2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 2 of 6

Here is Part Two of my yearly review of the images I have produced during 2013. If you missed the first installment, you can view them here: 2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 1 of 6. 

These 6 images are start of my "Top Twenty" images of the year. Please feel encouraged to let me know which of these is your personal favorite in the comments section below. I greatly value knowing what Blue Lion viewers enjoy the most! I really enjoy getting to see my photographs through YOUR perspective!  

Your can see higher resolution versions of each of these images on my website by clicking in the images here. All of these images are available for purchase as well from my website (www.bluelionphotos.com).  

#20: Bald Eagle Scouting for Lunch ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

#19: Burrowing Owl (Captive) ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

#18: "Longing for Home" ~ Civil War Reenactment, Allen, TX 

#17 (tie): "Moonrise Over Allen" ~ Allen, TX

#17 (tie): Addra Gazelles ~ Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose, TX 

#16: "Sassy Cardinal" ~ Allen, TX

One lesson any aspiring nature photographer can take away from this collection of photos is that you can get very good subject matter close to home. While I have been very lucky to travel to some great places to shoot nature, all of these images were shot within a two hour drive of my home and several were shot within minutes of my house! If you are willing to look closely at the daily world around you, you can find intriguing subject matter! 

CLICK on PART 3 to see the next installment in the series! 

Civil War Days in Allen, Texas

Recently, I was asked by friends to shoot the activity at the Allen (Texas) Heritage Guild’s Civil War Days. I did not expect much from this small event which consisted of a small encampment of reenactors, a realistic medical test and surgeon (including a lower leg amputation!),  a skirmish on both Saturday and Sunday and some dramatic readings related to Civil War letters, the Gettysburg Address, and  a period debate regarding the secession of Texas from the Union.

  

   

As you can see in the images in this post, the event was a success! It was small enough that I was able to get images of many of the activities. In addition, I am very pleased with how they came out. As is now my style, I processed them to reflect images that would have actually been taken during Civil War times. 

    



Please feel free to let me know what you think of these images and especially their level of realism in your eyes - I am striving to develop techniques that lend these digital images a genuine feel of being Daguerreotypes, wet plates, and tintypes from the earliest days of photography. As such, all constructive criticism is welcomed!  Keep your eyes on this space as I'll be sharing my visit to the "Battle of Fort Richardson" in Jacksboro, Texas later this week! 



Thanks again for your support! 

Blue Lion Birds: The Exhibit (Part 3)

This is Part 3 of my series of bird images related to the exhibit mentioned below. Click HERE to see the images from Part 1 or HERE to see images from Part2. 

In conjunction with a local reading group called ALLen Reads, an exhibit of my bird images will be on display at the Allen Public Library for the entire month of February. In addition to the exhibit, I am honored to be a part of a panel discussion on February 7 at 7:30 pm with two wonderful local conservationists from the Connemara Conservancy and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. If you are in the Dallas area and wish to attend, the discussion titled, “It’s for the Birds”, – Here’s the press release for more information.  My photographs will be featured in the gallery case in the lobby as you enter the library. 

All prints at the exhibit as well as sets of exhibit greeting cards (10 per set) will be available for purchase at the Allen library’s circulation desk or by contacting me by email. (john @bluelionphotos(dot)com) You can also purchase prints by clicking on the image in these posts and then clicking the “buy” button in the upper right hand portion of your screen.

Since many of you do not live close enough to visit – I am taking this opportunity to share images from the exhibit here on the Blue Lion Blog. If you DO live close by, I hope you stop by the exhibit to take a look and support the both the Allen Library and ALLen Reads! 

(If you’d like a larger view of any image, just click it to enlarge it to better suit your screen size. )

Ever Watchful 

Resplendent Roller

HOWDY!



Stay tuned for the next installment in a couple days! 

Blue Lion Birds: The Exhibit (Part 2)

This is Part 2 of my series of bird images related to the exhibit mentioned below. Click HERE to see the images from Part 1. 

In conjunction with a local reading group called ALLen Reads, an exhibit of my bird images will be on display at the Allen Public Library for the entire month of February. In addition to the exhibit, I am honored to be a part of a panel discussion on February 7 at 7:30 pm with two wonderful local conservationists from the Connemara Conservancy and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. If you are in the Dallas area and wish to attend, the discussion titled, “It’s for the Birds”, – Here’s the press release for more information.  My photographs will be featured in the gallery case in the lobby as you enter the library. 

All prints at the exhibit as well as sets of exhibit greeting cards (10 per set) will be available for purchase at the Allen library’s circulation desk or by contacting me by email. (john @bluelionphotos(dot)com) You can also purchase prints by clicking on the image in these posts and then clicking the “buy” button in the upper right hand portion of your screen.

Since many of you do not live close enough to visit – I am taking this opportunity to share images from the exhibit here on the Blue Lion Blog. If you DO live close by, I hope you stop by the exhibit to take a look and support the both the Allen Library and ALLen Reads! 

(If you’d like a larger view of any image, just click it to enlarge it to better suit your screen size. )

Touchdown! 

Golden Eagle Stare Down

Spectacled Owl


Stay tuned for the next installment in a couple days! 

Blue Lion Birds: The Exhibit (Part 1)

In conjunction with a local reading group called ALLen Reads, an exhibit of my bird images will be on display at the Allen Public Library for the entire month of February. In addition to the exhibit, I am honored to be a part of a panel discussion on February 7 at 7:30 pm with two wonderful local conservationists from the Connemara Conservancy and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. If you are in the Dallas area and wish to attend, the discussion titled, “It’s for the Birds”, – Here’s the press release for more information.  My photographs will be featured in the gallery case in the lobby as you enter the library. 

All prints at the exhibit as well as sets of exhibit greeting cards (10 per set) will be available for purchase at the Allen library’s circulation desk or by contacting me by email. (john @bluelionphotos(dot)com) You can also purchase prints by clicking on the image in these posts and then clicking the “buy” button in the upper right hand portion of your screen.

Since many of you do not live close enough to visit – I am taking this opportunity to share images from the exhibit here on the Blue Lion Blog. If you DO live close by, I hope you stop by the exhibit to take a look and support the both the Allen Library and ALLen Reads! 

(If you’d like a larger view of any image, just click it to enlarge it to better suit your screen size. )

Steely Eyed Glare

Drying Darter

Night Watchman


Stay tuned for the next installment in a couple days! 
PART 2 is now posted! 
PART 3 is now Posted!

Nature's Fury

This week across the United States has been an amazing week for severe weather. Twice in the past few days North Texas has had brushes with severe weather in the form of high winds, hail and multiple tornadoes. Luckily for me, our town of Allen missed out on the worst of it, but we did have a stunning display of one of Mother Nature's greatest predictors of severe weather. These photos show the mammatus clouds that formed over much of North Texas on Monday afternoon in advance of an outbreak of severe weather. These clouds frequently serves as advance warning of a severe thunderstorm before it actually arrives.

The one thing these images do not convey is the sense of motion that occurs with these systems. In the span of only a few  minutes the lobes of these mammatus will shift and change. This gives the atmosphere a feeling that it is "boiling" in advance of potentially "apocalyptic" storms.

Click in any of the images to see it in the original gallery.

I hope you avoided this week's nasty weather and can enjoy these images from the safety your computer!