It’s time to share special photos from the past year. Please enjoy this selection of nature, history, and art photos from Bend Branches.
Best Nature Pictures
The first photo shows a scene at the Portland Japanese Garden. We visited in October, when fall colors were at their peak.
This picture shows a pronghorn buck at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. My following pronghorn post includes several pictures of these icons of the West.
We get spectacular sunsets and sunrises in our High Desert yard in Bend, Oregon. I wrote a two-line essence poem to go along with this image.
The next photo shows Emerald Pool at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The contrasting colors around this hot spring make it one of my favorites.
This photo is of a Cooper’s hawk right after she had a bath. This regular visitor to our yard is always entertaining!
Best History Photos
This is a picture of one of the passages in the burial tomb at Knowth in County Meath, Ireland. I wrote a short story to go along with pictures of this historic site.
This is a biplane located at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon. Black and white processing shows off the structure of this plane.
This picture shows an old farm truck parked along a rural road in Bend, Oregon. It’s parked along one of the 51 farm-to-market roads built in Deschutes County during the early 1900s.
This is a display of tail dresses at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. They’re called tail dresses because the deer’s tail is left on the cured skin. You can see them near the neckline on these dresses.
This picture shows an old farmhouse and windmill at a ranch in Central Oregon. To give this a more aged appearance, I used a filter that muted the reds.
Best Art Pictures
This is a close-up view of a bison sculpture by Greg Congleton, one of my favorite local artists. The name of this sculpture is Wooly Bully.
This is a sculpture of Sacagawea that’s located at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum in Cody, Wyoming. I admired how the artist portrayed her as a calm yet powerful presence.
This is a close-up view of a mural located outside a computer repair store in Bend, Oregon. Born Again Babylan represents mysteries of the past and technology of the future. See the whole mural here.
I featured the next image for a haiku challenge with the words blue and world as prompts. This art piece is at Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. It represents bubbles forming during the beer brewing process.
The last picture shows an ornament on my Christmas tree. I have a collection of reindeer and I like this one because of its joyful expression. The ornaments are each like a tiny work of art.
Wonderful photos all. I hope you have a great a year in 2022. Happy New Year!
Thanks fellow desert-living blogger. You have a great new year as well!
Wow, Siobhan, you really made the rounds in 2021! I love your shots of areas of Ireland, a place I am yearning to visit one day! And I also enjoyed reading about the sights to see in the Bend and central Oregon area, since I consider this part of our massive backyard of the PNW! I appreciated your stories behind the images as well, and I just mentioned the Aerospace museum to my hubby–definitely a destination to visit in the near future there in Hood River! Thank you for your support of Sunday Stills and Happy New Year!
Thanks so much, Terri! The museum in Hood River is great. Hope you do much more exploring next year. Have a Happy New Year!
Fantastic.
Thank you! 🙂
A lovely meander through your year and your lens Siobhan. I loved the beer bubbles (LOL) and the art images (especially the buffalo!). Thanks so much for your support of our challenge and for sharing your wonderful artistry.
Thanks, Tina! I’m thankful for the challenges you, Patti, Amy, and Ann-Christine offer us. 🙂
You have a beautiful view of the world. Thank you for sharing
Your photos are so interesting, Siobhan. Thanks for sharing.
These are fabulous! Can’t wait to see what you see in 2022. I think the Yellowstone shot (I’ve never been) and the Coopers hawk are favorites. But that passageway is intriguing. I have a note to go back for the short story ..
Thanks! 🙂 Glad you liked my little gallery.
Beautiful. I’d loved that buffalo the first time I saw your photo. Love it still.
Thanks! I love that sculptors work.
A lovely selection and I enjoyed the way you’ve grouped them by theme – much as I’m doing but far more self-disciplined than I’m managing to be 😆
Thanks, Sarah! I need to check out other participants contributions this week. It’s a fun challenge, but it’s so hard to narrow things down. I’m curious about how others chose their favorites.
In my case, with great difficulty!!
I liked the image of the biplane especially due to the angle it was photographed from.
Thank you! I took a lot of photos there and kept thinking they would look great in black and white. More to come…
This is a wonderful response to the challenge and spotlights your photography Siobhan!
Thank you, Anne!
The Pronghorn and the Coopers Hawk are especially awesome! 😁
Thanks, Tom! Glad you liked my pictures of those critters.
Stunning photography and inspiring 🌷🙏👍🏻 grace wishes 👏🌷
Thanks and good wishes to you as well! I have to approve each comment before it posts so sorry I didn’t see yours until this morning.
Excellent! My favourite is Woolly Bully – a beautiful work by the artist!
Yes, I like that sculpture a lot, Ann-Christine!
WOW. Great selections. Soooo many faves. Excellent.
Thanks so much, John! 🙂
Wonderful collection!
Great photos! My favorite is the burial chamber. Great composition!
Thanks, Dianne! The lighting was just right in that chamber.