This image is from a visit last year to Ft. Worden in Port Townsend, WA. There’s a tour of what used to be an officer’s quarters turned into a museum, and a closet had these lovely old white clothes hanging in it. I loved the peaceful quality of the light shining on them. No color needed!

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday and Unique Exposures Weekend Challenge (White) for more photo fun, and be sure to browse around Sara’s Fave Photos for something new to you first.

The Holiday Open House at Trudy’s Floral Design in Seattle was so much fun yesterday. I met all kinds of really nice people, signed some books, and of course amused myself with photographing some of the beautiful displays. What a great party. If you missed it you must come next year.

One lovely woman said I inspired her because I created the Flowers book with only my pocket camera, not a lot of fancy equipment. That’s a pet peeve of mine, the idea that you must have super-expensive, complicated (and heavy!) equipment to get great photos. Just not true. If you are interested in learning more about my simple approach to photography, please download the “7 Secrets” pdf to the right in the sidebar. And then please write and tell me if it helped you.

If you have a moment, visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Watery Wednesday, Weekend Reflections, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and Macro Flowers Saturday. It’s loads of fun to see the talent of people around the planet. If the photo of orchids in the vases is the only one here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more. Thanks for visiting!

One way to take a break after a long car trip is to lie flat on your back on the carpet in the sunshine, like a cat. Naturally, the shadows really sing to me in this one. And the toenails. I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, if you like shadows, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) for well seen shots around the blogosphere. Don’t forget that if there’s only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

We were at the Normandy Park, WA cove and saw a huge bunch of birds (common murres?) on the water. This photo shows only a small portion of them. They were sitting out there and then, whoosh, they all went into the air at once and settled a ways away. Quite beautiful to see them fly like that.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Weekend Reflections, Scenic Sunday, Wordless Wednesday and Blue Monday. Before you go, try a new tag or category (Waterscapes, perhaps?) or just click Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog here.

This Japanese maple leaf is from my front yard, photo taken last week. The dark leaf color is already gone, with only red ones now, but I thought I’d show you the combination of the purple it was all summer and the autumn red just beginning.

Take a look at Ruby Tuesday, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). And do click on the Sara’s Fave Photo banner to see the complete blog here before you go.

It rebloomed! I’ve read all kinds of complicated instructions, but they sound like way too much work to me. All I did was keep it in a sunny (south) windowsill and keep watering it with the weak liquid fertilizer in the water that I always use for houseplants (so I don’t have to remember when to do it). Like all bulbs, amaryllis must have great drainage. After the leaves died back I still kept watering it when it was very dry. And lo and behold, a serious flower stalk emerged two weeks ago and now is in full bloom! The only other thing is that they must be inside a heavy pot because they are so top heavy and can easily fall over.

Visit Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Ruby Tuesday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and Macro Flowers Saturday if you have a few minutes for some photo fabulousness. Be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos to view the complete blog if you see only one photo below.

We were in Kennewick, WA, at the edge of the Columbia River, not too long ago. There was a smoky fire in the area which I must admit made the sunset even more beautiful.

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What can you say except wow? I think this neighbor’s Japanese laceleaf maple tree has green leaves in the summer, but I don’t really know for sure. Some late afternoon sun lighting up its glory now is just the ultimate in autumn leaves, for me. Hope you enjoy it.

This one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). Also visit Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday and Outdoor Wednesday for more photo frolics. If there’s only one photo below, it means there are tons more for you if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above.

Oh, I love the Volunteer Park Conservatory. Is it any wonder I made a book about it? A recent visit to their unendingly beautiful and changing displays yielded this photo of orchids in a stray beam of sunlight. And just for fun, there’s a bonus photo below showing one of the unusual and creative plant combinations that delight me so. That one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), but I have tweaked the orchids slightly.

Visit Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday and Shadow Shot Sunday when you get a chance. And if you’ve arrived via a link, be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the entire blog.

We have two columnar apple trees, about six feet (two meters) tall and two feet wide at most. They bear full-size apples! With apples, you must have another tree for pollination, so you need two trees, or a neighbor with an apple tree. The trees never get much bigger, so you can have them in pots. We used to have them in big pots on our deck, but when we moved to this house we put them in the ground, and they are happy. This year my hand-pollination efforts, and the plastic sandwich bags against pests, paid off well, and we have a bumper crop. Time for apple sauce!

Take a look at Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Shadow Shot Sunday if you have a minute or two. Browse around here with a new category or tag (“My Garden”?) and click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see all the posts here.

Finally I got to be outside in some good, sunny weather the other day. Went for a walk in the afternoon and it wasn’t hard to find some beauty for the camera. I wonder if the trees enjoy being admired, the way I sincerely believe that flowers do. At least in the fall, wearing their very best, they must. What a red!

Visit Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Friday Fences (a new meme, to me) and Outdoor Wednesday, why don’t you? If there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Some of you may remember a similar image from last year. Up at Anacortes, WA, our friends took us out on their boat in September, crabbing among the San Juan islands. The weather was changing, but here was a spot of calm weather, and how scenic can you get?

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Weekend Reflections and Wordless Wednesday and Blue Monday. Fun! Remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.