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

Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on roses

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 Floral Friday Fotos. Remember you can click on the photos below to see them in a larger format. If you enjoy my images, I encourage you to subscribe and receive updates when I post new photos, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

I love photographing roses but they’re quite a challenge to capture in the right angle and the right light. I recently took a lot of photos of roses of many colors and most of them had water drops on them from the morning’s watering. Here is a mix of colors for your enjoyment!

Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a pink rose
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a pink rose
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a white rose's petals
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a white rose’s petals
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a white rose
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a white rose
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a orange rose
Floral Friday Fotos: Water drops on a orange rose

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Winter

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.

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
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

Floral Friday Fotos: Fragaria red ruby / red ruby strawberry

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 Floral Friday Fotos. Remember you can click on the photos below to see them in a larger format. If you enjoy my images, I encourage you to subscribe and receive updates when I post new photos, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

A few weeks ago I visited the San Diego Botanic Garden and I spotted strawberry leaves but something was different about the strawberry flowers that came with them. These strawberry blooms weren’t white, they were bright pink!

Fragaria red ruby with pink flowers
Fragaria red ruby with pink flowers

Many of the plants in that garden are unlabeled and usually, this applies to the plants I’m really interested in. So I did some research on Google to figure out what these plants were. They are called Fragaria red ruby – the red ruby strawberry. They’re mostly used for ground cover, as they rarely bear fruit. They sure make for a pretty sight. Check out the amazing yellow and red pistils on the flower in the upper right corner. They look like someone handpainted them!

Red ruby strawberry pink flowers
Red ruby strawberry pink flowers

Giant dandelions in seed

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 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.

Giant dandelions in seed
Giant dandelions in seed