Last week at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show I was lucky enough to see and photograph the exquisite bouquets in the daylit lobby area. I think that this year they were exceptionally beautiful. When you have such a stunning subject, it’s not too hard to make a really good photo (if I do say so myself!). As I always say, it’s not the camera. For some common-sense tips on how to take better photos that are not dependant on a fancy, expensive camera or complicated settings, you are welcome to download my “7 Secrets to Better Flower Photos” on the right.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! This floral image expresses love and perfection to me. I hope you enjoy it. And even though not many people have commented yet on it, I love this image and I am calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Mellow Yellow Monday, Thursday Challenge (Love), Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Friday and Pink Saturday for other interesting and beautiful photos. Have fun! If you’ve arrived via a link and there is only the one bouquet photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to see the entire blog. Thanks for visiting!

Just two short weeks ago we had an incredible ice storm, and today it was sunny and over 60 degrees out! I am just being perverse in showing this photo of the Japanese Coral Bark Maple branches coated in the ice—on such a lovely day as today. But I want to have one last (I hope!) look at real winter before we forge ahead into the burgeoning spring.

You’ll enjoy visiting Ruby Tuesday 2, Scenic Sunday, Thursday Challenge (Red), Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Watery Wednesday, A Piece of Heaven and Skywatch Friday. If there is only one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the entire blog.  

I need to see some flowers blooming, so a trip to the archives from June 2007 is just the thing. Double Delight might be my favorite rose. It’s sturdy, available in nurseries everywhere, and supremely fragrant. Let us gaze on this image of summertime! It will get here, we know. And for you “down under” folks, hope you are enjoying your time in the sun.

Do check out Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Color Carnival and Pink Saturday to see excellent pictures from around the world. Try something new here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, if you have a moment.

Seattle had a big ice storm, as you may have heard. I really wanted to get outside and take photos yesterday, but the weather was just too bad. Today it all began to melt, but I got out there before it was all gone and captured some great images. This pieris shrub is also called andromeda. I didn’t even realize it had already set buds until I was outside looking closely. It doesn’t seem to be the worse for wear.

Take a look at Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, and Ruby Tuesday 2, for more fascinating photos. Do browse around here first by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

We had our first snow this winter two days ago. I love that brief time when the snow has fallen but no wind has come along to disturb the frosting on trees and shrubs. I went outside to our patio, standing under the eaves so my camera wouldn’t get the silll-falling snow on it, when I heard that familiar Anna hummingbird whirrr. There she was, and what a scenic, snowy backdrop she had as she rested on her red feeder! I like this for the snow frosting everything like icing as much as the beautiful little bird, so I am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Since several of you asked, they do stay in this lattitude nowadays because people like us provide feeders. It is not usually freezing here, and if it does freeze, we take the feeder in overnight so it’s liquid in the day.

Snow counts as water for Watery Wednesday, doesn’t it? Also, visit Outdoor Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Camera Critters and Ruby Tuesday 2. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog collection here. Or try a tag like “Scenic” in the right sidebar down a bit, or a search for “Snow” in the upper right field, perhaps, to see something new.

This ceiling was in a strip mall Chinese restaurant in Northern California, in Santa Rosa. The food was quite nice, but I think the ceiling was really memorable. It seemed like a stage set, or somehow underwater like jellyfish. My hat is off to the people who dreamed this one up and set it up.

Visit Ruby Tuesday 2, Color Carnival and Pink Saturday for lots more color fun. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the whole blog here first, if you have a moment. Actually, it might take you more than a moment, because I’ve realized that I’ve now posted over 1,000 photos here. I amaze myself!

More brilliant magenta pink/red springtime azalea flowers for you from May while I deal with the grayness outside. It’s interesting how a review of photos I took several months ago shows me that my ideas on what makes a good photo sometimes changes. This one I had tagged with one star (Worth Keeping). But now I compare it with other azalea photos taken that day and I like this one better than the others I tagged with more stars. It teaches me to look at what I preferred then but to take another look at what I set aside. You never know.

Take a look at Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday to see more wonderful photography. Browse around here first by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

After midnight on New Year’s Eve, I like to drink Champagne and eat crab dip with a fresh vegetable plate and ridged potato chips. It’s not the most common food for the first thing all year, but it’s what I’ve been doing for a long, long time. The crab dip is super easy.

Crab Dip 

One pkg. 8 ozs. Philadephia brand cream cheese, room temperature so it’s easier to blend
1/3 cup cream (or milk)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Dash garlic powder
Dash salt (optional)
One 6 oz. can crab meat

Put cream cheese and milk or cream in a bowl. Mix with a fork until smooth. Add rest of ingredients except crab. Mix until smooth. Add drained crab meat; mix well. There you go!

Potato chips are fabulous, but actually the veggies are all super good with some crab dip on them. Happy New Year!

View Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2, and Color Carnival for more neat photos. Do click on the Sara’s Fave Photos curly type above to see the whole blog here.

A beam of sunshine, a couple of blooming houseplants, and a close up lens. Ah!

Visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday, Weekend Reflections, and Cactus Monday for great memes. Check them out! And the banner above with Sara’s Fave Photos will get you the complete blog here.

It’s finally raining, although softly, so I went outside for the pretty raindrop display on the coral bark Japanese maple tree. We have gotten almost no rain for the past two months and usually get 5 or 6 inches in both November and December. The garden (and I’m sure the ski resorts) really need the water. Not to mention it’s put a crimp in my scenic shots for Watery Wednesday!

Other fine photoblog memes are Macro Friday, Macro Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Ruby Tuesday and Weekend Reflections. See my neighbor’s house in that middle raindrop? I think that is so cool. And you can find lots more photos here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos any time you like.