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Desert Lilies and Other Easter Flowers

Happy Easter! Ajo Lily When I think Easter I think of springtime and flowers, even though in most of the places I’ve lived those flowers are still a couple of months away. They’re not this year, though, as I’m in the California desert, chasing the wildflowers. And one of my favorite desert wildflowers is the Ajo Lily, also known as the Desert Lily. Arroyo del Salado campground When it comes to…

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Desert Wildflower Update: Warm Colors

How do warm colors make you feel? For me, they bring a smile to my face, excitement and happiness. I often use a warming filter on my camera because I like my colors a little warmer in most instances. This may come as no surprise to you, as I scurry south every winter to get more of the warmth! My favorite time to do photography is the late afternoon and early evening. It’s not only that I’m too…

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Sunrise/Sunset

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.” – Jo Walton Sunrise/moonset at Bosque del Apache, New Mexico Good advice. Tucson Sunset Sunrise in central New Mexico Thanks to Ann-Christine of the Leya blog for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Illustrate a Favorite Quote or Poem. Sunset in western Arizona

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Drama- Watching Winter Waves

Drama – some people thrive on it. They seem to need drama in their life to give it spice, to make it more interesting. But as for me, I’ve always taken the alternative view. I try to avoid unnecessary drama in my life. I’m not alone. When I googled “What does drama mean?”, I got the answer,  “Drama typically refers to conflict, tension, or emotional upheaval in interpersonal relationships or…

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Best of 2023 - My Best Unpublished Photos From The Last Year

It’s a year in review, the best of 2023.  For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, we were asked to show no more than 12 of our favorite images from the past year. Wow, that’s a hard choice. It wouldn’t be a Rambling Ranger Best of post without at least one wildflower! Easter Sunday in the Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass, Oregon I couldn’t do it. Too many favorites. So I tried to narrow it down…

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Last Chance

Last chance is the theme for the final Lens-Artists Photography Challenge of 2023. Tina asks us to include those photos taken in 2023 that we haven’t published yet, that didn’t fit in with the other themes. So this post is kind of random, an assortment of images that I like, but that are maybe not for everyone. They’re mostly not the grand scenic stuff. (That’ll be the next post.) Hank, one of my…

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Magical Places

Well, it’s almost Christmas and Winter Solstice is only a few days away. Kind of reminds me of a Dar Williams song, “Christians and the Pagans”.  (Give it a listen) There’s a line in that song, “And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere, ” I’m a pagan at heart, it’s nearly Winter Solstice, and I do find magic everywhere, especially in the natural world. So here are a few of…

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Empty Spaces

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, Patti invites us to explore empty spaces in our photography. Empty spaces can draw more attention to our subject, as it does in this wildflower photo. Empty spaces draw attention to your subject. In wildlife photography, leaving a lot of empty space in front of your subject gives them room to move. Empty space gives this meadowlark plenty of…

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It's Tricky

It’s tricky. Sometimes you can see them and sometimes you can’t. But once you do, you can’t unsee them. I’m talking faces. Faces and other features, mimicked in rock outcroppings or trees. Can you see a fish face in these rocks? I’m on the road this week. Since I am visiting Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint in  Bandon, Oregon today, I thought it might be fun to share a few of my images with…

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Orcas Island: A New Experience

Housesitting on Orcas Island this winter was a new experience for me, in many different ways. It was the first time I’d lived in an oceanfront property. I really enjoyed that! That is an experience I wouldn’t mind repeating! This was also the first time I’d lined up a housesit that lasted the entire winter. This was my winter housesit. There were a lot of reasons why staying in one place for a…

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Spring!

What does spring mean to me? That’s the question posed by Sofia of Photographias in this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge. For me, spring equals two things:  road tripping and wildflowers. Ajo Lilies in Anza Borrego State Park This way of celebrating spring started for me when I used to work winters as a ranger in Death Valley National Park. There, I fell in love with the desert spring…

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Nature Photography -- My Road Most Traveled

I’m a nature photographer. It’s what I do. I go wild for my photography. I go wild for photography! John of Journeys With Johnbo chose this week’s Lens-Artists Photography Challenge, “The Road Most Traveled”. He asks us to showcase whatever style of photography is our go-to, our favorite, our road most traveled. Fall colors on the Denali Highway I don’t think I can define a particular style as my…

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Finding Peace

Finding peace in today’s world isn’t easy. So much chaos! So many things going wrong!  Cold war with both China and Russia, the war in the  Ukraine, climate change and crazy weather, women’s rights going backwards, mass shootings practically every week, inflation, earthquakes….AAAAAAGH! Things seem pretty desperate! Well, yes,  the world situation is desperate. It’s desperate more often than not.…

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Alone Time

“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity. ”                                                                                                                                     –Albert Einstein I think I’ve had more alone time this winter than I’ve ever had, in any season, in my entire life. I didn’t plan it that way. The people I am housesitting…

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Soft and Dreamy - Reducing Clarity

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North Meets South - Changes In Latitudes

North meets South annually in my life.  I migrate. As beautiful as Alaska is in the winter, like the birds and the whales, I prefer to head for warmer climes when the days get shorter. In the following pairs of flowers, can you tell which is North and which is South? For years I worked in Death Valley National Park in the winter. People used to tell me, “Wow, you go from one extreme to the other!…

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Monochrome: Shadows and Reflections

My approach to photography has generally been pretty traditional. My photos are usually realistic, no frills or special effects except perhaps a little color saturation, which I’ve loved since the old-school film days when I used Velvia slide film and underexposed half a stop to get that rich kind of color. Reflections on the McCarthy Road But for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Patti…

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