Laura Weishaupt Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <blockquote> <p><strong>Basic Guidelines</strong>: Nature based subject matter. Please, declare captive subjects. Keep your image at/under 700 pixels on the long axis for in-line viewing and try to keep file size under 300kb. Note that this includes photos hosted off-site at Flicker, Photobucket, your own site, etc. Feel free to link your image to a larger version.<br> <strong><em>In the strictest sense, nature photography should not include hand of man elements. Please refrain from images with obvious buildings or large man made structures like roads. A bird on the fence post or bug on your finger is fine. Try to minimize man made features, keep the focus on nature, and let common sense be your guide. Let's post one image per week. </em></strong><em>More details please <a href="/nature-photography-forum/00cgtY">check here</a>.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Good Morning,<br> Today is a day of silliness. It's one of those days where people and nature collide and everyone gets a good laugh. The day has some roots as a connection to nature in a pagan past. Who would have thought that a day for priests to bless candles, and marking a point in the winter would morph into a big rodent predicting the weather accompanied by a bunch of gents in top hats? Right now, thousands of people are outside in the dark and the cold, enduring the elements. The concession stand opened at midnight and everyone is, no doubt, well fortified out on Gobbler's Knob. They're probably connecting with that distant pagan right about now.</p> <p>It's <a href="http://www.groundhog.org/">Groundhog Day</a>. If the groundhog sees the sun and hence it's shadow, there's another 6 weeks of winter. If not, then things will get better soon. Apparently the rodent isn't right very often. But the crowds in Punxsutawney don't mind. Let's face it, it's the beginning of February and there's 6 more weeks of winter anyway! All the groundhogs around here are tucked in their dens, content to wait for all this snow to melt. Now, if you go outside today and see the sun, will you be afraid of your shadow and run back into your hole? No way! You're going to grab your camera and photograph it, and anything else that warm winter sun shines on.</p> <p>Happy Groundhog Day on Monday in Nature, whether it's sunny, cloudy, or just a little silly, naturally.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickDB Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>People and nature collide in Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. The Japanese macaques are a delight and will entertain for hours. This little guy spotted a speck of dirt on my lens and came over to clean it off! 5D2 + EF8-15mm f/4L at 15mm; 1/200s at f/8 ISO 400.</p><div></div> 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Bortnick Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Lovely, now I have to post after Ricks (stellar) image. Great, oh well. IR of a local bird sanctuary taken earlier in the year, despite whiteness. </p><div></div> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnfarrar Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>That macaque has an incredible stare! Went to a beach where there is the only local exposure of old red sandstone - but on the way these backlit reeds (<em>Phragmites</em>) just took over.</p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stemked Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Okay, as Laura noted. Being a little crazy and not knowing head from,... well, you know.</p> <p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/12911675-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="568" /><br> American Toads, Alamance County, North Carolina. </p> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill J Boyd Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Black-Crested Titmouse found at Pedernales Falls SP in central Texas. </p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawsonPointers Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>We saw this tegu lizard while in Uruguay. This specimen was about 1m in length and has the mid-section girth of a cat. It was highly novel to this Canuck; however, I now understand that these are becoming a serious threat in FLA as an invasive species.<br> The first time we saw it sunning on the side of the road, I did not have my camera with me (shame) so I said to Becky “look like food to keep it around while I run to get the camera”. That comment didn’t go over so well. Neither did my remark on my return. I just caught a shot of it as it retreated into the brush; so I said to Becky “you won’t get any Oscars for your performance as lizard food”. That was 2 weeks ago. I can still see the outline of the bruise on my arm.<br> Anyway, the tegu appeared a couple of days later and I chased it around and got several shots. They certainly move fast. I’m glad that my performance as ‘lizard food’ was also inferior and that I did not get bit.</p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony_r.1 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <center> <p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17956832-lg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="500" /><br> Prairie Dog</p> </center> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn McCreery Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>I went outside Thursday night to walk the dog, and was startled to observe a very prominent ice halo surrounding the mostly full moon. The halo overlaps the constellation Orion to the lower left of the moon, and the Pleiades is to the upper right of the moon and within the halo. Halos are produced by refraction of light through randomly oriented hexagonal ice crystals at an angle of 22 degrees around either the sun or moon. The rather indistinct red end of the spectrum is refracted towards the inside of the halo. The exposure necessary to capture the halo was 15s at f:8.0, ISO 2,000, which washes out any detail on the moon surface.</p><div></div> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biomed Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <center><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/17958877-md.jpg" alt="G15_ice 007" width="680" height="510" border="0" /></center> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Eckman Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Below zero with the wind chill in Vermont on Saturday</p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Yellow Eyed Penguins on Enderby Island, New Zealand.<br> Nikon D750 with 200-400mm/f4 lens.</p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonjb Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Th ground hog is going to have to tunnel upwards through sever feet of snow to see his shadow. View out to the road down my lane way.</p><div></div> 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_2019667 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>American Goldfinch with breakfast.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Doo Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Wha wha what groundhog?</p><div></div> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcstep Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p><strong>Gear Down</strong></p> <p><a title="Gear Down by David Stephens, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8668/16204577248_c1b3e5a567_c.jpg" alt="Gear Down" width="800" height="400" /></a></p> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Smith Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>xxx</p><div></div> 3 Robin Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonjb Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Douglas, that is one seriously confused toad :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User_6502147 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>After Buffalo snow dump....in Cascades.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcelRomviel Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Some geese in the meadow</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bing_huey1 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Downy woodpecker excavating bark of a willow</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_de_ley Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Another duck-alicious action shot from me:</p> <div></div> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kts Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>from earlier today out scouting for full moon and sunset locations</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan2240 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Had to go back to the summer archives for this one. Don't know if it saw its shadow or not.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthea50 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 <p>Lorikeet in a lemon tree...</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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