Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue

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Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “the color blue”. 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.

Blue is by far my favorite color, from very light to very dark, just as it is or with a bit of green or a bit of red in it. I love blue skies, blue waters (where blue skies reflect in), blue jeans – anything nature-made or man-made that looks blue. Here are a few pictures I took this summer that feature the color blue.

The first thing that comes to mind is how blue the sky can look here in San Diego. Well, maybe not downtown San Diego, which tends to be overcast many days out of the year. Inland, where it’s warmer and hotter, the sky can be the brightest blue on good days. This is a mountain peak I photographed while hiking in Idyllwild this summer, a couple of hours northeast of San Diego.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue - blue sky in Idyllwild, California — Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue – blue sky in Idyllwild, California

I took this next picture with my cell phone camera. That’s all I had available at the time and I thought the very rare clouds and their reflection in the water presented an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water - water reflections — Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water – water reflections

Spend a few hours in an aquarium and you’ll see a lot of blue. I love taking pictures of sea jellies (aka jelly fish), especially when the tank light keeps changing colors. Here’s a blue jelly fish for you!

Blue and yellow are complementary colors, so what’s not to like about yellow seahorses in an aquarium with a bright blue background?

Yellow seahorses in blue background aquarium

Finally, this is one of my favorite photos of a duck I took this summer. This female mallard duck was swimming in very still water, mostly in the shade. The water almost looks like a sheet of bluish metal.

Mallard female duck swimming in still, blue water

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Nature animals

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “nature animals”. 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.

While spending a few days in Virginia, we visited the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News, which features a lot of animals you find in Virginia. Of course you can find some of these animals in other parts of the country, but it was nice to be able to see a few of them up close, which can be hard when you walk around in nature.

During our visit, we spotted a few deer. They’re very well camouflaged in their exhibit.

This one really knows the most intimate spot to take a nap while spying on the visitors.

We were lucky to see real deer during our trip, so I can’t complain about the unspectacular shots I got of these. 🙂

My kids saw a real beaver for the first time and they were very excited. The only time I’ve seen a beaver before was when I lived in Connecticut. There was a park with a pond at the bottom of the hill where I lived, and the beaver couple that lived there would build a dam and a lodge on a regular basis, until the town took it down. This beaver wouldn’t stop swimming, getting out of the water, and going swimming again, so it was very hard to take a good picture of him.

Finally my kids got a chance to also see a raccoon for the first time. We do have raccoons here but they’re nocturnal so encounters are rare. The only raccoons we’ve seen are the road kill in the morning on our way to school. It was nice to see a live and healthy raccoon during our visit. Isn’t he cute? Every time I see a raccoon, it reminds me of the movie Elf. “Does someone need a hug?”

Close-up of a raccoon's head — Close-up of a raccoon’s head

May 14, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: beaver swimming in the water, camouflaged deer, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, close up of raccoon head, deer in Virginia, nature animals, nature photography, photos of beavers, photos of deer, photos of raccoons, raccoon photos 8 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Texture

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “texture”. 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.

It can be hard to photograph the texture of a subject. Sometimes you just have to remember or imagine what it feels like in real life to get the idea. Here are a few selections to illustrate various textures, some of them more pleasant than others.

I don’t think you can’t do a photo post on texture without tree bark. I find the patterns and textures of some tree barks wonderful, but I’d hate to scrape my skin on them. 🙂

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Texture of tree bark

The trunk of this cork oak tree looks and feels a lot softer than an oak or pine tree trunk.

The manzinata tree bark peels off as the tree trunk and branches grow larger. The soft and curled shavings make for some interesting texture to look at and touch.

Soft textures feel good to the touch. I’ve never touched the fuzzy fur of a lemur but I bet it’s pretty soft. Look how fluffy it looks in the sunshine. By the way, I still have to find the time to share more photos of this lemur and his buddies, who seem to enjoy the San Diego sun tremendously.

Finally you’ve got to admire (but probably not touch) the gelatinous texture of this sea jelly, which allows it to move around the ocean with the current with minimal effort. I do have more photos of sea jellies to show you also, and a funny story to share about that day. More in a later post!

The gelatinous texture of a Northeast Pacific sea nettle jelly

March 28, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Forest Photos, Ocean photos, Plant Photos, Water photos, Woods PhotosTags: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Texture, cork oak tree bark, gelatinous jelly fish, gelatinous sea jelly, jelly fish, manzinata tree bark peel, nature photography, sea jelly swimming, tree bark texture, tree trunk texture 6 Comments

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color purple

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

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

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.

Here’s a little more purple lavender for you.

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

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.

March 18, 2014February 6, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Plant Photos, Sky PhotosTags: bee on lavender, blooms, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color purple, green brown and purple orchid bloom, green brown and purple orchid flower, nature photography, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple aster blooms, purple aster flowers, purple in nature, purple lavender blooms, purple lavender flowers, purple wisteria blooms, purple wisteria flowers, purple wisteria grapes, the color purple, white and purple pansy 13 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Sea - sea jellies

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: two colors or hues only

Today I’m participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “two colors or hues only”. 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 realized it was quite a challenge to find photos that only showed two colors, and not three or more, but here’s a nice selection of my favorites, like this photo of a beautiful blue sky after the rain and a tree branch covered with leftover raindrops.

Rain drops on a tree branch after the rain

To continue with the water theme, here are some sea jellies lit up in blue in an aquarium, with the water as a black background.

I love to capture red and green on the same picture. These complementary colors are some of my favorite to see in nature, as on this Cotoneaster Lacteus bush in seeds.

Here’s another example to illustrate how well red and green go together on this passion flower in full bloom.

Passionfruit flower with large red petals and long pistils — Passion flower with large red petals and long pistils

This cactus covered with many tiny yellow blooms is a great attraction for a busy bee looking to collect nectar and pollen.

Very close to the complementary red and green I shared above, here is a splash of pink and green with this beautiful pink powder puff flower.

Pink powder puff tree - Calliandra Haematocephala — Pink powder puff tree – Calliandra Haematocephala

Yellow and green aren’t complementary colors but I still like the way they look together with this yellow rose flower about to open.

Nature sure knows how to make good use of complementary colors everywhere, such as purple and yellow on this large lily flower.

Orange and blue are another set of complementary colors. Is there any better background than a bright blue sky for these orange maple leaves?

Finally, the good thing about white is that it goes well with almost any other color. I love the soft glow it emits when put against a green background. Enjoy this white rose covered with dew drops and a white powder puff bloom as my last two choices for this colorful theme.