Foggy Summer Morning

I just love the chance to photograph fog.  The spring and fall are usually the times when such opportunities present themselves, but we've had two days of heavy rain showers (after a very dry couple of months), and the increased humidity, coupled with a slightly cooler evening, created some outstanding fog in the valley this morning.

Butterflies!

It's probably more a function of last year's high moisture levels than this year's dry ones that there are so many butterflies in Colorado. 

On many of the trails I've hiked this summer, the quantity of butterflies is striking.  Diversity is good too, as I've noticed at least five different species (there are probably more, but I'm not a trained lepidopterist).

To get the best butterfly photos, I found one needs to stand still near some flowers they appear to like, with your lens zoomed in to the longest focal length.  When they land on nearby flowers, begin shooting like crazy.  If they remain for a while, you can take the time to properly compose your image or wait for them to open their wings.

quaking aspen trees

four shots combined in one animated gif provide a little idea of how windy it was today:
http://picasion.com

Animated Landscape

Build animated gif I should find the winter version I did from this spot and compare them. Using much the same technique one would for a panorama, but creating an animated gif file instead of stitching into a single image, one can create "animated landscapes" like the one above.