California pictures

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Focus - raindrop on tree branch

What comes with rain? Raindrops!

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This is another follow-up post to a photo I featured earlier this week. I’m not crazy about rain. I get wet if I go outside, I don’t like driving in it, and my kids go nuts staying inside all day. But one thing I absolutely love about rain is the leftovers, specifically raindrops. I’ve featured raindrops several times on this photo blog, including raindrops on spider webs.

I think raindrops can look very pretty, especially when they hang from something in a special way. I’ve noticed that raindrops hang on very well to thuja tree branches, and so after this most recent rainstorm, which lasted almost three long days and nights, I managed to take a few photos of them, including some with my brand new Canon Powershot SX500 IS digital camera. By the way, I’ve decided to return this camera. After giving it a long try, I just can’t stand the chromatic abberations on many photos. Most images are pretty grainy too, which I find unacceptable. So I’m back to shopping around for another camera to replace by beloved old Canon Powershot, which doesn’t always want to turn on. I’d love to go for another Canon because I can navigate through the menus pretty fast, but I really don’t know at this point. Sigh.

Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

Raindrops hanging from a thuja tree branch

Rain drops on a tree branch after a rainstorm

I took these photos below with my new camera.

January 31, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Plant Photos, Water photosTags: California pictures, hanging raindrops, photography, photos, photos of rain drops, photos of raindrops, rain drops photos, raindrops on a tree branch, raindrops on branches, raindrops on trees, raindrops photos, San Diego, thuja tree 1 Comment

Rain clouds crawling over the hills in San Diego

The crawling clouds of a San Diego rainstorm

I gave you a glimpse of what the crawling clouds of a San Diego rainstorm can look like in my previous photo post. If the cloud cover is high during a rainstorm, this meteorological event won’t happen, but if the clouds hang pretty low, it can be an interesting sight.

The San Diego area is very hilly and the clouds most often travel east, coming from over the Pacific Ocean. As the low clouds go over the various hills, they look like they’re crawling over them, sometimes slowly, sometimes pretty fast. After taking a few dozens of photographs, I realize it’s hard to capture the effect of these crawling clouds well on still photographs and a video would be a nice addition to this post. Something to keep in mind for the next rainy day!

In the meantime, here are a few photos of these crawling clouds over the San Diego hills.

Crawling clouds during a San Diego rainstorm

I took this last photo after I put my camera down and realized that the scene closest to me actually looked very interesting. I’ll need to come back when the weather is nicer to see if the area would look different in sunny light. I love how the yellow grass contrasts with the dark brown low bushes and the skinny, naked trees sticking straight up out of them. There’s something quite eerie about this whole scene, don’t you agree?

Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego, California

January 30, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Cloud photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Sky PhotosTags: California pictures, cloud photos, crawling clouds, low clouds, low hanging clouds, Mission Trails, Mission Trails regional park, photography, photos, photos of clouds, San Diego, San Diego clouds, San Diego rain, San Diego rainstorm 8 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now!

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: Now!

My “now” moment is from last Friday, when we got to experience rain falling down the whole day and night, here in San Diego, California. I can’t complain about it much, we really need it. I actually don’t mind when it rains and doesn’t pour, which is mostly what happened. The only thing is, there are few opportunities to take pictures on rainy days. However, I experienced a “now” moment last Friday and managed to grab my camera and snap photos throughout the day to capture the effects of the rain.

I’ll be featuring all of the photos I took in two additional posts later this week, one on clouds and one of raindrops. Here’s a preview of these posts for you. Remember you can click on each image for a larger view.

Rainclouds hang quite low here, and with the high hills surrounding us, you can see the clouds creeping and crawling all over them. It was a challenge to capture them on camera because I believe a video would illustrate the effect better, but I still think the photos came out OK.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - hills covered with clouds — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – hills covered with clouds

The next photo features raindrops on the branch of a thuja. I love how the raindrops manage to hang on so well to the tree.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - raindrops on a thuja tree branch — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – raindrops on a thuja tree branch

As for the last photo, this is what every kid loves to do when it rains- jumping in the puddles! – especially if wearing rain boots. Kids really know how to enjoy the now!

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - splashing in the puddles — Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – splashing in the puddles

January 28, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Tree Photos, Water photosTags: California pictures, clouds over hills, let's be wild weekly photo challenge, Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now, photography, photos, photos of clouds, photos of raindrops, rain drops on trees, raindrop photos, raindrops on trees, San Diego, splashing in puddles, thuja, thuya 11 Comments

Travel theme: Blue sky in San Diego and rising moon

Sunday Post: Focused Attention

Today I’m participating in Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post photo challenge. This week’s theme is Focused Attention.

If there’s one thing you need to have when taking photos of nature, it is focused attention. Paying attention to your surroundings is crucial if you want to spot and capture something that looks good to the eye. Sometimes, timing is important if you’re trying to take photos of animals, or even skies, which can change any minute. Focus is mostly needed when you’re taking photos up close, in macro mode.

I just received my brand new Canon Powershot SX500 IS a couple of days ago (it felt like Christmas all over again!), so I played with it a bit yesterday, trying to focus on the raindrops that are everywhere because of the rain. It was fun comparing the photos I took of raindrops on the same tree with my other camera. I’ll be doing a full post on these raindrops later this week, but here’s a preview of it. Focused attention can get you a nice shot of raindrops on a thuja tree branch.

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

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - raindrop on a tree branch — Sunday Post: Focused Attention – raindrop on a tree branch

You also need focused attention when trying to capture a moving body of water on camera. I did that recently and I still have to go through my photos to pick a select few. Here’s one that came out alright, I think. The sun was already over the hill and the whole aread being shaded gave the water a blue tint. A pretty neat effect.

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - stream water — Sunday Post: Focused Attention – stream water

That same day, I could see the moon high up in the sky in the late afternoon. I wanted to take a picture of it, but I knew it wouldn’t be a great photo if I had nothing else in the photo but the moon in broad daylight. So I looked around and found a way to add to the picture and give the moon some perspective. I’m pretty happy with the way the photo turned out. What do you think?

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - moon in bright blue sky — Sunday Post: Focused Attention – moon in bright blue sky

That’s all I have for this theme of focused attention. I hope you enjoyed it!

January 27, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Rock photos, Sky Photos, Tree Photos, Water photosTags: California pictures, moon in blue sky, moon in daylight, photographing moving water, photography, photos, rain drops on tree branch, raindrops on tree branch, running water, San Diego, stream water, Sunday Post, Sunday Post: Focused Attention 7 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood

This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is wood. Last week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme was water and I couldn’t stop thinking of the many photos I could sort through to select the final few.

This week’s wood theme was a little more challenging for me. I didn’t want to show you just trees, trees and more trees. Yes, I will display a few trees below, but I also wanted to show you objects made out of wood. I hope you enjoy my selection of wood photos.

This HUGE wood sculpture is to welcome you to the small mountain town of Idyllwild in Southern California, about two hours north of San Diego. The man who created this sculpture for the town (apparently he wasn’t done with it when I snapped the photo) sells many other wood sculptures, mostly of wildlife. They’re just beautiful.

Cece's Fun Foto Challenge - Wood - Wood sculpture in Idyllwild, California — Cece’s Fun Foto Challenge – Wood – Wood sculpture in Idyllwild, California

Here’s the same Idyllwild wood sculpture from a different angle.

Wildlife wood sculpture in Idyllwild California

Here are two Stellar Jay birds perched on opposite branches of a pine tree. This photo was taken in Idyllwild too, where Stellar Jays are easy to spot.

When we stayed in Idyllwild the first time, we rented a dome house made entirely out of wood inside and out. Here’s a part of the interior walls and ceiling to show you what a dome house looks like. Pretty neat, huh?

I took the next photo on the Star of India ship at the San Diego Maritime Museum with my kids (working hard!). That ship was used in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe and it’s still an active ship to this day.

Star of India - San Diego Maritime Museum — Star of India – San Diego Maritime Museum

As for these last photos, let me tell you a funny story. I took them at Dos Picos State Park northeast of San Diego a couple of years ago and never used them for anything. But I still saved them on my computer, because I knew I would use them one day for sure. And now the day has come. I present you a pile of wood!