photos of trees

WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour

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Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “the golden hour”, that first or last hour of the day that gives such a special light to everything around. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I love the glowing effect the rising sun rays give to these puffy clouds.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - clouds at sunrise — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – clouds at sunrise

On a winter morning, I love how the sun rays do their best to shine through the fog and make the fall foliage turn gold.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - fall foliage glows through the fog — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – fall foliage glows through the fog

The morning sunlight right after a night of rain has an interesting effect too. I love to capture that special light on raindrops.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves

We don’t get a lot of frost in San Diego and when we do, it starts to disappear as soon as the sun comes out and exposes its warm rays. So it’s a race against time to capture the frost in the sunlight before it melts.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves - frost on the edge of a leaf — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – morning sunlight lights up raindrops on leaves – frost on the edge of a leaf

The late afternoon sun in the winter can give a nice golden look to yellow leaves, and the scene looks even nicer if you can capture the moon in the background.

Finally I like how bright the sky can still be while everything on the ground is getting darker as the sun sets.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour - bright skies as the sun sets — WordPress weekly photo challenge: the golden hour – bright skies as the sun sets

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: an unusual POV - manzanita tree bark peeling off

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. 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.

The manzanita tree is very common in Southern California. It’s one of those trees / shrubs that does well in a dry climate and can resist drought. Manzanita is Spanish for “little apple” and the tree grows large berries the size of, you guessed it, little apples. This is what the tree looks like as a whole. And yes, if you’re wondering, the sky really was that blue the day I took this photo in the mountains. I could just stare at this blue sky the whole day.

What I find interesting in this manzanita tree is its bark. It tends to peel to reveal new bark underneath, and as it does, the old bark curls up, which makes for a peculiar look. This is what a branch with peeling bark looks like overall.

Here’s a close-up of this manzanita tree bark. I love how the sunlight makes it look even more reddish orange than it really is.

Macro Monday: Close-up of the manzanita tree bark

And if the tree bark underneath is still very new, it looks quite green, a nice contrast with the red peeling bark. You can click on this image for a larger view.

Macro Monday: manzanita tree bark peeling off

I hope you enjoyed my selections for this Macro Monday.

July 7, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: California Photos, Forest Photos, Photography, Tree PhotosTags: California pictures, Close-up of manzanita tree bark, curled up bark, Macro Monday, manzanita tree, manzanita tree bark, nature photography, peeling tree bark, photography, photos, photos of trees, tree bark peeling off 20 Comments

Travel theme: Wood sculpture of lifesize raccoons in tree trunk

Travel theme: Sculpture

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “sculpture”. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

For this theme, I decided to use wood sculptures that were all created by the same person, David Roy from Idyllwild, California. You can find his wood sculptures as you walk around town, in front of people’s homes and local shops, and of course, right in the center of Idyllwild, with this huge town monument.

Travel theme: Sculpture - town monument in Idyllwild, California — Travel theme: Sculpture – town monument in Idyllwild, California

This is probably the biggest wood sculpture I saw while visiting his outside workshop. This Buddha statue below is unfinished at this point but it shows this artist doesn’t only carve animals. Not that I don’t like this animal sculptures. They all look great. My own Buddha wood sculpture at home would fit in the hand of this Buddha.

Travel theme: Sculpture - large wood sculpture of Buddha — Travel theme: Sculpture – large wood sculpture of Buddha

Check out this lifesize wood sculpture of a bear – impressive!

Travel theme: Sculpture of a lifesize bear

Here’s another bear wood sculpture, this one a little similar to the town monument, but smaller.

Travel theme: Wood sculpture of a lifesize bear and eagle

I also love the various animals he has peeking out of tree trunks. Very cute!

Travel theme: Wood sculpture of lifesize bear cubs in tree trunks

Travel theme: Wood sculpture of a lifesize owl in tree trunk

July 2, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Animal Photos, Photography, Tree PhotosTags: animal wood sculptures, bear sculpture, buddha sculpture, Idyllwild town monument wood, idyllwild wood sculpture, photography, photos, photos of trees, Travel theme photo challenge, Travel theme: Sculpture, wood sculptures 6 Comments

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Layers of pine tree sap

Macro Monday: Pine tree sap from up close

Today I’m taking part in the Macro Monday photo challenge. 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 love pine trees. I love their many varieties, their fragrance, their height and the way their branches stretch out as far as they can. I got to enjoy a lot of pine trees last week and for the first time, I took a closer look at their trunks. As I tried to photograph the many patterns of their bark while at a park, I noticed many trees had sap dripping out of their bark. And that sap itself was worth taking pictures. Here are a few photos of pine tree sap I had time to sort out. I have way more photos to go through, so I hope to do more posts on this in the near future. I hope you enjoy these few photos to start with.

The first thing I noticed when photographing pine tree sap is, it often comes with bugs that are stuck in there. The second thing I noticed is, if you photograph it from the right angle, you’ll see plenty of reflections in it.

Macro Monday: Pine tree sap from up close

Tree sap comes in all shapes and sizes. Check out this long hanging sap, as well as the small hook that’s attached to the tree trunk. How cool is that?

Macro Monday: Pine tree sap hanging from tree

Tree sap can also comes in different colors, depending on the color of the bark on the trunk. Check out this mix of light yellow and red tree sap.

Of course, tree sap can just drop and harden in drop shapes, but even then, you can see some patterns inside each drop. Lovely.

Macro Monday: Reflections in drops of tree sap

July 1, 2013February 7, 2020 by Milka Pejovic Categories: Forest Photos, Photography, Tree PhotosTags: Macro Monday, Macro Monday: Pine tree sap from up close, nature photography, photography, photos, photos of trees, pine tree sap, tree sap, tree sap colors, tree sap drops, tree sap shapes 1 Comment

WordPress weekly photo challenge: Up

I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is up. You can notice quite a lot when you look up, and here are just a few things I captured on camera. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

A dog in the sky