The colors of spring: orange protea pincushion and purple lavender

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In today’s post, I’m featuring one of my favorite flowers: the protea pincushion flower. Originally from South Africa, they seem to like San Diego’s weather and they’re easy to spot in people’s yards and public places. What do I like most about them? They have some of the most cool looking shapes of petals I’ve ever seen.

I wanted to capture this peculiar curved shape of the petals by taking a close-up of this orange protea pincushion. You can click on this photo for a larger view.

Orange protea pincushion flower
Orange protea pincushion flower

After taking this photo, I noticed the large lavender flowers and decided to use them as the background for my photo, along with the blue sky.

Orange protea pincushion and purple lavender
Orange protea pincushion and purple lavender

For this last picture, I decided to change the depth of field so I could focus on the lavender blooms instead. I also changed my angle to avoid them hiding behind the protea pincushion.

Purple lavender flowers
Purple lavender flowers

So here you go, same flowers, three different angles and perspectives. Some people go bungee jumping, I play with my camera settings.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Steps or stairs

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This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is steps or stairs. I only have one photo to share for this theme, but when I saw these beautiful steps a couple of weeks ago, I knew they deserved their own photo post.

I found these amazing stone steps at Dos Picos County Park in Ramona, California, while hiking on a trail at the back of the park. In the spring, Dos Picos Park is simply beautiful. The grass that grows there is quite particular. It’s very fine, very tall, very soft, and very… green! Believe me, living in San Diego, you don’t get to see grass this green very often.

Between the many coast live oaks, the blooming lilacs (you can see photos of those lilacs here and here), and greener than green grass, sometimes I feel like I’ve stepped into some type of fairyland. And that’s why I think these stone steps fit perfectly with the fairyland theme. What do you think?

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Stone steps or stairs
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Stone steps or stairs

Macro Monday: Dandelion in seed

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Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. I took my kids to a local county park yesterday and although the gray weather wasn’t warm enough to spend more time than needed on our picnic, it was perfect weather for a hike. We enjoyed beautiful views of the hills, the meadows and the trees. And we got to enjoy plenty of smaller parts of nature, including many flowers and insects.

For this Macro Monday, I’ve decided to feature a dandelion in seed. Believe or not, I’ve never taken a photo of one, so this was a first for me. Not all of it came out in focus so next time I’ll have to play with the depth of field a little bit more. I have to say my kids were very patient and waited until I was all done with my photos to pick this dandelion and blow on its seeds.

Remember you can click on each image for a larger view, and you can subscribe to this photo blog if you like what you see.

Macro Monday: Dandelion in seed
Macro Monday: Dandelion in seed
Macro Monday: close-up of a dandelion in seed
Macro Monday: close-up of a dandelion in seed

A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn

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Today I’m participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “dawn”. With young kids, I never get to sleep in, so I often have an opportunity to see the dawn, especially in the winter months. I love listening to the sounds of nature at dawn, where the animals start waking up and the birds start chirping.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of dawn. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in the winter
A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in the winter

I’m lucky to see the sun rise behind trees and hills every morning. I love the soft glow of this winter sunrise. Such lovely dawn!

A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in the winter
A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in the winter

Of course, sometimes dawn wants to show up in all bright colors. What a cheerful entrance!

A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in San Diego
A Word A Week Challenge – Dawn in San Diego

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds

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’m participating in the online adventure travel and outdoor photography magazine Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggers. This week’s challenge is: Clouds.

I’m one of those weird people who LOVE clouds. OK, not so much the boring gray layer of stratus clouds, especially when it doesn’t produce rain. I love staring at the high layers of cirrus clouds that stretch across the skies like cotton candy. A mackerel sky always looks like it’s covered with a huge herd of sleeping sheep. And of course, my favorite clouds are the cumulus type, since they’re the best opportunity for spotting shapes.

I hope you enjoy my photo choices. If you liked what you see, I encourage you to subscribe to this blog and keep updated with my new photo posts. Remember you can click on any photo below to view its larger format.

I took this first photo with my cell phone because that’s all I had with me that day and I didn’t want to miss capturing this great opportunity. Here’s my first dog-shaped cloud! Isn’t he a cute little doggie?

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds in the shape of a dog
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds in the shape of a dog

Another reason I love clouds is because they can make a great sunset look absolutely amazing. I took this photo on December 25, 2012 in San Diego. One of the best sunsets I’ve seen in years for sure.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds at sunset
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds at sunset

Now, here’s another photo taken from the same spot during a summer sunset with really nice soft pink and gray clouds.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds of a pink and gray sunset
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds of a pink and gray sunset

Of course, clouds can create some beautiful sunrise scenes, especially when the sun tries so hard to pierce through them early in the morning.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds at sunrise
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds at sunrise

Finally clouds can look very creepy, especially when they crawl over the hills during a rainstorm. We get this type of crawling clouds once in a while in the winter here, and I love the look of them!

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds crawling over the hills
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Clouds crawling over the hills