I’m not even sure if this shop downstairs at the Pike Place Market in Seattle is still there. I was thinking of a photo for the theme of Pattern and found this image from last year. I love the combinations of the patterns! Wish I could have every single one of these squat and charming objects. They have a very toy-like appeal to me. Let’s play!

Visit Blue Monday, and Unique Exposures Weekend Challenge (Pattern) for more interesting variations on a theme. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Some scenes just beg for their picture to be taken. While all the world loves to photograph a hot air balloon, or, even better, a bunch of them at a balloon event—since that’s an extremely early-in-the-morning sort of deal, it’s not for me. But kayaks! Just sitting there, floating on the water of Puget Sound, waiting to be rented. Or photographed. I obliged. And I’m calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Ruby Tuesday, Color Carnival, Mellow Yellow Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Watery Wednesday, and Shadow Shot Sunday for neat sites with photos on a theme (a meme!) Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Visiting Poulsbo, WA last week for the first time (locals pronounce it POLS-bo) we had some coffee looking out at Liberty Bay. Nice, huh? Nobody does a great summer day like the Seattle area, in this case, on the Kitsap peninsula, an hour or two from Seattle. An extremely cute Norwegian town, perfect for a summer afternoon.

Take a look at Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Ruby Tuesday and Color Carnival for some fascinating photo fun. You might try a new tag or category here before you go, though. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos to get to the newest post here.

I know this is not my usual kind of subject, but heck, gotta go with these things sometimes. This was a bouquet of roses given to a friend (my roses!) and I just loved how the water and stems looked on her desk. I hope you enjoy the photo. [Note: see the August 22 post, three above this one, for the roses!]

Watery Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Macro Monday are all neat blogs and memes, well worth a visit. If there is only one photo below, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others.

While I was in the Las Vegas trip archive yesterday, I found this shoe photo. Perfect for Ruby Tuesday! I love to look at them but go for comfort in my own shoes. I’m always amazed that anyone actually walks in them.

If there’s only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog experience. And visit Free Photos next door for even more, with new ones added all the time.

A bit of sunshine perks up everything in the house. These days in Seattle’s northern lattitude when the sun is so low in the sky, the our rare sunshine reaches far into the room. This was taken at my south-facing kitchen table a week or two ago. But now the days lengthen and eventually the sun’s rays will not enter the window at all.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more interesting shadows of all types, and Blue Monday. Such creativity!

Remember, only one photo below means more will show if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos. And do see what’s new in Free Photos “next door.” Rate your favorites!

Visiting some friends, we were delighted that they went to the trouble to bake bread for us. Just amazing how good these tasted. To be truthful, they were better than the hamburgers they enclosed. And they are so cute, too!

Visit the Thursday Challenge to see more photos with the theme of food this week, and Macro Friday for more close ups.

If you see only the rolls photo, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of the blog. Thanks!

Well, I normally don’t mess with my camera settings much, hoping just to get the most accurate representation I can for pretty flower and scenic shots, but . . . I was at a conference of the Graphic Artists Guild and at the awards dinner someone showed me this cool technique. You set the shutter speed to 1/4 second and make the flash fire and sort of swoop the camera while you’re snapping the shutter. It helps to have a bright light source in the view, too. And yes, this one IS straight out of the camera! Was this fun or what? Please let me know if you like experiments like this, or if I should stick to flowers and scenic shots.

I found this site, ACoLab, that encourages artists to move a bit out of their comfort zones and the current theme is “Dreamland.”

If there is only one photo here and you’d like to see the whole blog, click on Sara’s Fave Photos.

Nothing like a waterfront park, is there? Seahurst Park, this little gem of a local park in Burien, Washington, looks out over Puget Sound to some islands and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. I think it’s lovely in the late afternoon, with the soft light falling on the new grass, happy with all the rain we’ve been getting. The leaves are going to sleep, but the lawns are waking up!

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Midweek Blues (a new meme!), Blue Monday and Scenic Sunday for more photos on the theme.

If you’d like to view the complete blog and there’s only one photo on this page, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole enchilada.

You can tell by the mossy tree-post and the new-grass emerald green lawn that we’ve had lots of rain this year. This month alone we had about 5 inches (13 cm), which is double for a normal October. It has made for a magnificent fall leaf season, at least when the sun’s out to appreciate it. And doesn’t the macro setting on a camera yield the best effects? Even a point and shoot can do it.

Mellow Yellow Monday has more yellow in photos (it’s cool how different the participants all are) and Macro Monday has close ups, also quite a variety. Scenic Sunday shows the scenery, natch!

If you’d like to see the full blog here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos. And you might as well try a new category or tag (like “yellow”) to see what comes up.