November 21st, was such a cold day in Montana!

As I photographed the birds out side my window, I noticed this little guy sitting on the deck rail.  He'd filled his craw with black oil sunflower seeds, and he was sitting there, waiting for what he'd eaten to digest, so he could fill himself full once again before he flew away!

He was hunkered down against the cold wind, it was eight below zero.  I thought he was the cutest thing I'd about ever seen.

He's for sale in my Etsy shop of nature photography.

Toilet paper tube cowboy.

Cigar smoking cowboy loves the Blue Dog Saloon!

  

Here's Jake, he inhabits the Blue Dog Saloon too.  It's just about his favorite place!

In my Etsy shop, you can purchase these cowboys with your credit/debit cards, Etsy gift cards, or Paypal!  Shopping is fast and easy.

Cowboys made from toilet paper rolls. Reminds you of the old westerns!

Yes, they're made from toilet paper rolls!  Aren't they fun?  I love making them.  And they're for sale in my Etsy shop.

Toilet paper roll cowboys!

Home decor from my Etsy shop to your home.

Do you love butterflies? In this image, you can feel the feather softness of delicate wings.  This image is available as a digital download in my Etsy shop and can come from my home to yours in mere seconds.  Just click to purchase, and the download is available to you.

The wisdom of ages shines from this raven's eyes.  He was such a wise old bird.  Like the butterfly, he can be in your home in minutes! He's available as a digital download also.

This is Murphy.  I love the graceful curving lines of his form, and the graceful way his mane flows over his neck.

Here's a white tiger, created digitally, for those persons who love tigers!  I think he'd be great in a little girls room...you know those little girls who love pink?

Etsy has made digital downloads of photos easy for us to use.  Purchase the image, and the download link appears.  Click to bring the photo into your computer.  From there, you can print it out on your home printer, or put the file on a cd, or usb jump drive.  If you take the cd or jump drive to a photo lab, or professional printer, they can create the physical image for you.

You can find many many nature photos in my Etsy shop.

Visiting the Rocky Mountain Front in autumn.

This is Ear Mountain, which is west of Choteau, Montana.  It got it's name from the old fur trappers, who thought the shape of the mountain resembled the ear of an elephant.  It was quite cold, windy and beautiful along the Front yesterday.  

My friend, Bianca and I were hoping for a great sunshiny day, but the weather produced grey clouds.  That's the way the weather goes in Montana, you never know!  So get on with it and do your thing....:)

We took photos in spite of the lack of light and had a great time doing it.

This is Bear.  He loves the water!  It didn't matter to him that the water was near freezing, deep, and swift.  He plunged into the Teton River like it was child's play, chasing sticks and rocks we threw for him.

This is how it looks before you get to Blackleaf Canyon.  The fall colors were quite beautiful, and seemed to march along at the base of the mountain.  A storm was moving in over the mountain and we had some bouncing light going on.

All in all, it was a beautiful day, and I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the photos.  I'm posting more in my Etsy shop.  Montana Nature Photos

Stock photos for artists and crafters to use.

Yes, I know.  There are big stock photo agencies all over the place.  There's the morgue file, and others where photos are free to use.

But what I'm doing, is setting up an Etsy shop, where you can purchase a photo for these personal reasons.....

1. Screensaver

2. Print for your wall

3. Add to your scrapbook

4. Add to your journal

5. Print out a card to send a friend

6. Print out a photo gift to send a friend

7. Use portions of the photo in a collage for your own wall

8. Use the photo as a texture or layer in your own digital creation for your home.

Commercial uses you purchase when you buy my photos on Etsy...

1. Use the photo in a collage you intend to sell the original or 1-50 prints.

2. Use an image and print it out on 50 business cards.

3. Use the image as a reference photo to create a painting.

There are many uses for these photos that fit my Etsy license.

Of course, I always retain the copyright to my photos, you are not purchasing that.

You are purchasing limited rights to using the photos, but as long as you stay within those rights, you have the enjoyment of the images.

I hope I'm providing a useful service for small business artists and crafters, where they can find nature images for their work.

If at any time, you feel you would need more rights for using a photo, we can negotiate those rights to fit your needs.

You can not take this file to a professional printer to print in any reproduction commercial printing or exact replica prints for resale.
.You can not upload or transfer this file electronically for resale.
You can not upload or transfer this file electronically to other people or businesses.
You can not resell this digital file for any commercial venture.
Do not use this file for more than 50 applications.

And if you have questions about what these images are intended for, just ask me.  I'd be happy to visit with you about this.

Stock photos at Naturephotosmontana my Etsy shop for nature photos.

Stock photos for sale.

Some horses, and some flowers...maybe you need some for your projects?

Wouldn't those flowers be beautiful on your address labels, or on your computer as a screen saver?  Most of my flower photos are only $3.50 to download from my Etsy shop.

Maybe you like painting flowers and could use these for reference?  The large files are filled with detail you need to create wonderful works of art.

Stock photos for sale, in my Etsy shop.

Your dentist will tell you, brush and floss your teeth every day!

This poster is for children.  It's designed for you to place by the sink in the bathroom or on a child's door.  Put it somewhere they can see it!  It will make them laugh and feel like brushing and flossing.

This image is a digital download in my Etsy shop.  It can be yours to use, just click the purchase button, and Etsy makes it easy for you to then download this file.  If you know how to resize photos, you can resize this image to fit the space you might have.

This mule is so cute, he's got a little dusting of snow on his back and a friendly look in his eye.

Brush and floss your teeth poster for dentist offices, and children.

Dentist office poster

For $15 you can own this poster for your home.

Thank you for looking!  I hope you enjoy this mule and want him in your home, just click either of the links above to purchase.

Stock photos for sale, just purchase and use.

Here are some more of the stock photos you can purchase on my Etsy site.

Through the years, I've taken so many photos that sit on my computer here at home.  I enjoy looking at them, but decided that wasn't enough.  I'd like to share them with others.  The pricing is affordable, and if the use rights are unclear to you, just ask me about them.  

Under copyright law, the moment a person takes a photo, that image belongs completely to them.  They have the right to determine where it goes and what happens to it.  If any income is to be made from the photo, or how it will be used.

It then becomes illegal for anyone to use the photos in a way not intended by the author/artist/photographer.  

That's why I've explained the rights to these photos in my Etsy shop, wanting to be exactly clear with what you are purchasing there.  Don't be afraid to purchase and use the photos according to these rights.

If you like to scrapbook, if you like to blog, if you want to print one out to hang on the walls of your home, go for it!  Just click the purchase button.  Etsy has created a wonderful system for instant downloads.

Stock Montana nature photos for sale in my Etsy shop.  Enjoy!

Stock photos for your use!

Are you a blogger who needs a good photo now and then to emphasize what you're trying to say?  Are you an artist looking for a good, high resolution photo for reference?  Are you an ad agency or a design firm, who needs photo art?

If you are, check out my Etsy shop, where I'm now offering stock photos for sale.

You can see a few samples above.  There are more on the etsy site, and they're very easy to use.  Just purchase and download.  People who have used the system etsy has for downloads, tell me it works very well.

Montana Nature Photos, my Etsy shop

Osprey near Freezeout Lake, wildlife photos in Montana.

Today we needed a break.  We spent yesterday working hard, fixing some things around the house.  We hung three doors on bedrooms, one on the back porch, and painted the area around the back porch door.

We've also decided to change our living room into a dining room, and only use one living room, instead of having a family room also.  Our original dining room was so small, it's going to become an entry way near the kitchen.  So we moved a lot of furniture in our project also!

Today, we woke up tired from all that work and decided to grab the cameras and see the osprey near Freezeout Lake. As you can see, they were glad to see us too!
  

Dreamtime, a horse collage.

Prairie Madonna

Dreamtime

I've been working with prints of my paintings, to create new works which are created with many found objects.

All of them have egg shell on them, in honor of the first art teacher I ever had.  She was my grade school teacher, she taught me in 4th, 5th and 6th grades.  There were three people in my class, I went to a small rural school.  Each teacher taught three grades at once, except for the "big room" teacher, who taught 7th and 8th grades only.

This teacher loved art and she was a good artist.  I was the teachers pet for sure, I couldn't get enough of what she could show me about art.

For one of our projects, she had kids in her classes gather all the egg shells we could.  Our moms saved and dried hundreds and hundreds of egg shells.  When we had enough, our teacher crushed the shells, colored them, and had us glue a twine onto a board in the shape of a bird.  We filled in the outline with different colors, and created the wings, beak, and details of the bird.

So in her memory, you'll see egg shells on my collage work!

These collages are entered into the all member show of the International Equine Artists.  When the show is live, I'll let you know!

Good Medicine, Horse Totem

Have you read about totem animals? If you gaze at this image, and powerful feelings overwhelm you, the horse could be your totem animal. With study and meditation, you might discover this amazing animal wants to teach you many of life's lessons.

This image can be purchased  here as a framed print, giclee print on canvas or as notecards and posters.

Horse art, photos of Stormy

You probably haven't seen enough photos of my horse yet.  :)  So here are a couple more.  The top photo is Stormy in a winter storm, in the bottom photo, she's enjoying warm weather.  Her coloring is so unique, she makes a perfect photo subject.

If you like nature photos, of horses and other animals, see my Fine Art America site, on this link below.  

donna ridgway framed prints

Wild Goose Waltz, Canada Geese

"Wild Goose Waltz"

This Canada goose wants to waltz but he's got no takers!  How sad is that?

I like spending time along the Sun River, watching the wildlife that visit the area.  I was lucky, the day I took this photo, to see the geese performing on the ice.  It was right before sunset, and the glow of the setting sun shone on the ice.  I loved the monotone colors in this image.

We have photos and prints for your home in our Wildlife Indoors store.

Do you have a "purple passion" for horses?

Silly title, I know.  I had such fun, turning this palomino horse purple while thinking about what a passion some of us have for the presence of a horse in our lives.

I speak as some one who's only spent a few horseless years in her life.  No matter what problems come along with horse ownership, I'd rather have one than not.

Stormy came into our lives last summer.  She was a rescue horse, saved from the Billings Livestock Market.  I found her on Craigs List, and her photo showed her with her head lowered over a child who was painting on her face.  The child was turning Stormy into an Indian pony.

Stormy has become such a part of our lives, we can't imagine what it was like, to live without her.  I'm learning to teach her tricks.  She'll stand still while I walk around her with her bucket of pellets.  She drinks water from my hand, and I'm working on other "tricks" as I dream them up and see what kinds of things she's interested in doing.

We built a barn for her, but she chooses to stand out in the storm, no matter how the blizzard rages around her.  Her name sure fits her personality!

 And in case you're wondering what she looks like....ta da!  Here she is!  She's our "purple passion" :)

Grey-blue nature.

Here are three of my photos in a similar range of colors.  I think they'd make a nice display on a wall and lend a sense of peace and the great outdoors to any home.

The top and bottom photos were taken near the truck stop, just outside Belt, Montana.  The river runs along there, and the scenery is beautiful.  I had Robert drop me off so I could walk along the river, looking for photos.

The little bird in the middle photo lives in our yard and eats seeds from the bird feeder.  She's very friendly but doesn't allow us to get  close to her.  So I take photos where I can get them and on this day, she was high in the tree.

You can purchase my photos by emailing me at donnaridgway1  @hotmail.com (remove the space) or by shopping in my Etsy shop.  You can also purchase donna ridgway canvas prints on my Fine Art America store.