Photo Mix

[One of my favorite necklaces. This was my mom's, but she let me have it years ago and I often get compliments on it.]
I'm back with another assortment of photos! I think this might catch me up, since I've rethought a few others that I had considered posting. No need. And it's a great time to get all caught up here now that a new month is upon us. I am kind of sad that June is over, but I love the feeling of starting fresh.

This morning I was re-thinking about how much I'd love to simplify my life, starting with my material things. There are so many things I have that I never/rarely use, and wouldn't even miss. But there are also feelings of obligation or memories attached to these items, so I have kept them and made things a little more complicated for myself in doing so. I don't know how to find the balance where I get rid of things without regret or having to re-buy it the next time I have company or something. So many of my posessions are there "just in case." But the accumulation starts to create clutter, and I struggle to keep up with housework as a result of all my stuff. There are too many dishes, papers to file, and hair and beauty products that do little to help in that department. And that's just the beginning.

I guess I don't have any solid conclusions or ideas on this, I'm just talking because the end of the month brought the topic to mind. :) Now for some pictures.

The other day I saw a lot of this going on down by the water. It's all very scandalous, but I went ahead and took a couple of photos because it's kind of interesting.


There are tons of fish in the lakes, and you can see them pretty well at certain times of the day. They range in size from pretty tiny to about a foot long (that I've seen). I guess this is a bluegill?

Not great pictures, but kind of interesting. This is one of the larger ones (10-12 inches). He just sat there a couple of inches below the surface of the water.

Actually they all do that. They just sit there, waiting for bugs or whatever. Sometimes you'll hear a little clicking noise from a fish grabbing a bug from above the surface, and other times a fish will kind of jump out of the water and create a little splash.

We had a bunch of rain recently, and I noticed tons of mushrooms coming up at work.

I also saw these baby squirrels at work! There were three, but one ran under the ivy before I got a photo.

The goslings are practically adults now, and they've gotten meaner. I already had to deal with the dad hissing at me when I walked by, but now they all hiss at me, the mallards and each other. Calm down! They are annoying me because I can't even walk within like ten feet (just to get by--I'm not even trying to get close to them, but the path is right there) before they are hissing at me. I've tried intimidating them by kind of jumping at them, but they come closer, so then I get scared and mad at them. These geese need to move back to Canada.

I couldn't get in close to any dragonflies, but I got some at a distance.

There are a lot of these, and I'd like to get in very close, but they are constantly on the move (as you can see). I was too slow here, but at least I got him in focus. This is the closest I've been able to get.

This looks like a dragonfly puppet.

Here are some more droplet photos I tried a couple of weeks ago. My second attempt didn't go as well, but I was able to try a couple of new things.

And finally, I went to the Seattle area last weekend and my friend and I went on a nature trail in Marymoor Park that was on the edge of Lake Sammamish (pictured). I don't know those people--we were just waiting for our turn to go to the end there and see some bird nests.

We saw several cute bunnies. For some reason I don't see them down here, but there are a bunch in the neighborhood where I stayed.

I showed this to some friends and they really liked seeing the detail, so I'm posting it here. I kept it fairly large on purpose. I had a great weekend! I love getting out of town and probably need to do it even more often. I tried not to make the weekend all about photography, though, so that's why I only have a few I want to show here. :)

I hope you're having a nice last day of June. I'll try to post a bit on my trip--I'm looking forward to getting plenty of photos of my nephieces!

Summer Variety

Next week I'm traveling, and since I may take a picture or two while on vacation, I feel like I need to catch up on other photos I wanted to post so I'm not even further behind. I have been envisioning more organized blog posts with certain subjects (dragonflies, for instance) or locations captured, but it's getting too overwhelming. Time to bombard you and who knows what you'll see? Exciting mystery! And sorry for any accidental repeats--my photos are a disorganized mess lately.

(Of course, now I'm suddenly really hungry. Peanut butter and apples to the rescue.)


These rainbow pictures are from Memorial weekend, I believe. The rainbow was very vibrant and, as you can see in this photo, sort of repeated its pattern skinnily.

I've been walking a lot this summer, so I sometimes take the camera along and get a few neighborhood pictures. I really really need to find a good camera strap that can go across my body like my purse does, but the only ones I've seen hook into the camera's tripod attaching area (what's that called?) instead of the regular strap hooks, and I don't want that. I just want a normal, secure strap that is a bit longer than the one that came with the camera. I welcome suggestions.

Oh yeah this was when I discovered another pond near my place.

Here it is.

These song sparrows (or whatever they're called) are so easy to photograph. Not only do they sit there doing their little tune over and over so you can find them, but they aren't that afraid and will wait for you to get a photo. I love his little blowy feathers here.

Yet another cool place I discovered for walking, although it really aggravated my allergies.

Oh foxes! Come here, I have something to keep your hands warm! (And yes this is the lovely macro lens capturing those fine flower hairs.)

Doesn't this look like an eye? Kind of creepsville.

Don't worry, it's just a beaver.

He came to play patty-cake with the vines.



*** Randomly-placed shout-out to my friend Michael, whose lovely piano music I'm currently
listening to as I make this post! ***
More photos from a walk in May.

These photos are dedicated to my friend Holly. Holly, enjoy the heck out of this nutria!

Closer, you say?


This was fun--when I first got the macro lens I was out gathering stuff for droplet photos when I saw this dragonfly. I went back and got my camera, knowing he'd probably stay put while I was gone, and fortunately he did. As I was taking photos, a neighbor started asking a couple of questions and we discussed photography. He happened to have a ladder sitting out by his broken-down U-haul that he was dealing with (sounds like a great day for him) and I was able to use it and get closer! Still not quite close enough, but it was very convenient and nice talking to this man and his wife briefly.

Can someone tell me that type of plant? The wife was wondering.

Looooving the way this lens captures color.

A closer crop.

Some wing detail.


Okay, I'll stop there for now. I still have several to go and might post a couple more times this weekend if I find the energy. How do you like these mixed posts?

Have a great weekend!