nature photography

Close-up of a hairpin banksia shrub bloom

Macro Monday: the hairpin banksia shrub and its blooms

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Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view.

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.

I ran across this shrub over the weekend and I had to take a few pictures of its very peculiar blooms. This is the hairpin banksia shrub, part of the protea family, originally from South Africa.

Take a closer look at the shrub’s blooms. I don’t even know if you could call them flowers. Aren’t they something?

Macro Monday: hairpin banksia shrub bloom

Here’s an ever closer look at a hairpin banksia bloom. Nature sure had fun with this one!

Travel theme: Brown

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “brown”. 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 wrote a post with a brown theme just a few weeks ago so I thought I’d use some new photos for this post today. Here are some photos I took today and last weekend to illustrate this theme. Trees are mainly what came to mind, like these many brown leaves that fell off a Ginkgo tree.

I’m not sure what type of tree this is but I was fascinated by its reddish brown bark, as well as the many twists displayed on the tree trunk.

Travel theme: Brown and twisted tree trunk

Talking about interesting tree bark, this are the branches of a cork oak tree. This is what we use to make wine bottle corks, cork flooring, cork wall boards, etc. Pretty cool looking, huh?

I snapped a photo of this cute brown mallard female duck today, as she was snacking on some underwater plants. Nature sure knows how to add interesting patterns to brown to make it beautiful.

Travel theme: Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond

October 19, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Tree PhotosTags: brown ginkgo leaves, cork bark, cork oak tree bark, cork oak tree branches, female mallard duck, ginkgo tree, nature photography, photos of trees, Travel theme: Brown, twisted bark, twisted tree trunk, where's my backpack photo challenge, where's my backpack travel theme 14 Comments

Help me pick photos for my 2014 calendar on bees and bugs

Today, I’m asking your feedback on photos I’d like to include in my 2014 calendar on bees and bugs. Just tell me which ones you’d really want to see, and which ones I should definitely keep or get rid of. I appreciate your honest feedback.

Remember that everyone who comments on one of my 2014 photo calendar related posts will be entered in a drawing to win one of my calendars (you can pick your favorite theme). The only requirement I have for the winner is to be located within the U.S., mostly because the calendar will contain U.S. holidays and it will be more helpful to that person. For every calendar post that you comment on, you will earn one drawing entry (one entry per blog post, not per comment). I’m planning to give away one calendar to a lucky winner, and possibly another one to the person who comes in second, depending on the number of participants.

You can click on any photo below to open the slideshow and view everything in a larger format. Please include your comments into the post comment section directly, not on individual photos, to make it easier for everyone to see your feedback. Thank you!

Capture The Colour 2013 photo contest – red bottle brush flower with bee

Macro Monday: bee on pink flower

Travel theme: see through wings of a dragonfly

Travel theme: Wild – orange dragonfly

Fuzzy caterpillar

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Saturated – green junebug beetle

Macro Monday: orange dragonfly taking off

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Inside – bee collecting nectar inside bags

Giant owl butterfly

Lines and patterns of the paper kite butterfly (Idea Leuconoe)

Bee on the pear blossoms at San Diego Balboa Park

Travel theme: see through wings of a bee

Bee on yellow cactus blooms

Bee on a wild rose

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Lines on a tiger swallowtail butterfly

IMG_4173

October 16, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: 2014 calendar, 2014 nature photography calendar, 2014 photo calendar, bee on flower, bee photos, butterflies, butterfly, fuzzy caterpillar, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of bees, red ladybug 19 Comments

Cee’s fun foto challenge: One red ladybug

Macro Monday: a red ladybug, an unexpected guest

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. You can click on each photo for a larger view.

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.

Last weekend I took my kids to the small mountain town of Julian, California, about an hour east of San Diego. One of our activities there was to pick apples right off the tree. When I put the apples we brought back in the kitchen sink to wash them, I realized we had an unexpected guest. A cute red ladybug! So I took it outside and put it on my rose bush. I bet it wondered how it got there!

October 14, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal PhotosTags: Julian California, ladybug close-up, ladybug macro, Macro Monday, nature photography, photography, red ladybug, red ladybug on a rose bush 9 Comments

Sycamore tree leaves in the fall in San Diego

Festival of leaves – week 2 – Sycamore tree leaves

Today I’m taking part in the photo challenge called Festival of Leaves (this is week 2). You can view my contribution to week 1 here. You can click on each photo for a larger view. 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.

We have a lot of Sycamore trees in San Diego. And I mean, A LOT. They are quite resilient to our ongoing drought, as they let their leaves shrivel up when they run out of water in the heat of summer, preserving their energy for better times. The Sycamore tree leaves turn yellow then brown in the fall, not too exciting to photograph as is. But if you photograph the tree from underneath on a sunny day, you can play with the sunlight to get more interesting leaf colors. Here are a few shots of Sycamore tree leaves that are barely turning yellow and brown at this point.