Bitter Cold Beauty - Dayton, Ohio - USA
Just because it's bitterly cold outside doesn't mean it's any less beautiful. You just have to be willing and available to recognize the beauty that is often unseen. Sunset from atop the hills at Hills and Dales Park.
Summer Sanctuary Sunrise - Dayton, Ohio - USA
This Summer time prairie was found along the roadside in Dayton, Ohio. A rare occasion of me waking up, and setting out on an excursion before the sun rises. I set out with no particular destination in mind, and ended up on Dog Leg Road, just north of Shiloh, near the Stillwater River. The original idea was to find a sunrise scene with the river in it, but it wasn't providing me what I was looking for at this spot. So I drove along, and just past the river, found this lovely prairie, which was actually designated as a "Nature Sanctuary" with a posted sign. Sometimes plans change, and sometimes for the better. It's important to be adaptable, and go with the flow. In doing so, I found this sanctuary, which provided me everything one could ask for in an early morning sunrise. Wildflowers, dew, mist, a beautiful painted sky, and most importantly, joy and happiness.
Winter Whimsy - Dayton, Ohio - USA
On a typical Winter morning, I looked outside the front window, and became filled with wonder and fascination from these rain drops dangling on the ends of the bare winter branches. Each branch contained a drop of water, providing an incredible scene of glistening sunlight and reflections. On a whim, I grabbed the camera, and immersed myself for quite a while in a world of simple, subtle beauty, hoping to capture and convey the feeling of wonder it provided to me.
Springing To Life - Ichetucknee, Florida - USA
This lovely flowering bush was found during Spring, in North Central Florida. I am just in love with the tiny intricacies of these beautiful little blooms. These types of flowering bushes fill me happiness, and breathe life into me. This is a special memory, as a new fellow nomadic photographer friend of mine, who I met at the campground, where the bushes were located, allowed me to borrow her very expensive lenses to play around with. This allowed me full artistic expression with this capture. Something I couldn't have achieved with my basic equipment.
Still Winter Water - Dayton, Ohio - USA
A Winter scene in Dayton, Ohio. The Stillwater River, on Old Springfield Road in Union. This scene caught my attention, and fascination while passing it on the bridge. I pulled the car over to capture it, and as I often do, had to be cautious of the traffic passing by. It would have been easy to miss a scene like this, had I been focused on my destination, or focused on getting out of the cold. Instead, I was focused on experiencing the beauty and wonder that this Still Winter Water provided to me.
In the forests of Oregon, I was delighted to find this beautiful tree, which provided the entire spectrum of Autumn colors on one branch. I used one hand to move the branch, so that the colors could be isolated against the blue sky back drop, and the other hand to make the capture.
Pavement Profundity - Dayton, Ohio - USA
It's been said, and has also been my experience, that the world around you is a reflection of what's inside of you. See beauty, love, and goodness inside of you, and you will see it in the world around you. It also goes the other way. As you open to see and experience more beauty outside of yourself, in the world, you'll more easily find it inside. It's all connected, and all a reflection. Here is a beautiful reflection found in the pavement, on a wet Winter day, walking along in an apartment complex. I imagine many would not see beauty in this scene, and perhaps wouldn't even be looking for beauty on a day such as this. For me, being present, in the moment, and knowing that there is beauty to be found everywhere, it was rather easy to see it reflecting back to me from the gravel ground of this parking lot.
City Park Pagoda - Baltimore, Maryland - USA
Baltimore was generally a pleasantly surprising city. Full of history, monuments, culture, architecture, and skyline views. This beautifully constructed Pagoda was an additional, pleasantly surprising cherry on top, found while touring the city. Decided to head to Patterson city park to check it out, not knowing what I would find. I was delighted to come across this awesome structure! Winter trees, and dusk lighting added to the mood and feeling of wonder.
Picture Perfect - Cherohola Skyway, North Carolina - USA
A perfectly picturesque dusting of snow along the Cherohala Skyway, winding across, and along the Tennesee-North Carolina border in the Smokey Mountains. Decided to explore this national scenic byway on a December day. The threat of snow was minimal, so I was a bit surprised, and even a bit anxious when it began to fall at the higher elevations. Thankfully, it stopped, and the anxiety turned to pure excitement, as it turned out to be just enough to provide this fantastic, lovely scenery along the drive, including this picture perfect vista.
Pines to Palms - Garner Valley, California - USA
Garner Valley is a beautiful remote area of California, on the Pines to Palms highway, west of Palm Springs and the San Jacinto Mountains National Forest. I spent the day exploring the area, and fell head over heels in love with these vast, and beautiful fields, completely blanketed in yellow wildflowers. In this scene are the pine trees, abundantly found, and native to the area, as well as the San Jacinto Mountains seen in the distance.
I was so happy to capture this guy doused in pollen, and carrying a large load, working on some California Poppies! There was a whole swarm of bees at work here, and I fired away at full auto, determined to capture something interesting. I couldn't have been happier! I didn't realize until after the fact in reviewing the photos that he was complete covered in pollen. I also highlighted the subtle variance in hues that you see in the Poppy. The grey in the background is from the surrounding rocks.
Wooden Shoe Tulip Field - Woodburn, Oregon - USA
A view at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon. A 40 acre tulip farm that draws visitors from around the world.
Urban Awe in the Fall - Salem, Oregon - USA
One of the best places to see Fall color in the entire state of Oregon is actually in it's Capital city of Salem, with beautifully preserved, new and old stretches of nature throughout the city. This scene is on the edge of downtown. This beautiful, old, stone, mossy bridge was an instant favorite of mine upon arriving to Salem, but I hadn't photographed it yet. Driving past this scene, I was looking forward and up, and was fascinated by the colorful tree canopy. I said, "aww man, shoulda came through here before the leaves all fell". Then said "it's still a nice scene, let's stop the car". It was then, In the Moment of awe & wonder that I recognized these incredible, huge piles of fallen leaves, and how well they played together with this bridge that I've been wanting to capture.
A stunning array of Fall colors provided by these fallen leaves in Yellow Springs, OH. We were on a camping outing, and trying to stay dry. While not too thrilled about being rained on while camping, the freshly fallen rain rewarded me with some extra luster in this capture.
Winter Silence - Dayton, Ohio - USA
Even in the dead of Winter, there is beauty to be found all around, as long as we are in the moment and available to perceive it. This scene was found at the Englewood Metro Park in Dayton, Ohio. A small, temporary pond had formed from the overflow of the lake. I spotted it from a distance, and walked to the edge, silently observing the beauty revealed and reflected back to me. I decided on some creativity in the edit, turning it into a silhouetted scene with a sepia/bronze filter.
Psychedelic Bloom - Canyon Lake, CA - USA
Don't ask me what kind of flower this is, I'm not a botanist :) However it sure did mesmerize me for a while. The size of this is approx 2.5 to 3 inches, and they bloomed plentifully on a bush, found in the backyard of a friend's neighbor's house at 6am. Why was I up at 6am on this day? I can't really recall ;) but I sure was happy to spend about 20-30 minutes with this strikingly beautiful flowers with psychedelic yellow, purple, and pink hues. The colors are unaltered, and the 6am dew drops were an added bonus. Was also intrigued by the spiraling center.
Stumbled across this field of sunflowers while driving along hwy 79 south in Temecula, CA. The flowers were a bit sparse, and there weren't too many that were fully bloomed. I focused on this lonely guy, with the perfect blue sky as the backdrop. You can see the sparsity & the wilted flowers on the plant in the background.
Capital City Cherry Blossoms - Salem, Oregon - USA
Cherry Blossoms at the Oregon State Capital Building grounds, which is also designated as a State Park.
