Milka Pejovic

Macro Monday: Water drops on a spider web

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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?

September 8, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: close up of a figeater beetle, Cotinis mutabilis, figeater beetle, green beetle, green beetle San Diego, green June bug, June Bugs, Junebugs, Macro Monday, nature photography 6 Comments

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Adventure

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “adventure”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

Our adventures this summer kept us close to home. The most adventurous we were was probably the week we spent in the small mountain town of Idyllwild, California. During our visit, we tried a hiking trail new to us called the Ernie Maxwell scenic trail. Scenic is the word because it gave us beautiful views of the mountains and the valleys all around, while hiking mostly in the shade.

View of Mount Jacinto while hiking on the Ernie Maxwell scenic trail

Of course we had a lot of other hiking adventures, mostly in the woods so we could hide from the baking hot Southern California summer sun.

And we enjoyed small adventures by the water, such as this lovely pond where we got to see a lot of birds and some fish.

Talking about birds, we spotted this beautiful violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) outside our cabin window. It had built a nest right underneath so we got to see it fly back and forth a lot over our week’s stay.

And you can’t hike without meeting cottontail rabbits. This one wasn’t too scared of us, as long as we stayed on the other side of the fence.

Cottontail rabbit hiding behind a wooden fence

Finally, our biggest adventure probably happened at home this summer, when this red coachwhip snake visited our backyard for the third year in a row. Its babies may come visit us next year, but this guy won’t, as it met its end getting tangling in our netting (I guess it didn’t learn its lesson from the first two times…). That was enough adventure for one day!

September 5, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bird photos, California Photos, Forest Photos, Landscape Photos, Plant Photos, Tree Photos, Woods PhotosTags: cottontail rabbit, Ernie Maxwell scenic trail Idyllwild, hiking in the woods, hiking trails Idyllwild, idyllwild california, nature photography, red coachwhip snake, Tachycineta thalassina, violet-green swallow, Wordpress weekly photo challenge, Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Adventure 8 Comments

Floral Friday Fotos: Pink lotus flower

Before I start with this post, I’d like to ask for your feedback to help me organize my nature photography online store. If you were to buy a photo product, would you search by product type (e.g. print, canvas, mousepad, etc), or by photo theme (e.g. animals, flowers, skies, water, etc)? Which one makes more sense to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to comment below this post.

Going back to our Floral Friday Fotos theme, I found the loveliest pink lotus flower at San Diego’s Balboa Park a few weeks ago. This was the first decent shot I managed to get.

After a large tourist family left that side of the pond (it’s a very popular photo souvenir spot at Balboa Park for good reasons), I managed to photograph this pink lotus flower from a better angle. By the way, it was the ONLY pink (or any color) lotus flower in bloom in the whole pond.

Pink lotus flower at San Diego's Balboa Park — Pink lotus flower at San Diego’s Balboa Park

Eventually I managed to get even closer and snap this photo. The sun was hiding behind a few clouds at the time, so it made for a softer light and I really like the results.

Have you ever seen pink lotus flowers in real life? There are not that easy to find around here. I got lucky last summer when I captured this white lotus flower. Happy Friday!