Category Archives: Nature

Day 210 – This and That

On the good side, the Olympics are fun to watch. On the bad side, Dad is back in the hospital and what’s going on is pretty scary.  I don’t know if I’ll be hopping a plane soon or not.

Anyway, I played with my new toy in the backyard this morning using the silver reflector and diffuser panel to provide fill light against some pretty bright backgrounds.  I used my flash to fill in what otherwise would have been dark shadows cast by the morning sun.

Sweetie left his work gloves in the wheelbarrow and a windstorm blew them out into the yard. We think Nina did this.

Grape leaves against the sky.  I love that I didn’t blow out the sky and that the grape leaves in the shade were perfectly exposed.

Buddy is a bit camera-shy sometimes. He’ll sit still, but he doesn’t like to look at me when I’m holding the camera to my face.

Day 182 – Great Basin Whiptail

I spied this creature out in the undeveloped portion of our 5 acre lot.  He was about six inches long, though he should have been longer. You can see that his tail is growing back, so it isn’t as long as it can be (up to two body lengths, according to this site).

Day 181 – Hiding in the petals

I was able to work from home today and that meant that I didn’t have to leave the house early in the morning.  Taking advantage of the extra time before my “work day” started, I headed out to photograph the backyard in the early morning light. Today was watering day and the flowers still held droplets of water from the sprinklers.

And then there is the purple sage . . .

The flowers are indeed lovely, but they also attract some six-legged creatures.  I’ve given up trying to avoid them, and now seek them out.

After fighting with VPN and reports all day I slipped out into the backyard once again, and guess what I found hiding in the roses? Anyone know what this little guy is? And he was teeny. A grasshopper? Cricket? Locust?

Day 178 – View from a ladder

This ladder is leaning against our house so I climbed it and got a higher view of the grape-vine than I usually do. Then I looked down and there was Buddy hanging out on the walk.

Lilacs in the yard.