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

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!

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!

“Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.”

Denis Waitley

DSCN7896-001

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...

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

While driving the Auto Tour Route at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge we spotted something ahead on the side of the road. There were three other cars in front of us looking for just that perfect bird photo. To our amazement they drove right past this beauty. We pulled up right next to the hawk, he was so close if we had opened our door, it would have hit him. We lingered there for a few minutes snapping away before he tired of us and flew off.

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

Another stunning sky flying across after the storms. The beach is just such an uplifting place to taste the wonderful light that often follows. It's no surprise I spend so much time down there. No Surprises is by Radiohead.

Taken @ Sunny's

Backdrop: Diversion - Dark Rainy Backdrop

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!

laurentfiol.wordpress.com/stages-photos/

May happiness surround you,every moment of the day..(Sowapans-Sunrise surprise!(Botswana))

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

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

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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A surprise view very close to my home, taken earlier this year

Le Puy en Velay

Surprise

to find Columbine in bloom at this time of year in my garden....

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.

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

Derwent Water, Lake District

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

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.

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

Guinea fowl

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 tracking a pair of Grebes one late morning when this absolutely stunning and fearless Long Tail Duck emerged right in front of my camera! Very rare for that to occur, lucky for me a set of clouds just began to move through blocking the mid morning sun and creating a more "interesting" scene. For the background to melt away with my 400MM the bird would need to be close - and it was, this was shot at Full Frame @ 400MM on my A7rIII!

Clangula hyemalis

April 2019

Toronto Ontario