Dog Archives - Bliss Photographics

Posted on February 23, 2020March 2, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Sunny Sundog Icy Morning

Commonly known as a “Mock Sun” or “Sun Dog, this is a Parhelian or “Mock Sun” It occurs at 22 degrees angle from the sun. There are many manifestations of this. I’ve only seen one better Parhelian off the face of the Jackson Hole Ski area. At the Village in Jackson Hole mid winter back in the 90’s. This capture was a few miles back in the backcountry while I was driving parallel ridges for that mornings sunrise. This images sits on the border between Montana and Wyoming with both states ground and sky in the image. I never know what I’m going to run into when I go out.

Caused by Reflection and Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it passes around the edge of an object. In the atmosphere, diffracted light is actually bent around atmospheric particles – most commonly, the atmospheric particles are tiny water droplets found in clouds. Diffracted light can produce fringes of light, dark, or colored bands. Here Hexagonal plates of ice are falling actively from the sky. You can actually see some of them like white dots on the image. Ice Hexagonal plates Frozen in Space and Time as they fell (literally and figuratively).

It was a cold subzero morning for this sky show. This ice was hazing up the whole sky but I actually drove into this from an area with no falling ice. POP and there was an entire Parhelion right in front of my camera. Slide to a stop, enjoy the view while the camera comes out of sleep, compose, set the final settings, focus and click. The image is about 60 degrees wide overall. Love the Lone tree sun filter.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Sunny Sundog Icy Morning

Posted on January 29, 2020January 22, 2020 by Frank Bliss

King Corso Mastiff Drool

This is likely as close as you’ll ever get to my King Corso Mastiff. He is one of three that live here in the ranch’s headquarters fenced in compound. The other two Mastiff’s are the Pressa Canario breed. I hate to tell you how much food 500 pounds of dog collectively can eat in a day. They all get about a pound of meat a day with kibble as a backup. They have wonderful coats and no skin conditions at this point. I’ve had this little guy for 4 years now.

Mastiff’s tend to be family dogs and not real tolerant of others. This 220 pound boy is no exception. He is a WONDERFUL dog to us and few others have been “granted entrance” into his circle. He is very picky as to who he will accept and who he won’t. I would have a heck of a time with him if I didn’t live in this isolated place. He is not tolerant of others he doesn’t know.

Mastiff Drool:

Drooling, slobbering slabber, frothing, driveling, flobidising — salivating by any other name would feel just as sticky. Dogs with huge heads sporting big lips can’t help it; they’re built to drool. Mastiff owners are easy to identify as they usually have a couple of paper towels crumpled in their pocket. Strategically located piles of towels around the house become a necessity. We ONLY feed dogs meat or treats OUTSIDE (everyday by hand). NO people food and no feeding inside. Feeding Mastiffs any kind of people food will make the animals drool when you eat. Another indication of feeding a Mastiff people food are the little dried out strings of drool on the ceiling..😜

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: King Corso Mastiff Drool

Posted on December 14, 2019December 7, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Back Country Sun Dog

This big old sun dog happened one cool sub-zero morning. Ice crystals refracting light were falling out of the air in front of my camera everywhere. All the white speckles are ice crystals close to the camera. I was just driving along a high ridge as is my typical backcountry drive. It suddenly appeared as I was driving along. The ice fall moved over me.

Two ways these form:. 1: light passing through suspended atmospheric plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. Alternately, refraction from drifting in freezing moist air at low levels as diamond dust as here. Those “mock suns’ are from the aforementioned “Diamond Dust”. The colors usually go from red closest to the sun outward with the standard rainbow sequence. This was VERY bright.

This half circle halo is 22 degrees from the sun. These 22 degree refractions are present with and without mock suns in my experience. This particular Sundog even has a sun pillar above AND below the sun itself. Pillars develop as a result of ice crystals slowly falling through the air, reflecting the sun’s rays off of their hexagonal flat surfaces.

I’ve only seen one better sundog off the face of the Jackson Hole Ski area at the Village mid winter back in the 90’s. This was a few miles back in the backcountry pretty much across the border with sky in both Montana and Wyoming. .

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana).

Title: Back Country Sun Dog

Posted on November 30, 2019November 24, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Sunset Across the Border

Sunset Across the Border starts in Wyoming where I stand. The Prairie Dog Hills on the Horizon in the Montana side of this sky show.

The Horizon Rising to cover the suns face occurs with finality in the backcountry. This spot is several miles out into the grasslands. When the sun goes down, it gets very dark very quickly. Particularly so on moonless or cloudy nights. Dark as Pitch. In fact as Dark as the North Atlantic Ocean according to NASA’s website that discusses such things.

Twilight landscapes are one of my favorite things to pursue. Landscape details out of the dark are worth learning how to extract from your data file on an image. The information is usually in there but just hidden in the black in your cameras raw file. I pay very close attention to the highlights exposing them correctly to the actual scene then retrieve the details in the dark later.

I always travel with a tritium illuminated compass. There is a very real phenomena called “Death by GPS”. I only use them for land owner Identification. I would never travel back here with one. There was a semi-truck driver that had to walk out of the backcountry up here because he followed his GPS. He high centered his truck trying to turn around. 95 degree day, he had a bad time but managed to find a ranch with a hose and got cooled down after a 6 mile walk with very little water. Compasses used properly don’t usually lie.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands

Title: Sunset Across the Border

Posted on November 30, 2019November 23, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Pronghorn in Prairie Dog Town

Pronghorn in Prairie Dog Town: Throwing a big party……Taken a few miles outside of the Thunder Basin National Grassland.

Northeastern Wyoming is America’s Serengeti

There is so much going on here I don’t know where to start. The two dogs left center belly to belly instantly caught my attention. That action is what I cued in on in the camera. There is a lot of activities. Pronghorn walking about, trying not to step in a hole. The herd were more or less passing through town. I’m not sure what the attraction is with an area full of pitfalls. Many an animal has broken a leg this way. Running through here would throwing the dice. Sooner or later your going to fall into one.

This is a “ways” out with a long lens. There is NO way to get this kind of image if your anywhere close to the dog town. Even these guys know about sticking your head up with cars around. They get “educated” very quickly as people shapes are known to make boom noises. Those are followed by a crack or oblivion depending on the abilities of the rifleman.

Ranchers really don’t like the damage they do to the pastures. The denuding of the grass around the town is the obvious thing. Prairie Dogs can carry Bubonic Plague as well as fleas are a problem in certain places. They are very cute of course which doesn’t make it easier to deal with a prize horse that stepped in a Prairie Dog Hole going across a pasture. Unchecked, they will take over a field in a few years.

Location: Northeastern Wyoming near the Thunderbasin National Grassland. Campbell County Wyoming.

Title Pronghorn in Prairie Dog Town.