Sunset Hike at the River

Saturday it rained almost all day, so I thought there might be a lot more water in the river where I hike occasionally. So Sunday afternoon, it was sunny and I went down for a hike. The trail was a little muddy but it wasn’t too bad.

Just as I started my hiking I came across some deer, one of whom seemed to want to engage in a staring contest with me. So, while he stared, I took his photo.

I also came across a fuzzy caterpillar on a plant and I liked the way that the plant was curving under the weight of the caterpillar so I took some photos. I noticed a lot of these things in the grass, so it must be the time of year for them.

I also saw a water snake and a nutria, but I won’t bore you with those pictures.

I came across a dead tree along the river bank and I considered how to make it work with the river and the sky. The sun was getting low and was covering the grasses and weeds with golden highlights. So I set up on my tripod to capture the scene. The river is down the hill and mostly blocked by the plants. I did capture the sun on the plants well enough if you don’t mind a lot of lens flare from shooting at the sun. This was shot at 16mm with the lens stopped to f/20, so you get quite a bit of a sun star.

As the sun continued its journey, I went around to get another angle on the dead tree. The image below is shot with the sun coming right through the branches in the tree. Mabey you get a little more river in this photo and there is still some remaining sun light on the foreground plants. I also had to walk through and stand in a lot of tall weeds to get this photo and the bugs were having plenty of fun with me.

And before hiking back up the trail to my car, I stopped on a low bridge over the river for a sunset photo. You can see how full the river is as it is running through parts of the river bed that were nothing but grass a week ago.

I made it back to the car as the last of the color had left the sky. It won’t be long before the sun will set too late for me to catch it at this park as they close the gates at 9:00 PM.

As to the photos, I find the green in the plants to be a bit overwhelming and I have dampened that down quite a bit in editing. I don’t know if you can tell. Other than that, the colors are camera standard.

40 thoughts on “Sunset Hike at the River”

  1. Looks like you got a lot of nice clouds in the sky, this time. The colors are beautiful, in my view. I also really like the photo of the deer. I wonder if that’s how Carolyn looks while pondering our puns.

    Your photos look as good as any professional photographer’s, in my opinion.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks. That’s quite a compliment.

      That deer really stood there staring me down. I was going after some yellow flowers along the trail when I hear the movement in the trees. I turned to look and he just stared at me while his friends ran off. I raised my camera and took several shots before we both moved on. The deer around here are generally more timid. In Big Bend they’ll just about walk right up to you.

      Liked by 3 people

            1. I am guessing in a place like Yosemite, the deer are around hundreds of people a day and get desensitized to our presence.

              I am hoping that one day I will get desensitized to the presence of other people as well.

              Liked by 2 people

        2. I did see a critter that I hadn’t seen since I lived on the coast – a nutria. Apparently an invasive and destructive rodent from South America that various people brought here for fur I guess. When I worked in the refineries on the coast, I saw those things in the cooling ponds a lot.

          Liked by 2 people

            7. But you shouldn’t have! You could have just left it at “they look kind of like a beaver”… but Nooo….you had to tell me not to look! LOL! I think the worst picture of them was the one to pop up.

              Liked by 1 person

    2. Oh gosh! And this is why I have to read the comments, for I just never know!
      Sorry, but no the deer doesn’t have the right expression!

      I do agree with you though on Jason’s photography being as good as a professional’s.

      Liked by 2 people

  2. I never thought dead trees could be made to look so good, but you work the magic with your camera! Love the riverbank photos, especially the 1st one. Stunning!
    That deer is definitely staring intensely at you, did you lose the staring contest?
    I loved holding fuzzy caterpillars as a child. I remember looking for them whenever I was outside.

    Liked by 1 person

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