrel cactus and the mescal bean flower.  I really appreciate the time you take to make the comments.  Hope you enjoy your weekend.  It sounds like our weather is not going to be too nice.
  • The flowers on this barrel cactus have to fight for space with the spines; view in the largest sizes and see the downy white stuff at the base of the flowers.<br />
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Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my shot of the Grand Canyon.  They inspire me to continue to try to improve my skills.  I did not post a shot for Thursday because I had to get up so early for my spinal cortisone injection and then the sedative made me sleep for most of the day.  So, I hope you forgive me for posting two shots today.
  • Aloe buds; best viewed in the largest sizes; this shot is one of my personal favorites of all the shots I took at the Desert Botanical Garden near Scottsdale, Arizona.  I'm not sure what it is that I find so appealing about it, but it seems to say something to me about purity and innocence.<br />
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I appreciate the comments on my shot of the Allan Houser sculpture and the cactus.  It has been a long day.  I'm going to post this and hit the sack.  Later today I'm going to meet a couple whose wedding I'm going to photograph.  Hope your day is gratifying.
  • A sculpture by Allan Houser at the Desert Botanical Garden in Arizona; best viewed in the largest sizes.  I thought this wonderful sculpture benefited from its placement in the Sonoran desert part of the garden.<br />
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Thanks to those of you who commented on my shot of the rainbow in the Grand Canyon.  Hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready for the week.
  • Blue anemones and pansies; please view this image in the largest sizes.  The detail is really nice, I think.  These were photographed at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Globe, Arizona.  Nothing is blooming in Colorado Springs, as yet, although I did see a couple of crabapples today that were starting to leaf out, so spring is coming.<br />
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Thanks so much for the comments on the gazania.  They are such spectacular flowers.  My grandson, Spencer, has his tenth birthday party today.  They are doing a theme of Pinewood Derby and his dad has built a regulation size pinewood derby track in their basement.  Spencer and his dad and mom have carved out 15 wooden cars, all different designs, but all weighing exactly the same.  Each is painted a different color.  Each kid will get to choose the wheels for one of the cars which they will race and then get to keep.  His dad has also made a huge spirograph, which I hope to get some shots of to share.  Quite an amazing contraption.<br />
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Do something fun and relaxing this weekend.  Hope your weather is as nice as ours is supposed to be.  I'll catch up on all your shots in the evening.  It seems like everyone has really been inspired by spring lately.  So MANY fantastic images!
  • Gazania daisy; best viewed in the largest sizes.  Photographed at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Globe, Arizona.<br />
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Thanks for the nice comments on my male cardinal.  I appreciate the encouragement.  I'm still slogging through all the processing from the trip pics.  Hope your week has gone well.
  • A yellow aloe in bloom; best viewed in the largest sizes.  Photographed at the Desert Botanical Garden near Scottsdale, Arizona.  Aloes bloom in so many spectacular colors and a variety of shapes and sizes.  I wish we could grow them outside in Colorado.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the shot of the man with the sunglasses.  I know how much time it takes to comment and I do appreciate it.  It really makes my day to read the comments you all have made.
  • I saw this man at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Globe, Arizona.  I asked him if I could shoot a photo of the reflections in his sunglasses and he agreed.  They had such a nifty tone.  Be sure to look at this one in the larger sizes to get a good look at the reflections.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the nandina berries shot.  I'm still wading through the processing of our trip pics.  Going to take a while.  Enjoy your day!
  • Nandina berries, captured in Sedona, Arizona.<br />
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Thanks for the comments on the buckeye butterfly shot.  Sure appreciate you all taking the time to make comments.  Hope everyone gets a good start to the week!
  • Tatiana (travelways)

    on June 16, 2020

    Fantastic photography!

  • Ted Bowling

    on April 26, 2020

    Spectacular! Love the moment....interaction between the herons.

  • Pascale GUY

    on January 21, 2020

    Awesome shot !!! I love it !!!
    Thank you for your kind comment on my picture :-)

  • RarOiseau Y'APAS

    on June 26, 2018

    SUPERB !

  • Christine Darton-Henrichsen

    on March 18, 2018

    Thank you for your comment on my Killdeer photo. The feather details on the Heron are awesome.

  • Calazone's Flics

    on February 23, 2018

    Lovely nature scene, great capture!

  • Lgood

    on February 11, 2018

    Well done!

  • Franks-Focus

    on February 11, 2018

    Great shot of this pair.

  • Darlene Jansen

    on February 11, 2018

    Outstanding capture, beautiful shot!

  • Kelvin D. Hutcherson

    on February 11, 2018

    Nice shot

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