WordPress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece

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’ll start this post with a reminder that you can save 20% off all of my photo products on my online Zazzle store. Just use coupon code IHEARTZAZZLE at checkout. This code is valid until July 31, 2013 until midnight. See a photo you like on my website but it’s not in my store? Just ask me what product you’d like to purchase and I’ll create it for you.

Today I’m participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “masterpiece”. You can click on the photos below for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

Earlier today I posted a few photos of the supermoon of July 2013. While responding to a comment by Lisa at Northwest Frame of Wind, I mentioned a recent photo of the almost full moon I took in June 2013. She asked me to share it in a future post, so when I saw today’s photo challenge theme was masterpiece, I figured this would be a great opportunity. This is the supermoon of June 2013, a couple of days before it was full. Look how beautiful the moon is, with its moon craters. A masterpiece in our skies.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece - almost full moon with moon craters
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece – almost full moon with moon craters

Nature is a wonderful display of masterpieces, if you play close attention to it. Here are just a few I really enjoyed capturing on camera, including the pistils of this beautiful purple and yellow lily. It’s amazing how many details nature includes in each masterpiece it creates.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece - pistils of a purple and yellow lily
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece – pistils of a purple and yellow lily

The San Diego Botanic Garden has beautiful topiary I consider work of art. Here’s a dancing couple. You can view more photos of these topiary masterpieces here.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece - topiary of a dancing couple
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece – topiary of a dancing couple

This last photo is not nature related but it is a unique masterpiece. I was so mesmerized with this multicolor firework I photographed this past July 4, something I’ve never seen before. I love how the different colors go so well together against the black background of the sky.  You can see more photos of fireworks here.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece - multicolor fireworks
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Masterpiece – multicolor fireworks
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Macro Monday: mystery plant with puffy purple flowers and white leaves

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.

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s ChaosRemember you can click on each image to see it in a larger format. And 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 recently visited the San Diego Botanic Garden and photographed the flowers below. I love that garden for the variety of plants I can see there, but it really bugs me to realize only half of them seem to have a label. So I have no idea what the flowers below are. All I can say is, they’re puffy pinkish purple (mostly purple) flowers and their shrub leaves are so light green, they look almost white. This gives a very interesting background to the flowers. If you know what this plant with puffy purple flowers  is, please share in the comments section below. Enjoy!

Macro Monday: purple flowers and white leaves
Macro Monday: purple flowers and white leaves
Macro Monday: purple flowers with thin, long petals
Macro Monday: purple flowers with thin, long petals
Macro Monday: Close-up of purple flowers with skinny petals
Macro Monday: Close-up of purple flowers with skinny petals

Macro Monday: the flowers with no name

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.

Today I’m taking part in Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos. I recently visited the San Diego Botanic Garden and got the opportunity to photograph a lot of blooms. Below are a couple of flowers I was able to capture on camera. The thing is, I have no idea what type of flowers they are, and they weren’t labeled. What can I say? I’m a photographer and clearly not an horticulturalist.

For each flower below, I’ll show you what the plant looks like, as well as a macro of the flower itself. If you know the name of these plants, please share your knowledge in the Comments section. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

The first plant looks like a succulent but that’s how far I can go. That soft pink flower is very pretty.

Macro Monday: Flower of a succulent plant
Macro Monday: Flower of a succulent plant
 Macro Monday: Succulent with pink flower blooms
Macro Monday: Succulent with pink flower blooms

The next flowers belong to some kind of shrub about six feet tall. There were a lot of bloom on that tree, here are just a few.

 Macro Monday: Tree with purple blooms
Macro Monday: Tree with purple blooms

Here’s a close-up of one of the purple flowers. They don’t smell but they sure look nice.

 Macro Monday: Purple flowers on a shrub
Macro Monday: Purple flowers on a shrub

Feeling grateful on Valentine’s Day

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.

Whether you have someone special to celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, there’s always an opportunity to feel grateful for the people dear to you.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~ Marcel Proust

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Valentine's Day - Marcel Proust quote on being grateful
Valentine’s Day – Marcel Proust quote on being grateful

You can view more photos of amazing and unique topiary from the San Diego Botanic Garden here.

Let’s Be Wild Weekly Photo Challenge – Green

Let's be Wild Audience Award 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.

February 14, 2013 update: I just found out I won the Let’s be Wild Audience Award for this photo challenge on Green! I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my photos. This is the first time I’ve been recognized for my photo work, so this is a big deal for me. 🙂

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: Green.

You can click on the photos below for a larger view.

Green isn’t something you see a lot of in San Diego. The outdoor scenery is gray, brown and yellow most of the year. Still, you can be lucky and capture some green on camera, like that spring day when I stumbled upon this patch of surreal green at Dos Picos County Park. You can view more photos of Dos Picos County Park here, and here.

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green grass
Let’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green grass

Green is the color of grass, even when it’s covered with dew and spiderwebs from grass spiders. You can view more photos of these spiderwebs with dew in this post.

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green grass covered with spider webs
Let’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green grass covered with spider webs

I love the bold green on the plants below, even when covered with winter frost. You can view more photos of plants covered in frost here, here and here.

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green plants covered with frost
Let’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green plants covered with frost

Even the rain can’t wash out the green of this tree branch. You can view more photos of raindrops on these tree branches here and here.

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green branches and raindrops
Let’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green branches and raindrops

There’s plenty of green at the San Diego Botanic Garden, including on this beautiful topiary of a dancing couple. You can see more amazing topiary in this post.

Let's Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green topiary at the San Diego Botanic Garden
Let’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Green topiary at the San Diego Botanic Garden

How green is it where you live right now?