California Photos

Travel theme: Simplicity of Lake Hemet

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Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “simplicity”. 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.

I try to keep my photos as simple as possible and that’s why I like doing macros a lot, focusing on one subject and keeping the background a blur. But I also like the simplicity of some landscapes, especially when they involve water. For this theme, I decided to feature the beautiful Lake Hemet in Southern California. Considering the small lakes and ponds we have in the San Diego area, Lake Hemet is a lot larger. There’s something very peaceful about standing in front of a large body of water. Here’s just one little part of it.

Travel theme: Simplicity of Lake Hemet, Southern California

I like the simple landscape around the lake: the shore, some grass and then trees and a mix of shrubs and brush.

Even in hot weather, you can enjoy a little breeze right by the lake, which causes a few simple ripples by the shore.

Travel theme: Simplicity of lake water ripples

The trees around the lake provide a welcome amount of shade. In the morning, before the sun rays heat up the atmosphere, you can witness a beautiful blue sky – a sign of the purity of the air at 4000 feet away from most civilization. Simple and beautiful.

Simplicity of blue sky above the pine trees

July 14, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Sky Photos, Tree PhotosTags: blue sky, California pictures, lake hemet, lake hemet photos, lake hemet southern california, lake ripples, nature photography, photography, photos, simple photos, Travel theme photo challenge, Travel theme: Simplicity, trees, water ripples 2 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “the golden hour”, that first or last hour of the day that gives such a special light to everything around. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I love the glowing effect the rising sun rays give to these puffy clouds.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - clouds at sunrise — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – clouds at sunrise

On a winter morning, I love how the sun rays do their best to shine through the fog and make the fall foliage turn gold.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - fall foliage glows through the fog — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – fall foliage glows through the fog

The morning sunlight right after a night of rain has an interesting effect too. I love to capture that special light on raindrops.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves

We don’t get a lot of frost in San Diego and when we do, it starts to disappear as soon as the sun comes out and exposes its warm rays. So it’s a race against time to capture the frost in the sunlight before it melts.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves - frost on the edge of a leaf — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves – frost on the edge of a leaf

The late afternoon sun in the winter can give a nice golden look to yellow leaves, and the scene looks even nicer if you can capture the moon in the background.

Finally I like how bright the sky can still be while everything on the ground is getting darker as the sun sets.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - bright skies as the sun sets — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – bright skies as the sun sets

July 12, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Cloud photos, Forest Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Plant Photos, Sky Photos, Sunrise Photos, Sunset photos, Tree Photos, Water photos, Woods PhotosTags: cloud photos, fog in San Diego, frost in San Diego, frost on leaves, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of frost, photos of trees, raindrop effects, raindrops on leaves, sunrise photos, sunset photos, trees in fog, Wordpress weekly photo challenge, Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour 10 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter

This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is the season of winter. Remember you can click on each photo below for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

Winter in San Diego is quite different from most places in the US. It’s definitely milder but by living inland a bit (about 15 miles from the shore, past the first set of big hills), I get to enjoy more drastic changes in temperature than if I lived right by the coast. So while I can enjoy warm temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees on any given winter day, the winter nights are chilly, usually in the low 30s to 40s, and frost pays us a surprise visit many nights a winter.

I could brag and show you pictures of the warm blue skies and bold flowers we enjoy in the winter, but instead I’ll give you a taste of the cold aspect of winter here. Enjoy!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter - frost on ice plants in San Diego — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter – frost on ice plants in San Diego

You’ll notice the frost here is more delicate and looks like a thin layer of sugar coating.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter - frost on leaves in San Diego — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter – frost on leaves in San Diego

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter - Frosty ice crystals on twigs — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter – Frosty ice crystals on twigs

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter - texture of frost on grass — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter – texture of frost on grass

Winter in San Diego also means beautiful sunrises.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter sunrise in San Diego

And beautiful sunsets, like this Christmas 2012 sunset.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter - San Diego sunset Christmas 2012 — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter – San Diego sunset Christmas 2012

July 10, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Cloud photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Plant Photos, Sunrise Photos, Sunset photosTags: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter, frost ice crystals, frost in San Diego, frost on ice plants, frost on plants, frosty leaves, frosty plants, San Diego sunset Christmas 2012, San Diego winter sunrise, San Diego winter sunset 16 Comments

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: an unusual POV - manzanita tree bark peeling off

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. 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.

The manzanita tree is very common in Southern California. It’s one of those trees / shrubs that does well in a dry climate and can resist drought. Manzanita is Spanish for “little apple” and the tree grows large berries the size of, you guessed it, little apples. This is what the tree looks like as a whole. And yes, if you’re wondering, the sky really was that blue the day I took this photo in the mountains. I could just stare at this blue sky the whole day.

What I find interesting in this manzanita tree is its bark. It tends to peel to reveal new bark underneath, and as it does, the old bark curls up, which makes for a peculiar look. This is what a branch with peeling bark looks like overall.

Here’s a close-up of this manzanita tree bark. I love how the sunlight makes it look even more reddish orange than it really is.

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

And if the tree bark underneath is still very new, it looks quite green, a nice contrast with the red peeling bark. You can click on this image for a larger view.

Macro Monday: manzanita tree bark peeling off

I hope you enjoyed my selections for this Macro Monday.

July 7, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, Close-up of manzanita tree bark, curled up bark, Macro Monday, manzanita tree, manzanita tree bark, nature photography, peeling tree bark, photography, photos, photos of trees, tree bark peeling off 20 Comments

Giant dandelions in seed

I’m finally able to take a lot of photos this week and it’s taking me a while to delete the bad ones, and keep and edit the good ones. I’m capturing a nice mix of flora, fauna and landscapes and I’ll be sharing these photos as I clean them up.

Today I’ll like to share these giant dandelions in seed I spotted in a large meadow. They were the only dandelions around and measured a couple of inches wide. I was tempted to go out there and blow on them, but I wasn’t crazy about climbing over barbed wire and probably stepping on a few snakes hiding in the dry grass. I’m just glad the wind didn’t blow all these dandelions away so I could take a picture first.