Whilst the light was great there was a significant breeze which made the macros and close ups I'd planned rather more challenging especially when shooting dainty flowers on thin stems like this Columbine and working with a relatively shallow DoF.

Thankfully I managed more usuable shots than I'd hoped for and enjoyed the refreshing breeze, very welcome at the end of a hot day

© All rights reserved. My images are posted here for viewing only. Please contact me through Flickr if you are interested in using any of them.

It's Tulip time at Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. A wonderful botanical area with views of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and of course the harbour itself..

Explore #443 5/4/2013 ~~~ Thanks Ann for noting this...

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Dear friends, please visit my expo in Sir Henry and CO. group

www.flickr.com/groups/sirhenry/discuss/72157626410386256/

Took these lovely tulips at Dow's Lake Park in Ottawa.

Thank you everyone for your visits, faves, and kind comments

Created for Sliders Sunday

lightbox please

I stood on the beach for over an hour just waiting to get a shot like this. Taken near Ft. Bragg, California

Thanks to Lenabem-Anna for the share and for the texture !

Nature's conversations are beautiful...when we take the time to listen.

Textures by Kerstin Frank: www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/10022375064/in/... and www.flickr.com/photos/kerstinfrank-design/4745820102/in/s...

© All rights reserved.

This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

Rose of spring

This was last winter (2008-09) looking across my front yard to the south during one of the long foggy days and frosty mornings. Yes, I basically have a forest in my front yard ... it smells heavenly. This is a stand of Fir, Pine, and Cedar.

Living here in BC basically means we live in a rain forest. It's good for the skin ... less wrinkles here ... =0} ... although this does not by any means mean we live in the rain 24/7 ... far from it. Here in the valley outside of Vancouver we have had hardly a day or two of rain since March this year. Very strange but hey ... seriously, they get more rain in Seattle. It just means the climate is Rain Forest Climate ... since BC is 99% trees. You can breathe here, as long as you have trees you have oxygen ... think about that next time you clear a property ... put some back to supply the oxygen you need to stay alive!

Mother nature ... she is just trying to keep us all going. Help her along. She knows when to prune and thin ... burn and replenish ... take notice, it isn't all about global warming, this has been going on for centuries.

Okay .. off my soapbox now.

It's not as dark the rest of the time, more like a park in my front yard. This was a chilly morning for sure but when I gazed out on this ... nothing else was going on in the world. I love fog and mist ... this was simply enchanting, ... there might even be a faerie or two hiding in there ... but of course they had their winter wings on, ... =0}

"I thank the earth for feeding my body,

I thank the sun for warming my bones,

I thank the trees for the air I breathe,

And I thank the water for nourishing my soul. " ~ Leah Wolfsong

Dedicated with love and friendship to each of my Flickr friends and Facebook friends throughout the world. Wishing peace and happiness to each of you and your families...!

Celine Dion - I'm Alive (HD)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PNwpkbZAI0

IMG_3439_d_lr 192

View On Black

Christmas is not about the presents that I get...Oh don't get me wrong I love presents but that is not my reason for loving Christmas.

I have also loved the thought that for 1day there is peace everywhere on the Earth. That somehow the joy of just being alive and with family is enough for everyone. I think that everyone has been so consumed with the "OMG I have to have that and OMG I have to get that for my kids that a lot of the joy of the Christmas holiday has been lost.

This year we are not buying presents...I have some fantastic photos to give to some relatives and fudge and cookies. And lets not forget the Christmas dinner that we are cooking at our house.

I wish the message of just being happy and giving hugs and kisses to your loved ones could spread through out the land. Stop feel pressure from all the commercials that you see about how to spend your money.

This is the year for everyone to make Christmas what you want it to mean to your family. Mine will be about love laughter and joy...what will you make of yours?

It is all up to you...

Happy Holidays

With love and joy

From my family to yours

And

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light

From now on,

our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Make the Yule-tide gay,

From now on,

our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,

Happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more.

Through the years

We all will be together,

If the Fates allow

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.

And have yourself

A merry little Christmas now.

Irises in the garden.

I was able to get one and a half trees completed today (along with some winter-weary weather shopping). Hopefully by end of weekend I will have almost all of my decorating done for the season.

Theme: Tis The Season

Year Fifteen Of My 365 Project

Okay, I know I seem to be posting quite a few photos of leaves as of late. Well...that's because it's that time of year for great leaf pictures, it being Fall and all. And, quite simply put — I LOVE LEAVES. So there. ;-)

This lovely specimen was found on my most recent stroll through the beautiful Armstrong Redwood State Reserve. I absolutely love it here. One of the most curious and really cool observations I've made with regard to the redwoods is how incredibly SOFT the floor of the forest is. It's something, if one really makes a point of truly being in the moment, concentrating on what your senses are experiencing, that you notice and appreciate about being in the redwoods.

It's like walking on marshmallows.

Sheer BLISS. :-)

Please View On Black

Please View On White

○•. Taken with an iPhone .•○

Once again I needed to take a break from photography. I had a bit of an accident in the fall and it dampened my enthusiasm.

I'm back now so I hope you like the pic. It was taken at a local park the day after we had some heavy freezing rain.

Processed in Photoshop, using Topaz Adjust, Detail, and Clean.

very lightly touched by DistressedJewel

www.aleekasalaamphotography.co.uk/

Meet me on the other side

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I think in this Christmas Season we can all knowingly or unknowingly be a beacon of light in those around us; we can be the hope the season is based upon.

Theme: Tis The Season

Year Fourteen Of My 365 Project

For my year long Beyond Layers Journey with Kim Klassen. Less is more. Using Kim's textures to soften.

Created for ~ tistheseason In Honour Of St Patricks Day

Please Sign Here to stop the Dog Cruelty and Tortures in China.

You can help the billions of animals across the world who suffer everyday, if you care enough ,

The Retreat Animal Rescue where i am an Animal Carer ~

Here

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I often wonder what goes through their little heads this time of year. For Jaxson, this is his first year of knowing Santa, although he doesn't quite understand yet how it works. When we went to see Santa on Wednesday...Jaxson got off his lap and started crying because Santa didn't give him the toy that he asked for..it's a process Jaxson and you will understand it soon...

The lights and the tree are what he is delighting in right now and both boys helped decorate our tree this year. Let's just say it's heavy on the bottom. It's quite beautiful though and I was happy for the help...

Wishing you all moments of quiet reflection and joy this month..sit and ponder all the bright things in your life and let the noise fade into the background...

Have a nice weekend.

Happy belated Mother's Day....I wasn't on flickr long enough to upload anything yesterday, I was doing my second favorite pastime...gardening...hope all the mother's out there had a wonderful day.

Roosevelt Island, New York

Pepper harvest from my yard.....uploaded for the "Summer's Bounty" challenge at Tis' The Season group

www.flickr.com/groups/tistheseason/discuss/72157622074159...

Setting sun on blooming Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) at forest's edge, near Mono, Ontario, Canada.

Explore ~ May 25, 2009 #74

Just doing some PhotoShop tinkering and came up with this. It's a warmer version from a series I did last July 6 that I reprocessed in Topaz Vivacity Sharpen.

■ Please don't use my images for any purpose, including on websites or blogs, without my explicit permission.

■ S.V.P ne pas utiliser cette photo sur un site web, blog ou tout autre média sans ma permission explicite.

© Tom Freda / All rights reserved - Tous droits réservés

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Brittany emerges groggily out of her slumber, Devanna comes up from behind and Hillman moves in closer to the intercom speaker. Changing his tone from door-to-door salesman, all pearly-whites and flash wristwatch, to menacing murderer, he pauses, thinking, his lips tentative, as if he is unsure exactly what he should say, turns back to the gathered horde around him and in an evil growl says, “Now is the winter of our discontent.” He grins, a bit of drool falls, closes one eye and snorts. He turns back to the intercom, “Well, she is about to die in one minute if you don’t get off your ass and give me access to the cargo hold.”

Sydney sunset.

Ipê amarelo.....Ipe yellow

Espèce protégée trouvée au Haycot près du col des Bagenelles (Alsace, France)

J'ai eu le coup de foudre pour cette fleur que je ne connaissais pas mais inutile d'en

prendre par brassées, elle est si belle dans son milieu naturel.

Son nom est "dactylorhiza de fuchs" (Merci à francky25 pour cette précision).

taken in Sharovka / Kharkov, Ukraine

Thanks and recognition goes to Kerstin Frank for the free texture Blue Bird used as a texture overlay.