Author: circadianreflections

Star Gazing, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Last night’s sky. Above the tree line sort of off center the brightest object is Jupiter, on the left side slightly above Jupiter is Cassiopeia, and in the upper right is what I think is The Great Square of Pegasus.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@ 17mm| f2.8| 35 seconds| ISO 160| Manual Mode| Tripod w/Intervelometer

Eastern Sky, Northern Hemisphere, Jupiter, Cassiopeia, Great Square of Pegasus, Night Photography, Astrophotography, California, Nikon, Nikkor, D700, 17-35mm; CS5

It is the Harvest Moon!, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

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Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanes
And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
All things are symbols: the external shows
Of Nature have their image in the mind,
As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
Only the empty nests are left behind,
And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Can you believe Summer is nearly over!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@ 35mm| f20| 45 seconds| ISO 1000| Manual Mode| Tripod| Cable Release Timer

Wrapped in Velvet, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

A Buck’s antlers are covered in a skin called Velvet. They grow and shed one set of antlers a year which start as two little buds. They are filled with blood and the nerves are quite sensitive during this period. When mating begins the antlers have shrunk, the Elk has rubbed all or most of the velvet off, and they become hard making them effective weapons for combat in rutting season.
This particular Buck has 26 females in his Harem. That is quite large. I believe the average is 20 females.

Point Reyes National Seashore, California, Tule Elk Preserve,

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm 155mm @ f8| 1/1000sec| ISO 800| Manual Mode| Tripod|