Trees!

Ok, I freely admit that I'm a tree hugger. Deal with it!
Trees are as individual as people and as open to imagination as clouds. I very often see faces or animals in the shapes, textures or colors of trees. Follow me down the rabbit hole...

Not sure if the twisty part is natural or man made, but I like this shape. If you saw the pictures from Japanese Garden Part II, this was at the end of the path shown in that post.

Even trees like to look at their own reflection. I think this one was taken at the Hunting Library and Botanical Gardens.

Remember how I said I see faces in the trees? Do you see the angry monster?

Wounded Willow. There was a branch here recently. I wonder if the hole is the result of a disease or an animal.

 The palm tree is covered in these around it's whole trunk. This one makes me laugh. Depending on my mood I see eyes or nipples.

While nice straight trees can be majestic and impressive, tress like this have a lot of character.

Owl, obviously.

the variety of ways trees reproduce is quite amazing to me. If a tree produces a huge amount of seeds it's because most of them will be eaten by animals. These seeds are intended to drop straight down and grow right beside the parent tree. Other trees have very light seeds that float on the wind and can be carried quite far from the parent tree.

I heard someone on the radio last year talking about how plants and trees are fruiting and flowering abundantly here in California for the last couple of years. This person said that because we've been having a drought for the last 4 years the plants and trees are over producing seed in a last ditch effort to ensure their survival.

 Texture, color, shape. Can't you just feel it?

This is one of the roots of the previous tree. Much smoother texture. Possibly from being walked on?

Sometimes I take pictures like this to use as background texture on design projects.

This was either a detail of the same tree or one near it. I'm pretty sure it's eucalyptus. When they shed their bark what is left looks (to me) like human skin.


I could go on and on about trees. And I probably will in another post.

Chasing The Light

This is one of the reasons I love living in California! This is taken from Mt. Pinos in the Los Padres National Forest.

 We have such beautiful mountains and forests here! This was at the end of the day and there was a thin hazy cloud cover that day so it gave a sort of upside down, surreal look to the sky with the blue on the horizon and the pink over it.

Nature's banquet for the squirrels is abundant. Also, a soft, crunchy carpet to nourish and insulate new life under the snow that will come soon.

 Even at the end of the season Nature's patterns and shapes are beautiful.

Lighting is key in capturing interesting photos. This is the same tree just before the sun set below the ridge and again about a half an hour later.

I am awed by the tenacity of nature. Even a tiny seed in an impossible location can aspire to become a great tree.

 I love interesting colors, shapes and patterns. This rock had all of that going for it with it's natural coloring and patterns enhanced by the bright green moss.

I arrived on the mountain pretty late in the afternoon so my time for shooting was limited. I was trying to shoot some small clusters of tiny red flowers that were particularly bright in the setting sun and I could see the light fading as I was trying to focus on them. I never did get the image I wanted of them.

But it was a beautiful day - a little cool, but I fortunately thought to bring a jacket with me and I had on sturdy shoes (lessons learned from previous unprepared trips).

Even if I hadn't gotten any photos it would have been a good day!

I love being in the mountains, probably as much as I like being at the beach, which is why I love Southern California so much.

Amazing Sunset

This was the most amazing sunset I've ever seen. And this was the tail END of a magnificent light show. Of course, my camera was in trunk of my car and I was driving up the 5 Freeway while this was going on. I had to hand my cell phone to my friend, Stephen, in the back seat to get this photo. This is straight out of the camera - no Photoshop or alteration involved.

I have seen "god light" many times before - the light beams that come down through the clouds. I tried to look up god light to see who coined that term and couldn't find anything but I know painters of religious images have used that look for centuries as a symbol of the divine. However, I have NEVER see them going UP. Before this picture was taken the rays were much more pronounced.

 I've been trying to photograph the perfect sunset for years and have come to the conclusion that things like that are ephemeral and not meant to be captured or pinned down. They must be experienced and savored in the moment, but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying.