*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #2

[se7enxn9ne]

[Itsed65]

Spring Runnoff by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

When we see a common grackle, most of us see a blackbird. One thing I love about wildlife photography is that it often shows us some much more than our eyes can take in at life's speed.

Royal Coat by David Stephens, on Flickr

BTW, I started using a Photologo copyright notice a few days ago. You may have seen their advertisement, with really attractive artistic signatures. While I love the look of those, I wanted something that represent me, so I sent them a sample signature and asked them to try to capture the vibe and make it look like something that I might do on my best day. Wifey thought it was my signature, so it passed the test. It's an artist's interpretation of my signature, looking better than I could do without help. Whether you chose one of their canned signatures, or go for your own, I highly recommend them.

[Itsed65]

The first chick has hatched, so Dad's a lot more busy now.

Family to Feed by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

The first chick has hatched, so Dad's a lot more busy now.

Good hunting, for you and the osprey.

[Itsed65]

Backyard artichokes

Backyard Chokes by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Backyard artichokes

Yum.

[M_Six]

Wifey made artichoke and chorizo over rice tonight. All in a tomato and pimento sauce (Spanish Paella). It was delicious. Love artichokes. The fresh ones must be sublime.

[Itsed65]

Sounds tasty indeed Mark. Those in the picture are more cover crop, as by the time they are flowering like that they are past the point of picking to eat. I get plenty though. The plants volunteer all over, and I actually only planted one or two years back, but they keep coming back every year.

[Itsed65]

A Dodge in the Vineyard by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

For some reason, grackles are posing for me almost daily:

Readle-eak! by David Stephens, on Flickr

[Itsed65]

Great timing Dave!

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Great timing Dave!

Nice one, DC.

Love the Dodge, Ed.

[Itsed65]

Northern Harrier #98 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Great head-turn from the harrier.

[dcstep]

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird by David Stephens, on Flickr

BTW, this is one of my first shots where I used my Photologo.com copyright notice. That's an artist's rendering of my actual signature. They usually sell their own, artistic, stylized logos. I think it's silly to use something that looks like someone else's signature and would rather just use some type font, which is what I used to do. Anyway, I sent in a sample of my signature, they cleaned it up, but caught the spirit, to the extent that my wife thought it was my signature.

Those of you that are calligraphers can do your own, but I'm very happy with this as an alternative for those of us with less talent.

[allachie9]

Great shot Dave and I love the new signature.
If you would like to send me a blank, signed cheque (check), I could really compare the signature for accuracy
Just a thought.

[allachie9]

We had a walk along the beach at Findhorn, just a few miles along the coast from here, earlier this afternoon on a beautiful, clear and warm day. The image below was submitted as my 'Weather Watcher' image to the BBC and they used it on the main, early evening BBC Scotland weather forecast.
The beach huts (sheds !) are just being put up and are for sale at . . . . would you believe . . . . £25,000.00 each !
Quite a few have already been sold ! ! !

The clouds forming in the distance are above the mountains of Easter Ross and Sutherland way to the north across The Moray Firth.

Findhorn Beach Huts by Alan Butterfield, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by allachie9

Great shot Dave and I love the new signature.
If you would like to send me a blank, signed cheque (check), I could really compare the signature for accuracy
Just a thought.

Thanks Alan.

I don't think that my money is accepted in the UK.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by allachie9

We had a walk along the beach at Findhorn, just a few miles along the coast from here, earlier this afternoon on a beautiful, clear and warm day. The image below was submitted as my 'Weather Watcher' image to the BBC and they used it on the main, early evening BBC Scotland weather forecast.
The beach huts (sheds !) are just being put up and are for sale at . . . . would you believe . . . . £25,000.00 each !
Quite a few have already been sold ! ! !

The clouds forming in the distance are above the mountains of Easter Ross and Sutherland way to the north across The Moray Firth.

Congrats on the BBC usage.

Does some land ownership come with each shed? It seems like one could be replicated for way less money. No matter the price, the colors really POP!

I love this sky. I see it sometimes in Colorado. I think it must be a function of the Northern latitude, comparative low sun angle and crystal clear skies (not an everyday occurrence here).

[allachie9]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Congrats on the BBC usage.

Does some land ownership come with each shed? It seems like one could be replicated for way less money. No matter the price, the colors really POP!

I love this sky. I see it sometimes in Colorado. I think it must be a function of the Northern latitude, comparative low sun angle and crystal clear skies (not an everyday occurrence here).

Dave, the beach huts are being sold 'freehold', which over here means that the buyer also owns the land (plot). Although I haven't found the actual size of each individual plot of land, the original planning applications show 6 huts, each 2 metres wide, spaced evenly on each of 5 x 20 metre wide pieces of land. There will be less than 1.5 metres between each hut. So no chance to erect anything else on !

You're right about the sky, I'm sure it's a northern thing.

[dcstep]

Most of Colorado caught a big snow on Thursday and Friday. I only got three or four-inches and the temp was right at freezing, so it melted fast. Here's a very wet meadowlark, undeterred, singing his song:

Undeterred Meadowlark, Singing In The Snow by David Stephens, on Flickr