Christmas Cactus Backlight

Christmas Cactus taken on Christmas Day. Sunshine through the kitchen window. 2 stops overexposed to show the detail in the white.

Stressed Cactus All Painted Up

Taken In Arizona at the Desert Museum.
We have taken this image to many nurseries to try to find one that was red like this.
To our surprise, we were told that cacti are only red like this when they are stressed.
I have used the Topaz Filter Simplify with a painting setting that I tweaked from their basic painting set of filters.

Flore Pleno

Minimal Water self seeding
orange poppy that has been
blooming all summer despite
to lack of water in the yard.

Blues Views

Another beautiful
doorway in Burano.
Walking along the
way back to the Ferry
is a wonderful artistic
view of imaginative
doorways.

Beautiful Doorway

Still in Burano,
the color and imagination
of the homeowners is
truly eye candy!

Advertising artwork

A bit of mystery outside
a mask shop on this island
of Burano outside Venice.
Wonderful lace and masks
for sale here.

Art in Architecture

Amazing Art all along the canals in Venice.
Would it be fun to live across the street from this building?

Traffic in Venice

Things are getting busy
close to the main canal.
All gondolas are full
of people and product.

More from Venice

Church along the waterfront.
This gives new meaning to
going out of your way to daily
services. Beautiful Church
and Bell tower on the main canal.

Clock Tower

There are many wonderful small town along the ferry route.

Each town has a history and stories to tell. I think you could probably spend a week just poking around in these beautiful old Italian towns.

Maybe next trip we will take some time to do that!

Venice Island Church

Venice off the
main canal. Beautiful
churches and bell towers.
New things to see when
you take a boat ride.
What a great way to see
wonderful architecture.

This is Italian

When in Rome, buy a new shopping bag.
These flag colored bags were in a rack on the street, 
and it was hard to resist buying. Packing light tends 
to limit purchases.

Smiles!

Beautiful Gardens

This Botanical Garden was a short walk from our lunch stop.

Little exercise after eating is a good thing.

Quiet and very peaceful, beautiful gardens.

Ferry Ride

Boat ride to Islands outside Lake Como.

Very crowed ferry on a regular route.

Photographing from a moving boat is always a challenge.

Scenery was wonderful though.

Italian bedding refresh

How very refreshing to see a bedroom window open while the bedding is being aired and the room is being cleaned. The brightly colored exterior of this building is a great background for the bedding colors.

Lake Clouds

Lake Chabot clouds. Waiting for the moon. Turned around to find wonderful clouds prior to sunset.

Pull out the iPhone and try to hold still and take a photo.  

Ruth Jennings # 100

My favorite friend would be 100 years old today!
Bright, curious, wise and wonderful! We miss her so.
Cannot think of anyone who taught me more about life!
We had many wonderful times together and I plan to celebrate her # 100 all week. She missed it by 3 years.

Click to View Full Size

Early morning, and just before darkness, the feeders are crowded.
40 lbs. of sugar per month.
Expensive pets, but fun to watch!

Saturday morning sprinkle

Look what I found when
I was refilling one of our
humming bird feeders.

Started from a clipping,
and after too little water
andtoo much heat, we
have a wet bloom and
a baby bloom.

It's a good day to

Get away from the heat!
A private Cabana in
a beautiful sea on the
coast of Bali.

Lovely way to spend
a quiet day in the heat!

Arizona Sunset

Sunset with the
foreground taken
so all the detail and
color in the image
is the beautiful sky.

October in the
Scottsdale area.

Window Treatment

Wonderful window in Scottsdale Az.
Taken from across the street so I
could take in the wall and the window.

Lighting was a little different,
and with a polarizer filter I was
able to cut the reflection a bit and
could actually see through the
windowand into the store.

Cute window!

Memorable art named for
someone so very special that their
family put in the beautiful piece
of working art in their name.

Very beautiful and very special.

Maui Sunset

Just another day, and
another sunset for
anyone hanging out
downtown on a lazy
Winter day in Maui.

iPhone is always handy
in the pocket, so why
not take a shot or two.

Mission photo taken in
the Taos area, I think.

Lovely clouds and late
afternoon sunshine makes
for soft contrast against the
sky, and lighter shadows.

Shadows and Lines

Once in a great while
you see something that
shows patterns, shadows,
and lines.

Amazing how our eyes
keep bouncing around
within the image to see
everything that is there.

Trumpeter's Lullaby

Older color photo taken many
years ago. Still one of my
favorites.

Converted to a black and white
just for a bit of variety.

Still have this old trumpet
in a case in the closet.

Many happy memories of
blowing off teen frustrations!

Peg Leg

Bird's Eye View for
this guy, a one legged
bird standing on
a railing.

There must be a story
here, and his balance
 is amazing.

Lunch at Scomas in SF.

View from Fort Point

View from Fort Point
under the Golden Gate
Bridge in San Francisco.

A bit of a tide, so I waited
for the wave to hit and
took my shot then.

SF Skyline from Ft. Point

A short walk from the
parking lot at Baker
Beach in SF Today.

Very busy place due to
warm weather. People
walking, driving, many
tourists in town today!

Weathered Window

Older and wiser and
weathered. This window
is part of a very old
structure along one of
the Venice Canals.

Watercolor image
overlay to add to the
lack of detail and
suggest we just enjoy
the color and contrast.

Italian Children's Shop

Great shopping down by the
beach in the town of Positino.

Colorful clothing to draw you
into the interior. Display and
Design to get Grandparents
to spend some money on
their little darlings.

Monday AM in Florence

Sometimes we are reminded of just how good

we have things in USA. Here's to those of you 

who remember when you could do this without 

getting in trouble with the neighborhood watch 

group sending you a warning.

More Bookstore

My Friend Carol would still be in
Venice if she had wandered into
this bookstore. Papers, calendars,
cards and tons of old books.

Grandma Jan's favorite flyer

Couldn't resist taking this photo
on our last trip to the SF Zoo.
Special Zoo drinks lifetime
renewable if you remember
to bring your cup along.

Bookstore Steps

Walking down the narrow side streets
 in Venice and we found a wonderful
bookstore. Such a great place to prowl
around and see everything. We had to
go back a couple of times to just poke
around.

Italian Shopping Bags

Just off the main street in Rome and 

the souvenir stands are full of colorful

items arranged to catch the eye of the tourist.

The isle of Lace

Hop on the Ferry and take a ride
to the lace making capital of Italy.

Each of the islands seems to
have a specific trade for most
of their area.

These fans are made of lace and
then hung on the door frame for
display. Just lovely!

Wall Art

Can guess how
someone waters these
flowers?

Balcony railings on
both sides of the flowers
should give you some clue.

A bit funky, but fun!

Scarves

Lovely scarves tied
on a rail for all to see.

One for you, and one
for me!

Just lovely!

Wow Windows

Wow windows and doors
are all around the towns.

Bright color and design
are fun to view and also
to photograph.

Late afternoon shadows
added a bit of fun too!

Reflections of Venice

Very early and very late in the day 

the traffic in Venice moves quickly 

in and out of the canals to move all 

the supplies for merchants in and 

out of the area.

The reflections in the canals can

be fascinating during this time 

of day.

Toy store Roma

Toy store window across from a wonderful Gelato Store.  Yummy for the tummy, and despite the reflections from the window, wonderful for the eyes. So much to look at in such a short time.

Tuscan Sun

This rose is alway changing from day to day.

First it starts out dark pink on the edges of the petals, and as the rose ages, the color lightens into to a muted orange, and finally it fades to very light colors throughout.

Bird of Paradise Painting

Bird of paradise in the yard. Taken a week or so ago. Beautiful flower, with busy background.

Darkened the background and used the Topaz Simplify filter to try to emulate a painted image.

Perky and Pink

Checking out the range of my camera lens, and found this perky pink blossom in the yard.

Just love these Gerber because they bloom most of the year.

Dogwoods by the River

Just across the  bridge on your way on the main valley road, we found a pull out, and went back to look at the dogwoods.

It was very windy here, so photographing the dogwoods was a bit of a challenge.

Patience and a break in the wind allowed me to take this image.

Dogwood Trail

It was lunch time at Yosemite, so we picked up a sandwich at the store and drove to the parking lot beyond the Lodge,


We stayed in the warm car and enjoyed lunch and the view.


Later, we took a walk behind some of the cabins to veiw the mountains. The dogwoods along the path leading behind the cabins were wonderful.

Nap Time

Considerate young man took his slippers off before taking his nap!

Bali Market snapshot.