I am embarrassed to admit that in the ten years I have lived in the Seattle area, yesterday was my first visit to the Bellevue Arts Museum. Beautiful place! They permitted photography on the first floor, and I was totally entranced with this life-size cast glass sculpture. I am including a full image of it, plus the information posted on the museum wall about it.

Detail of the cast glass sculpture Odoriko by Karen LaMonte, in the Bellevue Arts Museum

Life size glass sculpture of a kimono

The top two images are Straight out of the Camera Sunday and I’m also linking this to Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Wordless Wednesday and Saturday Show Off. Thank you for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

It’s getting dark pretty early these days, and these crows were hunkering down for the night against a cloudy sky with rain on the way. You’d think this was old black-and-white film!

Crows roosting in bare trees

Linking up to NF Winged, Scenic Weekends, Outdoor Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Nature Notes Wednesday, Saturday Show Off, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, and Camera Critters. Thank you so much for stopping by; please do come back soon!

In general, I am a fan of the most natural look possible of the natural world. I like photos because they capture a beautiful sight that I’d like to revisit. But sometimes, the lure of “art” beckons. I’d like your opinion. Which of the two images below appeals the most? Which would you like hanging on your wall? Thank you for your input.

Yellow flowers reflected in a pond at the Arboretum in Seattle, WA, color image

Flowers reflected in a pond at the Arboretum in Seattle, WA, sepia image

Linking to Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday (the green one), Scenic Weekends, Water World Wednesday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers and Weekend Reflections. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Sitting in a car, waiting for a few minutes for the rain to stop, I snapped this photo. Isn’t it funny the way a color image can look totally black and white?

Raindrops on a car window with a gray sky outside

Linking up to Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Skywatch Friday, Thursday Challenge (Weather-Clouds), Water World Wednesday, and A Piece of Heaven. Thank you for your visit here and I hope you return soon. So many beautiful images in the world to take and to share!

I would have called them pier supports, but I am told they are called pilings. They look more like chromosomes to me, actually! This was taken at Dyes Inlet in Silverdale, Washington, in February. I just wanted to look at some water that was not rain or drizzle. Isn’t it cool that this is a color image?

You might pay a visit to Scenic Sunday,  SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Skywatch Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, A Piece of Heaven, Weekend Reflections, and Wordless Wednesday. There’s a lot of talent out there!

Be sure to click on the curly letters of Sara’s Fave Photos above to see the complete blog here if there is only one photo below. Thanks for visiting!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time out near a big expanse of water, in Silverdale, WA. Doesn’t being by the water both energize and soothe you? A very powerful and wonderful feeling. I’ve read that a huge portion of the world’s population lives within 50 miles of an ocean coast. I can understand that.

I particularly like this photo because it appears to be black and white (monochrome) but has no adjustment from RGB, is just straight from the camera on a gray late winter’s day. I’m calling it my my Best Post of the Week.

You might check out Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, A Piece of Heaven, Weekend Reflections,  Shadow Shot Sunday 2, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Skywatch Friday. Lots of photo talent out there! But do browse around here first, perhaps clicking on a new tag or category, or trying a search. Cloudscape, perhaps?

These trees are in my backyard in Seattle, Washington, and this was taken in this first snowstorm of the season. The one on the left is a magnolia, and the one on the right is a pink dogwood. They will certainly look different in a few months!

This photo is or will be linked to these memes: Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Skywatch Friday. If you have arrived via a link and there is only one photo below, if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos you will see the rest of them.

I’m not sure what to call this hallway I saw in the airport the other day. It certainly looks like waves to me. Since it was practically monotone anyway, I thought I’d go all the way to black and white. Can you see the height of the high heels the woman is wearing? I hesitate to tweak the lighting too much to show them well, as I’m afraid of ruining the mood. What do you think?

Visit Hey Harriet for neat shadows and Weekend Reflections for more reflection photos. A new meme, Sunday Creative, asks for posts with the theme of “Lonely.” I think this qualifies.

If you see only one photo below, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos for a page with a surprise at the bottom.

Years ago I used to shoot TriX film. I learned to develop my own film, make contact sheets, and print enlargements in the darkroom with a red light. Shooting black-and-white film was a great exercise in learning to “see.” I chose better subjects and composed the frame better when I wasn’t distracted by the color.

Now any photo can become black and white, but which ones are actually improved by removing the color? I’ve sifted through the archives a bit and chosen three that seem interesting. But I really want your opinion. Would these be better in the regular, real and colorful way, or does this create a mood that is worth doing?

Visit Thursday Challenge (“Black and White”) for more visions of that theme.

You can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to full blog with latest post on top.