Month: July 2024

Trix & Pink Mouse

Our cat Trixie crouches next to her favorite toy, pink mouse on July 22, 2022. Original: _Z723588.NEF

We bought pink mouse way back when Scout was a kitten but it was Emma and now Trixie who really loved it and played with it in similar fashion. In the dark of night you can hear muffled mews as she carries it about, come morning her friend will be lying somewhere new.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
🗓️: July 22, 2022

Head on a Swivel

A great horned owl perches on a saguaro, framed by two out-of-focus arms of a closer saguaro, in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 12, 2024. Original: _A672530.ARW

Normally I set up the tripod at the edge of the trail but to frame the owl between the arms of the nearby saguaro I had to be smack dab in the middle. I kept my head on a swivel, not so much for riders coming uphill as they’re usually huffing and puffing pretty good at this point, but for riders coming downhill where gravity is their friend. The owl did the same as it had two young charges nearby, mostly it was looking away from me, perhaps keeping an eye out for the family of hawks that live in the distance. Luckily for me I had the trail to myself and had plenty of time to wait for it to swivel its head back into view.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm + Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 12, 2024

Kindred Spirits

A great horned owlet perched in a tree squints as the sun rises in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 12, 2024. Original: _A672444.ARW

I know that look, I was probably wearing it as I took the picture. We night owls can both love being out at sunrise and loathe how early it arrives. I wish I’d found this owlet and its sibling a few minutes earlier, though I like the sense the sun is starting to crest the hill, I wish I also had a shot just before where the entire scene would have been softly lit. I thought about going out early the next few days before work but it wasn’t happening.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 12, 2024

First Day

A close-up of our newly adopted dog Bear relaxes on our bed on April 3, 2022. Original: _ZFC6566.NEF

Bear on his first day with us a couple of years ago, he’s grown (and shrunk) so much since then.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50 DX
🗓️: April 3, 2022