Assignment: School's Out

Empty swings, quiet playground...definitely called for a somber black and white treatment.

Butterflies--lots of 'em

...or flutterbies (which I think is more fitting) as my kids used to called them. These were taken at the butterfly exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo. Great place, and the docent in there said there would be almost 1,000 butterflies by the end of summer. What an explosion of color!!

Can you see the eyes on the orange butterfly? Cool, huh?

The photo below is the underneath of this butterfly. Notice all the red markings that aren't visible from the top. This one landed on MaryLynne and sat (posed!) for a bit. I had no idea that butterflies could be so "furry"!

Zoo Day!

MaryLynne and I met Lauren at the Woodland Park Zoo yesterday. I am ashamed to say I haven't been there in 20 years...(I blush). What an incredible place! The animals were all very active (as were the busloads of kids on the end-of-the-school field trips--doh! bad timing on our parts) and we were able to see a lot of wonderful things and have some great photo ops. Here are a few; I am sure there will be more later.

Taken through glass--boy, am I glad that glass was there! This guy was enormous!

The new tiger cub at the zoo-what a cute face! Both of these taken through glass.

The river otters are sooo much fun to watch. They managed to take a short rest break; taken through glass.
The male orang is huge. The burlap is draped over him and carried all over like a security blanket. In the wild they use leaves and foliage for cover from sun and rain, protection, and yes, security. At the zoo they give them burlap so the orangs won't tear up their habitat.
Jaguar--taken through glass.

Assignment: Symmetry (in nature)

For me, symmetry is so much more fun to find in Nature. It is amazing how many things in Nature are symmetrical and balanced; Man tries to replicate that in his creations, so I included a couple of those in the post below. My preferences, though, are for natural symmetry.

Assignment: Symmetry

Man-made symmetry...

Playing Tourist: A Field Trip

MaryLynne and I went to the Volunteer Park Conservatory this week. I am ashamed to admit that in the 21 years that we have lived here, I have never been to this great park in the middle of Seattle! The conservatory is small, but packed with wonders (another post), and there are all kinds of places to roam and wander through the park, as well as interesting views and buildings. I will definitely go back--what a neat place!!

View of the Conservatory
Front door detail--hey! I could use this for my Symmetry assignment!
View from the steps of the Asian Art Museum
I thought the helicopter near the Space Needle was a hoot
Building at the Volunteer Park Reservoir

Details from the old water treatment building at the south end of Volunteer Park. It is up on a hill, and looks like an old castle. The bricks are uneven, and the barred windows look like something through which Rapunzel would've let down her hair.

Assignment: Depth (or perspective)

This one is double depth--not only perspective, but literally. Bryce Canyon, Utah

Frogging around with storyboards

Sorry--just couldn't resist the pun. This guy was putting on quite a show at the Bellevue Botanic Gardens last week, clambering up grass stalks, scaling leaves, climbing branches. He was a hoot to watch. MaryLynne told me how to do the storyboard using another photo as a background. I made it transparent so it wouldn't compete with Mr. Froggie.

Assignment: Flip--a flop

Well, I knew what I WANTED to do--a picture of a coin in mid-air. Rick flipped until his thumb was too sore to flip anymore, and I just couldn't get a fast enough shutter speed, so no coin. This is as good as I can get. This was a tough one for me.

Soul Refreshing

MaryLynne and I packed up our trusty cameras and headed off to Deception Pass this week on one of the outstandingly beautiful days. ML is as much a beach-baby as I am, and we had a glorious time, drinking in the smell of the ocean, the sounds of the waves and the tide and the gulls, exploring tidepools and watching their tiny inhabitants, looking for treasures along the rock strewn beaches. Just being out on the beach, hearing, smelling, seeing, feeling--it was enough to relax every last particle in me and charge me up at the same time. I just can't go too long without being near large bodies of water. The environment is so theraputic for me--it speaks to my soul.

The Ultimate Yard Ornament

The other morning when I looked out our back window, this is what I saw:
Now, meandering through the yard, and gardens, is bad enough! But when they decide to settle down for a nice morning's nap--it's time to pull out the pellet gun.
She did snack on some of my columbine, but left everything else alone. Hopefully next time she will go to someone else's yard. If there IS a next time, I will be sure to scare her off!