Saturday, September 20, 2008
Milkweed Honey

She really looked like she was concentrating on her work. She paid no attention to me. I guess those smaller flowers are kind of tough. You've got to hover or find a place to stand while you work. Don't have time to deal with pesky photographers.

So the milkweed is what the Monarch caterpillars eat which makes the Monarch Butterflies poisonous to most predators. It contains Glycosides, like Foxglove which is used to make Digitalis, a heart medication. So I'm not sure I would want to try that honey. Hopefully it is just the leaves and stem that have the Glycosides in them.

Monday, July 30, 2007
Dolphins in the Evening

The hound decided that we should take our walks in the evening on this trip. Apparently the early morning walks while we are out of town have lost their shine. Can't say I am unhappy about that, especially when I get nice images like this.

Friday, May 11, 2007
Scentimental

This was taken the on the same hound walk as yesterday's rose. I used to have a Scentimental Rose when I lived in the desert, but I could not keep it alive through more than one summer of 130° temperatures even with an automated dripper.

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Brass Band

This was in the neighbor's yard the other day. When we go out to walk The Hound we like to go by his place, there is always something amazing in bloom there. The day I took this was a little gray and rainy, which accounts for the interesting lighting.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Ladybug Daisy

I noticed this little guy (or girl) when we were walking The Hound the other day. If you look close enough you can actually see my reflection in his back. I did a little poking around to see if perhaps the lack of spots meant it was a younger ladybug (I thought I read that somewhere). But apparently it's just a different kind of Ladybug and there are hundreds of different kinds in the US, thousands in the world.

I did however, find out that the name Ladybug comes from when farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary to help save their crops from pests. When the small red beetles came to save the day (and the crops) the farmers started calling them "The Beetles of Our Lady".

Friday, February 23, 2007
I Can FLY!

I took several shots of this dog, but the thing I like about this one in particular is the fact that none of his feet are touching the ground. He was running far ahead of his friend, the guy to the left. Then he would run all the way back. Apparently the pace of the walk was not quite as fast as he would like.

In my case, it could be me making multiple trips back and forth waiting for The Hound. Not because she is lazy, but because when she really gets into her walk she likes to inspect every inch along the way. I experience our walks with my eyes and camera. She is all about her nose. I don't think she even pays attention to her eyes unless something out of the ordinary happens. As evidenced by the orange traffic cone that snuck up on her tonight and made her jump straight up in the air when she realized it was there.

Thursday, February 22, 2007
Backlit Morning Daisy

Even in the middle of winter there are beautiful flowers to photograph here. That's not to say it is not cold. The day after I took this was the windiest coldest day of the winter so far. But fortunately the ocean seems to keep things just warm enough for things to survive. Even if we get frost it is usually mild and patchy.

Aside from these tough daisies, the Calla Lilies are starting to really put on a show now too. Some of our spring bulbs are already coming up that we planted in the fall. So many beautiful subjects! So little time!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Shoreline Access

One of the many beautiful images that are a result of an early morning hound walk during our last trip to Monterey. As I have said before, that was not really my idea of a relaxing trip but the hound sure can sniff out a good photo opportunity!

Monday, February 19, 2007
Winter Sunset

A couple of days ago The Hound decided it was time for me to take a break from my computer right around sunset. I think she can sniff out a good photo opportunity.

Sunday, January 21, 2007
Still Sleeping

When normal people go on vacation they sleep in. Then you have me and my hound dog. Miss hound seems to like to get up early when we are in a different place. Maybe because she knows that is when I get some of my best pictures. Or, maybe she's excited to go out and smell what there is to smell. (She has long since sniffed all there is to sniff at home.) At any rate, she woofs and since she has me wrapped around her cute little paw, we get up and go out. When this started I was not very happy about it, but I have learned that there will usually be a number of beautiful images that reveal themselves during our morning constitutional.

I would write more, but Zoe is sitting by the door right now. She is trying to remind me there is more to life than sitting in front of the strange glowing, humming box.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Mallow

A couple of years ago when we were in Monterey for my birthday The Hound walked me by this beautiful bush. When we got home my wife found one at Home Depot and we have it in the back yard now. Now that we are visiting Monterey again I had to see if my favorite spots were still there. As you can see it is still as happy as ever, even with the strange weather these days!

Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Daisy in the Morning Dew

This is another photo credit for The Hound. There is no other reason I would be up early taking a walk when everything is cold and dew covered. She always leads me to nice photos though so she is worth it.

Sunday, December 24, 2006
Dolphins at Sunrise

This morning The Hound decided it was time to implement her morning vacation walks. This one was particularly early as you can see. She must know I love the morning light, but I am unlikely to see it without a little prodding.

Thursday, November 30, 2006
Shadows of Paradise

O.K. if you got here from the "Banana Photos" page I am not going nuts or getting sloppy in my photo categorization. (well, at least not the second one anyway.) The Bird of Paradise is actually a member of the Banana [Musaceae] family. Strange but true!

But wait, it gets even stranger! Like bananas, Bird of Paradise are botanically considered herbs since they do not produce any woody stems. (That's right, even the biggest 25 foot banana tree is not really a tree at all.)

Well that is the botany lesson for the day. The photo is pretty nice too, if I do say so myself.

Monday, November 27, 2006
Kangaroo Paw

This is a cool plant originally from the south-western part of Australia. When the flowers open up they look a bit like paws. They have recently become very popular around here. This one is up the street from us, I got this shot while walkin' the Hound.

Friday, November 24, 2006
Backlit Calla

I particularly like the glowing edge of this lily on the left. The curves that you can follow in the shadows are interesting too.

Thursday, November 2, 2006
Taking Flight

The hound loves to explore new territory. I guess she's sniffed all there is to smell at home. Yesterday we got to take a walk along the bluff in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo Beach. Near the end of our walk we heard a bit of chattering from a bush. Upon further examination we found the hiding place of a beautiful hummingbird. Unfortunately the sun was too low in the sky to get a good shot so when we went out for our walk today I checked the bush and sure enough, that must be home for this guy!

I took quite a few shots, this is where he was just about tired of playing with me. He is just starting to take flight. You can see his left wing rising behind his back.

Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Basking Monarch

We spent a day in San Luis Obispo last week. It is a fun place to wander around and the weather was great for it. We found this guy while walking the hound by the mission.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Yellow & White Lantana

The Hound likes to walk in the evening when the sun is low. Which is a great time to take pictures!

Friday, August 18, 2006
Milk-Bee

In case you were wondering what the flower looked like that caught my attention in yesterday's photo. (I know it was just keeping you awake all night! :0) This is about 6" further up. And the bee? Well, she was nice enough to fly in right after I was done finishing up with yesterday's subject!

I actually got quite a few interesting shots of the bee working on these flowers. I picked this one because it shows her wings so nicely.

Thursday, August 17, 2006
Long-horn Caterpillar

The hound and I were wandering down De La Vina Street today. Only a few steps into our walk I noticed a beautiful orange flower growing by the edge of the sidewalk. When I leaned down to examine it I found a pleasant surprise!

Of course when I saw this guy I suspected that my beautiful flower was actually a weed. But that's ok. On one small plant there were two of these large Monarch caterpillars.

Monarchs dine almost exclusively on Milkweed. It gives them a lovely defense against predators. You see since the Milkweed is poisonous (and tastes terrible to almost anything with the apparent exception of Monarch caterpillars) It makes the caterpillars and resulting butterflies poisonous and taste terrible to just about anything that would try to make a snack of them.

As I was sitting on the sidewalk, watching the caterpillar it was amazing how many people went by (looking at me like I was crazy) and missed such an interesting sight. Of course I guess it is only interesting to crazy photographers like me and other fortunate people with child-like curiosity.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Glorious Morning

Actually, it was in the afternoon. But it was a really nice day!

This was on a recent "escape the heat" trip to San Luis Obispo. Not that it was that much cooler there. But the hotel had air conditioning. :-D

Monday, July 10, 2006
Glowing Bee

Today, when we took The Hound for her afternoon walk we bumped into one of our neighbors. She was working in her garden like she does almost every day. Part of her garden was particularly attractive to the bees, so I took the opportunity to get a few bee portraits.

Sunday, June 11, 2006
Sharp Pear Blossom

There are pads on this cactus that are completely covered around the edge with blossoms. I have tried to get some nice shots that show the amazing quantity, but the beauty of the individual blossoms and buds keeps drawing me in closer.

Friday, June 2, 2006
Bougainvillea Bricks

The hound has been taking me on a little bit different walks in the evening. Actually, it is foxtail season and I have tried to nudge her away from our current route because those things can be nasty for a dog with ears that are easy to trip over. And none of us wants another trip to the vet! At any rate it has given me the chance to enjoy more of our neighbors' gardens.