Travel theme: Pink

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

Pink is one of my favorite colors, and the bolder, the better, especially when it comes to photographing it. I love the many different shades of pink that Mother Nature has come up with, from the light pink of this beautiful rose,

Travel theme: Light pink rose petals
Travel theme: Light pink rose petals

and this gentle light pink water lily,

Light pink water lily
Light pink water lily

to the ultra bold pink of this snapdragon flower.

Bright pink snapdragon flower
Bright pink snapdragon flower

If pink contains a little bit of orange, then it can be called coral pink, as beautifully displayed in this pink poppy flower.

Pink poppy flower in bloom
Pink poppy flower in bloom

Mother Nature can display several shades of pink right next to each other, for example in these lovely cherry blossoms,

Close-up of pink cherry blossoms
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms

or these pink manuka flowers.

Close-up of pink manuka flowers
Close-up of pink manuka flowers

Of course, pink doesn’t only occur among flowers in nature. If you’re lucky, you can witness pink in the sky, whether it is a pink sunrise,

Pink winter sunrise in San Diego
Pink winter sunrise in San Diego

or a pink sunset.

Pink sky at sunset in San Diego
Pink sky at sunset in San Diego

 

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

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 “reflections”. 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 love photographing reflections as they can be quite a challenge, since a little movement by fish or birds swimming in the water, or even a slight breeze, can affect the reflection. Here are a few of my favorite reflections in the water I got the chance to photograph in the past few months.

In this first photo, the water was very still, so the reflection of these two white ducks was almost perfect.

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections of two white ducks swimming in the water
WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections of two white ducks swimming in the water

In this next picture, you can see a little breeze can distort the reflection of the tall trunks of palm trees in the water. The swimming path of the mallard duck creates even more ripples in the water.

Wood duck swimming on pond with the reflections of three palm trees
Wood duck swimming on pond with the reflections of three palm trees

I had a hard time photographing this mallard duck couple but I really like the reflections of the trees and plants into the rippled water in the foreground

Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond with tree reflections
Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond with tree reflections

I love the way the blue sky reflects into this pond water with its smooth ripples. It looks like the water is made out of liquid metal, like mercury.

Reflections of light and tree leaves in pond water
Reflections of light and tree leaves in pond water

Water ripples can make the reflection of a fancy white great egret look a little silly, don’t you think?

White great egret with his reflection in the water
White great egret with his reflection in the water

This last picture is one of my favorite photos featuring reflections. I love the white circles all over the water behind the white great egret. The gray lines are the reflection of a bridge’s fence that goes above the pond.

White great egret with interesting water reflections
White great egret with interesting water reflections

Floral Friday Fotos: my first cherry blossoms

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. You can click on each photo for a larger view. If you enjoy my photos, I encourage you to subscribe and receive updates when I post new photos, usually 3 to 5 times a week.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to photograph my first cherry blossoms earlier this week at the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. This is prime season to enjoy the cherry blossoms in San Diego and I wanted to take advantage of them before they disappear for a whole year. I took a lot more photos than these few but I thought this would be a nice sample to start you with, using this Floral Friday theme. Happy Friday and happy first day of spring!

Cherry blossoms at the San Diego Japanese Friendship garden in Balboa Park
Cherry blossoms at the San Diego Japanese Friendship garden in Balboa Park
Floral Friday Fotos: my first cherry blossoms
Floral Friday Fotos: my first cherry blossoms
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms
Close-up of pink cherry blossoms

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color purple

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 Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “the color purple”. 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 think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.”
― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

If you visit my blog regularly, you must know by now that purple is my favorite color to spot and photograph in nature. It doesn’t occur as often as you may think so it’s always a nice surprise to notice it. Here are a few selections of my recent sightings of purple while I was lucky enough to be holding a camera at that moment.

Here’s an interesting looking orchid, with several green and brown petals, and one large purple petal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flower with different colored petals before. Have you?

Orchid with green and brown petals, and one large purple petal
Orchid with green and brown petals, and one large purple petal

Aster flowers are some of my favorite, as they come in different shades of purple.

Dark purple aster flower with raindrops
Dark purple aster flower with raindrops
Purple aster with water drops
Purple aster with water drops

I love lavender: its purple color, its smell, its long-lasting blooms. The lavender blooms on the next photo belong to a larger species and they don’t smell, but they still look beautiful.

Bee on a purple lavender flower
Bee on a purple lavender flower

Here’s a little more purple lavender for you.

Purple lavender blooms
Purple lavender blooms

Purple can range for very light to very dark. Here is some dark purple on this white and purple pansy, covered with water droplets.

White and purple pansy
White and purple pansy

I’m saving my favorite purple for last, in this beautiful grape of wisteria blooms. I’ve noticed several wisteria trees blooming around San Diego. I think it’s time to grab my camera and try to get a few new shots.

White and purple wisteria flowers
White and purple wisteria flowers

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

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 “inside”. 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.

Can you guess how many lemurs are sleeping in this pile of fur? Hint: count the tails for the answer…

Ring tailed lemurs sleeping in a pile
Ring tailed lemurs sleeping in a pile

Look, that grasshopper is trying hard to get inside my house. Unfortunately it’s standing at the wrong end of the sliding window for that to happen, which is a good thing for me.

Green grasshopper trying to get inside the house
Green grasshopper trying to get inside the house

I guess this pitcher plant can’t wait for a fly to wander inside of it for a tasty snack.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: inside a pitcher plant
WordPress weekly photo challenge: inside a pitcher plant

Finally a sign of spring is the colorful blooms, but you have to watch out for the bees that may hide inside them, as in this beautiful pink powder puff bloom. Happy Friday!

Bees collecting nectar inside a pink powder puff bloom
Bees collecting nectar inside a pink powder puff bloom