September 2014

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue

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Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “the color blue”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view.

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Blue is by far my favorite color, from very light to very dark, just as it is or with a bit of green or a bit of red in it. I love blue skies, blue waters (where blue skies reflect in), blue jeans – anything nature-made or man-made that looks blue. Here are a few pictures I took this summer that feature the color blue.

The first thing that comes to mind is how blue the sky can look here in San Diego. Well, maybe not downtown San Diego, which tends to be overcast many days out of the year. Inland, where it’s warmer and hotter, the sky can be the brightest blue on good days. This is a mountain peak I photographed while hiking in Idyllwild this summer, a couple of hours northeast of San Diego.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue - blue sky in Idyllwild, California — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue – blue sky in Idyllwild, California

I took this next picture with my cell phone camera. That’s all I had available at the time and I thought the very rare clouds and their reflection in the water presented an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water - water reflections — Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water – water reflections

Spend a few hours in an aquarium and you’ll see a lot of blue. I love taking pictures of sea jellies (aka jelly fish), especially when the tank light keeps changing colors. Here’s a blue jelly fish for you!

Blue and yellow are complementary colors, so what’s not to like about yellow seahorses in an aquarium with a bright blue background?

Yellow seahorses in blue background aquarium

Finally, this is one of my favorite photos of a duck I took this summer. This female mallard duck was swimming in very still water, mostly in the shade. The water almost looks like a sheet of bluish metal.

Mallard female duck swimming in still, blue water

How to photograph a frog

You can click on each photo below for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

So how do you photograph a frog? I have no idea but I’ll tell you something. Don’t bring kids who are running low on patience with you when you want to photograph animals that don’t care about you taking their pictures. My only tip is to find a pond with a lot of frogs in it. Eventually one or two will come out of the water long enough for you to snap a few photos. I believe all of the frogs featured in this post are American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana).

And be ready for most frogs to come out of the water just this much. Apparently they think it’s good enough.

If you’re lucky, the frog will completely come out of the water, but you still may end up with a camera shy frog. Or maybe it really doesn’t want you to take its picture.

Alright, not all frogs are that rude. These two little frogs didn’t have any problem with me standing there, as long as I kept my distance. Honestly I didn’t really have a choice since they were standing in the middle of the pond.

Small American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) on a lily pad

These next two frogs actually demonstrated their swimming skills for me.

This last frog happens to be the biggest one I saw in the pond. It was so big, I would have had to use both hands to grab it. I think it was the same frog in the first picture that eventually came out of underneath those lily pads.

September 18, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Plant Photos, Water photosTags: American bullfrog, frog hiding under lily pad, green frog in water, green frog on lily pad, how to photograph a frog, large frog in water, large yellow and brown frog, nature photography, photos of frogs, photos of green frogs, photos of yellow and brown frogs, Rana catesbeiana 10 Comments

Macro Monday: Water drops on a spider web

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, I encourage you to subscribe so you can enjoy the new photos I post a few times a week.

I have shared photographs of water drops on spider webs before but it’s always fun to find new photo opportunities. As much as I hate spiders, I really like how their spider webs look when water is dropped on it, whether it is raindrops, dew drops, or watering drops. These small water drops look like crystals reflecting everything around them. The background for these water drops wasn’t too interesting but it’s not that often I can see raindrops or other water drops on a spider web, so I took this opportunity to capture the moment.

September 14, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Water photosTags: close up of rain drops, close up of water drops, close-up of raindrops, Macro Monday, nature photography, rain drops on spider web, raindrops on spider web, water drops on a spider web 16 Comments

Floral Friday Fotos: Hibiscus blooms

Today I’m participating in Floral Friday Fotos. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you enjoy my photos, I encourage you to subscribe and receive updates when I post new photos, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

It seems that every hibiscus tree is in bloom right now in San Diego. Yellow, orange, pink, or red hibiscus flowers are everywhere I look. Here are a few hibiscus blooms to brighten your Friday.

I really like bright yellow hibiscus flowers but I think they look even nicer with a red center.

This last one is probably my favorite, with a bright purple center and a yellow border.

September 11, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant PhotosTags: Floral Friday Fotos, hibiscus blooms, hibiscus flowers, nature photography, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple and yellow hibiscus, yellow and red hibiscus, yellow hibiscus flower 10 Comments

Macro Monday: two June bugs hanging out

My kids and I spotted the two green June bugs below while on a summer stroll in San Diego. At first, they looked like they were tackling each other and it was challenging to even see what type of bugs we were looking out. Honestly I have no idea if they were fighting or actually enjoying each other’s company. You can see I’m not much of a bug expert. And technically, these are called figeater beetles (Cotinis mutabilis), not just June bugs.

Eventually they separated and just stood next to each other for a little while, long enough for me to snap a few pictures.

Close-up of two green June bugs (figeater beetle)

These figeater beetles (part of the scarab family because they’re so big) have been part of our summer about everywhere we’ve been. They tend to flight blindly into everything and everyone. They startle a lot of people by flying directly into their faces and induce a lot of shrieks and rapid movements. My kids tell me they actually can’t see where they’re going and I think they may be right. They sure look a lot nicer when they’re standing still, with their metallic green wing casing closed. I got lucky the day I managed to photograph one of those green June bugs inside a yellow rose.

Are you a fan of green beetles, or would you rather say away?