April 2013

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Scent of Ramona lilac blossoms

The color purple: the beautiful blooms of the Ramona lilacs

If you enjoy my photos and would like to purchase some, I want to thank you! Simply visit my Zazzle online shop and browse the product offerings. If there’s a photo you would like to purchase but don’t see it in my shop, please contact me by using the Contact form at the bottom of my home page and let me know which photos you are interested in purchasing, and in what format / medium.

Well, it’s taken me a while but I finally did it! I went through all the photos I took of the Ramona lilacs in bloom during my latest visit at Dos Picos County Park in Ramona, California. I ended with a few good photos I’m sharing below in a gallery format.

If you’d like to see any image larger, just click on it and it will open a different screen with a photo slideshow. Then stroll down the page to see below the image and click “View full size” on the right hand size.

Ramona lilacs are different from the regular lilac trees you’re probably used to. The flowers are a lot smaller and much less fragrant, but just as beautiful. You can see on some photos that the trees are completely covered with clusters of purple flowers. The flowers actually look blue when they are unopened. As they open they get dark purple and when they’re open completely, they’re more of a light purple. This gives each tree a unique look and color. That’s why each cluster looks different on the photos.

Thank you for your patience! I hope you enjoy the show. And let me know what you think if the comments section if you’d like.

Trail bordered by Ramona lilacs

Purple and whote Ramona lilac in bloom

Blooming Ramona lilacs

Ramona lilacs on a trail in Dos Picos County Park

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Scent of Ramona lilac blossoms

Close-up of Ramona lilac in bloom

Flower clusters of Ramona lilacs

Purple lilac flowers

April 30, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Photos of San DiegoTags: blooming lilac, blue lilac, California pictures, Dos Picos County Park, lilac blooms, lilac blossoms, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple lilac, ramona california, Ramona lilac trees, Ramona lilacs 11 Comments

Macro Monday: the blooms of the violet honey-myrtle tree

Let me start this post by announcing that you can save 40% on any poster, print or canvas in my online Zazzle store until May 1, 2013 by entering coupon code ARTDEALSFORU at checkout. See a photo you like on my website but not in my store? Just ask me what product you’d like to purchase and I’ll create it for you.

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. Remember you can click on each image to see it in a larger format.

I recently discovered a violet honey-myrtle tree in bloom at the San Diego Botanic Garden. Very pretty flowers, but I wonder why they’re labeled violet when they’re clearly more pink than anything.

No matter the color of its blooms, bees seemed very interested in this tree. Here’s one I captured hard at work.

Macro Monday: bee on a violet honey-myrtle bloom

Happy macro Monday!

April 29, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower PhotosTags: bee on blooms, bee on flower, Macro Monday, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, violet honey-myrtle blooms, violet honey-myrtle flowers, violet honey-myrtle tree 4 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Curves of the chandelier at the Hotel Del Coronado

Travel theme: Light

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “light”. Enjoy my photos and remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

When taking photos, light is your best friend. It can also be your best enemy. Capturing the light the right way can make for a good or a not so good picture. I love using sunlight as much as I can to compose my photos, for example with this lemon.

There’s the light of the morning sun.

And the light of the setting sun.

Of course, light isn’t always natural, and we’re surrounded by plenty of artificial light. Here’s plenty of light from this glass chandelier in the lobby of the Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado, California.

And then, there’s the moon. Of course, the moon doesn’t produce light but only reflects it, and a full moon can reflect a lot of light!

Travel theme: Light - full moon — Travel theme: Light – full moon

And is there any happier light than the one created by Christmas lights?

April 27, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Christmas Photos, Fruit Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Sky Photos, Sunrise Photos, Sunset photosTags: chandelier Hotel Del, Christmas lights, full moon, Hotel Del Coronado, lemon photo, nature photography, photo travel theme, photography, photos, sunrise photos, sunset photos, Travel theme: Light 4 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather

I’m participating in LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge. This week’s Challenge is: Birds of a Feather!

I’ll start with a couple of photos I took yesterday of my neighbor’s house, right under their roof. We have tons of swallows (swifts if you don’t live in the U.S.) in San Diego and it’s nesting season right now. This swallow couple started building their mud nest just this week and they’ve been busy finishing it up to lay their eggs.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - swallows in their nest — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – swallows in their nest

Here’s another shot of just one of the parents. I can’t wait to see little chicks in there. I love watching the swallows hunting for insects every evening. It’s amazing to see so many of them moving so fast through in the air without flying into one another.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - a swallow's nest — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – a swallow’s nest

Talking about nests, here’s a dove sitting on its eggs. We have tons of mourning doves here too. I love listening to their soft cooing in the quiet of the morning.

Mourning dove sitting on its nest and eggs

Here’s a West African crane taking a nap. What a cool hairdo!

I can’t help but laugh when I look at the next photo, where the duck is acting like he’s a flamingo, although his legs are about two feet too short. I guess he’s the real ugly duckling.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - Flamingo and duck — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – Flamingo and duck

This great blue heron below was a freeloader at the San Diego Zoo, eyeing the small fish in the crocodile pond. I wonder if the crocodiles were eyeing him too…

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - Blue heron — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – Blue heron

Talking about herons, my last photo is of a green heron, which is a lot smaller than the great blue heron. A good looking little guy I should add.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge - Birds of a feather - Green heron — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Birds of a feather – Green heron

April 26, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bird photos, PhotographyTags: bird photos, birds of a feather, great blue heron, green heron, let's be wild weekly photo challenge, mourning doves, nature photography, nesting dove, photography, photos, photos of birds, red flamingo, swallow mud nest, swallow nest, swallows nest, West African crane 6 Comments

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Walking down the trail

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Walks, paths and trails

This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is indoor and outdoors walks – anything designed for walking. All my photos are of the outdoors because that’s where I like to be best.

Once you take a trail at the back of Dos Picos County Park and pass the enchanted stone steps I showcased last week, you find yourself walking on a path bordered with many Ramona lilacs. If you hike in the spring, when the lilacs are in bloom, this is what you get to see as you follow the trail:

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Trail in Dos Picos County Park — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Trail in Dos Picos County Park

And it only gets better as you walk along. Here’s a blast of green, purple and bright blue! I know, I still owe you a few close-ups of the Ramona lilacs, but at least you can see what the lilac trees look like full size. Aren’t they pretty?

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Trail bordered by Ramona lilacs — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Trail bordered by Ramona lilacs

Another favorite spot where we enjoy hiking in Louis Stelzer County Park. On the day I took the photos below, the sky was completely gray but everything on the ground looked very green. In a couple of months, most of it will turn to yellow or brown, and the green probably won’t return until next January.

Here’s the trail that follows the side of the hill. This trail is fun to walk on a cloudy day, but I avoid it like the plague in the heat of summer since there’s no shade.

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Trail at Louis Stelzer County Park — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Trail at Louis Stelzer County Park

Fortunately, this park offers a lot of wooded areas by the small creek. This is a great trail to walk on any day of the year. This is as green as it gets in San Diego.

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Green trail at Louis Stelzer County Park — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Green trail at Louis Stelzer County Park

Like many parks in San Diego County, this park is full of coast live oak trees, which tend to feature many thick, often contorted branches. Look how this large tree branch curves over the trail to create an arch.