California pictures

Floral Friday Fotos: Pink water lilies

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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

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

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

Cee's fun foto challenge: white and purple water lilies

Floral Friday Fotos: Purple water lilies

I recently took more picture of water lilies at the San Diego’s Balboa Park pond, and this is the first time I’ve captured light purple water lilies among small and large lily pads.

Large lily pads and purple water lily flowers

I was able to take photos of water lilies of various colors that day, so I hope to find the time to share more with you soon.

July 19, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, California Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, Photos of San Diego, Plant Photos, Water photosTags: Balboa park lily pond, blooms, California pictures, Floral Friday Fotos, large lily pad, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple water lilies, purple water lily, San Diego Balboa Park, water lily blooms 8 Comments

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

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: walking through the woods

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.

July 16, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Forest Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Tree Photos, Woods PhotosTags: California pictures, Cee's Which Way Challenge, hiking trails, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of trees, pine tree smell, trail sign, walk among pine trees, walk in a forest, walk in the woods 4 Comments

Travel theme: Simplicity of Lake Hemet

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “simplicity”. 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 try to keep my photos as simple as possible and that’s why I like doing macros a lot, focusing on one subject and keeping the background a blur. But I also like the simplicity of some landscapes, especially when they involve water. For this theme, I decided to feature the beautiful Lake Hemet in Southern California. Considering the small lakes and ponds we have in the San Diego area, Lake Hemet is a lot larger. There’s something very peaceful about standing in front of a large body of water. Here’s just one little part of it.

Travel theme: Simplicity of Lake Hemet, Southern California

I like the simple landscape around the lake: the shore, some grass and then trees and a mix of shrubs and brush.

Even in hot weather, you can enjoy a little breeze right by the lake, which causes a few simple ripples by the shore.

Travel theme: Simplicity of lake water ripples

The trees around the lake provide a welcome amount of shade. In the morning, before the sun rays heat up the atmosphere, you can witness a beautiful blue sky – a sign of the purity of the air at 4000 feet away from most civilization. Simple and beautiful.

Simplicity of blue sky above the pine trees

July 14, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Landscape Photos, Photography, Sky Photos, Tree PhotosTags: blue sky, California pictures, lake hemet, lake hemet photos, lake hemet southern california, lake ripples, nature photography, photography, photos, simple photos, Travel theme photo challenge, Travel theme: Simplicity, trees, water ripples 2 Comments

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: an unusual POV - manzanita tree bark peeling off

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

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.

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.

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

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.