On January 1, 2012 I started a streak.... I would take and post a picture a day.  The rules are that it didn't matter how good the picture was, but of course, I want to post the best picture I can.  It has been a fascinating journey.  Most days I take close to 100 pictures but some days are as few as 5 and others as many as 700.  Some days I have many pictures I could call my "picture of the day" and other days I struggle to find one worthy of the honor.  Today marks the 1000th day in a row and the streak is still alive.  Who knows how much longer I'll continue?  This picture, of lightning taken from our our bedroom one June evening, is one of my favorites but you can see all the "picture-a-day's" at: http://rachelames.smugmug.com. Enjoy!

This year Andy and I decided to enjoy the fall colors of the mountains a little closer to home so we spent 3 nights in Estes Park.  While it is just an hour from our house, it is in many respects, a world away.  Hoards of tourists,  candy and T-shirt shops and traffic jams crowd the town itself but drive up into the park a couple of miles, all before 9am, and you've got a wilderness all to yourself.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we saw so many neat animals and views.  The elk were in rut and the trees were at their peak, too!  Below are some of our favorite pictures from the trip.
Click on an image below to see them as a slide show and read descriptions.

Fall can be a bittersweet time of year.  The colors and weather are so incredibly beautiful but sometimes it can mean the death of life in summer.  Honeybees are sometimes the casualties of the changing season.  As you know, I love to photograph honeybees and often have a hard time getting a sharp picture when the bees move around so quickly.  In fall, I sometimes see bees, coated in pollen, unable to move around very well as they struggle to survive.  This bee was such a victim.  It is stunning with all its pollen but the reason I could photograph it was that it was moving very slowly.  I put it on a stick and will forever treasure its memory...

In early September Andy and I went up to Summit County for the Mt Royal Hill Climb (a steep, 3 mile running race in Frisco).  While Andy raced I did Stand Up Paddle board in Dillon reservoir.  Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera on the board (why risk getting it wet?) so I have nothing to show for it.  After a neat hike without any wildlife to photograph I thought our chance of wildlife pictures was over for the day and we stopped by a couple of the outlet mall shops for some shopping.  On our way back to the car we heard quite a racket and looked up to see an Osprey eating a fish!  How neat!  I spent a bunch of time taking pictures and approaching it slowly.  Here are some of my favorites from the day.