WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background

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Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “in the background”. You can click on any photo below to see it in a larger format.

Since a lot of my photos happen to be macros, or at least tend to focus on a single subject, I was tempted to skip this week’s WordPress photo challenge. But after going through my portfolio, I found a few photos that would be a great fit for this theme.

Like these photos of the moon in the background of the branches of a Sycamore tree.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background - Moon rising behind tree branches
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background – Moon rising behind tree branches
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background - Moon rising during the day
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background – Moon rising during the day

Or this beautiful moon rising behind the mountain’s pine trees.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background - Moon rising over pine trees
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background – Moon rising over pine trees

Or this beautiful purple lavender you can see in the background, behind this orange pin cushion protea flower.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background - lavender behind orange pin cushion protea flower
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background – lavender behind orange pin cushion protea flower

Or the Pacific ocean you can notice in the background, behind the grassy sand dunes at Coronado Beach in San Diego, California.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background - Pacific ocean at Coronado beach
WordPress weekly photo challenge: In the background – Pacific ocean at Coronado beach
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Playing with the moonlight

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’ve always found the moon an interesting subject to photograph. It can show up any time of the day or night, low on the horizon or high up in the sky. It’s a challenge to photograph with my point-and-shoot camera. I like its 12xoptical zoom but it can have a hard time focusing on the subject. And if I want to capture something else in front of it, I rarely get both subjects, near and far, with the right lighting or focus. So I use Photoshop to create the photo I really want by combining the two photos together: the one with the moon lighted and focused on just right, and the other with the foreground under the right light and sharp content.

Here are a few photos that were created this way. Remember you can click on each photo to see it in a larger format.

Unfortunately my camera is a little grainy in very low light but I still like how these two photos came out.

Full moon rising above the horizon
Full moon rising above the horizon
Full moon rising beyond the trees
Full moon rising beyond the trees

Somewhere the moon can be quite visible in the middle of the day if the light is just right. Here are a few photos capturing this phenomenon.

Moon rising during the day
Moon rising during the day
Moon rising behind tree branches
Moon rising behind tree branches
Moon rising in the afternoon
Moon rising in the afternoon

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Renewal

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.

Remember you can click on each photo below to see a larger view of it.

I find it interesting, not to say awkward, to choose “renewal” as a theme in November, when everything in nature is dying or falling asleep. So most of the photos I’m displaying here were taken at another time of the year.

Well, expect for this first one, which I took last fall after a rainstorm. The clouds were still quite grey but the sun rays did their best to light up the golden leaves of the poplars that live by the San Diego River. I love to watch the rain do its magic as it revives and replenishes the trees that have been thirsty for so long, giving them one last burst of energy before they go to sleep for the winter.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Renewal - after the rain
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Renewal – after the rain

The WordPress person who wrote the post on this weekly photo challenge suggested us to stay away from the stereotypical renewal of sunrises. Well, I love sunrises and they are inherently a sign of daily renewal. But I like moon rises  just as much, especially when they happen in the daylight. They remind us that day and night work together to bring constant renewal to the earth.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Renewal - moon rising over trees
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Renewal – moon rising over trees

I used the photo below for another photo challenge theme but I think it fits this one perfectly. This is a small pine tree growing out of the root of a seemingly dead tree. Nature knows best how to renew.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Renewal - new tree grows out of a dead tree
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Renewal – new tree grows out of a dead tree

Finally, nothing screams renewal more than brand new flowers in the spring. In this case, these are California wildflowers, which are also featured in my 2013 photo calendar.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Renewal - California wildflowers
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Renewal – California wildflowers

What is your idea of renewal?