For something to live ...

I was heading out to the mailbox at my home in Florida one morning when I came across this version of the eternal struggle. I ran for my camera and grabbed a few shots, and then left the events to unfold naturally. The frog put up an admirable fight, puffing up its body and pushing away from it's attacker, but in the end, every living thing ends up as food for something else...Olympus C-3020

Heading off the hill, I grabbed this shot f the 60" a few hundred feet above me on the not totally cleared access road to the top. Canon 20D - 1/250th, 18mm @ f/10, ISO 100

Snowy Afternoon

Compare this image to the one I posted on 8 March of these same trees near the 60" dome on Mt. Lemmon. This time they are covered by snow instead of ice, but at least the sky is clear. Canon 20D - 1/500th, 22mm @ f/14, ISO 400

Snowy 60"

Drifting snow at the peak of Mt. Lemmon and the 60" dome. Canon 20D - 1/400th, 18mm @ f/11, ISO 100

Snow Covered Needles

The peak of Mt. Lemmon has been covered in snow for several days.I didn't have much luck observing, but it was a treat to enjoy the snow falling and the utter silence of the night. The trees were well coated with snow when I woke up with anywhere from several inches to a few feet of snow in the drifts. Mt. Graham, home of the LBT, is seen in the distance. Canon 20D - 1/320th, 18mm @ f/10, ISO 100

Green Tree Frog & Pineapple

In central and southern Florida, tree frogs are just about everywhere. Turn on your porch lights at sunset and soon the walls and windows will be covered with them so they can make easy pickin's of the insects that are attracted to the light. This little bugger was spending the day surrounded by the leaves of a pineapple I was growing on our Lanai. Olympus C-3020

Building Clouds over the Santa Ritas

As another low pressure system moves in off of the Pacific, cummulus clouds start to build up over the Santa Ritas, foretelling of the rain and snow to come tomorrow. Canon 20D - 1/30th, 70mm @ f/22, ISO 100

Almost a Full Moon Rising over Sahuarita

Looking eastward from the top of the hill behind my house, you can see the houses spreading across and up the bahada on the east side of the Santa Cruz River valley. The moon above them is a day before full and the sun is just about to set behind me in this Mach 13th image. Canon 20D - 1/25th, 119mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100

Another Red Snow Sunset

A sunset shot of the Santa Ritas covered with last week's snow fall from my from yard. Canon 20D - 1/500th, 238mm @ f/ 5.6, ISO 800

Blue Sunset

This was taken a minute or two earlier than the "Sunset Mountains" image posted on 2 March. I was experimenting with the different white balance temperature settings in the camera. The only real difference between the two is the much cooler setting here. Canon 20D - 1/30th, 70mm @ f/16, ISO 100, White balance 2,800 K

Frozen Flower Stalk

One of the common flower stalks up on Mt. Lemmon, covered with rime ice. Canon 20D - 1/500, 190mm (marco) @ f/5, ISO 100

Red Snow

Two days of precipitation brought a white cloak to the mountains throughout Arizona. Here's a shot from my front porch of the last rays of sunlight illuminating the peaks of the mountains to my southeast, turning the snow there a cheery color red.
Can0n 20D - 1/500th, 100mm @ f/4.5, ISO 800

Inside the Golden Dome

A bit of an abstract for a change. This is an interior shot of the 60" dome. Canon 20D - 6 seconds, 70mm @ f/22, ISO 400

Icy Afternoon

The peaks of the Santa Catalinas were covered by clouds for most of the previous night and all day long. Combine the humid conditions with below freezing temperatures and and high winds and Rime ice forms on most upwind surfaces. These trees are just outside the 60" dome on Mt. Lemmon and their needles are covered with Rime. On a clear day you can see Mt. Bigelow behind these trees. Instead, there is nothing but the gray of the clouds and snow flurries. Canon 20D - 1/40th, 22mm @ f/22, ISO 100

Still waiting to fight the Red Devil

Here's another shot from the same fire I had posted a few weeks ago. Notice that the hose still does not have any water in it and the structure behind the crew is starting to burn as well. Sometimes water isn't forthcoming at the scene for any number of reasons. The heat from the main fire is being radiated and other combustibles close by heat up very quickly. You know the man on the nozzle feels like he's going to burst into flame any minute too.
Nikon FG-20, probably 1/30th, 25-70mm @ f/2.8, Kodacolor 200 or 400

Low Sun on the Galiuros

Another shot I took during yesterday's sunset from the open slit of the 60". This view is northeast across the valley to the Galiuro Mountains. Canon 20D - 1/400th, 300mm @ f/5.6, ISO 100

The Big Dipper & the Light Bucket

The Big Dipper stands on it's handle above the open dome of the 60" on Mt. Lemmon. This image is one of the first for a sequence I was shooting to produce an animation tonight. The dome is illuminated by the setting crescent moon, while two aircraft can be seen in the background sky. Canon 20D - 30 seconds, 20mm @ f/1.8, ISO 800

Sunset Mountains

The sky at sunset tonight was almost cloudless. I was rotating the 60" dome on top of Mt. Lemmon enjoying the view and taking pictures. This view struck me a bit more than the others. Looking northwest from the peak, below in the valley closest to me is the town of Catalina. Canon 20D - 1/25th, 70mm @ f/ 22, ISO 100, White Balance 10,000 K

Sunset over the Rincons

The latest forecast for rain went bust again, so I went out to water some of the plants. Looking east I spotted the clouds above the Rincon mountains were catching the last rays of sunlight. I hadn't expected this sunset to be very interesting since most of the sky over me and to the west was overcast. I ran in to get the camera. Within minutes of this shot, the clouds were in shadow as well. Canon 20D, 1/160th, 190mm @ f/14, ISO 400