California Photos

Travel theme: Multicolored sumac fall foliage

Enjoy these fall colors for Halloween

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I don’t have any scary monsters to show you for Halloween. Or carved pumpkins. Or skeletons half buried in the backyard. Halloween happens to be my least favorite “holiday”. Sure, you get tons of candy and kids have a lot of fun trick or treating, but the decorations are just creepy, and I speak from personal experience. I set up a giant spiderweb at my front door, along with a very large plastic black widow tangled in it, and I can’t stand spiders. I really love my kids but first thing November 1 morning, that thing is coming down.

I still have it on my list to visit a large pumpkin patch and manage to snap a few good, colorful pictures. In the meantime, I’ll show you more of the beautiful foliage the sumac tree has to offer in San Diego in the fall. I need to go back to this location very soon and take some new pictures. I love the colors on the photos below but I need to work on the framing and the angles. With a little effort, I hope I’ll end up with something really good to show you.

In the meantime, these photos will have to do! Remember you can click on each sumac tree photo below for a larger view.

Fall foliage - sumac tree — Fall foliage – sumac tree

Fall foliage - colorful sumac — Fall foliage – colorful sumac

Fall foliage in San Diego - yellow and orange leaves, red seeds of the sumac tree — Fall foliage in San Diego – yellow and orange leaves, red seeds of the sumac tree

October 31, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Photos of San Diego, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, fall foliage, foliage in San Diego, orange sumac leaves, photography, photos, photos of trees, San Diego, San Diego fall trees, San Diego foliage, sumac berries, sumac foliage, sumac leaves, sumac seeds, sumac tree, trees, yellow sumac leaves 9 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape

Warning: one of the photos below is not for the faint of heart. Look at your own risk!

I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge. This week’s Challenge is: Escape and I decided to have a little fun with this theme.

As usual, you can click on any of the photos below for a larger view.

Successful escape

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape. A fallen tree

Look at this fallen pine tree. It doesn’t look like much, right? Pretty dead, huh? Now look again at its roots, to the left of the trunk, and you’ll notice a brand new tree growing out of it! It’s standing way above the ground, as if floating in the air, with one big root under its trunk linking back to the dead trunk. Now, if that’s not a successful escape from death, I don’t know what to call it.

Unsuccessful escape

I took this photo with my cell phone camera so the quality is not great, but I think the subjects are fascinating. This happened in a rattlesnake exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. I understand they gas the mice they feed the snakes, so they’re still alive (snakes don’t eat dead animals). The feeding takes place once a week so I guess this was my lucky day. No chance of escape there!

Happy Monday!

October 29, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, California Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, dead tree, fallen tree, let's be wild weekly photo challenge, Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Escape, photography, photos, photos of trees, pine tree, rattlesnake, San Diego Zoo, snake eating mice, snake eating mouse 12 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Sunrise with clouds on fire

The clouds are on fire!

I love sunsets and how the sun tries to burn up the sky as it goes past the horizon at the end of the day. But there’s something very special about sunrises too, where the sun manages to light up the sky for several minutes before you can actually see it. That’s when the sky can suddenly feature some amazing colors. The best sunrises (and sunsets) usually display some type of clouds, which deflect the sunlight in many directions and shades of color.

I took the sunrise photo below on a winter morning almost a year ago. As soon as I looked at the sky, I knew it’d be one of these special sunrises and I hoped my camera batteries weren’t dead because I wouldn’t have time to grab spares. There’s something about the winter light that can makes for great sunrises. This sunrise makes it look like the clouds are on fire. I tried to take pictures of the clouds once they passed the trees, but by then the light had already changed. Better luck next time!

You can click on the photo of this winter sunrise for a larger view.

Photo of a winter sunrise - clouds on fire — Photo of a winter sunrise – clouds on fire

October 22, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Sky Photos, Sunrise PhotosTags: cloud photos, clouds on fire, photography, photos of clouds, photos of skies, photos of sunrise, photos of winter sunrise, sky photos, sunrise photo, winter sunrise photo 8 Comments

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: horizon at Idyllwild Park, California

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Weather

I’m participating in the LetsBeWild.com Wild Weekly Photo Challenge! This week’s Challenge is: Weather.

I live in San Diego, in Southern California. I enjoy beautiful weather probably two thirds of the year. The baking heat of the summer is the bad part, but the skies can still be beautiful. On many days, the weather looks like this. Not a single cloud in the bright blue sky.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Weather in Southern California

On a cloudy day, which is a rare occasion, the skies will look like this. You can still find plenty of blue sky even when the weather isn’t so great.

Let's be wild weekly photo challenge - weather - cloudy day in San Diego, California — Let’s be wild weekly photo challenge – weather – cloudy day in San Diego, California

On a rainy day, which is even rarer than a cloudy day, things get wet, but they still look pretty. Here’s a wet California lemon enjoying the precious rain. Yep, it’s the one I’m featuring in my 2013 photo calendar, which is now set up for sale by the way (I haven’t launched it officially yet, but it’s coming…).

Let's be wild weekly photo challenge - weather - a wet lemon in San Diego — Let’s be wild weekly photo challenge – weather – a wet lemon in San Diego

And of course, after the rain comes more sun. Things may still be a little wet, but the blue sky we enjoy on most days doesn’t like to miss a beat. This is Southern California weather for you in a nutshell!

Let's be wild weekly photo challenge - weather - wet branch after the rain — Let’s be wild weekly photo challenge – weather – wet branch after the rain

October 19, 2012February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Sky Photos, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, cloud photos, let's be wild weekly photo challenge, photography, photos, photos of clouds, photos of skies, San Diego, sky photos, weekly photo challenge, weekly photo challenge weather 8 Comments

This looks a lot like mimosa, doesn’t it?

I have no idea what this plant is, but its yellow puffy blooms sure look like mimosa. Yet, the leaves don’t look like the leaves of a mimosa bush. So if you know what it is, let me know.

These ma-planted bushes bloom every year around January/February in my area. I love how they bring bright colors to the winter months. They bloom around the same time some California wildflowers start popping up, usually on the side of the San Diego freeways. These “mimosa” flowers are a challenge to photograph and I think I’ll have to spend more time next year to get the photos I really want. I probably have to get a lot closer to show the puffiness of the yellow flowers, as well as use a bright blue sky to contrast the yellow blooms. Something I’m looking forward to do in a few months!

What do you think of these and how would you like to see them photographed?