Swamp Sage
#all #fauna #highlights

March 21, 2026

Exif
  • Date: March 21, 2026
  • Copyright: Neil Stoddard
  • Aperture: 5.60
  • Exposure Time: 1/800
  • F Number: 28/5
  • Focal Length: 400
  • Model: NIKON Z 8
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S Z TC-2.0x

It’s rare to catch a raccoon looking quite this philosophical.

Most of the group we saw on our trip through the Honey Island Swamp were hilarious, scrambling over each other and causing chaos. This one was definitely in on the action, but paused for just a minute to sit quietly and watch us pass by. The way that awesome backlight caught the edges of its fur made him look like a little swamp sage deep in thought.

Shooting into the light is always a fun challenge, and exposing for the shadows here really made that golden halo pop against the darker background.

Grape Soda Purple
#all #flora #highlights

March 4, 2026

Exif
  • Date: March 4, 2026
  • Copyright: Neil Stoddard
  • Aperture: 10.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 10
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 8
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8

Texas Mountain Laurel blooms for only a few weeks in spring, and I’d been watching this bush on my daily dog walks as the buds slowly tightened and swelled. Then one morning, there they were. That deep grape-soda purple against dark green, and a scent that stops you mid-stride. It’s not the same as lilacs; it doesn’t have to be. It’s become its own thing I look forward to now.

Guardian of Castle Rock Pueblo
#all #place #highlights

August 26, 2025

Exif
  • Date: August 26, 2025
  • Copyright: Neil Stoddard
  • Aperture: 11.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 11
  • Focal Length: 69/2
  • Model: NIKON Z 8
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S

A rock formation near the site of Castle Rock Pueblo, an archaeological site located in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Orchids
#all #flora #highlights

February 1, 2025

Exif
  • Date: February 1, 2025
  • Copyright: Neil Stoddard
  • Aperture: 16.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/160
  • F Number: 16
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 8
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8
Tis the Season
#all #object #highlights

November 30, 2024

Exif
  • Date: November 30, 2024
  • Copyright: Neil Stoddard
  • Aperture: 22.00
  • Exposure Time: 13
  • F Number: 22
  • Focal Length: 45
  • Model: NIKON Z 8
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
Color Guard in Flight
#all #people #highlights

November 5, 2024

Exif
  • Date: November 5, 2024
  • Aperture: 2.80
  • Exposure Time: 1/400
  • F Number: 14/5
  • Focal Length: 115
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S

A color guard member’s rifle hangs suspended in mid-air as the brass section performs in the background, capturing the precision and drama of a Rouse marching band performance.

Fireworks
#all #object #highlights

July 4, 2024

Exif
  • Date: July 4, 2024
  • Aperture: 10.00
  • Exposure Time: 2
  • F Number: 10
  • Focal Length: 54
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S

Let freedom ring 2024!

Double Rainbow over Niagara Falls
#all #place #highlights

June 6, 2024

Exif
  • Date: June 6, 2024
  • Aperture: 18.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/500
  • F Number: 18
  • Focal Length: 24
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
The Sacred Grove
#all #place #highlights

June 5, 2024

Exif
  • Date: June 5, 2024
  • Aperture: 9.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 9
  • Focal Length: 24
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S
New York City at Night
#all #place #highlights

May 28, 2024

Exif
  • Date: May 28, 2024
  • Aperture: 11.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/20
  • F Number: 11
  • Focal Length: 14
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S
Red Blue Bonnets
#all #flora #highlights

March 24, 2024

Exif
  • Date: March 24, 2024
  • Aperture: 2.80
  • Exposure Time: 1/100
  • F Number: 14/5
  • Focal Length: 76
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S

Blue bonnets are a common sight in Texas, but they also more rarely occur in colors other than blue. This was first time I saw red blue bonnets.

Tintic Standard Reduction Mill
#all #place #highlights

March 12, 2024

Exif
  • Date: March 12, 2024
  • Aperture: 2.80
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 14/5
  • Focal Length: 200
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S

Outside of Eureka, Utah, the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill is a fascinating set of ruins. The mill sits abandoned and is a very dangerous place to explore, so be sure to stay back if you pass by. This picture was taken from a safe distance behind the fences warning of the dangers of the site. The mill was used to process silver ore from the mines in the area. The mill only operated for five years, but left the soil and water poisoned with led and arsenic.

Doorknob
#all #object #highlights

March 11, 2024

Exif
  • Date: March 11, 2024
  • Aperture: 18.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 18
  • Focal Length: 94
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S

This door is to a small outbuilding kitchen originally owned by my second-great-grandfather, Michael Barclay. Grandpa Barclay had a hard life after losing his wife and sustaining a work injury leaving him unable to care for his children. He was forced to send his children to board and work for others, and had to sell everything he owned. He finished his life living with his daughter Maggie and husband Brigham Gardner in Spanish Fork, Utah. His last remaining property was this small building which was moved from Provo to Spanish Fork and placed behind the house Grandpa Brigham had built for his precious Maggie. Michael Barclay passed the day after my maternal grandfather Mark Gardner was born in the same house. The building still sits behind the house in Spanish Fork and is now used as a storage shed. The doorknob is original to the building and is a reminder of the hard life of my ancestors.

The Bray
#all #place #highlights

March 7, 2024

Exif
  • Date: March 7, 2024
  • Aperture: 4.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/500
  • F Number: 4
  • Focal Length: 30
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S

The Archie Bray Foundation provides an environment that stimulates creative work in ceramics. The Bray is a place that is both a sanctuary and a community. The grounds are scattered with exquisite sculptures nestled among the decrepit remains of the old brick factory and the raw wilderness of the Montana landscape.

https://archiebray.org/

Fire Rose
#all #flora #highlights

January 24, 2024

Exif
  • Date: January 24, 2024
  • Aperture: 25.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 25
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8
Hamster
#all #fauna #highlights

December 28, 2023

Exif
  • Date: December 28, 2023
  • Aperture: 2.80
  • Exposure Time: 1/125
  • F Number: 14/5
  • Focal Length: 200
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S

Our son got to care for this cutie over Christmas. It really liked Chex Cereal.

Still life
#all #flora #highlights

September 1, 2023

Exif
  • Date: September 1, 2023
  • Aperture: 4.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/8
  • F Number: 4
  • Focal Length: 170
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S
Petals
#all #flora #highlights

September 1, 2023

Exif
  • Date: September 1, 2023
  • Aperture: 4.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/8
  • F Number: 4
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8
Rumohra Adiantiformis
#all #flora #highlights

September 1, 2023

Exif
  • Date: September 1, 2023
  • Aperture: 4.50
  • Exposure Time: 2/5
  • F Number: 9/2
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8
Milkyway over Colorado
#all #place #highlights

July 10, 2023

Exif
  • Date: July 10, 2023
  • Aperture: 4.00
  • Exposure Time: 13
  • F Number: 4
  • Focal Length: 14
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S

This was one of the most amazing night skys I have ever beheld. Standing right outside the door of our AirBnB nestled on a farm outside of Mesa Verde National Park we could clearly see the center of the Milky Way with all this amazing glory.

Taraxacum
#all #flora #highlights

May 25, 2023

Exif
  • Date: May 25, 2023
  • Aperture: 25.00
  • Exposure Time: 1/80
  • F Number: 25
  • Focal Length: 50
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z MC 50mm f/2.8
Magnolia
#all #flora #highlights

May 20, 2023

Exif
  • Date: May 20, 2023
  • Aperture: 6.30
  • Exposure Time: 1/640
  • F Number: 63/10
  • Focal Length: 70
  • Model: NIKON Z 6_2
  • Lens Model: NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S