Author Archives: Doug

Save The Bees!

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As a contribution toward the survival of our pollinating bees, I’ve created a line of “bee wear” and wares on my Zazzle site. My hope is to raise awareness of the dwindling bee population and provide concerned organizations and individuals some attractive “Save The Bees” products (T-shirts, bags, calendars, etc.) to offer on their own websites, and through the Zazzle affiliate program, generate income to support their bee-related activities.

The above is a slide show of the images in my Save The Bees 2014 calendar at low resolution. If you want to see the actual calendar in full resolution, click here and use the magnifier.
“Zazzle pays a 15% referral payment plus up to an additional 17% volume bonus for each sale that you refer to Zazzle from your blog, e-mail, or even via offline marketing.”

Bee friendly bumper sticker

It’s a honey of a deal—the referring link is not product specific—it doesn’t matter what the visitor eventually buys from Zazzle, the affiliate’s link still earns the commission. Full details can be found here:

http://www.zazzle.com/sell/affiliates/referrallinks

http://www.zazzle.com/mk/policy/associates_agreement

If you know any organizations or individuals who might be interested, put a bee in their ear.

If you have any questions, you can contact me through this website. Thanks!

No Age Limit On Optimism

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Ever-smiling, rust and vine

My face a chronicle of passing time

Still, flights of fancy grace my mind

Here I am, I know not why

And though “weeds” obstruct my view of sky

I’m looking forward to some pie!

I would love to have your comments! If you like this, subscribe and share with your friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

Doug

Framing Of The Shrew

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These little animals are very shrewd–you rarely see them alive. I spotted this one traversing back and forth over the same area so I sat down at a distance with my 70-200 mm lens and waited. Of course, then he/she walked right up to me–much too close for the lens, but she/he kept going and I was able to get a few shots. I believe this is a Pygmy Shrew, as it is no bigger than the end of my thumb. They are always in a hurry, having to eat three times their weight in insects every 24 hrs or starve to death. Their hearts beat at 1200 bpm and they sleep only a minute or two at a time. Such a life!

’42 Fords – Out To Pasture

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“In the evening by the moonlight
You can hear those banjos strummin'”
In the evening by the moonlight
You can hear those old Fords hummin’

On a recent California trip, my sister Virginia and I came accross these old Fords “relaxing” on the hillside.

Retirement in the California hills
No more lube jobs, no more bills
No congestion, but fewer thrills
Yes, when the rubber leaves the roads
There’s no more hauling heavy loads
Or accidental skunks and toads
Still you dream in cherry red
Rising pistons—four barrel fed
And a happy pooch pacing your bed
The driving truth keeps sinking in
Sooner or later, tired wins

Blue Water At Green Lake

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Fair skies and wind came together at Green Lake to create an interesting backdrop of reflected blue and shadow for waterfowl photos.

Coot En Bleu

 

Goldeneye En Bleu

Coot En Bleu II

Goldeneye Tummy Check

I would love to have your comments! Please subscribe to this blog and share it with your social media contacts! Thanks for stopping by!

We Own It.

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Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to have your comments! Subscribe to this blog or “Like” and “share” it on your favorite social media. If you would like to see this poem on products,  click through to my Zazzle Store here!

Gone, But Not Forgotten

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Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to have your comments! Subscribe to this blog or “Like” and “share” it on your favorite social media. If you would like to see this poem on products,  click through to my Zazzle Store here!

Evolution Of An Image

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I recently attended a Hit Ninjas weekend song writing workshop (boot camp, really) in Idyllwild California presented by my niece, Kasaan Steigen. It was awesome. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject had all the attendees noticeably pumped and eager to get writing—including myself, but more on that later. I did not have much time for photography while I was there, but Sunday afternoon I got out for a hike. Idyllwild is an artsy community and hiker’s paradise at an elevation of 6000 ft  in the San Jacinto Mountains. Up on a hillside I came across a reclining Manzanita bush/tree that I thought might make an interesting photo. By no means did I recognize its potential at the time. When I saw the “final” (not) image, the big question was whether I liked it better in color or black and white.

I wasn’t sure I liked it all THAT much either way. I decided to see what it would look like mirrored and tiled x 4. WOW! Suddenly it was inhabited by hundreds of little creatures–faces everywhere!

Then I decided I wanted to add a real face to the mix, and since mine was the one readily available :-)…….

At this point, the number of modifications leading to interesting outcomes seems infinite.

Hit Ninja song writing workshops coming up April 5-7 and May 17-19.                                    –More info here Hit Ninjas

If you would like to see these Man Zanita images in some additional renderings, click Here.

Please leave a comment and or “SHARE” and “LIKE”  this page! Thanks!

Coopers Hawk

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She’s been saving me a lot on bird seed lately, mostly by scaring the other birds off–her successful catch rate is very low. I say “she” because this is a fairly large bird and…..well, here is what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has to say about that–“Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young over the next 90 days before the young fledge.” http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/lifehistory

Obviously, a more “primitive” evolutionary arrangement than that favored by hominids :-).