After the Thunderstorm

Red Tulip

Red Tulip

The spring bulbs are just beginning to bloom in our yard. There were a few red tulips up this morning, barely opened, but before I got outside for a bit of Sunday photography, the skies grayed and we had thunderstorms. So the tulips had a bath, and then I got my tulip photos with rain drops.

I think my grandmother used to tell me weather superstitions about Easter Sunday and rain. Yep, just Googled “myths about rain on Easter Sunday.” If it rains on Easter Sunday, there will be rain on the next seven Sundays, so says the old lore.

Hope that bit of weather forecasting doesn’t prove true!

Flying Home

Ascending from Tucson

Ascending from Tucson

Leaving Tucson, the scenery is breathtaking. The city is surrounded by mountains – mostly browns with just a hint of green from spring rains.

Flying over Snow Crested Mountains

Flying over Snow Crested Mountains

Further east, flying over the Rockies on the eastern side of Arizona. Lovely snow crested mountains. What a flight – always something to see.

Heart Lines

Lensbaby Macro

Lensbaby Macro

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts. ~ Albert Einstein

I spent a few hours playing with the Lensbaby and its macro attachment. I have a frosted glass inset in my work table, a great purchase I found at Ikea for less than $90 dollars. I clamped a light under the desk, and experimented with lighting directed from underneath objects.

This heart abstract is a part of a glass paperweight that has several concentric heart figures imbedded in it. This is one of the photos from my first experiment session. There will be more, as I enjoyed playing with this idea. It’s a great photo project when I’m not in the mood for an outdoor shoot.

Comings and Goings

Airport Departure

Airport Departure

At the end of every holiday comes the time for good-byes.

Though there is motion blur in this photograph, there was some teary blurring on my part that obviously didn’t show up on the photograph. This, however, is a perfect capture of what I saw as my children headed into the airport to fly to their homes halfway across the country.

Siberian Tiger, Critically Endangered Species, at Vilas Park Zoo

Cyber

Cyber © 2010 Bo Mackison

This is the newest animal on exhibit at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, and he is an awesome, handsome animal. Cyber is a 9 year old Amur Tiger, also known as a Siberian Tiger. His species of big cats is the largest in size, and one of the most critically endangered. Fully mature, he will stretch nearly 14 feet in length and weigh about 650 pounds. There are only 450 Amur Tigers left in the world – 300 in the wild and 150 in zoos. Their habitat is so fragile, there is fear that there will be no tigers–no tigers of any species–left in the wild in just a couple of years.

The Siberian tiger differs in appearance from the Bengal tiger by its thicker mane which wraps around its neck and part of its head. Considering its habitat is mostly in eastern Russia (Siberia), the tigers can probably use the extra cuff for warmth.

Cyber, on a Roll

Cyber, on a Roll © 2010 Bo Mackison

A recently as 80 years ago, there were 8 known sub-species of tigers. However in the 20th Century, 3 of the 8 species became extinct. The Siberian tiger is considered “critically” endangered – the most serious of the endangered categories, though a breeding program in international zoos based in China, Europe and North America appears to be fairly successful.

The 5 remaining sub-species of tigers, from most common to least common/most endangered, are the Bengal (India, Bangladesh, Nepal), the Indochinese (Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam), the Malayan (Malay Peninsula), the Sumatran (Indonesian island of Sumatra), the Siberian (eastern Siberia), and also the South China Tiger (South China) which will almost certainly soon be extinct. There are fewer than 60 of the South China Tigers, all in captivity, from a gene pool of only 6 tigers, which is not enough to save the species. There has only been one sighting of this tiger in the wild since 1983.