The Cliff (near Mountain Home, Arkansas)

It had to have been close to a hundred degrees out. I was sitting down on a lower ledge waiting. Waiting. Waiting. My sister, cousin and one of my cousin's friends were cliff diving. They all jumped from the lower ledge, where I am sitting, without much hesitation. Okay they each did this twice, so they decide it is time to move up to the bigger cliff, besides the lower one was just for test runs. Finally my sister jumps, a few minutes later my cousin's friend jumps but only after a few test walk ups to get herself ready to actually jump, my cousin is doing the same thing and continues to do this for another few minutes. So I take advantage and shoot a few shots of the gorgeous scenery. I only shot two or three shots at the time because I am using film and I honestly didn't really think about the artistic possibilities because in 2001 I still didn't think of myself as an artist. This image was one of the ones juried into the student art show the year I had seven images. I was impressed since I was only in three art classes at the time and if I remember right I only submitted eleven images to be juried. Anyway this is beside the point. I am proud of this image because I literally sweated it out to get it. There was no shade around and I had to sit in the direct sun and it truly was hot out. Think Arkansas in mid-July.

Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do

My niece picked a daisy for me at our church picnic yesterday. So I took advantage of getting some close ups with out having to get down low. A good thing to since last Sunday 6-8-08 I fell off my front porch and really did a number on my leg. I know I didn't break it but I think I might have possibly bruised the bone. I did this once before when I was in high school. It is really painful and takes weeks sometimes months to heal. It is actually starting to feel better than it has but it is still pretty painful. So in a way I guess this was a get well flower as well. Hope all the dads had a happy father's day.

Shiawasee River

Such a peaceful place. This tree is in the Harmon Partridge Park just north of the City of Owosso. I took this picture while waiting for my nieces and nephews to get in the water. I have actually gotten quite a few nice images that way. I am usually the designated photographer and while I wait for the activities I take in the views around me.

Tula May Miller Covered Bridge

Here is another covered bridge. I found this one the other day. I don't know why I was expecting more. I had seen pictures of it as well as read the information that the bridge is over a small branch of the Looking Glass River. It is located on private property and I was not bold enough to park in the driveway to get a closer look of the bridge. I took my pictures from the road. I was frustrated because when I got ready to take my pictures this seemingly quiet road was suddenly full of traffic. Yet another wonderful find in the state of Michigan.

My Visitor

This is not a typical post for me. I am more of a plant and landscape photographer but I couldn't resist sharing my little visitor with everyone. I am almost sure this is the same bunny who frequented my yard last year but I can't say for certain. I love watching the bunnies in my yard. I love all the creatures that frequent my yard but I love the bunnies the best. Maybe because sadly a few years ago I accidentally hit a bunny while I was driving home one night. I saw the bunny and was switching lanes to avoid hitting him and he was hopping away in the opposite direction then suddenly as I got closer to him he changed directions and try as I may I was unable to avoid him. I pulled into the driveway when I got home and lost it. I was utterly devastated. This was the first and only time I have ever killed an animal. I was heartbroken and my husband had no compassion for me, well he had a little but not enough to console me. He had been following me and witnessed the incident and even now years later takes every chance to remind me of the poor fate of that bunny by calling all the little bunnies we see now "thump thumps". He does this in part now because he knows that it irritates me. But I am so thankful that my bunny friends don't all hate me now and that I am blessed to have them living in the small and I mean small patch of woods that is behind my home. Sorry if I depressed anyone.

Dandelion Dream

Dandelions the curse of a beautiful green lawn, but in my opinion they make the lawn look beautiful. Most people, notice I said most not all, try to rid their yards of these 'weeds'. I on the other hand believe myself to be blessed when they grow in my yard. I have always loved the dandelion. My mom says I would always pick her bouquets of dandelions when I was little. As I grew older I still enjoyed them but I learned it is better to enjoy the flowers out in nature and allow them to grow. I know I am among the minority in loving these flowers, even my husband hates them but I won't let him try to kill them off and after ten years of marriage I think he actually now has a small appreciation of the dandelion.

Moon Log Home

The Moon Log Home at the Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing, MI. This photo is taken at the beginning of the nature trails. I would have liked to have gotten closer but I was afraid that the rain was going to start up again. So I took about forty images that day as I headed back to my car. I gained some good images by taking this photo opp. I had a nice time despite being rained out.

Iris after the Rain

Here is another flower after the rain. I love these raindrop images. Just goes to show that even when you get rained out you don't have to lose out. I still managed to get some awesome photos despite not being able to go on my nature walk as I had planned. It also goes to show that I'm not willing to let any opportunity pass me by, I'm still going to try and snag some photo ops no matter what, rain or shine.

Refreshing Rain

Well I went on an expedition to get some more photos, let's just say that the weather channel can not always be relied on. I did get the opportunity to take some photos but not as many as I would have liked because we were rained out. We decided to start our walk and didn't get far when it started to rain, we made it to a nearby pavilion and just missed getting soaked. Well we decided that we needed to try our adventure at a later date. Here is a picture of the rain spattered peonies. I have always wanted to get images of flowers with raindrops on them and I have finally done it.

Lovely Lilac

Now here is a flower that I definitely know. I have a fondness for the lilac. Growing up there were lilac bushes in the back yard right outside the kitchen window. We actually didn't have much of a backyard because a crick (drainage ditch) ran right through it. As a batter of fact there was only enough room to run the lawn mower up and back between the garage and the crick. Anyway I remember playing in and around these bushes. My childhood consisted of making "homes" out of the bushes and trees that were in our yard and the neighbor's yard, well mostly the neighbor's yard since we really only had the lilac bushes in our yard unless you went on the other side of the crick (we did have a small bridge going across). I now have a small lilac bush in my yard. I wish I could say it was an offspring of the ones that I grew up with but it is not. Enjoy the picture.

Majestic in Purple

Here is another beautiful flower. Again I do not know the name, I would take time to look it up but I don't have much free time these days. I am lucky to have what time I do to work on my images and keep my blogs up to date. I hope you enjoy.

Contrast

A little bit of contrast. These two flowers are growing side by side, well actually the little purple flower is coming up in the middle of the yellow flower. Forgive for not knowing exactly what kind of flowers these are but that is not necessary to enjoy the subtle contrast in color created by these two plants.

A Matching Set

It is truly amazing to me how perfect a simple flower can look. The beautiful matching blossoms so many of our wonderful flowers that bloom come in multiples. Showing to the world that they don't have to stand alone. It is actually more out of the norm to see a lone flower, they may have individual stems but they do usually tend to have a few in a group together. A simple reminder that we should keep our friends gathered around us.

Standing Tall

This little tulip was the only one in the flower bed. It was standing there all by itself among other plants but not another tulip to be found. I was instantly drawn into the flower. It stood out against the bark with the petals of deep purple that look like a velvety-satin. A beautiful masterpiece to be found out in nature left by our God and creator to be enjoyed.