Nature – Page 2 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 222 – Mountains are Calling

October 28, 2022Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Denali, Lens-Artists, Mountains are Calling, Photo Challenge, Rocky Mountains20 Comments

Amy has asked us to share our joy of visiting/climbing mountains. I live in coastal Georgia where the nearest mountains are many miles away. Some of our most memorable trips are ones we took to visit mountains.

A few hours north of where I live is Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet in elevation. I don’t have a picture of the mountain itself but here is a view from the top.

View from the top of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia

If we travel a little farther north into North Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia we can visit the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains National Park or take a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Cataloochee Valley Overlook Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We can keep going farther north in Virginia to take a ride on the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.

We’ve made a few RV trips to the western United States to visit the majestic mountain ranges there.

Storm over Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado

Pikes Peak – “America’s Mountain”, Colorado

We even traveled to the Canadian Rockies.

Of all the mountains I’ve seen, the ones in Alaska are my favorites. The rest of the images are from our RV trip to Alaska several years ago.

Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley), 20,320 feet tall, is the tallest mountain in North America. The last three images were taken from three different locations. No matter where you are when you see it, it is an amazing sight.

Many thanks for Amy’s Lens-Artists Challenge #222 – Mountains are Calling

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 221 – Flower Favorites and Why

October 22, 2022Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, WildflowersTagged Flower Favorites and Why, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge20 Comments

For this challenge Ann-Christine asks us to show our favorite flowers and share why they are our favorite.

How can I pick just a few flowers? I love them all. Flowers make me smile all year round.

Winter brings Camellias and Hibiscus blooms to the garden.

In spring I love to see the Azalea, Dogwood, Day lily, Magnolia and Hydrangea blooms.

The colorful blooms of summer are not only beautiful but often attract butterflies and other critters.

Fall in the garden is filled with butterflies drinking their fill of nectar from the last remaining blooms.

From Texas to Alaska to Virginia and here in Georgia wildflowers always brighten the landscape.

Roses always make me happy.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine’s Lens-Artists Challenge #221 – Flower Favorites and Why

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 210 – Picking Favorites

August 3, 2022Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, PhotographyTagged coneflowers, garden, Lens-Artists, Orcas, Photo Challenge, Picking Favorites, ruby throated hummingbird24 Comments

In this challenge guest host Sarah asks us to pick three favorite photos and describe why they are favorites. I had a difficult time coming up with just three images but here they are.

My first image is one one I took earlier this summer while I was sitting in my back yard. I was hoping to capture birds at the feeder or butterflies on the flowers. The birds and butterflies didn’t cooperate so instead I took a few shots of the coneflowers using my telephoto lens. I’m happy with the effect and like the purplecone flower in the background.

I couldn’t pick three favorites without including a bird image. This next image is my favorite hummingbird image. I captured him from above as I was sitting on my deck above the flowers.

My final image is of two Orcas I captured on a wildlife cruise from Valdez, Alaska. Valdez was near the end of our nearly two months of traveling by RV through Alaska. We saw plenty of humpback whales on two other wildlife cruises but we had not yet seen any Orcas. This wildlife cruise would be our last chance to see them before we headed south for home. I was thrilled when a pod surfaced close to our boat and I was finally able to capture a few shots. This one is one of my favorite photos from the trip.

A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Many thanks to guest host Sarah for this Lens-Artists Challenge #210 – Picking Favorites

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 207 – Seeing Double

July 12, 2022Posted in Birds, Nature, PhotographyTagged Lens-Artists, Okefenokee Swamp, Photo Challenge, Reflections, seeing double30 Comments

In this challenge guest host Jez tells us that “seeing double is all about reflections.” The best opportunities for me to capture reflections occur when I am photographing landscapes and wildlife close to a body of water.

One of my favorite places to see reflections is in the Okefenokee Swamp in south Georgia. The header image and this next gallery were all taken while exploring the Okefenokee.

The next gallery shows some of my favorite bird reflections. The trio of Roseate Spoonbills was taken in Texas, the other three images were taken in Florida.