We’ve been having meetings at the Volunteer Park Conservatory (check out their brand-new website!) to help get the much-needed completion of the restoration funded. An extra benefit is going there after hours and catching the late afternoon light. There’s a wonderful video they’ve produced and you might notice that the plantings in it show it was taken just recently. Don’t you just love sunflowers?

Sorry for the late notice, but I will be at the Conservatory’s Plant Sale on Saturday, September 17, 10-3pm, signing copies of my new book, Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month by Month. Directions on the Conservatory’s new website above. The plant sales there are always fabulous and the book is pretty neat, too! And the special launch pricing for my new book on this website will end Thursday, September 15, so if you were thinking about getting one for yourself and maybe one for a gift, now’s the time.

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My book launch party is on for Thursday, August 4, 6-8pm at the Conservatory, where else? I am so excited! I hope that everyone in the Seattle area will be able to attend this free event. The Conservatory, one of the last remaining Victorian glass houses in the USA, is having a special evening-hours Open House with tours, explaining the current push to finish the restoration begun a long time ago, and they have invited me to be there and sign copies of my new book, “Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month By Month.” Faithful readers of this blog will know that I’ve been visiting the Conservatory regularly and sharing photos from their fabulous showplace for tropical and rare plants. They are always so very perfect that it is a photographer’s dream.

Soon you will be able to order copies on the home page here, but not quite yet. I hope that you can come to the party, though!

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A recent visit to Seattle’s hidden gem, Volunteer Park Conservatory (which by the way is trying to raise serious money to finish a much-needed renovation—learn more at Critical Moment on their site), in pretty afternoon light, showcasing the magnificent outdoor tulips. I love the color combo. Their gardeners are just world class.

Visit Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, and Outdoor Wednesday for further photo enjoyment. Try a new tag or category here first, why don’t you? And you can always see the complete and up-to-date blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or the banner above.

Sometimes photographic errors turn out kind of well. I didn’t expose this properly, but I love the deep, dramatic effect it gives that sky. The cityscape becomes quite unimportant, which in this case it is, because I admit it was those clouds that made me point that camera.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Blue Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Scenic Sunday if you’d like to see more photos with themes. Memes are great and I find them quite inspiring. Do post something yourself and join the fun. And try something like the “cloudscape” tag (lower right) here before you go.

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Driving back from the Skagit Tulip Festival yesterday (more coming on that soon, you can be sure) there was a briefly unobstructed view of our glorious and wacky Space Needle, so I held up the camera to its vague direction and snapped. Yes, I clicked the shutter several times and later tossed most of them, but I always marvel at how digital has changed photography. In film days, you can bet that the shot would never have been good enough, shot from a moving car and through the windshield, and more important, I never would have “wasted” ten or 12 frames on such an unlikely capture. Digital rocks!

Visit Skywatch Friday for more sky scenes from around the world. Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday and Scenic Sunday all have worthwhile images to browse. Yours, too, perhaps? If there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for others.

Driving north on Seattle’s viaduct, soon to be replaced with a tunnel, we think, the waterfront with its incomparable views is to your left and the city to your right. I love the big loading cranes, sometimes looking like actual big bird-cranes, and this reflection of them in the afternoon on a typical Seattle gray skies day caught my eye. Note the piece of Seattle’s iconic Smith Tower on the left.

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In a sunbreak a couple of days ago, I took advantage of the great spring weather to head out to one of my favorite haunts, the Volunteer Park Conservatory, one of Seattle’s true hidden gems. They have redone the entry and it is so fabulous! Now a curved space greets you and you feel surrounded by the tropical foliage and flowers. And the shadows of the Peacock Window are a bonus.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more intriguing shadows seen everywhere and SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. If you see only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog. Thanks!

From a couple of weeks ago, driving north on the Viaduct, the skyline of Seattle in blessed sunshine. See the little Space Needle over on the left?

Visit Skywatch Friday for more interesting skies seen round the world, SOOC Sunday for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots, Blue Monday and Scenic Sunday. Post an image and join the fun yourself, why don’t you?

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I’ve posted about this unusual flat fountain before, but I thought you might like another look at it in the mysterious dark colors of the night. I was lucky enough to have tickets to the Cinderella ballet by the Pacific Northwest Ballet at McCaw Hall, and to me, the great building and surrounding area is almost as much fun as the performance.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC, Scenic Sunday, Thursday Challenge (textures) and Weekend Reflections for more neat photos. Try a new tag, or maybe search for “shiny”? Click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to view the complete blog.

I took a photo of this same scene many years ago, taken against a dramatic sky in March, as I remember, but here it is again, taken last week in January. It was great to find the exact spot and I was happy that the sun peeked out for a bit of shadow on the barn wall for me. This huge old live oak tree, certainly over 100 years old, is in Sebastopol, California, out on Sanford Avenue. This photo is one of my very top faves, so I’m putting it in my Best Posts of the Week category.

Visit Scenic Sunday and Shadow Sunday for more intriguing photos, and SOOC for more with no tweaking, or straight out of the camera. And browse around here and at Free Photos for some pretty pictures if you have a moment.

While recently in San Rafael in Northern California, I had a chance to visit the big hispanic supermarket Mi Pueblo, one of a chain of ten stores around California. It was so great! Very entertaining. Everywhere I looked were perfect displays of all kinds of delicious-looking foods, a perfect photo op for a photo junkie like me. Here’s a peek at the ceiling decor over the fruits and vegetables.

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It was clear overhead but all misty and mysterious out on the water. Can’t you just hear the foghorns?

Visit Watery Wednesday for more interesting kinds of water photos, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Skywatch Friday and Sunday Shadow Shots. This one is straight out of the camera, too.

Do browse the little images, or thumbnails, next door at Free Photos, linked to searchable larger photos you can copy and use for your enjoyment. And if this photo is the only one below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.