Golden Sands Ranked First

This view greeted us in the morning during our stay at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve last year, and just ranked first in a little photo contest for "Golden Sands" on PulsePX. 

Requirements for submission expected one to "Explore the textures of the dunes. Capture the shifting patterns of sand in deserts or on beaches. Use the low angle of the sun to highlight the ripples and ridges, creating a warm, textured, and minimalist landscape."

 It was much more than we expected to see that morning, after overnight cloud cover denied any dark sky star-gazing. 

March Lightning

 A couple of shots taken out over the field, while the storm moved in.

Storms from West Kansas

Another addition to the 500px collection shows off storms rolling in across the west Kansas prairie around harvest time.

Rabbitbrush Excerpt

One of the latest additions to the collection over on 500px, Rabbitbrush Swirl.  Testing out a different sort of macro lens on a typical shot.

Late Summer Kids

Late summer, early evening, kids hanging on the cattle fence, cheering on their favorite at a truck and tractor pull.

Yellow Signs of Spring

Stumbled upon these yellow Crocus poking up out of the leaves the other day.  Spring is here very early again this year.  If it is coming now, the summer will undoubtedly be another scorcher.

Glass Crystallization

A look out the window at the crystallization process and recrystallization underway on the window over a period of days in subzero temperatures with very little melting.

Ice Design

Ice always makes the most interesting art.

Just another Snow Day

The latest addition to the 500px collection displays a view of the snow-covered trees across the field. While I am not particularly fond of the cold, snow is always creates a beautiful scene.

Glowing Orange

Out on my walk today, I stumbled upon this glowing apparition standing streetside.

Long Exposure Silver Tone Testing

A few tests with a longer exposure raw file on the Samsung S23, processed using Adobe Photoshop Express Basic Silver.  These are 30 second exposures at ISO 400, after dark, about 8 pm above the 39th parallel.  The above is looking northwesterly, while the shot below is staring straight up.