Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now!

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I’m participating in the online adventure travel and photography magazine LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggers. This week’s Challenge is: Now!

My “now” moment is from last Friday, when we got to experience rain falling down the whole day and night, here in San Diego, California. I can’t complain about it much, we really need it. I actually don’t mind when it rains and doesn’t pour, which is mostly what happened. The only thing is, there are few opportunities to take pictures on rainy days. However, I experienced a “now” moment last Friday and managed to grab my camera and snap photos throughout the day to capture the effects of the rain.

I’ll be featuring all of the photos I took in two additional posts later this week, one on clouds and one of raindrops. Here’s a preview of these posts for you. Remember you can click on each image for a larger view.

Rainclouds hang quite low here, and with the high hills surrounding us, you can see the clouds creeping and crawling all over them. It was a challenge to capture them on camera because I believe a video would illustrate the effect better, but I still think the photos came out OK.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - hills covered with clouds
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – hills covered with clouds

The next photo features raindrops on the branch of a thuja. I love how the raindrops manage to hang on so well to the tree.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - raindrops on a thuja tree branch
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – raindrops on a thuja tree branch

As for the last photo, this is what every kid loves to do when it rains- jumping in the puddles! – especially if wearing rain boots. Kids really know how to enjoy the now!

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now - splashing in the puddles
Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Now – splashing in the puddles

Sunday Post: Focused Attention

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Today I’m participating in Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post photo challenge. This week’s theme is Focused Attention.

If there’s one thing you need to have when taking photos of nature, it is focused attention. Paying attention to your surroundings is crucial if you want to spot and capture something that looks good to the eye. Sometimes, timing is important if you’re trying to take photos of animals, or even skies, which can change any minute. Focus is mostly needed when you’re taking photos up close, in macro mode.

I just received my brand new Canon Powershot SX500 IS a couple of days ago (it felt like Christmas all over again!), so I played with it a bit yesterday, trying to focus on the raindrops that are everywhere because of the rain. It was fun comparing the photos I took of raindrops on the same tree with my other camera. I’ll be doing a full post on these raindrops later this week, but here’s a preview of it. Focused attention can get you a nice shot of raindrops on a thuja tree branch.

Remember you can click on each photo so you can see it in a larger size.

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - raindrop on a tree branch
Sunday Post: Focused Attention – raindrop on a tree branch

You also need focused attention when trying to capture a moving body of water on camera. I did that recently and I still have to go through my photos to pick a select few. Here’s one that came out alright, I think. The sun was already over the hill and the whole aread being shaded gave the water a blue tint. A pretty neat effect.

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - stream water
Sunday Post: Focused Attention – stream water

That same day, I could see the moon high up in the sky in the late afternoon. I wanted to take a picture of it, but I knew it wouldn’t be a great photo if I had nothing else in the photo but the moon in broad daylight. So I looked around and found a way to add to the picture and give the moon some perspective. I’m pretty happy with the way the photo turned out. What do you think?

Sunday Post: Focused Attention - moon in bright blue sky
Sunday Post: Focused Attention – moon in bright blue sky

That’s all I have for this theme of focused attention. I hope you enjoyed it!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood

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This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme is wood. Last week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme was water and I couldn’t stop thinking of the many photos I could sort through to select the final few.

This week’s wood theme was a little more challenging for me. I didn’t want to show you just trees, trees and more trees. Yes, I will display  a few trees below, but I also wanted to show you objects made out of wood. I hope you enjoy my selection of wood photos.

This HUGE wood sculpture is to welcome you to the small mountain town of Idyllwild in Southern California, about two hours north of San Diego. The man who created this sculpture for the town (apparently he wasn’t done with it when I snapped the photo) sells many other wood sculptures, mostly of wildlife. They’re just beautiful.

Cece's Fun Foto Challenge - Wood - Wood sculpture in Idyllwild, California
Cece’s Fun Foto Challenge – Wood – Wood sculpture in Idyllwild, California

Here’s the same Idyllwild wood sculpture from a different angle.

Wildlife wood sculpture in Idyllwild California
Wildlife wood sculpture in Idyllwild California

Here are two Stellar Jay birds perched on opposite branches of a pine tree. This photo was taken in Idyllwild too, where Stellar Jays are easy to spot.

Stellar jay birds on a pine tree
Stellar jay birds on a pine tree

When we stayed in Idyllwild the first time, we rented a dome house made entirely out of wood inside and out. Here’s a part of the interior walls and ceiling to show you what a dome house looks like. Pretty neat, huh?

Idyllwild dome house, all out of wood
Idyllwild dome house, all out of wood

I took the next photo on the Star of India ship at the San Diego Maritime Museum with my kids (working hard!). That ship was used in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe and it’s still an active ship to this day.

Star of India - San Diego Maritime Museum
Star of India – San Diego Maritime Museum

As for these last photos, let me tell you a funny story. I took them at Dos Picos State Park northeast of San Diego a couple of years ago and never used them for anything. But I still saved them on my computer, because I knew I would use them one day for sure. And now the day has come. I present you a pile of wood!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wood

Here is the pile of wood from up close. I find it pretty nice actually.

Pile of wood
Pile of wood

More photos of frost in San Diego

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This is the rest of the photos of frost I took these past few weeks in San Diego, California. You can find my other photos of frost here and here. I think this may have been my last opportunity to photograph frost this winter, since we’ve been experiencing a warming trend. And what a warming it has been! While the rest of the USA is suffering from subzero temperatures, we’re enjoying afternoons in the low 80s. How crazy is that? Of course, there’s a chance the warmth won’t last and we’ll have a few more frosty mornings before the end of winter. We’ll see, but in the meantime, I’m pretty happy with the large set of photos I got.

Remember you can click on any photo below for a larger view.

I think this may be my favorite frost photo of all. What do you think?

Frosty plants in San Diego
Frosty plants in San Diego

Here’s some frost on a spider web. And what a messy spider web it is!

Frost on spider web
Frost on spider web

I like the look of the frost on these dried flowers, covering every petal. And I really like the bluish gray tint from the winter morning’s light.

Delicate frost on plants and flowers
Delicate frost on plants and flowers

Here’s a dusting of frost on dried leaves. Did somebody sprinkled powdered sugar?

Frost on dried leaves
Frost on dried leaves

Here’s the last photo, showing not only frost but also small ice crystals on this leaf. It almost looks like a hairy leaf!

Frost on the edge of a leaf
Frost on the edge of a leaf

The color red: the Cotoneaster Lacteus’s red berries

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.

You’ve got to love Google search! I love these very thick and adundant bushes at my son’s school that display hundreds of tight grapes of red berries in the winter, bringing color to our chilly winter mornings. I took several photos of the bushes and their red berries recently and wanted to post a few here (see below), but I had no idea what the plants were.

So I searched for “bush with red berries”, and after looking through dozens of photos on Google, I found out these bushes are called Cotoneaster Lacteus. A fancy Latin name for an evergreen hedging shrub that features both flowers and berries (not simultaneously  of course). So if you’ve ever wondered what Cotoneaster Lacteus bush and its berries look like, this is the post for you. 😉

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

The red berries of the Cotoneaster Lacteus
The red berries of the Cotoneaster Lacteus

I love the abundance of red berries on each branch!

Close-up of the Cotoneaster Lacteus and its red berries
Close-up of the Cotoneaster Lacteus and its red berries

I took these photos on a frosty morning, so you can see the frost melting in some areas, while it leaves a layer of white dust in others. This last photo is my favorite of the bunch.

Red berries and red leaves of the Cotoneaster Lacteus
Red berries and red leaves of the Cotoneaster Lacteus