Fields of Colorful Tulips

While in Topeka, Kansas, taking portraits during photo sessions, I slipped in some personal shots of the beautiful tulips in bloom at the Ted Ensley Garden and the Doran Rock Garden in Gage Park.  I've included my favorite images of the colorful tulips for you to enjoy!

Jane, head chief of a goat herd!

Jane is now head chief of a goat herd!   We were so glad that she was needed in that position as she is no good at being a mother!  We lost two of her babies because she didn't get them up to nurse them.

It was fun to watch Jane arrive at her new position.  We never heard her bray before but she did so when she arrived at the goat pen.  It was a humorous scene.  The goats hid, and the cattle and the horses come running!  I was only able to capture one decent image of a goat baaing at me.  Its funny how they look like they're smiling when they baa!  Meet of few of Jane's new family members that greeted her arrival!

A fearless 2-month old donkey and a bucking horse!

Emmy Lou is about 2 months old in these images.  She brings a lot of joy to The Smith Ranch.  She is fearless and isn't a least bit afraid of Ace, the boss of the pasture!  These images were taken after the animals were let out to roam the entire pasture.  This is a totally new experience for Emmy Lou. In the second image shown, she is in the lead with her mom Sally behind her.  Ace is happy as always to be let out and you can see him bucking in the images below.  Enjoy!

A picturesque Kansas sunset

In a rush trying to get ready for Christmas, I dropped what I was doing and quickly grabbed my camera to capture this beautiful sunset from my front porch.  I kid you not, this image is just "as is," straight out of the camera. I didn't do any color enhancements to this beautiful sunset.

I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I just found this image on my camera when getting ready for an upcoming session.  Now tell me if Kansas doesn't have the most beautiful sunsets? :)  I thank God that I am able to enjoy some of the most awesome sunsets from my living room window.

BTW, I created this blog so as to separate our portraits and nature/animal images.  I have a link in the top of each blog to link to the other blog. I will eventually remove all of the nature/animal posts from the other blog as they will be posted in this new blog.

The epitome of youthful energy!

Emmy Lou is the epitome of youthful energy!  She loves to run and buck.  She is about one month old in these images.  The first image below is Emmy Lou with her maw and paw, Sally and Ozark.  The remaining images show Emmy Lou displaying her youthful energy as she runs and bucks at the Smith Ranch.  Enjoy!

It's a girl and her name is Emmy Lou!

We named her after her grandmother Emmy Lou.  The pictures below depict the first few hours after her birth.  If you look closely, you will notice her hair is still wet from the afterbirth.  A good friend of mine told me, there's not too many things cuter than a baby donkey!  And I think you will agree after you view the images that I have included from her newborn photo session.  Enjoy!

Heron nabs frog - Weak stomachs BEWARE!

 I have been waiting for the day to photograph a heron that often visits our property.  They are so skittish and practically impossible to photograph!  It was windy, rainy and cloudy but it made for some rich Autumn background colors of the scene of the heron as it took its time to catch a frog for lunch! I took these images from inside the studio using a 100-400mm lens.  I was having a hay day photographing this heron that was stalking its prey!  You can imagine my excitement when I looked up from the camera and the heron had caught a frog and was washing it before finally swallowing it.  In the last image below, you can see the lump in the heron's neck as the frog goes down the heron's throat!