Rocky Mountain National Park 2006

My husband and I vacationed in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2006, and had a wonderful time! We did a lot of hiking, and a lot of picture-taking. The Rockies have such majesty about them, and I constantly find myself in awe at their beauty. It's one of my favorite places.

 

We hiked the Nymph (above), Dream, and Emerald Lake trails during one of our days in the park. That same day we tackled the Lake Haiyaha trail, too, which was one of our favorite hikes while we were there. While there were a lot of people on the Nymph/Dream/Emerald Lake trails, you lost a lot of people on the Lake Haiyaha trail due to the rapid increase in altitude. It was much more secluded and the lake was by far the most beautiful of the four. I've included one of the Lake Haiyaha pictures at the end.

A view from Trail Ridge Road

Emerald Lake

The trails around Emerald Lake

The trails around Emerald Lake

Lake Haiyaha

This lake was the most beautiful aqua color, and so clear you could see straight to the bottom. It was surrounded by huge boulders, too.

Grizzlies at the Zoo

Part of the reason I like photography is because it's fun. I'm not always worried about getting the perfect, best-quality shot. I wouldn't normally pick the local zoo as the place to find the perfect shot, either. I go there to have fun and to enjoy seeing the animals. Sometimes I take my camera just to see what I can capture.

On this particular day, the Grizzlies were very fun to watch. It was like watching a comedy, they were doing so many cute and fun things. Their habitat is less than desirable, but our local zoo has limited resources, and they work with what they've got. Despite the grim surroundings, these bears were taking swims and relaxing. It was fun to watch.

Fun in the pool

It's almost like he's waving to me.

This was a humorous sequence of events . . . the male was using the female as a lounge chair. He just leaned himself back and you can almost hear him saying, "Could you pass the remote?"

Sometimes, you just gotta stretch! At one point, he had book legs stretched up like this, at the same time. The female just doesn't seem to care.

Lake Michigan

I love the West Coast of Michigan, and the Lake. This area holds some of the most beautiful landscapes, and most fascinating lighthouses. 

The Big Sable Lighthouse

www.bigsablelighthouse.org

The Little Sable Point Lighthouse

www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=193

This is one of my favorite Michigan lighthouses. It's right on the beach, and you can walk up an look straight up at it. It's really an amazing sight.

Sunset on Lake Michigan

Roses

I like roses, but they're just not wild enough for me. I much prefer wildflowers. But, roses do make captivating pictures. They have so many layers to them, and the petals are so soft. Watching them unfold themselves is truly amazing. They're colors are so deep and mysterious, and they make me think romance (of course!).

I took these quite a long time ago, and can't really remember when.

Fall Colors 2004

My favorite season to photograph is Fall (as I'm sure you'll soon discover). The colors are amazing, and the trees seem to be on fire. It takes my breath away! These pictures were taken at a county park near our apartment in West Michigan. The Grand River runs beside it, and the park makes for wonderful Fall pictures.

This particular tree (above) just seemed to be on fire. With the sun setting, the light was hitting it just right, and making it "pop"! I couldn't help snapping the shot. It make me think of the burning bush.

This is one of my favorite Fall shots. Capturing the details of this leaf's veins was exciting! It was so brilliantly lit up by the sun, which showed off all the detail. It was fun to sit and just take it in.

Spring/Summer 2004

I have to say that the spring/summer of 2004 is when I really fell in love with taking pictures. It created in me a desire to capture the details of Creation on camera. I took these pictures on a little point-and-shoot Fujifilm FinePix A200 digital camera (with a whopping 2.o MegaPixels). This was also my floral stage . . . well, I say "stage", but I've never really grown out of it. Flowers are some of the most fascinating subjects to me. They are all so different and detailed!

These are my two favorite shots from that season . . .

This tulip came up outside of our pump house when we lived 

in a little lakeside cottage in southeastern Michigan.

We had dogwoods growing on our embankment in front of our house

 in southeastern Michigan, and I was standing above this little branch, leaning over the embankment. I love how waxy the petals look!

These are a number of other shots I got that summer, many of which were taken in my mother-in-law's back yard . . .

The above photo of daisies was too blurry when I shot it, 

but I thought I could redeem it by giving it a watercolor effect 

while editing it on my computer. Turned out pretty good!

I like this shot because it reminds me of the pansies on 

Disney's Alice in Wonderland. I can just see their little faces.