Summer in New Mexico is wildlife season. Things are very dry, and temperatures are high. Back in 2011, there was a huge wildfire in New Mexico known as the Las Conchas Fire.
One evening during the fire I drove to the western side of town to photograph this scene. The sky was a brilliant orange and yellow, and it silhouetted several large electrical towers. The yellow area just above the horizon in the middle of the picture is where the sun is setting. The rest of the color is from the fire. The image is both beautiful and tragic at the same time.
I have wonderful views of the Sandia Mountains from my yard. And sometimes, especially during the winter, I am treated to some spectacular sunrises. The mountains themselves lack the beauty of Sedona's red rocks. But it's still nice to be able to look out the window and see such natural beauty.
I recently rediscovered this touching photo of one of the baby orphan elephants and a keeper at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya.
I so look forward to visiting this amazing place whenever I am in Nairobi. As a sponsor of three orphans, I get to attend the daily evening session when the babies are brought to their stockades after spending the day in the nearby forest. One of the keepers sleeps in the stockade with a different orphan each night to provide a sense of security to the orphans, most of which have been badly traumatized by watching their families die at the hands of poachers.
You can sponsor an orphan for only $50/year. Details are at www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org.
I love sunflowers. They don't smell nice the way some flowers do. But they always remind me of happy, sunny days. I asked my landscaper to include sunflowers in my back yard when it was being redesigned a few years ago, but what I got weren't the big sunflowers like the one in this photo. I have two photos of sunflowers framed and hanging in my bedroom. It's something nice to wake up to each day.
My eye was drawn to this scene on the Serengeti of Tanzania by the colors and textures. A big storm was on the way, as evidenced by the dark, moody clouds. But the sun was still bright enough to cast shadows and light up the grass, revealing its colors and textures.
A zebra walks through the lush grass inside Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater. Unlike zebra and wildebeests outside the crate, animals inside the crate do not take part in the annual migration.
The crater is the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater was formed when a volcano erupted and collapsed 2 to 3 million years ago. It is 2,000 feet deep. The crater floor is mostly open grasslands, and is home to a variety of animals, including Cape buffalo, elephants, zebras, lions and other animals except for giraffes.
Yellowstone National Park is more than just geysers and bison. It also is home to many colorful, and beautiful, landscapes. Red willow (a favorite hangout of moose), green trees and snow-capped mountains created this amazing scene.
