It's never the same......

No matter how many times I go back to the same place for photos, it's never the same. So I headed back to the lake shore looking for more images.

 

Wind from the north had blown ice back towards the shore and piled it onto some rocks. 

 

 

I silhouetted these trees against the western sky. 

 

 

 

The sun wasn't out long, before disappearing behind clouds.  

 

 

For the next half an hour it stayed mostly hidden. 

 

  

 

Even with low light, the contrast between ice and sky looked great. 

 

 

So the only thing to do was, 

 

 

compose the shot, 

 

 

find a little light and color, 

 



 

and just keep on shooting.  

 

 

I only had forty minutes to shoot what I could, 

 

 

before the sun set and darkness fell over Lake Superior. Today it was just long enough 





Hold your horses......

The morning started off with wild horses silhouetted

 

on the plains of western North Dakota in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

 

 

 

After the sun got a little higher in the sky I located a band of horses with a mare and new foal.

 

 

 

The foal stayed close to it's mother.

 

 

 

As mom ate the young horse stayed at her side.

 

 

 

After awhile it went to lay down.

 

 

 

Some of the other horses ran up a small hill.

 

 

 

A curious young horse came to check me out as I photographed the group.

 

 

 

Eventually the herd stallion walked off and I followed him.

 

 

 

He approached another stallion with a group of mares less than a quarter of a mile away. Walked up, sniffed him, and nearly kicked him.

 

 

 

The other horse didn't seem too pleased or too agitated and kicked back in his direction.

 

 

 

After some whinnying and posturing each horse returned to their mares. They must have been pretty evenly matched as neither wanted to fight.





On the way home.....

 

Thunderstorms rolled through and heavy rain fell all afternoon in Madison Wisconsin.

 

 

Then just before dark some light slipped through the heavy cloud cover, 

 

 

and the sky seemed to glow yellow and orange. 

 

 

I found a place to pull over and did my best to make some useful photos with a limited foreground.

 

It was still raining steadily so I hand held the camera, shot from inside the car, and counted on the image stabilization to do it's job.

 

 

Normally I wouldn't chose a street light and parking lot as a subject, but tonight it was all about the light,

 

 

 

and by making due I was able to catch it. 

 

 

If only every stormy day would end like this.

 

 

Running free

A band of wild horses. The stallion on the left snakes his head to nip a mare he's interested in. When I see or spend time with wild horses I get a sense of freedom and wide open places.