Travel theme: Through

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

Let me take you on a tour through the forest, one of my favorite activities. Sometimes the trail going through is pretty narrow.

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And sometimes it is quite wide.

Travel theme: Through the forest
Travel theme: Through the forest

Pine trees have so many thick branches that it can be hard to see the blue sky through them.

Travel theme: the blue sky through the branches
Travel theme: the blue sky through the branches

Pine tree sap is see through, although it tends to reflect a lot of its surroundings too.

Travel theme: see through tree sap
Travel theme: see through tree sap

Sometimes when you hike in a park, a river runs through it.

Travel theme: a river runs through it
Travel theme: a river runs through it

All the way through.

Travel theme: a river runs through it
Travel theme: a river runs through it

Forests are full of plants and animals, including insects. Insect wings are usually see through, including the wings of this blue dragonfly.

Travel theme: see through wings of a dragonfly
Travel theme: see through wings of a dragonfly

Travel theme: Tilted

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.

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “tilted”. 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 took this photo of a monarch caterpillar last week in San Diego’s Balboa Park. I wish I could walk tilted up a tree like that.

Travel theme: Tilted monarch caterpillar
Travel theme: Tilted monarch caterpillar

How about this baby panda at the San Diego Zoo, who manages to hang on and take a nap on a tilted branch?

Travel theme: Tilted baby panda
Travel theme: Tilted baby panda

This orange dragonfly can stand still and a bit tilted while barely hanging on to a stick.

Travel theme: Tilted orange dragonfly
Travel theme: Tilted orange dragonfly

Finally, look at these two pine trees. One of them is slightly tilting and to touch the other, then tilting back the other way, as if the trees were kissing.

Travel theme: Tilted pine trees
Travel theme: Tilted pine trees

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: walking through the woods

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.

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Which Way Challenge to show actual roads, bridges, walkways, tracks, etc, rather than the people on them. For this challenge, I decided to share two photos of trails I walked on recently. You can click on the images for a larger view.

Which way to go? Well, the way the sign says, of course!

Cee's Which Way Challenge: follow the trail sign
Cee’s Which Way Challenge: follow the trail sign

I love walking through a forest of pine trees. The shade is welcome in the summer and the smell of pine tree sap and needles is invigorating.

Cee's Which Way Challenge: hiking trail among pine trees
Cee’s Which Way Challenge: hiking trail among pine trees

WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour

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.

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.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - the sun lights up fall leaves with the moon in the background
WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – the sun lights up fall leaves with 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

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

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.

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.

Manzanita tree in Southern California
Manzanita tree in Southern California

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.

Manzanita red tree bark peeling off
Manzanita red tree bark peeling off

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
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
Macro Monday: manzanita tree bark peeling off

I hope you enjoyed my selections for this Macro Monday.