Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue

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 participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “the color blue”. 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.

Blue is by far my favorite color, from very light to very dark, just as it is or with a bit of green or a bit of red in it. I love blue skies, blue waters (where blue skies reflect in), blue jeans – anything nature-made or man-made that looks blue. Here are a few pictures I took this summer that feature the color blue.

The first thing that comes to mind is how blue the sky can look here in San Diego. Well, maybe not downtown San Diego, which tends to be overcast many days out of the year. Inland, where it’s warmer and hotter, the sky can be the brightest blue on good days. This is a mountain peak I photographed while hiking in Idyllwild this summer, a couple of hours northeast of San Diego.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue - blue sky in Idyllwild, California
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color blue – blue sky in Idyllwild, California

I took this next picture with my cell phone camera. That’s all I had available at the time and I thought the very rare clouds and their reflection in the water presented an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water - water reflections
Blue sky and white clouds reflecting in water – water reflections

Spend a few hours in an aquarium and you’ll see a lot of blue. I love taking pictures of sea jellies (aka jelly fish), especially when the tank light keeps changing colors. Here’s a blue jelly fish for you!

Blue sea jelly - blue jelly fish
Blue sea jelly – blue jelly fish

Blue and yellow are complementary colors, so what’s not to like about yellow seahorses in an aquarium with a bright blue background?

Yellow seahorses in blue background aquarium
Yellow seahorses in blue background aquarium

Finally, this is one of my favorite photos of a duck I took this summer. This female mallard duck was swimming in very still water, mostly in the shade. The water almost looks like a sheet of bluish metal.

Mallard female duck swimming in still, blue water
Mallard female duck swimming in still, blue water
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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color white

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 participating in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge and her theme is “the color white”. 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.

I was going to feature flowers for this photo theme until I realized that I’ve taken quite a lot of photos of birds recently, and a number of them happen to be white. So here’s an all white bird series of photos, starting with the white great egret, who loves to hang out by the water, looking for some yummy fish to catch. I have yet to capture that moment on camera so for today, the bird looking for food will have to do. By the way, the birds in the water are American coots. You’ll want to check out their super weird / cool looking feet in my previous post.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color white - great egret
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: the color white – great egret

The white egret is a lot smaller than the great egret (probably a third of the size) but it hangs out by the water too since it eats fish. Those birds are so used to standing next to people with fishing pole, they aren’t scared easily, which makes it a lot easier for me to photograph them.

Small white egret looking for fish in the water
Small white egret looking for fish in the water

Finally I found these two white ducks swimming together in a pond at another park. I was wondering when I’d have a chance to feature them, so here they are. By the way, I love the almost still water reflections in this photo.

White ducks swimming in water and their reflections
White ducks swimming in water and their reflections

WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes

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 participating in the WordPress weekly photo challenge and this week’s theme is “threes”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view.

If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I’m not sure how many ring-tailed lemurs are actually piled up together for a nap in this time, but I can count three full-length ring tails (and a very small part of a fourth one on the left).

Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge: Three ring tailed lemurs sleeping together
WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Three ring tailed lemurs sleeping together

I photographed this wood duck swimming on a pond because I liked the wavy reflections in the water, in this case the reflections of the trunks of three palm trees.

Wood duck swimming on pond with the reflections of three palm trees
Wood duck swimming on pond with the reflections of three palm trees

How about these three wood ducks, who seemed very hungry for bird seeds?

Three wood ducks
Three wood ducks

Finally these two baby lions (brother and sister) were cuddling with a stuffed blue monkey at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on the weekend morning we visited.

Wordpress weekly photo challenge: Threes - Two baby lions and one stuffed monkey
WordPress weekly photo challenge: Threes – Two baby lions and one stuffed monkey

A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate

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 participating in the A Word A Week Challenge. This week’s theme is “undulate (wavey/ripple)”.  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.

Of course water ripples are the first thing that came to mind when I saw the word undulate. But I wanted to share this photo of pine tree bark first, because it undulates in its own special way.

A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate - pine tree bark
A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate – pine tree bark

Most of my photos showing water ripples happen to have another subject in the frame, like this great egret.

White egret with water ripples and reflections in the water
White egret with water ripples and reflections in the water

The water ripples around this duck, along with the shadows on the lily pads, are very interesting too.

Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond
Brown mallard female duck swimming in a pond

Some ripples can be small and others can actually be big waves about to break in the Pacific ocean.

Ocean wave about to break
Ocean wave about to break

On this last picture, I photographed the water because I love the reflections and the ripples in the water. The four ducks and the light breeze happen to be the creators of those ripples.

A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate, water ripples
A Word A Week Challenge – Undulate, water ripples

Travel theme: Illuminated

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.

Remember my 2014 nature photography calendars (choose between five different themes) are still available for sale. Look in the left sidebar on my website for the most up-to-date discount coupon code. All calendars are made to order in the USA so you support the US economy with your purchase, and a starving artist (me!). I also appreciate any referral through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and of course your blog or website.

Today I’m participating in Where’s My Backpack’s Travel Theme photo challenge. This week’s theme is “illuminated”. Remember you can click on each photo for a larger view. If you like what you see, feel free to subscribe and receive nature photography updates a few times a week.

I love how the morning sun illuminates the sky slowly through the trees behind my house. Sometimes the light can be yellow when the sky is covered with gray clouds.

Travel theme: Illuminated golden sunrise in San Diego
Travel theme: Illuminated golden sunrise in San Diego

Other times, the sun illuminates the whole sky at once, making the blue bolder than ever.

Travel theme: Illuminated sunrise with blue sky in San Diego
Travel theme: Illuminated sunrise with blue sky in San Diego

I love how the sun shines down on water and can brighten up a whole ocean.

Bright sun shining on the Pacific ocean waves
Bright sun shining on the Pacific ocean waves

I enjoy photographing the reflections of light on small water ripples, especially when they include colorful reflections of the surrounding bushes and trees. If you’ve ever seen liquid mercury, this water almost looks like it, doesn’t it? I have more photos of the ducks swimming in this pond and I hope to share them soon.

Reflections of light and tree leaves in pond water
Reflections of light and tree leaves in pond water

At night, artificial light can illuminate our dark surroundings to make them more friendly. I love Christmas lights and this is probably the brightest Christmas light display I saw this past holiday. Now, that’s illuminated!

Bright Christmas lights: Rudolph and the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh
Bright Christmas lights: Rudolph and the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh