Floral Friday Fotos: Pink water lilies

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.

Here are a few more photographs of the water lilies at the lily pond in San Diego’s Balboa Park. You can see my previous photos of purple water lilies here.

Floral Friday Fotos: Pink water lilies and lily pads
Floral Friday Fotos: Pink water lilies and lily pads

Can you guess from the next photo that it rained that morning? Yes, rain in July in San Diego. Quite a sight.

Floral Friday Fotos: Light pink water lily
Floral Friday Fotos: Light pink water lily
Close-up of bright pink water lily
Close-up of bright pink water lily

I really like the reflection of the pink water lily into the dark water on this last picture.

Pink waterlily reflecting in the water
Pink waterlily reflecting in the water
Advertisement

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Spring

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 participating in the online adventure travel and photography magazine LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggers. This week’s Challenge is: Spring.

Spring happens a little differently in San Diego. The early signs of spring come very early, usually by the end of February, and by the time the end of May is here, everything turns yellow and brown from the hot sun rays. As a sign of renewal and rebirth, spring is my favorite season. Here are a few photos of what spring in San Diego looks like to me. Remember you can click on each photo to see a larger image.

I was lucky to be picked as an honorable mention winner for my photo of California poppies for this challenge.

Blue skies and colorful flowers are common in the spring.

Photo of colorful California wildflowers
Photo of colorful California wildflowers

I love the many California poppies we see all over.

California wildflowers - poppies
California wildflowers – poppies

Ramona lilac is a local plant and it features beautiful, but unscented, clusters of small lilac blooms.

Lilac blooms in Ramona, California
Lilac blooms in Ramona, California

California wildflowers grow just about anywhere they can find some water.

California wildflower blooms
California wildflower blooms

This lupine bloom was standing on its own in a local park. I love the color purple that comes with spring.

California lupine at San Diego Mission Trails Regional Park
California lupine at San Diego Mission Trails Regional Park

These pear blossoms start early at San Diego’s Balboa Park, usually by early February. You can view more photos of these ornamental pear blossoms here.

Close-up of the pear blossoms in Balboa Park
Close-up of the pear blossoms in Balboa Park

I took this photo of dew just last week. Dew usually happens before spring starts here. After that, our mornings are too warm. You can view more photos of dew here.

Purple wildflowers with morning dew
Purple wildflowers with morning dew

I featured these flowers in yesterday’s Macro Monday post. Tiny flowers are a great indication of early spring in San Diego.

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

The beautiful pear blossoms of San Diego’s Balboa Park

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.

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to photograph the many ornamental pear blossoms in San Diego’s Balboa Park. It was one of those perfect days to take photos: beautiful blue sky with just a few clouds, warm temperatures and a slight breeze. I shared a couple of photos in previous posts, but today I’m displaying the best shots I got on that day in one single post.

Enjoy and remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

This is what the ornamental pear blossoms look like from underneath the tree.

Ornamental pear blossoms
Ornamental pear blossoms

This is what the pear blossoms look like from up close.

Beautiful pear blossoms of San Diego's Balboa Park
Beautiful pear blossoms of San Diego’s Balboa Park

I love how these pear trees reach high up to the sky.

Ornamental pear blossoms
Ornamental pear blossoms
Pear blossoms of Balboa Park in San Diego
Pear blossoms of Balboa Park in San Diego

I think this is my favorite photo of the whole lot.

Close-up of the pear blossoms in Balboa Park
Close-up of the pear blossoms in Balboa Park

These pear blossoms have a pretty repulsive smell but bees seem to love it and were very busy collecting nectar.

Bee on the blossoms of a pear tree
Bee on the blossoms of a pear tree
Bee on the pear blossoms at San Diego Balboa Park
Bee on the pear blossoms at San Diego Balboa Park

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the details

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. This week’s theme is “lost in the details”. WordPress is asking photographers to capture details in their frames.

For this post, I’ll use some photos I’ve featured in other posts that show great detail. I’ll also use a few new photos I haven’t featured on this website yet.

If you like what you see, please don’t hesitate to subscribe to my photo blog and/or like my Facebook page. Remember you can click on any of the photos below to view them in a larger format.

Below is one of my newest favorite photos I took recently. It shows some leftover raindrops on new rose bush leaves. I love the various sizes of raindrops and how they catch the light.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of new rose buds
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of new rose buds

San Diego’s Balboa Park recently featured a large display of ornamental pear blossoms. They looks beautiful as a whole, but I think they’re even prettier up close, when you can see the details of each flower. You can see more ornamental pear blossoms here.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of pear blossoms
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of pear blossoms

I love the details of the petals on this white powder puff tree flower. You can see more white powder puff flowers here and some pink powder puff tree flowers here.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of the white powder puff tree - Calliandra Haematocephala
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of the white powder puff tree – Calliandra Haematocephala

The next photo also shows a lot of details, not just of the cactus flowers, but of the bee itself. I love its fuzzy back.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: lost in the details on a bee on yellow cactus flowers

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of a cactus flower

The last photo is a close-up of a spider web made by grass spiders. I love the details of the dew drops on the spider web, which would look quite messy otherwise. You can view more dew on spiderwebs here.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of dew drops on a spider web
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Lost in the details of dew drops on a spider web

Sunday Post: Ongoing

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 Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post photo challenge. This week’s theme is Ongoing.

It took me a little time to figure out what type of photos I could take to best represent this theme. At first, I thought photographing a sunrise or a sunset in progression would be perfect. Unfortunately we haven’t had the best weather recently, so this opportunity has not presented itself in time.

So I’m offering you my second pick for this ongoing theme: bees, hard at work on a variety of flowers. What I find most amazing about bees is how relentless they are at doing their job, even when you stand right next to them for a photo opportunity. Their work is ongoing and uninterrupted and I love watching them and capturing them on camera.

Remember you can click on each photo so you can see it in a larger size.

I took this photo at Balboa Park in San Diego earlier this week. These are pear blossoms from ornamental pear trees. The bees were super busy collecting nectar from the thousands of flowers available to them.

Sunday Post: Ongoing - bees on the pear blossoms at San Diego Balboa Park
Sunday Post: Ongoing – bees on the pear blossoms at San Diego Balboa Park

This next photo is also from Balboa Park. Apparently the bees weren’t just busy with the pear blossoms. They were also hard at work on these beautiful aloe flowers. You could see the ongoing flow of bees all over these flowers.

Sunday Post: Ongoing - bees on aloe flowers at Balboa Park in San Diego
Sunday Post: Ongoing – bees on aloe flowers at Balboa Park in San Diego

I took the next photo at the San Diego Botanic Garden a few weeks ago. Bees seemed to love this cactus flower. You can see more photos of these bees and cactus here.

Sunday Post: Ongoing - bees on cactus flowers at the San Diego Botanic Garden
Sunday Post: Ongoing – bees on cactus flowers at the San Diego Botanic Garden

This next photo is from Idyllwild, California. This bee’s ongoing nectar collection on this wild rose made for a great photo opportunity.

Sunday Post: Ongoing - bee on a wild rose in Idyllwild
Sunday Post: Ongoing – bee on a wild rose in Idyllwild

My last photo is not of a bee but a tiger swallowtail butterfly. Just like bees, butterflies go from one flower to the next to collect nectar. This is an ongoing job and gives me an opportunity to chase them around to try to get a good shot. This one ended up on my 2013 photo calendar.

Sunday Post: Ongoing - tiger swallowtail butterfly
Sunday Post: Ongoing – tiger swallowtail butterfly