California Photos

Macro Monday: Pine tree sap

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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.

Well, after a long summer break to enjoy my kids’ company, I am back! I’ve managed to take a few photos over the past couple of months, but my SD cards are so full of photos I’ve taken for the past year or so, I’m not sure where to start. One huge goal I have for September is to completely revamp my Zazzle nature photography store and create new photo products for sale, so that should be me busy for a while…

For today’s Macro Monday, I thought I’d share a couple of photos of solidified pine tree sap I spotted during our summer vacation in the mountains of Southern California. I love the way these drops of tree sap show reflections of their surroundings, a bit like a glass marble would.

Macro Monday: reflections in a drop of pine tree sap

This pine tree sap seems to attract insects, which then get stuck on it while it dries up. Eventually they become permanent fixtures of this art created by Mother Nature.

Now that my kids are back in school, I’ll try my best to post new photos several times a week, as well as visit other photo blogs to take a look at the beautiful shots you’ve been taking. Happy Monday!

Travel theme: Contrast - Moon rising beyond the trees

A Word A Week Photo Challenge – Contrast

Today I’m participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “contrast”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

There are many ways to feature contrast in photographs, so here are a few of my personal interpretations for this photo theme. There can be contrast between light and dark, as in this backlight setting on Coronado beach in front of the Pacific ocean.

A Word A Week Photo Challenge – Contrast between light and dark

Or it could be contrast between light and dark at night, between the bright full moon in the background and the dark trees in the foreground.

It could be the exact opposite with the trees in the foreground in bright light, and the clouds in the background in the dark.

Contrast between trees in the sun and dark sky with clouds

It could be both a contrast in size, small versus large, and in color, white and versus pink, as in this photo of a small white poppy right next to a large pink poppy.

Contrast between small white poppy and large pink poppy

Finally, it could a contrast between what you see at first glance, and what you really see if you look more closely, as in this map of the USA in the water puddle with the colors of the American flag, still one of my favorite shots so far.

Water puddle in the shape of the United States

March 31, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, California Photos, Cloud photos, Flower Photos, Landscape Photos, Ocean photos, Plant Photos, Rock photos, Sky Photos, Tree Photos, Water photos, Woods PhotosTags: A word a week photo challenge, A Word A Week Photo Challenge – Contrast, backlighting photos, backlit photos, blooms, Coronado Beach, full moon behind the trees, golden trees lit with sunlight, nature photography, Pacific ocean, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, pink poppy, San Diego, water puddle in the shape of the USA, water puddle shaped like the USA, white poppy 10 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Sea - sea jellies

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: two colors or hues only

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “two colors or hues only”. I encourage you to click on each photo to see a larger view. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

I realized it was quite a challenge to find photos that only showed two colors, and not three or more, but here’s a nice selection of my favorites, like this photo of a beautiful blue sky after the rain and a tree branch covered with leftover raindrops.

Rain drops on a tree branch after the rain

To continue with the water theme, here are some sea jellies lit up in blue in an aquarium, with the water as a black background.

I love to capture red and green on the same picture. These complementary colors are some of my favorite to see in nature, as on this Cotoneaster Lacteus bush in seeds.

Here’s another example to illustrate how well red and green go together on this passion flower in full bloom.

Passionfruit flower with large red petals and long pistils — Passion flower with large red petals and long pistils

This cactus covered with many tiny yellow blooms is a great attraction for a busy bee looking to collect nectar and pollen.

Very close to the complementary red and green I shared above, here is a splash of pink and green with this beautiful pink powder puff flower.

Pink powder puff tree - Calliandra Haematocephala — Pink powder puff tree – Calliandra Haematocephala

Yellow and green aren’t complementary colors but I still like the way they look together with this yellow rose flower about to open.

Nature sure knows how to make good use of complementary colors everywhere, such as purple and yellow on this large lily flower.

Orange and blue are another set of complementary colors. Is there any better background than a bright blue sky for these orange maple leaves?

Finally, the good thing about white is that it goes well with almost any other color. I love the soft glow it emits when put against a green background. Enjoy this white rose covered with dew drops and a white powder puff bloom as my last two choices for this colorful theme.

March 12, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower Photos, Plant Photos, Sky Photos, Water photosTags: bush with small red seeds, cactus with small yellow flowers, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cotoneaster Lacteus, jelly fish, morning dew on a white rose, orange maple leaves, photos with two colors only, pink powder puff flower, purple and yellow lily, Rain drops on a tree branch after the rain, red maple leaves, red passion flower, sea jellies, sea jelly, white powder puff flower, yellow rose 17 Comments

Sand art on the beach in dark and light sand

And the answer is… Mother Nature does sand art!

Remember the guessing game from yesterday? You had to guess what this picture is. You can click on each picture below for a larger view.

Two people guessed it right: Annette at The Beauty Along The Road, and Cee at Cee’s Photography.

This is… drum roll, please… wet sand! And I have a picture of a larger area to show you what it really looked like. The darker gray is wet sand in the shade. The whiter part is wet sand in the bright sun. The yellow at the bottom is part of a rock. I took this picture at low tide. As the ocean water disappeared, the waves left this pattern of bare trees in the sand. Since the sand here is a mix of very dark and very light colors, the waves can create interesting patterns, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one as intricate as this one.

Mother Nature makes sand art: tree drawing in the wet sand

Usually, the sand patterns at Coronado Beach look more like this:

Patterns in wet sand: dark and light sand

I thought I got lucky when I stumbled upon this interesting pattern. Lots of little trees…

Well, that was until I saw the really cool bare trees above. Next time I go back to the beach, I’ll make sure it’s when it’s getting close to low tide so I can look for more patterns like these. I’ve always spent more time photographing the waves but now I realize there is a lot to discover right under my feet.

If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

March 3, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Ocean photos, Photos of San Diego, Rock photos, Water photosTags: bare trees drawing in wet sand, California pictures, color changes in sand, Coronado, dark sand light sand pattern, Mother Nature art, patterns in wet sand, photos of sand, sand art, wave patterns in sand, wet sand art 17 Comments

Mother Nature draws trees – can you guess what this is?

I took this photo earlier today. If I told you where I was, you’d probably figure out what this is pretty quickly. So let’s play a little game. Can you guess what this photo is? You can click on the photo for a larger view.

All I can say is, Mother Nature is a wonderful artist, especially when it comes to drawing herself. It will blow your mind away.

I’ll reveal the answer in my next post, along with a few other photos I took at the same location. If you like what you see, please subscribe to this blog to receive updates of the new photos I post, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

Note: you can find the answer to this guessing game here.