Sara’s Fave Photos

I just can’t get over the brilliance of autumn leaves I sometimes see around here. This is a straight-out-of-the camera (SOOC) shot, no Photoshop at all, thank you very much. Sometimes I do tweak just a tiny bit, but rainy skies can be your friend in photography. The even lighting helps get a perfect exposure, even on the Auto setting. I also rarely crop. Compose on the fly, take lots, and hit delete if you don’t like it. Digital rocks!

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more red loveliness, and Color Carnival for more scintillating colors of all kinds.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Flowers with colored petal edges are called picotee, I understand, and they are some of my faves. This begonia has to be taken indoors to wait out the cold weather. I repotted it in the spring and it did take a good while to get going again, but then it did very well. They like a good amount of fertilizer, that’s for sure.

For more cheerful yellow, visit Mellow Yellow Monday, and for more close ups, visit Macro Monday.

In Seattle’s current gray weather, this photo of late-season hydrangeas in the morning sunlight just satisfies me so much. The vigorous green leaves, now so very gone, thrill me.

For other photos of flowers around the world, visit Today’s Flowers. And take a look at SOOC (straight out of the camera) for other essentially unprocessed photos.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Not much blooming outside right now, so here’s a dip into the archives for something pink and delightful to brighten any gray skies for you. Visit Pink Saturday for more blissful pinkness.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Taking photos out of an airplane window is very challenging, and my trusty little point-and-shoot Canon camera does its best. I really want the quality of a big camera, but I don’t want the shlep (means haul around), to use a New York expression. Sometimes even borderline image quality still has some appeal, at least to me. I love this moody effect, and I hope you enjoy it, flaws and all.

For more skies seen round the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Here’s a photo for the Thursday Challenge of the idea of energy. Las Vegas is sure a great place to see that in use, and lots of it. This Eiffel Tower may not be as big as the real thing, but I’d hate to pay that electric bill.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

This is kind of a strange photo, but I like it. It’s a plastic water pitcher, taken at a meeting in a room with no windows, and I really don’t know why the color is strange like that, but there it is.

For more photos of water, probably much prettier than this one, visit Watery Wednesday. It’s also a good post for Weekend Reflections.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I do not know what this tree is. [Now I've learned it's sorrel tree or Oxydendrum arboreum.] The fall leaves are brilliant red (taken a month ago) but it almost looks like it’s flowering. I also like that the white sky gives it an almost Christmassy look. A rainy walk in the neighborhood can yield wonderful things, if you’re a photo junkie like me. Visit Ruby Tuesday for more visions of red around the planet, Color Carnival for more brilliant colors, and SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Only two months ago, but such a difference. Outside the rain continues, but I can marvel at the perfection of a dahlia that was. Didn’t my garden look good? This was a great gardening year in Seattle, and I salute it.

For more flowers around the world, visit Flowers for Today. And visit Color Carnival for more brilliant colors. Try Macro Monday for more intriguing close ups, and Mellow Yellow Monday for more, well, yellow.

And I’ve chosen this post for my Best Post of the Week (BPOTW). If you’d like to see more self-selected posts of an incredible variety, check it out.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I saw this dappled sunlight (my favorite) on a path back in September. What a beautiful day it was, and the scene seems to call for dancing fairies, or pan pipes.

For more shadows of all kinds, visit Shadow Shot Sunday. And it’s certainly a good post for Scenic Sunday, and SOOC (straight out of the camera) as well.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

It’s been gray, gray, gray and raining, even more than usual here in Seattle. It’s rained 5 or 6 inches in the last few weeks, with not even a sunbreak very often. This photo of a rose was taken in someone else’s garden in September, not that long ago, but it seems so far away. For more blissful pinkness, visit Pink Saturday.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Flying to Las Vegas recently, we flew over an amazing lake that I recognized from above. What’s surprising is that there is so much beautiful blue water surrounded by such an empty desert landscape. The airplane window didn’t help the sharpness any, but it’s still a great peek at the world from above.

For more skies seen around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

In Las Vegas it’s all about the night, even in the daytime. This chandelier, maybe ten feet (3 meters) or so wide, is dwarfed by the arch of lights near it. Taken in the Sahara hotel, on the north end of the Strip.

This is a SOOC (straight out of the camera) goody, too.

No trip to Las Vegas would be complete without a visit to the dancing watery fountains of the Bellagio hotel. This view of its resting state was so pretty that I thought I’d show it off for Watery Wednesday. A special note about the experience is that the strange but wonderful moisture in the air, after all that desert dryness elsewhere, is so appreciated.

For more interesting windows, visit Window and Door Views.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

A couple of weeks or so ago there was a big windstorm after a rainy spell, and the first leaves blew off the trees. Still fresh and perfect, the colors were more like delicious candy corn than the crunchy brown I remember from long-ago New York autumns.

See Mellow Yellow Monday and Macro Monday for more yellow and close-ups, and check out Color Carnival for more brilliant colors. Do you think they are worthy of Scenic Sunday as well? They are all SOOC, or straight out of the camera, and while we’re at it, visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby redness.

Which one do YOU like best of the photos? Top, middle, or bottom?

Visit BPOTW for more blog posts chosen by their authors as the Best of the Week.

Today I am posting two flowers in honor of being Guest Friend on Flowers for Today, where you can see lovely flowers of all kinds posted on blogs around the world.

Here are some snapdragons from my garden, “snapped” mid-October in a sunbreak after a rain, with my house in the background. I grew these from seed so I’m extra happy with them. If we get a mild winter they might even live over to next year.

Below the snaps is a red, red rose, taken in a Wallingford garden on the same day as the snapdragons.

This is also a post for Color Carnival, site of brilliant colors in photos.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: I’m repeating this info about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I was in Las Vegas for a conference last week. What a place! The land of glitter and excess, a little strange out there in the desert, but some lovely photo opportunities nevertheless. Here is a chandelier, maybe eight or ten feet across (3 meters), reflected in the mirrors all around it. The best part is that it was just at the entrance to the monorail station. Vegas is amazing!

For more reflections, visit Weekend Reflections. And SOOC for more straight out of the camera images.

Scallions (green onions) are super easy to grow and have lovely flowers as a bonus, which easily reseed new little scallions. This post is for Thursday Challenge, and the subject this week is “Youth.” And for Think Green Thursday, growing your own food is the greenest thing I know. This photo, like most of the posts on this blog, is straight out of the camera, or SOOC.

Must be away again for a few days; see you on my return.

Wandering through some old photos, I found this one from ten years ago, taken in Santa Rosa, California in a bagel shop. Looks like shadows intrigued me even then. For more fascinating shadows, visit Shadow Shot Sunday.

Again, I’m going to be away for a few days, so I’ll try to visit when I return.

Nothing pink blooming right now, or if there is, it’s too wet to go out there and find it. Here’s a photo of some pretty pink flowers I found in someone’s garden back in June. I have some in my own garden but not such a pretty shade of pink. Happy Pink Saturday!

I’ll be away for a few days and will do my best to return visits (when you leave a comment) when I get back. I dearly love to read what you have to say; please be honest.

The forecast earlier today was for gusty wind and rain this evening. Just before the wind picked up, I went outside and took this of the storm clouds approaching. It was almost dark outside but I liked the look of the threatening sky.

For more skies around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

These Meyer lemons fell off a tree in Sonoma County, California and made their way to Seattle, courtesy of a visitor. Lemon trees have thorns but do an unusual thing: they can flower and fruit at the same time. Those flowers smell so sweet!

Thursday Challenge this week is “Food.” And Think Green Thursday is always about living lightly, to my mind, so eating extra lemons from a friend’s tree is pretty “green” to me.

Thought I’d post a couple of rainy rosebuds for Watery Wednesday. To me the raindrops look almost like jewels. Which one do you prefer?

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: Readers arrive on different days, so I’m repeating about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for me and/or leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I know it’s a little late, but had to share our neighbors’ Halloween display for Ruby Tuesday (go there for more ruby redness). There actually were even more spiders spread around their front yard. It was a truly creepy effect. I loved it! And visit Window and Door Wednesday for more interesting window views.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: Readers arrive on different days, so I’m repeating about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for me and/or leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I do still have a few dahlias that got a late start this year and are now at their peak. They are just so exuberant!

Visit Flowers for Today for the most amazing flower photos. And check out Color Carnival for more bright colors to amaze and amuse. Macro Monday has more close ups, and Mellow Yellow Monday (of course!) more yellow.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE: Readers arrive on different days, so I’m repeating about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for me and/or leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much!

Photoblog Awards 2009