Just For Fun

I actually took these at the last wedding I shot, but since they're not very "wedding-y" I wanted to give them their own post.

summer

"regular" (no effects)

"1960's" effect

"cross process" effect

Roses

I bought this rosebush about three years ago. It started out small, of course, and every year it gets a little bigger and fluffier. This year the flowers were amazing. They clustered in about 4 flowers at the end of each branch, and they were SO BEAUTIFUL! The thing I love about these roses is that they change colors! They start out orange, then turn red, then darker red, and then they fade to white before the petals finally fall off. Also, it'll bloom about 3 or 4 times throughout the summer. I have a pink rosebush that's mixed in with our hedges (I have no idea how it got there), and it's really beautiful too, but it only blooms once a year. I LOVE rose bushes. I love the smell, the look, everything. I would like a few more. But for now, I am really enjoying these roses.

in full bloom

Have I mentioned I LOVE spring? I really enjoy summer and fall, but there is something so rejuvenating about winter finally coming to an end and the earth coming back to life.

love this lone tulip in a field of "weeds"

love smelling the flowers all over town

a bouquet of tulips from my bulb garden

I'm kind of in love with this one.

... and this one's cool too. Photoshop.

playing with photoshop

I'm still learning how to use Photoshop. I found some neat features while poking around tonight. The first two are pics I've taken recently, flowers from my yard. The last one was taken a few years ago, but was also from my yard. It's one of my all time favorites.

I know I haven't been posting too much over here. I've been focusing my creative energy on my Picture-A-Day series on my "family" blog. Just wanted to share this lily. We had just about given up on it because it sat in its pot for about 2 or 3 years and did nothing but sprout this tiny little bud on top of the bulb. Then all of a sudden, this year, it just shot up. Every day it would grow at least an inch, and now it looks like this! there are about 3 huge flowers at the top of a 2-foot-tall stem! It's absolutely gorgeous, and I'm glad we didn't give up on it after all.

narcissus

frosty morning

 These were taken a couple weeks ago.  We were heading to the car to go somewhere, and I had to run back inside and grab the camera.

My husband bought me the mums for our anniversary, and even put them in the ground for me!

I love the changing of the seasons.  You still have the green grass left over from summer, the yellow and brown leaves of fall, and the frost warning us that winter is soon coming.

patchwork quilt

  

the arrangement of these mums reminds me of a patchwork quilt.

orange mountain flowers 2

orange mountain flowers

red mountain flower

thistle

purple flower

rocky mountain wildflowers

after the rain...

zoo flowers

ok, so here's the start of my toledo zoo picture extravaganza. i accidentally posted this before it was done, so i've now added all the flower pictures. there was a beautiful conservatory there that we didn't even go inside, so this is just the tip of the iceberg of what they have.

see the butterfly?