For my final entry in the seven-day challenge, I picked a photo that is only about one year old. Last January, we visited the Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge in southern New Mexico. There were many photos that came from this trip, and if you  would like to see more, you can view them here.

This photo also turned into a bit of a training exercise in my learning how to use Lightroom to remove unwanted objects. If you go to the original post linked above and look at this photograph, you’ll notice some large pipes coming out of the ground in the lower left corner of the image. No doubt they are part of the irrigation system that provides water to the plants in this field that are used to provide feed to the large number of birds that spend time here. Thanks to the magic of Lightroom, the above image no longer contains any plumbing.

To capture those birds in flight, I needed a fast shutter speed and small aperture to keep a wide depth of field, necessitating a high ISO. Nikon D7000 f/32 1/320 sec. ISO-1250 Tamron 18-270 mm @ 50 mm. Post processing in Snapseed and Lightroom.

It’s been fun sharing my favorite nature photos. It was hard to be selective and pick out my absolute favorites, but it has given me some ideas of new prints to make and hang. Time to think about redecorating.

John Steiner

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota.

For my day 6 challenge post, let’s go back to August, 2015. Not so long ago, we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. On our previous visits to the park, the herds of wild horses were always elusive, clearly visible only through my longest telephoto lenses. On this trip, however, a small herd got up close and personal with us, actually standing on the scenic drive we were transiting. We parked along the side of the road behind a half-dozen or so other cars who pulled over, their passengers spilling out to stand on the roadway and snap photos. The National Park Service tells us that these horses are descendents of those who ran free in the area during Theodore Roosevelt’s time in North Dakota. Many small bands of 5-15 animals live in the park. You can read more about our visit to the park here.

Nikon D7000 f/16 1/125 sec. ISO-100 Tamron 16-300 mm @ 175 mm. Post processing in Lightroom.

John Steiner

One of my favorite images was serendipity. Our plan to visit several national parks in Utah was cut short by a late October snowfall. We awoke early in the morning to get to Bryce to capture the sunrise, but when we stepped out of the motel, we discovered the previous evening’s rain had mutated into several inches of snow.

When we arrived at the park, most of the park roads were closed due to the snow. Only two viewpoints were open, Bryce Point where we planned to capture the morning sunrise and Paria View. We will have to return to Bryce to capture views from the parts of the park we missed. In the meantime, you can see the sunrise shots from Bryce Point here.

For you photographers: Nikon D7000 f/8 1/250 sec. ISO-200 Tamron 18-270 mm lens at 18 mm.

John Steiner

Morning on the Red River of the North. Sunrise and sunset are a photographer’s favorite times. As I am not always an early riser, my portfolio features far more sunsets than sunrises. Here is one of my favorite exceptions, taken at 5:13 AM in September 2015.

For the photographers, this image was captured with a Nikon D7000. f/14 1/80 sec. ISO-100 Tamron 16-300 mm @ 16 mm. -2,0,+2 exposures merged via Lightroom’s HDR function.

John Steiner

For my Day 3 Nature Challenge response, I submit a view of the Pacific Ocean from a viewpoint meant for visitors to look the other way at Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai. It’s another example for photographers to be reminded to look behind you.

Along the northern shore of the western edge of the island of Kauai lies the beautiful but remote Nāpali Coast. The literal translation of Nāpali is “the cliffs”. If you want to visit the coast, bring your hiking boots and spend some quality time on the rugged Kalalau Trail. Or bring your boat and view the rugged coastline by sea. You can visit the area by car, but you won’t see the view from the shoreline. On our visit to Waimea Canyon, one of the higher altitude viewpoints offers a glimpse of the coastline. Peering through the tropical plants provides a view of a deep river valley between two of the high cliffs that terminate at the Nāpali Coast shoreline.

Photo information: Nikon D7000 f/3.5 1/125 sec. ISO-100 Tamron 18-270 mm lens at 18 mm.

John Steiner

It’s Day 2 of my Facebook Seven-Day Nature Challenge. One of my favorite shots from our Northern Minnesota travels features a mother loon and her chick. We were on Fishhook Lake, just outside of Park Rapids, Minnesota enjoying a beautiful summer day. You can see more photos taken that day here.

For the photographer types, details of the shot are: Nikon D7000, Tamron 18-270 mm lens at 155 mm. f/6.3 1/640 sec. ISO-200.

Last week I was challenged by my wife’s brother, Terry, to put up my best nature photos in a 7-Day Nature Challenge. Being on a long road trip, I put off my challenge response until I had time to put together my collection and share it.

Though Terry’s challenge came to me via Facebook, I decided that I would share my photos with my Journeys readers as well. This panoramic shot was captured at Lake Itasca State Park in Minnesota. Lake Itasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi. The early morning mist hadn’t yet dissipated on this cool Autumn morning.

The image was captured with my Nikon D-7000 f/14 1/60 sec. ISO-100 Tamron 16-300 mm lens @ 16 mm There were two 3-shot HDR exposures at -2,0,+2 EV merged into a panorama and HDR processed in Adobe Lightroom.