For Mom...Hummingbirds Do Bathe

Well this little series is for my Mom. About a week ago I was telling her that there was a female hummingbird who had taken a liking to my water fountain in the back yard. She laughed, but while I had her on the phone I said " Oh Mom I wish you were here the hummingbird is taking a bath in the fountain!!! I had never seen that before....she got all excited and wanted me to take some shots the next time I was outside reading. She didn't have to wait long because the next time I went out with my book there she was at it again. I hope you enjoy these cute little shots..not really based on quality, but rather capturing a moment in time watching a hummingbird take a bath.

My Twinkle

Well the weekend held allot of things to be done around the yard. Flowers to be planted; some Veggies and cleaning out the pond pot and little pond my husband make for me over this past year. The roses are growing lush and full this year, better than last....and so far cross my fingers as I say this no powder mold on the leaves. Here are some lovely shots I got in the yard with some of my flowers. I hope you enjoy them.

Beautiful Images of Beacon Hill Park In Victoria B.C

Since I have been posting so much on birds, I felt a change was due. Here are some wonderful shots of our Large local down town park. It's name is Beacon Hill and it's quite a large area containing lovely gardens, water features, old bridges, birds and just a feast of things to look at while your wandering around. Enjoy what our city offers and the beauty it holds.

Reflections of Canadain Geese ~ How Many Days Since I Posted Last~ Oh Dear

Wow I can't believe I haven't been on since Thursday last week!!! Well not really I've been struggling with a virus and working two jobs is very tapping on my time. I haven't had the energy to do what I love which is photography. Exhaustion has been the problem as of late, but I'm feeling better now and back on line!!! On Thursday I posted some lovely duck reflection shots I took at Swan Lake and the same day I took these lovely shots of our Canadian Geese. These guys were enjoying the muck just too much and I loved all the green that is attached to their beaks and feathers...looks like they are getting ready for Halloween!! LOL Tonight I'm going to sit down and catch up with all of you too see what you've been up too since I don't have time this morning before I head out to work. Until tonight I will catch all of you on the flip side :)

Shore Birds and Their Reflections ~ Swan Lake

Goodmorning everyone...well today I'm home sick and I was home yesterday as well. I'm not one to be couped up in my house for days on end.....unfortunately as much as parents look forward to having the children go back to school after the two month off for summer. Children have that extra special way of coming home and sharing their germs with the rest of the family. Kenton my oldest within being back to school came down with a lovely cold..you know the kind fever, chills, heavy cough, swollen glands, snotty nose...yep and as much as I disinfected the house guess who got it next. ME!! Love the way children share...hmmmm NOT. Hopefully I can head back to work tomorrow in the mean time fluids, fluids and more fluids. But for today I thought I would post these lovely shots I got at Swan Lake another of my favorite places to go. My focus was on the REFLECTION not the duck I wanted my bang for my shot than just the birds. Enjoy everyone....back to bed I go HIGH HO :)

Dew Drops Part 2 ~ The Dynamic Dandelion

Well I'm very pleased with the results of my Spider's Web pictures. Thank you everyone they definitely look like the spiders during the night decked out their webs with special jewels!!! You can only see them if you get up early enough in the morning to catch the decor. Well for my follow up encore of the same them......right within the same location actually I took these shots. I at first just zoomed in to see if the detailing of the dew would even be visible to see... or if you just had a soaking wet Dandelion. WELL to my amazement you could actually see every individual dew drop. I was totally stunned and awed with the beauty in what I was seeing again through the lens of my camera. I have to tell you I just love my camera it's like my third eye into a world I would never ever see or notice. If I was just going for a walk without my camera I would have never ever have notice this.

The Morning Dew ~ A Spider's Dew Jewels

Well I took a day off on Friday...just because I needed one now that I'm working 7 days a week. I wanted to capture some of the things we at times don't notice or even see. I wanted to capture dew on many different forms of nature...the sure sign of fall with all the wonderful moisture in the air that naturally collects on a variety of things. Like these spider's webs. I wanted to show you what the sun can do to make these wonderful works of art just explode with excitement. The Spider's Web....stunning...so stunning.

How Do They Do It? ~To Walk On Water Would Be Glorious

These bugs I'm posting today have been a wonder of mine since I was a child. I was very fortunate as a child to have the fortunate attribute of living only 10 steps from the lake. All summer long I would watch them walk on the water fascinated with what they could do and could not. Just think if we could walk on water....what a wonderful concept that would be. I took the time to really get a close shot of these Water Skaters on how their legs are shaped and how they can just sit on the water. Amazing little bugs (animals) I'm not too sure what they do or their purpose but I'm sure it is something amazing and important. All life has a purpose...it's just hard to determine what that can be sometimes. This is one example of that.

Fabulous Fruit Fridays!!! ~ The Zestful Orange

Goodmorning and yes Happy Fabulous Fruit Friday!! Today's feature is the orange and I did three different things with this fruit to add some drama and flair to this particular shot. So under each photo I will tell all of you what I did!! In this top shot I got the boys to take a eye dropper and place it under the water to shoot air across the mirror that I have placed under the orange...this effect then made the water shimmer adding some depth and excitement in front of the orange rather than just a simple reflection.

In the middle shot again I had the boys use an eye dropper and I attempted to capture a water drop hitting the water as you see here in the middle. I should have used a higher speed shutter but I still like the effect I have here...soft and dynamic.

Then in the final shot I simply took a nice shot utilizing the mirror and water under the orange. So tell me which shot is more appealing to you? Happy Friday everyone!

Managed To Fit In A Walk Between The Drops ~ Part 2

I'm posting the second half of my walk....I tend to notice the smaller things the simple things that seem to make me happy. Doesn't take much does it? But does something need to be large to make us happy....I figured out long ago that Grandma was right it truly is the small and simple things in life that make us happy or what you make of life makes you happy. One or the other are strong and true statements. Take your time and you will see nature reflected back at you in these lovely drops. In the leaf in particular you can see the reflection of a tree turning color. Have a wonderful day :)

Manged To Fit In A Walk Between The Drops ~ Part 1

Well I managed to get out yesterday afternoon late....I watched it rain like Cats N Dogs all day! So between all the rain drops I headed out for my very favorite walk to UVIC's Gardens, since it's across the road I knew I could get some lovely shots off before it got dark on me. Notice how it's getting darker sooner...bummmer....that's one thing about summer I enjoy the most. The fact you can still be outside at 8 or 9 at night and it's still nice and bright out before sunset. So here are some lovely flowers I found...a bit wet but lovely none the less.

My Dedication To Little Hope

Hello everyone....I have just found out some sad news. My blog friend John from Midmarsh Jottings lost his little baby Hedgehog. Hope was her name....John loves Hedgehogs and spends lots of wonderful hours posting great videos of their endless activities in his yard. He has even gotten them a little home and has put it in his back yard. I personally have become quite interested in the little animals and it saddens me greatly that little Hope as passed away. So I dedicate this Water Lily to Hope today and to John who loves Hedgehogs and Water Lilies.

Water Effects ~ The Beauty in a Water Drop

Morning...yep here I am again obsessed with water...LOL what else is new. I find it truly fascinating what water can do for plants and for a photograph. This is an area that I need allot of practice on. I have seen what you can do with water from Flickr...stunning work on there....Wow. My objective though is to bring the beauty in everything that Nature has to offer us. There is so much that I haven't even touched on yet...and look forward to investigating over time. I wanted to bring a little sparkle for all of you today when you come. I hope you enjoy my Water Drop post. Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Goldstream Park ~ Part 2 Capturing Moving Water Dreamy Style

Welcome to part two!! Now this little series was the hardest part of my photography challenge. I have seen and worshiped this style of photography where your water looks smooth and dreamy. Not an easy project let me tell you. I have a tripod but it's definitely not a high end one. It's made of light aluminum and the slightest movement causes the tripod to shake. Not something you want to happen while taking these types of shots. I would like to give a big hug and thank you to Claudio, he emailed the details on how to achieve this look. My first day out was unsuccessful...every image was blurry from the slight movement when I pushed the shutter. So I came home and Googled techniques on how to decrease the wiggle problems I was having with my tripod. So the second day I went out I was very successful. Apparently if you take a large breath in then as you release your breath you push the shutter button at the same time...that movement is smooth and you get no vibrations through your tripod causing a crisp and clear shot!!! It must have looked very funny to see a tall woman with a camera and tripod doing deep breathing while taking pictures...but I must say it works very very well. Note when doing dreamy water pictures your shutter speed is extremely high thus the reason for the tripod tool.

Goldstream Park ~ Part 1 Senic shots

Goodmorning everyone!! Well this morning I wasn't about to give up all the goods with the Goldstream post. I had such a lovely collection of pictures that I thought I would post images in fazes. First I wanted to give you a glimpse of how beautiful Goldstream park is. Allot of families go out for picnics, hikes, walks and they love the Nature house where the children can go and listen to a story about nature. Very popular area. My shots though are not of the populated areas, I tend to hike into a world all it's own to show how tranquil things really are and can be. These shots are from different locations of the stream itself. During our rainy season these banks flood and are quickly filled with spawning salmon...which attracts all kinds of wild life including the Bald Eagle...I'm going to go out when this happens to try and capture this wonderful event, even though the smell is something to be desired. The Bald Eagles actually will sit on a dead fish and will stay there while they eat...which as you know is a great opportunity to get that wonderful shot!!