photos of blooms

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange

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Today I’m participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “orange”. 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.

Orange is far from being my favorite color but I love how nature displays it boldly. My favorite display has to be this orange dragonfly I captured a few weeks ago. It was a lucky shot for sure. You can see my photo of a blue dragonfly here.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange dragonfly

While I visited San Diego’s Balboa Park on Sunday, I stopped by the rose garden and took several photos of the many colorful roses. You can view these beautiful (and not orange) roses in yesterday’s post. Here are a few orange roses I saw while there:

I tried to use the very cloudy sky as a background for the next photo. I kind of like the effect, although I bet this rose would be absolutely beautiful on a blue background since the two colors are opposite on the color wheel.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose at Balboa Park in San Diego

And here’s a last large burst of orange roses for you!

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose in San Diego's rose garden — A Word A Week Challenge – Orange rose in San Diego’s rose garden

This next rose is more subtle and displays a mix of orange, yellow and light pink. I love this type of tea roses and they usually smell very good.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange tea rose in Balboa Park rose garden

Of course, roses are not the only flowers that are orange. Here are a few more orange flowers I’ve photographed in the past, like this beautiful orange protea pincushion.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange protea pincushion protea flower

I’m not sure what the next flower is called but I love its big fuzzy petals.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange flower with fuzzy petals

I like the orange leaves of fall foliage. We don’t get a lot of that in San Diego, so it’s nice to spot it here and there.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange leaves of a sumac tree in the fall

Of course, I can’t participate in an orange theme without displaying an orange, can I? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

A Word A Week Challenge – Orange on the orange tree

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Saturated - pistils inside a yellow rose

Macro Monday: The beautiful roses of Balboa Park

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. Remember you can click on each image to see it in a larger format.

I spent yesterday morning at San Diego’s Balboa Park with my kids and one of our stops was the rose garden. I actually went there to take photos for another photo challenge (coming up tomorrow) but I ended taking a lot more photos when I saw the beautiful roses in bloom. So many sizes, colors and fragrances, a delight to walk through such garden, even with a slight rain!

Here are a few of my picks. I hope you enjoy this burst of color!

I love this first rose as it displays so many different colors on its petals. When you look at the various roses on the same rose tree, they all have different colors, which makes me think there was some cross-pollination to explain the yellow tint. Multi-color roses are quite something.

Macro Monday: roses at San Diego Balboa Park

I love this purple rose and had to snap a photo of it! If you click on it to view the larger image, you can see some tiny rain droplets on the petals.

I’m very happy with the composition of this next shot. I took several photos of this yellow rose but when I opened this image, I knew it was it. No cropping or editing necessary. I love these lucky shots!

Macro Monday: Close-up of a yellow rose at Balboa Park

It’s worth clicking on this last photo to see the details of the rose pistils. I got a couple of photos of this rose with a bee inside and I’m saving them for another post.

Macro Monday: Rose pistils at the Balboa Park rose garden

May 6, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, Photos of San DiegoTags: Balboa Park rose garden, close up of roses, Macro Monday, macro of roses, multi color roses, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple roses, rose garden Balboa Park, rose macro, rose pistils, San Diego Balboa Park, yellow roses 19 Comments

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “from above”. Most photos I take are from a different angle than right from above, but sometimes when it comes to close-ups and macros, placing the camera right above can capture the best picture.

Here are a few samples of photos taken from above. Remember you can click on each photo to view it in a larger format. And if you like what you see, I invite you to subscribe to this blog so you can get new updates as they come. I publish new photo posts 3 to 5 times a week. Enjoy!

I love photographing raindrops, especially as they linger after the rain has gone. If the sun shines a bit, it can makes for a really nice picture.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Raindrops on the leaves of a rose tree — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Raindrops on the leaves of a rose tree

I don’t like spiders but I like how raindrops sit on a spider web. Here’s an example of a spider web right above smooth river rocks with raindrops on top of it. I have more examples of this type of raindrops here and here, but this photo is a few weeks old.

I usually don’t photograph flowers from right above but these flowers below seemed like the perfect exception. Look how the center of the flower seems almost white as the petals go from yellow to red. Only a shot from above can amplify this pattern.

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - bright yellow red flowers — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – bright yellow red flowers

Of course I can’t talk about flowers without talking about bees. I like photographing them from above to show their beautiful wings. On this photo I shared a couple of weeks ago, I noticed something quite special. Take a close look at the bags of nectar the bee is gathering on its back legs. What an efficient way to gather a lot of nectar!

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Bee carries bags of nectar on legs — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Bee carries bags of nectar on legs

Finally you also can’t talk about flowers without mentioning butterflies. When they stay put and leave their wings wide open, you have the opportunity to photograph beautiful colors from above.

Here’s a beautiful orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia).

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia) — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Orange julia butterfly (Dryas iulia)

And here’s a postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene).

WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above - Postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene) — WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above – Postman butterfly (Heliconius Melpomene)

May 3, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Bloom Photos, Flower Photos, Photography, Plant Photos, Rock photos, Water photosTags: bee gathering nectar, bee with bags of nectar, bees carry nectar on legs, Dryas iulia, Heliconius Melpomene, nature photography, orange julia butterfly, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, photos of raindrops, postman butterfly, raindrops on spider web, Wordpress weekly photo challenge, WordPress weekly photo challenge: From above, yellow red flowers 6 Comments

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Scent of Ramona lilac blossoms

The color purple: the beautiful blooms of the Ramona lilacs

Well, it’s taken me a while but I finally did it! I went through all the photos I took of the Ramona lilacs in bloom during my latest visit at Dos Picos County Park in Ramona, California. I ended with a few good photos I’m sharing below in a gallery format.

If you’d like to see any image larger, just click on it and it will open a different screen with a photo slideshow. Then stroll down the page to see below the image and click “View full size” on the right hand size.

Ramona lilacs are different from the regular lilac trees you’re probably used to. The flowers are a lot smaller and much less fragrant, but just as beautiful. You can see on some photos that the trees are completely covered with clusters of purple flowers. The flowers actually look blue when they are unopened. As they open they get dark purple and when they’re open completely, they’re more of a light purple. This gives each tree a unique look and color. That’s why each cluster looks different on the photos.

Thank you for your patience! I hope you enjoy the show. And let me know what you think if the comments section if you’d like.

Trail bordered by Ramona lilacs

Purple and whote Ramona lilac in bloom

Blooming Ramona lilacs

Ramona lilacs on a trail in Dos Picos County Park

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Scent of Ramona lilac blossoms

Close-up of Ramona lilac in bloom

Flower clusters of Ramona lilacs

Purple lilac flowers

April 30, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Bloom Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Photos of San DiegoTags: blooming lilac, blue lilac, California pictures, Dos Picos County Park, lilac blooms, lilac blossoms, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of blooms, photos of flowers, purple lilac, ramona california, Ramona lilac trees, Ramona lilacs 11 Comments

Macro Monday: the blooms of the violet honey-myrtle tree

Let me start this post by announcing that you can save 40% on any poster, print or canvas in my online Zazzle store until May 1, 2013 by entering coupon code ARTDEALSFORU at checkout. See a photo you like on my website but not in my store? Just ask me what product you’d like to purchase and I’ll create it for you.

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. Remember you can click on each image to see it in a larger format.

I recently discovered a violet honey-myrtle tree in bloom at the San Diego Botanic Garden. Very pretty flowers, but I wonder why they’re labeled violet when they’re clearly more pink than anything.