Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Fall

Zazzle online shop 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.

I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge! This week’s challenge is: Fall. Wish me luck!

There isn’t a lot of fall foliage in San Diego but sumac trees are a treat to spot. Their leaves display various shades of yellow, orange and red and the tree also features grapes of crimson red seeds in between the leaves.

Click on any photo below to see a larger image.

Weekly photo challenge: Fall - a sumac's colorful fall foliage

And more sumac!

Weekly photo challenge: Fall - a sumac's colorful fall foliage
Weekly photo challenge: Fall – a sumac’s colorful fall foliage

My 2013 calendar pick for December: pine cones up the pine tree

Zazzle online shop 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.

View all of the pictures I selected for my 2013 photo calendar.

My 2013 12-month photo calendar is now available for sale on my Zazzle online store. Thank you for your support!

Picking the right photo to use for the month of December in my 2013 photo calendar was quite a challenge. I wanted to have something that would illustrate the holidays and winter for most people, but it’s not an easy task when you live in warm and sunny San Diego, California.

After a few days shuffling a few photos around, I settled on the picture below. I actually took it this past June, while visiting Lake Hemet, California. The whole area, including the town of Idyllwild, features a large amount of trees, most of them pine trees. I love the smell of pine trees, and I really like the shape of pine cones too, so I was happy when I spotted these pines cones up the pine tree, surrounded with plenty of long and green pine needles. Don’t forget you can click on the photo for a larger view.

My 2013 calendar pick for December: pine cones up the pine tree
My 2013 calendar pick for December: pine cones up the pine tree

I have a good idea for a more snowy photo I can use in my 2014 photo calendar but I won’t know if I manage to snap that photo until we reach the rainy season and it snows in our local mountains. Yes, we do get snow in San Diego County in the winter if the weather cooperates! But you won’t see me playing it in because I hate the while stuff…

My 2013 calendar pick for November: a lemon in the rain

Zazzle online shop 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.

View all of the pictures I selected for my 2013 photo calendar.

My 2013 12-month photo calendar is now available for sale on my Zazzle online store. Thank you for your support!

Unless you’re from California or Florida, you may not know May and November are the prime harvest months for citrus. Since I wanted my 2013 photo calendar to have a definite local flavor, I chose a photo I actually took last November of a lemon tree.

It happened to be a rainy day and I wanted to capture the rain drops on the lemons. The gray sky allowed some sunlight to filter through, offering a great neutral background. The sky looks almost white and allows the lemon to stand out. You can click on the lemon photo for a larger view. What do you think of it?

My 2013 calendar pick for November: a lemon in the rain
My 2013 calendar pick for November: a lemon in the rain

My 2013 calendar pick for October: a full moon for Halloween

Zazzle online shop 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.

View all of the pictures I selected for my 2013 photo calendar.

My 2013 12-month photo calendar is now available for sale on my Zazzle online store. Thank you for your support!

I had a hard time picking a photo that would represent the month of October in my 2013 photo calendar. I would have loved to use some pumpkin arrangement but I couldn’t find an existing photo I really, really liked.

After careful consideration, my final pick is this full moon, which I actually captured in May 2012. I think it will do a great job at representing Halloween for the whole month of October.

My 2013 calendar pick for October: a full moon for Halloween
My 2013 calendar pick for October: a full moon for Halloween

My 2013 calendar pick for September: a sumac’s colorful fall foliage

Zazzle online shop 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.

View all of the pictures I selected for my 2013 photo calendar.

My 2013 12-month photo calendar is now available for sale on my Zazzle online store. Thank you for your support!

If you like to see beautiful fall foliage, San Diego probably is not the right destination for you. Most of the tree leaves either never change colors (think palm trees, eucalyptus, and sage brush) or the few that do just turn yellow, then brown before falling to the ground.

But there’s one tree you can spot here and there that will stand out in Southern California in the fall: the sumac (Rhus Typhina, the non toxic kind). The sumac leaves display various shades of yellow, orange and red and the tree also features grapes of crimson red seeds in between the leaves. I found a great local spot last fall to take pictures of sumac foliage and I’m planning to go back this year for more.

I’m submitting this photo for the Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Fall theme so wish me luck!

What do you think of this sumac in the fall? Do you enjoy colorful fall foliage where you live?

My 2013 calendar pick for September: a sumac's colorful fall foliage
My 2013 calendar pick for September: a sumac’s colorful fall foliage