52 Photos Project: Week 20

The prompt for Week 20 of the 52 Photos Project is "At the End of the Day". Here's my entry:

This image was taken at the end of the day from Caye Caulker, one of the barrier islands off the coast of Belize. We were on a scuba diving trip. Belize has the second largest barrier reef in the world, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

For more images from the end of the day, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 19

The theme for this week's 52 Photos Project is "On the Line". It took me quite a while to come up with an image for the theme, but I finally settled on this image taken at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park.

Racetrack Playa, which is one of the more interesting and mysterious features in the entire park, requires a thirty-mile drive over a rough gravel road.  What makes it so interesting is that there are moving rocks on the playa.  No one has ever seen them move, but it is clear that they do.  The prevailing theory is that the movement happens when rain slicks the clay playa surface, and then wind moves them along.

To see more images on the line, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 18

The theme for Week 18 of the 52 Photos Project is "Light & Dark". It was hard to decide on an image, but I finally settled on this one.

It was taken from Big Bend National Park in Texas at sunrise. I was standing in the park in Texas, looking across the border into Mexico. These are the Chisos Mountains at sunrise.

For more Light & Dark images, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 16

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is "Childhood Games".  Here's my entry:

It's my family, circa 1987 or so.  Since my kids are grown, and I don't yet have any grandchildren ("yet" being the operative word), I had to dig into the basement archives for this one.  Love that lush head of hair on Mike.  It's a little, shall we say, more subtle now.  Not to mention more silvery.  (Although I guess I just mentioned it, didn't I?)  And the kids...their expressions are priceless.  Judging by the wet ground, I'm guessing it was a rain break during our wet Portland winters that prompted this activity.  Have to get outside while the getting is good.  Fun times.  I miss those two little boys, but I do love the men they've become.

For more childhood games, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 15

The prompt for Week 15 of the 52 Photos Project is "Fresh".  Here's my entry:

Fresh peach pie...fresh from the oven.  Heavenly.

For more fresh photos, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 14

The prompt for Week 14 of the 52 Photos Project is "Down Below".  Here's my entry:

This is what it looks like when you stand "down below" the trees on an October day in Yosemite National Park.

For more images from down below, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Week 13

The prompt for Week 13 of the 52 Photos Project is:  Layers or Stacks.  I've missed out posting the past couple of weeks, and so it's good to be back.  Here's my entry:

This is a stack of beautiful woolen scarves I saw while touring the Avoca Woolen Mills in Avoca, Ireland, just about one year ago.  When I saw the prompt, my mind immediately went to this image.  Such lovely colors.

To see more layers or stacks, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Neon Colors

The prompt for Week 10 of the 52 Photos Project is "Neon Colors".  Here's my entry:

Taken at the Swan Island Dahlia Festival in Canby, Oregon, in 2011.

For more neon colors, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Chopped

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is "Chopped".  Here's my entry:

For more chopping, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Stripes

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is "Stripes".  When I saw the prompt, this is the first thing I thought of:

It's one of my favorite doorways from my trip to Ireland last year.  Love that crazy striped paint job.  I'm hoping to turn this door into a quilt block for the Doors of Ireland quilt.  I just have to figure out how to do justice to the lettering in the store name.  I might have to embroider it to make it look right.

For more striped images, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Crimson

The prompt for Week 7 of the 52 Photos Project is "Crimson".  Here is my entry:

These are claret cup cactus seen at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.

For more crimson images, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Uncommon Shapes

The prompt for Week 6 of the 52 Photos Project is "Uncommon Shapes".  Here's my entry:

This image was taken for an online photography class on "Shape and Form".  Our assignments included a lot of silhouettes and images taken in bright sunlight to emphasize their shapes and forms.  In many cases, the subject is difficult to make out.  In this case, it is the blades of a tractor implement taken in the bright sunlight contrasting with the dark shadows.

For more uncommon shapes, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Waterdrops

The prompt for Week Five of the 52 Photos Project is "Waterdrops".  Here's my entry:

The iris are the queens of the garden right now.  We've had some rain, but not enough to ruin them...yet.  There are still many more colors still to open, and so I'm hoping for more sun and less rain to enjoy them in all their splendor.

For more waterdrops, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Crop It

The prompt for Week 4 of the 52 Photos Project is "Crop It".  Here are the before and after views of an image I snapped while visiting the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge a few years ago.  It's a Bald Eagle, and the place is crawling with them.

Before

After

To see more crops, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Street Art

The prompt for Week 2 of the 52 Photos Project is "Street Art".  I decided to go with this sign I saw in Idyllwild, California, marking a Big Foot crossing.  Drive carefully.

For more Street Art, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Microscopic

The theme for this week's 52 Photos Project is "Microscopic".  As a lover of macro photography, it was hard to choose something for this week's prompt because I have taken so many images over the years.  Finally, I settled on this ant on an apple blossom that was taken at our campsite near Bryce Canyon National Park some years ago.

For more tiny little things, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Conversation

Good morning!  Smitty here.  It's a whole new year at 52 Photos Project, which makes this Week 1 of Year 3.  Today's purrompt is "Conversation".  Recently, I told you about my first meeting with George's Evil Nemesis, Uno.  Since meeting me for the first time, Uno has been visiting every day.  We're pals...sort of...I guess.  We like to sit side by side and purrtend the other guy isn't there.  I'm purretty good at ignoring old Uno.  It's a contest to see who can ignore the other the most.  I think I'm winning.

And I wanted to take this opurrtunity to thank all of you who sent your purrs and good wishes when I was sick recently.  I'm fit as a fiddle and ready to run again.  Those were some powerful purrs you sent.

For more conversations, visit The Gallery.

52 Photos Project: Your Favorite Place

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is  "Your Favorite Place".  Wow.  I puzzled over this one for a while because my favorite place at any given time depends on what I'm doing.  Am I camping?  Relaxing?  Sewing?  Scuba Diving?  Hiking?  It was hard to choose just one.  Nevertheless, I've been aching to go scuba diving again before I get too darned old...in about three weeks...and so I chose my favorite place to scuba dive:  Bonaire.

Bonaire is a desert island about 60 miles off the coast of Venezuela.  It's a part of the Netherlands Antilles, and so the Dutch influence is strong.  The islands of the Netherlands Antilles are also known as the "ABC" islands:  Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.  I've also heard that some will add the "D" island, Dominican Republic.  The less touristy of the three, Bonaire is our favorite.  For all the fun that scuba diving is, it can also be a lot of work in the form of early mornings to catch a boat, rough seas, rocking boats, and crowds of divers.  The best part of scuba diving is being under water where everything is slow, quiet, and peaceful.  One of the things we love about Bonaire is that it is almost exclusively shore diving.  That means we rise when we want, dive when we want, go where we want, relax and unwind.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh.  Makes me want to take the plunge right now.

For more favorite places, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Tangerine

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is "Tangerine".  I think I have to go with this iris from last year's garden.

For more tangerine images, visit the gallery.

52 Photos Project: Layers

The prompt for this week's 52 Photos Project is:  Layers

The prompt continues:  Stacks and Piles.  Do they overflow?  Are they neat?  Color...Food...Earth...

When I read the prompt I knew exactly what I wanted to post.

This is a stack of woolen scarves that I snapped while visiting the Avoca Woolen Mills in Avoca, Ireland, last June.  The woolen mills were a color feast for the eyes.  It was one of my favorites outings during the week I spent on the Emerald Isle.

For more layers, visit the gallery.