Bull moose in graze mode.

Bull moose nibbling the willow tips as its cow and calf rest in the grass above.

Near adult Bald Eagle finishes a turnaround to fly back up the Dolores River.

The Baldy came in from a hunt empty handed to settle into a piñon perch. Almost a perfect parachute landing.

I’ve been watching Northern Harriers all my life but only learned about them in the last decade. These guys have such a hover mode over prairie grass…over anything for that matter. They tirelessly and effortlessly float over the pasture and suddenly drop in after prey. I’ve watched females (like this bird) aggressively chase hawks much larger than them, protecting their forage fields. This lady flew to her perch from the straw and kept one eye on movement in the grass and one eye on me.

This Osprey cruised from east around the bend and circled around above me when I noticed a familiar posture…he’s going in. It’s when a soar becomes a hover which becomes a calculated dive. The shot just before impact was amazing enough, but this is the look of a proud fisher-raptor! Great in color, but pops as a b/w.

This dark morphed Harlan’s Hawk and its mate work the CRP fields in western Lubbock County, and was so focused on the hunt that it allowed the photographer to inch to within 30’ away…never flushed.

A rare visitor to Lubbock, TX is this migratory hawk from the cold north. This is also a light morph Harlan’s, another rarity. He foraged at a playa lake in town all winter, and frequent sightings gave him the name LP7. See the story in the blog section on that name.

This Snowy egret was feeling his way around the shore, hoping to flush a meal out from the edges.

Something about the browns and blues and the red heads that makes this shot.

On a still, foggy morning, this Snowy egret’s landing seems more like a ballet in the shallows.

Something about pelicans in flight.

Mule deer group in Hockley County, Texas. I had stopped to shoot a photo of an old barn, when I noticed in my shot monitor the face of one of these does. I looked back through the lens to find several in this group rising up out of where they had bedded down for the afternoon. They slowly moved away from the barn into the surrounding straw. Once gathered, we both got one final gazing before they took off across the field.

Texas is less known for these animals than a few other states, but their herds are formidable in the panhandle. This group in Motley County, Texas lined up for a group selfie with my big lens laying across the back end of my pickup.

I believe God was on his game when he made pintails. (Coots, on the other hand, not so much.) This pair flushed from the lake for the day and flew into the western sky in a backlit cadence.

The female Northern Harrier hawk was cruising in typical fashion over the prairie straw for a meal. Her path was garnished by the dried yucca pods.

There is something almost human in the eyes of a Northern Harrier on the prowl. This male was ignoring the cameraman for the prey ahead, and his eyes tell the story.

The eyes tell which way is down. The wings are in a full bank to the right maneuver. The tail is tucked for speed. This male Northern Harrier did several fly-overs for what seemed to draw his attention in the field.

The speed and agility for a male Hooded Merganser’s take off from the lake surface. This is a fast shutter speed, not a composite; so the wake splashes from 5 to 6 feet behind him are still suspended as he is just becoming airborne.

An American Kestrel eases down onto a flexing perch to take in the cricket he has secured.

A Rough-legged hawk perched on a prairie bush is stalking rodents underneath, awaiting the right moment and attack.

The Rough-legged hawk was immersed in the sounds of prey under the bushes from which it had been perched. So the quick launch included a fast doubling back just in case that mouse were within its reach.

This portrait captures the hunting gaze of a female Northern Harrier.

This pair was together on the lake, launched together, flew in pattern and made a nice birds-in-flight moment as they flew west. This shot was taken in late evening SE of Lubbock, TX.

This Cedar Wax-Wing paused a half second from its usual hyperactivity for a quick, oriental-like pose. April 2019 in the trees at the church where I work.

Perhaps my favorite hawk because of its openness to the camera (mostly) and its hunting antics. These hawks winter across the south and migrate to the Arctic for breeding.

Snowy egrets migrate into West Texas in the Spring and become water way foragers through the Summer and early Fall. Their yellow eyes, lore, and feet are contrasted by white feathers and black bills and legs. They forage on insects and small fish and aquatics and they get quite animated in protecting their territories.

Backlit Avocet. Such a unique and poetic shoreline wader.

This guy was migrating through Lubbock in April to northern breeding grounds. About a week later I spotted a pair in the evening distance; otherwise this bird was the only one I have seen. The colors steal the show.

This parent Osprey playing roles of parent, provider, protector, and mentor. My Harley and presence roadside stirred the protector role into full gear. That chick hatched in the summer of 2018, so now, in the summer of 2019, it has become an adept flying fishing machine.

A pair of these herons passed through Lubbock on the east side in the 2019 Spring. Such a unique use of contrast and features this bird boasts. Avid fisherman and not afraid of the camera; he never flushed as I eased into this portrait shot position.

This pair of Sandhill Cranes exited the lake in the low evening light…talking to each other in flight.

Coyote pup, still wearing its puppy coat with hairless tail, transitions from stalk mode to full on pounce. He was already chewing dinner as his head emerged from the cover.

American Kestrels are our smallest falcons in West Texas and are especially entertaining in the fall and winter months. Something in this shot about the budding tree as the perch allows for the moment of eye contact with the Kestrel.

I have yet to find out what causes the lacy pattern in this Egret’s wing feathers, but I have shots of it in multiple times of the day on the same lake.

A group of 21 Ibis used a south Lubbock playa as a foraging grounds for almost a month before migrating down the road…but not before they posed for the camera a few hundred times.

One Northern Flicker in the stand of trees just happened to be more focused on foraging that on the photographer. Liked how the tree buds mimic the spots in its plumage.

A friend of mine named this shot “Spirit Flight” for how this Great egret’s hovering over the waters resembled the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1. Thanks John!

So laid back. This bird stared at the camera and hunted during this photoshoot. Content to stay in the branches to make the shot difficult, it finally reversed its perch to face the camera.

This adult Red-tailed hawk had done its shopping for a Thanksgiving meal and struck a mid air pose.

Love how the browns combine with the grays in these birds, punctuated by the red heads of course, to become surprise color in birds in flight shots.

Ancient steps out of Canyon del Muerto overseen by a pair of handsome coyotes. This one stands guard while the other hunts below.

As I rode into view of the Teton ridge, the storm broke and I back-tracked to this scene at the NE entrance sign. So these horses are not wildlife, but they make for peaceful subjects in the volcanic contrast above.

This Turkey vulture (aka Buzzard) sat on this Lake Powell point for a good thirty minutes while we positioned the boat, changed lenses, and took a series of shots.

Wild horses on the Navajo Reservation north of Shiprock. The monument overlooks these mares and their care for the little one who is resting in the sage in the morning.

The Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge in the western Panhandle of Texas gives a setting for these birds waiting for their wading pond to become a wading pond again. 20 degrees overnight has a way of sealing the top layer of these ponds.

A local playa lake in Lubbock, TX after a big snow became the focal point for wintering Canadas and Cacklings. This is a stitch panorama.

The group of Mule Deer moved out of a lake bottom toward pasture forage. One at a time, they came to the barbed-wire and hopped over it like it wasn’t a problem. Fun to watch the group, but shooting the alpha buck in the group make that jump was a special moment. West Texas late in a winter evening.

This Hooded merganser was on a slow float across the pond toward other merganser mates. Hooded mergansers are so cute like this, but come fishing time, they are ferocious swimmers and foragers. The duck was nice but the reeds made this shot, drawing all eyes back to the subject.

Sorry. It’s a cheap shot to throw in a “hog” in the wild, but these are my wheels for many of my shots and my soul searching. Sunset over the Tetons is an awesome moment all it’s own; but after over 1,000 miles on the road, it’s a reward.

Northern Cardinal male calling from the underbrush near the Ransom Chapel east of Lubbock. Their color and distinct calls set them apart as a welcome accent to West Texas. Catching a photographic moment in the shadows and cover where they frequent is a bonus.

Fall colors over an evening stretch of the La Plata River…Colorado.

The sunburst under the Mesa Arch of Island in the Sky at Canyonlands National Park. Washer Woman Arch is center left under the arch. La Sal Mountains in the distance.

The upper Animas River Valley sports many gorgeous alpine treasures. Fall scenes are among the best. I can smell the aspen and feel the cooling air accented by the snow dusted peaks.

Sunset casting shadows that highlight all 3 spires.

The contrast of the white rim sandstone against the red sandstone below it makes my brain stretch to grasp what it is. This canyon drops into the Colorado River.

Watching the morning light bounce from wall to wall through Canyon de Chelly, NE Arizona.

Just a lake weed rising above calm waters to give us pause to find the seam between real and reflection.

Sunset streaming through the Teton clouds and peaks! Stitched pano.

Havasu Creek winds its way through the Colorado Plateau layers into the Grand Canyon flow of the Colorado River in NW Arizona. This spectacular falls rumbles into a gorgeous turquoise pool 85 feet below. From there the flow pours over ledge after ledge of travertine formations, as the creek cuts through sandstone and limestone layers. This drainage is home to the Supai Native American people.

So when you ride a Harley over 2,000 miles from home, you have some goals in mind. This shot was one of them. Never mind that the Park Ranger got on to me for being “off the trail” and made me return to the trail, which I did. Confession: that Park Ranger got cloned out of the shot.

A black and white of the southern view from Zabriskie Point, overlooking Death Valley. 118 degrees that afternoon riding through Death Valley.

This scene from Fredericksburg, TX as the sun coursed its way through the branches of the old oak next to the wedding chapel on E. Main.

Aside from the beauty and quiet of winter hikes, the blessings of the Pine Trail in SW Colorado included a packed trail. For the first half of our 4+ miles of snowshoeing in full pack, we were able to take in the scenery and feel the feels. But mid-way in, the trail turned to deep powder, and the work-out began. My son and I traded breaking trail-snow until we finally came to camp. Here’s to those who’ve gone before us.

Crater Lake, OR from a fisheye lens that brings the entire lake into one shot.

Vallecito Creek in the Weminuche Wilderness of SW Colorado is a magical canyon, but snow-shoeing in December is the ultimate. Our camp back in an aspen grove had this view each morning.

No more beautiful blue than what you get at Crater Lake, OR, and from a motorcycle these shots were just a blast. So much story to the “crater” and its ecosystem. We are lucky to get to peek in!

Yosemite NP is covered in ponds and lakes, but the magic in this one—near the top of Tioga Pass—was in the stillness and morning light mirror action.

Riding from Santa Rosa, CA through redwood forest after redwood forest, I finally broke out to the ocean views of Crescent City, CA. The setting sun simply spotlighted the lighthouse for a special moment.

The “Gump” shot—as most refer to it—was taken while I was driving so that I would have uninterrupted access to the center of the road!

The Colorado River canyon walls reflecting morning light into the mirrored river surface. This scene is from the Navajo Bridge below Page, AZ.

This stitched panorama was taken atop Chinook Pass looking west at the mountain in the morning light. About 20 handheld verticals comprise the merged landscape.

Shiprock monument anchors the 4 Corners region as landmark and art. Northwest New Mexico is a garden of symbols, landmarks, and artifacts of the lives of the Ancients.

Spider Rock stands out of the Canyon de Chelly beauty in NE Arizona. The geological wonders of the land turn to history and archeology as the multiple dwelling ruins come into focus. Zoom to the ruin at the base of Spider Rock, right side.

From Zabriskie Point this point rises up in the heat and desert ridge, hiding the Death Valley in the background.

Within the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, UT stands this unique line of monuments which has its own ridge to inhabit. When the evening sun broke through the clouds onto this ridge, I used a stitched panorama to capture the imagination—an imagination that goes wild as to what else this might have represented in the minds of the Ancients.

Las Vegas ridge in the morning haze gave a special moment to stop before riding into Death Valley on the Harley.

The Tetons have a front row seat to the grazing bison…or…the bison have a front row see to the majestic Tetons. Take your pick, but this herd moved in while I was shooting the range, and one even jumped the fence.

Zooming in on the drama of a Shiprock sunset is rather moving!

With the ground as my tripod and the Milkyway as my subject, and with only the wilderness trees to frame in the shot.

Early afternoon rendered a nice ice halo around the sun as the cirrus clouds eased into position. This is a vertical stitch of five shots to create a portrait that included the sun and its halo all the way down through the Tetons and the Snake at the Oxbow.

The sun makes deserts dance in splendor as it sets and rises. This star captured over the Great Salt Lake.

On a trip north of Lubbock I could feel the sunset setting up for a beautiful horizon. I looked for the next rural overpass, drove to the top, and set up to shoot this stitch of about 15 verticals. Such a nice surprise bonus for the day.

The sun was setting in the thick smoke from wildfires over 100 miles away, but the color and the needles made for a very unique and ironic sunset. The very needles burning somewhere else light up this shot.

This sunset just seemed to work best centered so that its last light could cast shadows fanning outward from the small line of clouds.

‘Nuff said.

Just a multi-exposure of a half-moon, 50 seconds apart and diminishing focal lengths.

Supermoon of 2017 captured in the ripples of the lake.

The afternoon sun began to make the thin cloud layer pop with its colors into what they call an “ice halo.”

A simple neighborhood lake made magical by the calm surface and the setting sun piercing the clouds.

Written and taken while Hurricane Harvey was pounding the Texas Gulf.

Full moon in a multiple exposure with increasing focal lengths at about 40 second intervals.

Just a summer morning shot of the sun through an orb weaving spider’s web.

This old homeplace is marked by a disabled windmill, a row of dead trees, and an airy barn (out of the scene). These make seasoned subjects for a sunset; they’ve witnessed more sunsets than me, and the sun is still setting.

Some sunsets just become ribbons late in the event, helped by the red dust in the horizon.

Almost flame-like as the last bit of sun slips under the cloud layer.

The sunset becomes a “sunrise” in reverse as it slowly drops out of the cloud layer.

I never use a flash…except in these shots! But it’s God’s flash…not mine.

Positioned between the Hogbacks on NM38 east of Shiprock, I was set up for a series of shots that tracked the Sunset into the Shiprock monument. This panorama captures the final moments of the sun’s descent.

One year later than the previous stitch in this gallery…sun is right back where it was the year before. Some light clouds garnished the shot this year.

Double exposure of the Supermoon and the clouds it illuminated as it rose in the early night hours.

Long Exposure shot under the Milky Way in black and white.

The Presbyterians built a landmark church on the open eastern plains of New Mexico. The community was larger then, with promise and commercial traffic, but the traffic and promise dried up in the mid 20th century. The old church building was used as many things through the years, but now it just hints of church bells, hymn sings, and some strong preaching.

The old Presbyterian Church in Taiban, NM in front of an ensuing storm.

Milky Way core creates a border across the old church at 2:00 a.m. Light clouds in the east are picking up lights from Melrose and Clovis.

Evening shot of the Taiban, NM Presbyterian Church through a fisheye lens with nice cloud structure.

This old homeplace only has a barn, a windmill, and the treelines, but this pair of Red Tailed hawks have made it their home this winter. This is a stitched pano of about 6 shots to make a strong file and a cool print!

On the backroads of the Panhandle, this Emerson, Co. upright piano waits for a player…or a rain. Weathered and abandoned to being parts, the story and songs in its path trigger our imaginations. Even losing its laminate skin and felts, I was able to get a few notes to work.

These old Mormon Settlement barns give a perfect accent to the Teton ridge. This is a stitched panorama of the view these settlers had outside their doors.

This remnant of St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Morley, CO (Raton Pass) are the last remains of the community abandoned and relocated. This church had been built in 1917 for the thriving mining town, but by the 1950s most of the thriving had played out. The church face and walls remained because the demolition crew could not destroy “holy ground.”

The Antelope Flats area east of Grand Teton NP is a window into the past of this rugged country. The community of settlers survived together and these old structures are the remnant of their sufferings and joys.

This old cabin has served several roles including home for early settlers of the Jackson Hole basin. Not a shabby back porch view, but you’d want a winter home down south! This is a stitched pano turned monochrome to accent the ridge, clouds, and old cabin.

East of Dimmitt, TX, this front door witnessed many dust storms, rain storms, and family visits. Somehow we can imagine all three…on the same day!

I was satisfied that I captured this old shack about as well as the brush and trees would allow, started to pull away, and then noticed the photo-bomba-deer! Turned out to be a group of ten mule deer. See the wildlife page for the group.

Worth the walk, the shot to get this barn in southern Oregon meant parking the bike down the road and hiking back along a road with no shoulder.

Riding across Idaho a couple of years back, there was cause to stop, walk across the interstate, and revive the story of this old place. Surrounded by mountain-circled meadow, it is easy to imagine pieces of the past.

A fender bender seems to have grounded this old flatbed truck that may well have been working on borrowed time. Parked in pasture facing the highway, it became part of the central Wyoming landscape through the decades.

The central ruin of the Mummy Cave at Canyon de Chelly in NE Arizona.

House on Fire Ruins in SE Utah. The entire canyon was a community of Ancients, but this ridge’s three structures had special effects at about 10:00 a.m. each day.

This old Presbyterian church in Taiban, NM has attracted many shots. The Harley got into this one…somehow.

Pep, TX is the scene for this old house whose roof structure is long gone allowing the sun free access to peek through the lattice as it sets.

Kids, family, guests…the list of those who used this gate near the highway in SE Utah.

Actually the pioneers (Moultons) were Mormon, not the barns. The barns are symbols of the pioneer spirit and community that must be present to survive and shape the land like Antelope Flats of the Teton NP area.