Montezuma Slough

Montezuma Slough

I captured this spectacular orange sunset at Montezuma Slough on the Grizzly Island Wildlife Preserve in Suisun, California. It was near the end of another ordinary day until the sun dropped behind the clouds, then the sky just seemed to light on fire. Along with activities like fishing, hunting, hiking, bird watching, nature viewing, and boating, this preserve provides plenty of photo opportunities for the aspiring photographer.

Old Wagon Wheel

Old Wagon Wheel

This historic old wagon wheel serves as a reminder to the arduous days of the past. Although no longer in use, this wheel without doubt, has provided numerous decades of service. It is on an old piece of farm equipment which now rests at Peña Adobe, just south of Vacaville off I80. The lighting shortly before dusk was perfect for revealing the rusting metal, peeling paint, and dry and cracking wood, complete with fungus.

Life is like a…

Life is like a…

I’d like to start this new year off with a special photo for me. This photograph of my daughter with me was all her idea, I’m just glad I had my tripod. We happened upon these props from the movie “Forrest Gump” on Pier 39 in San Francisco. She wanted to re-enact a scene from the movie where she, playing Forrest, shares her life story with whoever sits on the bench next to her, in this case me. What a great idea, I will remember your story forever my princess.

Weathered Roof Top

Weathered Roof Top

The different textures and contradicting lines drew my attention to this roof top in Vacaville. Shot in the early morning, the lighting reveals the peeling paint on the wood and stucco and the weathered surfaces of the shingles and brick. I did punch up the color of the sky a little with software to achieve the result seen here.

Seagull in flight

Seagull in Flight

This is a slightly altered rendition of the full color version of Seagull In Flight. Originally shot on Kodachrome film with my old FTB, I scanned the slide at 800dpi and resized the resulting digital image to 1024×768. Using Photoshop, I added a Channel Mixer Layer with a check placed in the Monochrome box and then blocked the effect on the seagull by painting over it on the active layer mask. Result: A black and white bird, the seagull which is in color, set against a gray-scale background. I like it!

Cana Flower

Cana Flower

I stumbled on this shot while turning the sprinkler system on in my front yard yesterday morning. This beautiful Cana flower had just opened over night and was begging to have a picture taken. I obliged and took several shots, this one is my favorite. I intentionally stopped the aperture down to F/11 to keep the water droplets on the petals and the leaves in focus. Kind of busy background but will render well as a computer wallpaper.

Painted Flower

Painted Flower

April Showers bring May Flowers, or something like that ? It was a warm day, the wind was relatively calm. I had not used the macro mode of my camera for a while so what the heck. This photograph was taken from approximately  3 to 4 inches from the flower, then edited on the computer to achieve this effect. I blurred the background and then applied a filter to give the appearance of a hand painted picture.

The River Rats

The River Rats

It’s early Saturday morning on the Ohio River. Two friends are preparing to embark on their weekly fishing trip. You can barely see the outline of trees through the fog on the other side of the river. With a bit of luck there will be fish for dinner tonight. I took this picture while visiting my grandfather in Manchester, OH. One of the boating clubs there adopted the name ‘The River Rats’.

Treed Possum

Treed Possum

After raining non-stop seemingly for days on end, I couldn’t resist an opportunity to get out of the house during a break in the storm. I took my camera and walked two blocks to Alamo Creek, thinking I was going to get a picture of the swollen stream. Upon arrival I was greeted by a small opossum, that had found refuge from the quickly rising water, in this sapling. 

Jet Engine

Jet Engine

Okay, so it’s not the usual scenic or nature wallpaper your accustomed to seeing here at Pixel Manifest. Thought I would upload something a little different today. I took this picture at an air show at Travis AFB. The engine is on a C-5A Galaxy, I believe. The circular shapes and the contradicting pattern of the fan blades caught my eye. This could make an interesting picture, I thought? Let me know what you think?