Friday, July 21, 2006
Bromeliad Flower

We raced all over today trying to find just the right flowers for someone special. We did not find anything that was right so we'll try again tomorrow. But, I did find this from last weeks trip to Island View Nursery. It may not be the same as the real thing but, hopefully the thought counts.

Thursday, July 20, 2006
Serendipity

It is really interesting to me to see the motion in this shot. The bee is actually leaning into the turn like a bike rider.

I was framing up the shot of the flower when the bee flew in from the left. She made a beautiful arc into the photo and I hit the shutter release as many times as I could!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Red Dragon

I like dragonflies and this guy and his friends were putting on quite a show. They were diving down to the surface of the water and skimming across it (hence the name I guess,) I got a few action shots but this is my favorite!

While I was trying to identify this guy I found many sites incorrectly identifying damsel flies as dragonflies. The way you tell the difference is by how they hold their wings when they are resting. This is a dragonfly, wings perpendicular to the body. A damselfly holds it's wings back against it's body.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Sally Holmes

This is another image that we can thank Southern California Edison for (not to mention my neighbor up the street with the flimsy tv antenna.) Sometimes it takes a good power outage to get me away from my computer and out to enjoy nature!

We found this beauty at Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It is a hybrid shrub rose from the UK bred by Robert A. Holmes in 1976.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Hiding in Plain Sight

It was a strange day today. Our electricity went out at 2:00 am and was out until the afternoon. Apparently a TV antenna fell on some power lines. So, it was hard to work, but a great day for taking pictures!

We went to Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It is always an amazing place, but as soon as we got there we saw some strange movement in these plants right by the parking lot. There were small frogs climbing through the leaves trying to discretely move away from us. As we got closer, some of them decided to depend upon the camouflage. Which was very fortunate for me. This guy is only about an inch long.

When I am a little more conscious I will try to identify him, but it is late now, and time for bed!

Sunday, March 6, 2005
Velvet Orchid

If you like taking pictures of beautiful flowers, many nurseries are happy to let you wander through their isles. This was at Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. It is one of the most interesting places to take a camera. Many of my Orchid shots are from the nurseries in the area. There are two places around here that are particularly friendly and welcoming.

• Island View Nursery
  A great place, if you are ever in the area this is an excellent place to loose a few hours. I had a Pastel class here, and took quite a few interesting photos.
• Santa Barbara Orchid Estate
  These people seem to truly love their jobs and their plants. They are very welcoming and happy to tell you about their beautiful flowers.

Sunday, February 13, 2005
Isla Vista Hummer

The day I took this I was supposed to be practicing pastels in a class at Island View Nursery in Carpinteria. But once there is a hummingbird around I can't think of doing anything but taking pictures.