snow | kritterspix

Snow Critters

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by kritterspaw

Moqui Snow_IR.jpg

This last storm met the predictions of the weathermen who projected 2′ of snow.

With it, brought animals looking for food.

It was great fun to see this little baby deer enjoying it’s first snow. It reminded me of Journey when we get snow, as she runs around and loves to ‘snorkel’ in it.

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There is something so pristine and beautiful about the new fallen snow… apparently the animals think so too.

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I suppose the cold white stuff is a novelty for them, something they don’t see often… so it’s new, fun, and refreshing as they walk through the cool stuff. Like a new toy, it’s invigorating and exciting. Whatever it is… it’s a pleasure to see happiness at any time or place. Bring it on.

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Late May Snow

Posted on May 25, 2019 by kritterspaw

If you are from AZ, you no doubt heard about our late May snow. Just as we were preparing our gardens for the Spring / Summer season, we got predictions of 5″ of snow. This is the West coast, not the East coast, we’re not supposed to get these late snow storms… nonetheless, here it is.

While we didn’t get 5″, we did get 2 separate snow storms over several days that amounted to maybe 2″. It was unexpected, but always welcome and provided us a blanket of white on the ground and over the trees.

No matter. We’ll take what we can get.

Snow storm over… 70F today here on the mountain. Go figure.

Bob

Posted on March 21, 2019March 22, 2019 by kritterspaw

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Sometimes, even when you’re not looking, you encounter the unexpected.

Such was the case when we stumbled across this scrawny bobcat wandering through the woods after a morning snowstorm, looking for supper.

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He reminded me of a friend who recently lost her beloved cat, Lucky. He was curious, intent, and full of life.

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I watched him hunt through the lens of my camera edging up to him ever so cautiously, trying to get as close as I dared. He was much more interested in catching supper, than he was in me.

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I hope he finds peace, tranquility, and a fabulous supper.

Bob Lake_IR.jpg We felt lucky to cross paths.

Snow Elk

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by kritterspaw

We got quite the winter storm this week…. and I don’t know what it is, but storms always seem to bring the animals.

Of course, we are always delighted to see them. I always tell them… ‘I’ll make you famous’… if only they knew!

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These poor little guys were hunkered down looking for warmth and food.

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Even the dry twigs seemed like tasty food for these guys who were rummaging through the snow looking for something to eat.

Of course, kids will be kids, and all they cared about was playing in the snow! Typical! : )

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You can check out more snow pix here… https://kritterspaw.com/2019/02/23/snow/

Keep it Clean

Posted on October 20, 2018October 20, 2018 by kritterspaw

Fall colors had me ga-ga like a little kid with a new toy, wandering around snapping shots of all the beauty everywhere I looked. But when I got home and looked at my photos, I got a lot of ‘scraggle’, like that below.

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While I tried to be aware of all my photography rules: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify, I pulled out contrasting yellow leaf color against dark trunks and green backgrounds. But what I got was ‘scraggle’… busy, busy, busy. Somehow when running around snapping the photos I didn’t see the little twigs that added clutter and distraction.

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Instead, I should have been keeping it CLEAN, by pulling out singular subjects and isolating them for a more interesting and uncluttered shot.

The shots I took that CUT THE CLUTTER, took the prize and won my favor and the viewer’s eye.

First Snow

Posted on October 20, 2018October 20, 2018 by kritterspaw

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We had already scheduled a trip to check out how fall colors were coming along when we got 6″ of fresh heavy snow. The cold snap helped the colors along, bringing out brilliant reds in the maples, and golden yellows among the oaks.

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The ground was covered with a blanket of fallen color on the fresh white snow. It was a thing of beauty to walk among nature and all her glory.

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We even found these fresh bear tracks leading through the forest, who surely must have been enjoying the cool weather and the awesome environment we were witnessing.

For more Fall Color photos check out my blog here… https://kritterspaw.com/2018/10/20/snowfall/

Look, Snow

Posted on February 21, 2018February 21, 2018 by kritterspaw

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We finally got a little snow…. not much, but enough to have the animals hunker down and get out of the wind and snow. This little pygmy owl sat and gazed at the snow and watched it come in. Any time we see some of the more ‘exotic’ and rare animals, we are thrilled… and this pygmy owl was no exception.

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Happy Snow

Posted on January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 by kritterspaw

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While the East coast is getting hit with repeated snow storms, Arizona is getting left out of the action. Now I know most people don’t think of AZ as getting snow… but for Northern Arizona it is part of our seasons, and one we count on to get precipitation to keep our trees healthy and our forests free from wildfires. For a normal winter (October – March, or so) we would expect to see maybe 6′ – 10′ of snow. While that may not be a lot for some Eastern states, it’s about right for us. Thus far this winter, we have seen none.

That is until this past weekend. I’m happy to report we finally got some snow! Woohoo. We probably got about 8″ at our home. Having been house bound, we opted to go to the rim to check out their snow and maybe get some pix.

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The rim probably got around a foot of snow. It was beautiful.

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There is something special about new fallen fresh snow, clinging to the trees and their trunks. It is a magical sight. I never used to like snow – too cold. But I have developed an appreciation for it’s beauty.

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… and it always tends to bring out the animals. We were lucky to see a number of elk – all of whom where quite surprised to see our Jeep slogging through the deep snow.

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Picture in Picture

Posted on May 5, 2017 by kritterspaw

I learned this cool technique. I learned it as ‘Picture in Picture’ which reminds me of that feature I never use on my tv. Apparently it’s all the rage with Snapchat and such. Being behind the times (where I pretty much live), I had never heard of or seen it.

The idea is you take a photograph of your hands holding your phone, and put them on a blank layer (transparency) in Photoshop. Then you take a photograph and fit it to the background. Cut and paste the same photography INTO (Paste Special) your picture of your phone. (Use the polygonal lasso tool to make the selection of your phone screen.) Don’t forget to blur background layer for best effect.

And wa-la…

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