Last night at 10:45pm, William McIntosh sent me a text, "70% chance of awesome sunrise at Leo Carrillo Beach". I immediately declined and he sent back "Boo". After checking Bill's conclusions on NWS and Skyfire it only took 30 secs to succumb. Alright I'm in, I replied. Again I would have to be up and ready to go in 5 hours. Forget it I'm not going to be able to sleep I thought to myself and I was right. I spent the next 4 hours studying and watching Youtube videos about photography locations. I have now been awake for 36 hours straight.

During our last trip to Malibu Beach, Bill and I ran into another photographer on the beach that turned out to be a real nice guy. While we where loading up the car Bill had ask him if he knew of any other interesting spots in the vicinity to shoot. The man says that just up Pacific Coast Highway about 10 miles was a cool little spot that he liked to shoot on occasion. A little spot found around lifeguard shack three just passed the parking area he says. It was already after Golden hour but Bill and I decided to go and scout it out for a future trip. What we found was such a cool location which we were "Surprised" to find included a double arch, several small sandy beaches, a flat reef shelf and a pass through cave leading to a little hidden beach while during sunrise has a beautiful glow entering it from the east. This is a shot of one side of the double arch, the view of the double arch can only be captured during the point of lowest tide but during high tide it is possible to capture one side of the arch which is seen here. The sky exploded with color and Bill has now dubbed me his lucky charm after 7 of our last 8 excursions were blessed with fantastic light. I'll take those odds anyday. Funny thing, I was just thinking the same about him. Hehe. Hope you like it!!! If you do please leave a quick comment.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my photos, and as always, your views, comments, faves, and support are greatly appreciated!! Have a great week ahead my friends!! :)

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Hathersage Derbyshire

This year my Oregon Grape cultivar 'Charity' gave me a wonderful surprise. It produced grapes, after several years with none. I had assumed that I would enjoy it for its awesome yellow candelabra flowers alone, which cheered me up each year in the depths of winter. Surprise! This year it produced beautiful but sour grapes in abundance. :)

"My extravagance is my garden - it's the first thing that I look at every morning when I wake up. It gives me so much pleasure."

~ Ina Garten

I had to add another angle of this frog capture by the great blue heron. They both look surprised.

After trailing (at a discrete distance) this heron for a while I was able to capture the capture of the frog by the heron.

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) I was stalking a little egret along the bank of our local reservoir when this heron suddenly burst out from the cover of the reeds in front of me. I just managed to get the camera on him but I don't know who was more surprised!

A surprise for both of us. This is a duck I see rarely and even less often in the air. I was sitting by the water with a five foot bank behind me. The Scoter flew right over me and suddenly realized I was there. Even after it landed in the water, it was still looking back, checking me out.

White-winged Scoter 9039

So at the very end of May we got caught in some snow falls on our trip. Thought I would post it for your Winter in July shot - to cool things down!

Most of the snow fell on us at higher altitudes like the Snowy Mountain Range in Wyoming but this was near Flaming Gorge!

Happy Smile on Saturday!

A rare encounter I likely will never see again! A stunning sight to see this beauty out in the open at dusk. He/she was looking out into the open fields, hopefully a big fat vole was had for dinner. :)

Visited Temecula, a city in southern CA known for its wineries. A beautiful city to visit and offers incredible wines and views. We stayed at a B & B and wasn't told about the hot air balloons! Having coffee outside that morning was such a nice surprise!

I just thought I'd upload a few more pictures of Ashala from my last shoot of her in the back garden. I chose this one because of the surprise look she has on her face...

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Brown soldier bug!

This shot has a story to it…a group of wild Zebra came down from the mountain while we were staying on a farm in Montagu, this one came very close to our bungalow. I grabbed my camera, ran out the back door and proceeded to crawl on my hands and knees through the bushes, over the dirt road, all the while making sure I was downwind because if it had caught my scent it would have fled, for sure…I found a position as close as I dared to get a good portrait shot of it and when I popped my head up my camera was ready for it looking at me….I could feel its hesitancy even fear but because I didn’t move an inch, it let me observe it for quite some time before it got edgy, it was an unbelievable feeling to be so close to it while it was sniffing the air and flaring its nostrils…a moment I will never forget

This Black-Capped Chickadee's attempt to startle the American Pine Marten resulted in very little reaction from the marten - - he was pretty chill you might say !

Please visit this piece 'Surprise' for my Exhibit ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and other new pieces at The Edge Art Gallery Art Gallery Exhibition AFFLATUS. Take in the wonderful atmosphere of the Gallery and check out the other amazing artists works.

Exhibition will run till 21st of October! _Your LM to the Gallery

Surprise Surprise_Bruce Springsteen

Well surprise, surprise, surprise

Yeah surprise, surprise, surprise

Well surprise, surprise, come on open your eyes

And let your love shine down

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen

Picture @ Elysion

On the way a few Japanese macaques crossed the footpath ... they were fast ….. it was a surprise for both parties ;-))

Kamikochi (上高地, Kamikōchi) is a popular resort in the Northern Japan Alps of Nagano Prefecture.

Taken in Bandavgarh, one of India's premier wildlife sanctuaries. This sub-adult tiger suddenly appeared out of the brush with his eyes trained on wild boar foraging 400 meters ahead. He was as surprised to see us in his path as we when he made a dramatic appearance from the brush as if stage curtains parted!

Snukwa is the Lummi word for Great Blue Heron.

I was taking a photo of the patterns made by the farmer's furrows. There was a commotion in the lower right of the photo and Snukwa surprised me by popping up in the middle of my shot.

I could have named this , 'Photobomber'.

This photo was processed with iPhoto. I did not adjust much, if anything at all. The link below is a photo from the same day converted to black and white. The black and white was processes with Lightroom. There is a link to the tutorial that helped produce the dramatic sky. There is the other photo: flic.kr/p/JgEugu

Taken at Seagrove Beach, FL. Always chasing that different lightning shot!! As always thanks for dropping by and may God Bless you!!!

Well this is not one bird that I was expecting to find. I was busy trying to photograph a Black Throated Green Warbler which was very busy singing and bouncing from tree to tree and lo-and behold, a Blackburnian popped up, not very impressed with the vocal warbler on the edge of his territory.

This was taken in the Lake District back in February. There’s a spot near Keswick called “Surprise View” which is so well known now that it’s become a bit of a misnomor. I'd been there several times previously when the fells in the distance were shrouded in cloud but on this occasion the light was really beautiful although a little hazy.

2018 12 29

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Lincoln County-Washington State

Le Puy en Velay

Surprise

pose+balloons to hold: Secret Poses - Let me love you @ Cupid Inc. maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Angelic%20Place/121/235/22

hair: Stealthic - Precious @LEVEL Event maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEVEL/142/160/3

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balloons decor+floor:Pitaya - Heart balloons @Anthem

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boots:Mosquito's Way - Yvette @ Cupid Inc.

hearts on floor: Raindale - Everlove heart @ Cupid Inc.

doves:{anc} NO LIMITS old relase

hive // spiral boxwood topiary old relase

♫ India Arie - Beautiful Surprise ♫

Credits: Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Lis.Blog

It's like yesterday

I didn't even know your name

Now today

You're always on my mind

I never could have predicted that I'd feel this way

You are a beautiful surprise

Intoxicated every time I hear your voice

You've got me on a natural high

It's almost like I didn't even have a choice

You are a beautiful surprise

Whatever it is that you came to teach me

I am here to learn it cause

I believe that we are written in the stars

I don't know what the future hold

But I'm living in the moment

And I'm thankful for the man that you are, you are, you are

You are everything I ask for in my prayers

So I know my angels brought you to my life

Your energy is healing to my soul

You are a beautiful surprise

You are an inspiration to my life

You are the reason why I smile

You are a beautiful surprise

I surprised this Song Sparrow just as it was taking some seeds off the post.

I was ready to photograph daffodils that are already budding, when 'our' robin wanted to know what I was doing and hopped in front of my camera, about a metre and a half away. Lucky me!

I say 'our' robin because it often comes to have a look when we are working in the garden.

we know how hard to take a good bird photography.

I was travelling in a boat in allapuzha. you can notice another boat with safety gears nearby. surprisely a bird was flying towards my boat and settles at front end of the boat. with out wasting time I have taken this image. I was about to adjust the settings but the bird has gone. it has allowed me few seconds only.

this incident will be there always in my mind.

I dedicate this image to each and every photographer.

this image has been taken at popular tourist spot allapuzha, kerala, india.

thanks for every one for views, faves, comments.

Snow Surprise last day of the month Jan 31 a surprise snow came in the morning not very much, wet with some sleet, probably gone by tomorrow, shot In North Carolina.

PS: Saturday was sunny and 50F degrees with no snow left.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Kyoto, Japó

Sèrie fent camí, al meu aire, per Àsia 2019

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Red-breasted Sapsucker

A gorgeous woodpecker of the west coast of North America. I was surprised to see this one at eye level a few steps from home. They are usually found in the forest. Note the sapwells made by the bird at the bottom right of the image. The bird feeds on sap and insects.

Pic à poitrine rouge

Un magnifique pic de la côte ouest de l'Amérique du Nord. J'étais surprise de voir celui-ci perché à mon niveau tout près de chez moi. On les retrouve plus fréquemment en forêt. Remarquez les trous peu profonds en bas à droite que l'oiseau a creusé pour en faire couler la sève et se nourrir d'insectes.

He was fast. Almost too fast. But why was he coming after her?

She had wandered away from the rest of the group to get in some target practice, ignoring the warning of her leader that there may be savages in the wood. This man appeared out of nowhere and now she was on the run.

All she needed was one good shot. . .

Credits . . .

I was probably more surprised than this Pileated Woodpecker when it was suddenly right in front of me as I walked through a wooded area. It did stay there while I took a couple of close range photos and kept walking. A high ISO shot from the darkness of the tree canopy.

Thank you for viewing

k's choice no surprises

I was down near the wetlands, in an area where I was shooting goldfinches and house finches, with an occasional pine siskin thrown in, when this cedar waxwing landed in a tree very close by. Didn't have time to adjust anything, but just started shooting.

I was surprised to see the flowers popping out of the topiary boxwood, I have the single ball topiary in a pot and a seed got in somehow and liked the pot .

I went to photograph full moon setting in the morning, and spotted this handsome buck. Poor animal would not move for a long time, but I could see he relaxed after seeing me just stand there (my camera is set to silent mode).

White-tailed Deer / Jeleń Wirgiński (Odocoileus virginianus)