Twin Falls

I pulled this shot out of the archives as I was doing a little house cleaning on my website. I took this several years ago along Cypress Creek at Twin Creeks Park in Cedar Park. When I found it I realized it was one that I had overlooked. It's all the perspective in this shot, but it gives the feeling that these falls are a LOT bigger than they are. With all the recent rain I imagine the creek is flowing nicely and these falls are probably in fine form. May need to take a little trip down there to check it out. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Nesting

Caught this guy gathering materials for his nest down by the lake on Colter Bay in June. Warm periods are short in Grand Teton, so I reckon he spent a lot of his time getting ready for colder weather.

Ever Ready

On the lookout for rafters, both human and canine on the River of No Return. What a great life for a water loving dog!

Lady Bug Pedals

With so many beautiful fall foliage shot opportunities, it was nice to see some other colors in Garner State Park. Apparently this lady bug liked the colors too. :-)

Cedar Fall

Enjoying the touches of fall on the Turkey Creek Trail at Emma Long City Park in Austin.

Spring Blooms

It's time once again for our trees to bloom! I captured this shot at the Sam Houston statue in Huntsville on our trip this week. Nice to see the trees in bloom again.

Nose Dive

Happy Wildflower Wednesday. There must be something REALLY GOOD in that flower. Caught these bees in this flower when I was out taking photos at a bike tour this weekend.

Adolescent Blues

This is as close as I've ever gotten to a Blue Heron in the wild. This adolescent heron apparently had not had many encounters with humans and did not fly away the second I got too close for comfort on my kayak. Only thing I was disappointed in was that I still had my ISO cranked up to 1000 for some shots I was taking earlier in a dark area. Given that, this is still a pretty sharp image. You can even see the spider web coming off the twig and strung in front of the heron.

Coola Grinder

When we were in Vancouver we took the gondola up to Grouse Mountain. We hoped the views would be better than we had, but the clouds were socked in and it was drizzling at times. So we decided to head over to see the two resident orphaned grizzlies. I'm not sure if this is Coola or Grinder, but this was taken shortly after the two of them had a wrestling match in the snow (even had a little blood drawn as seen in the snow in front of his nose). He looks about like I feel most mornings, but luckily I haven't been in a wrestling match with another grizzly. For more information on Coola and Grinder, check out their website at https://www.grousemountain.com/wildlife-refuge. In honor of the hump on the grizzlies back, Happy Hump Day y'all.

Patriotic Sunflowers

A red, white and blue sunset over this sunflower field in Medina County to wrap up your workweek and the last Friday in July. Hope you have a great weekend and get a chance to catch a beautiful sunset! Check out my website here: Steve Coyle Photography And follow me on: Facebook Google+ Flickr 500px

Marmot Munching

Caught this Hoary Marmot filling up on wildflowers on the hike to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park. By the looks of him, he's been feeding on quite a few of the wildflowers this summer. :-)

Glacier Goat

Mountain goat in the goat observation area at Logan's Pass in Glacier National Park. This goat was one of a small herd we saw coming down the mountain as we arrived at the viewing area. It was also one of the few we saw that did not have a radio collar around it's neck.

Heron Hunter

Captured this heron eating his lunch in Armand Bayou in Houston, Texas. And yes, he did manage to get this fish down. It was pretty amazing watching him ingest the fish. We never thought he'd be able get his throat opened wide enough to swallow it whole.

Peek-A-Boo

Captured this lone prairie dog on the lookout in Prairie Dog Town at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in March. The scope of this shot helps convey the sense of how big the refuge is. A shot of the prairie dog alone was boring, but to me this provided a much better 'feel' for how wide open the spaces are in this part of Oklahoma.

Albino Lupine

My wife and I were walking the Brushy Creek Trail last night when she spotted these white lupine off the trail. We're guessing someone else did as well and placed this piece of wood by them for protection. We're so used to seeing our native bluebonnets, which there are PLENTY of in Brushy Creek Lake Park, that finding this oddity was a real jewel. I captured this hand held using live view on my NIkon D810 after several attempts. And as I was making the shots, my wife tells me not to step backward because there was a huge fireant mound directly behind me. I had been oblivious to the ants when I was positioning myself, but I sure was glad she noticed them. That would have been a rude awakening if I had stepped in them. All in all, for a handheld shot with a non-macro lens, I pretty pleased with how this shot came out.

Lilipad Blooms

Another capture from our visit to the Mayfield Nature Preserve on Mother's Day. The lilipads were in full bloom in the ponds in the preserve. Just a matter of finding the right angle to show off their beauty.

Agarita Wine

I had never seen the agarita bushes at Doeskin Ranch at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge so full of berries as I did on my visit yesterday evening. The recent rains were definitely useful to these drought tolerant plants. Their berries were almost bursting with juiciness. I bet Jerry Jeff Walker could put these berries to good use in some agarita wine.

Worker Bee

The wildflowers were in fine form at Doeskin Ranch in the Balcones Canyonland National Wildlife Refuge this weekend. And with those beautiful flowers came some very productive insects. I don't know where this worker bee's hive was, but he was going back fully loaded. He had so much pollen stock piled on his hind quarters I was wondering how he was going to take off.. I made this shot handheld with a Sigma 18-250 lens on a Nikon D7100 camera. I've been using this lens 3 years and it still amazes me with it's capabilities for a wide range zoom lens. It is my favorite walk around lens on this camera body. It's lightweight and great for a hike. The image was captured in RAW, as I always shoot my images, and the only editing performed was basic exposure tweaks and a little bit of cropping. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Spring Blooms

Spring is always one of my favorite times of year. I love seeing the new greens and all the blooms. It does drive my allergies nuts from time to time, but I would not miss it. Yesterday marked the beginning of Spring and we were out at midday exploring the area checking out the area blooms. We stopped by the Georgetown Sunken Garden where I made this shot with the assistance of my wife holding a scrim to cut down on the harsh midday light. Breaking the rule of not shooting during the middle of the day can be fun when you have an assistant to help you break the rule. :-) Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Dawn Blooms

Another image from the photo walk I took on World Photography Day at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. With the recent rains everything was nice and green and in bloom. Hiking through the refuge was a great way to start the day! Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Light Up

I went out to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge with my friend Anand today to celebrate World Photography Day. We did a little experimenting with high speed sync flash as I provided education on how to properly use a single flash to get the effect you want. This was taken at 9 AM in a slightly shaded area, but with a little flash knowledge we were able to make daytime look like night. Having an opportunity to share my knowledge is something i enjoy immensely and need to consider doing more often. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Busy Bee

I really enjoy macro photography. It keeps me sharp for shooting details during the weddings I photograph. Plus it provides the viewer with a glimpse of the world you won't see unless you really get close. Am I afraid of getting stung you ask? Maybe a little, but usually the bees are so busy collecting pollen they pay little attention to me. Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)

Neighborhood Raptor

One of the broad-winged hawks that have taken up residence in our cul-de-sac. This one was finishing dinner in one of the trees in our front yard. They have their nest in our next door neighbors tree. We hear them throughout the day and often see them, but this is the best shot of one I've gotten so far. According to Audobon they are uncommon in this area so we feel lucky that they have decided to reside in our neighborhood. They apparently have an abundance of food and I know they have plenty to drink with all the ponds between us and our neighbors.Photo by Steve Coyle Photography (www.stevecoylephotography.com)