In the fall, on a boat out of Anacortes, WA, we saw this great blue heron and some seals resting at the edge of one of the islands. We didn’t want to get too close to disturb them. I was told they are either harbor seals or sea lions. Does anyone know for sure which they are?

Since this is such an unusual photo for me, and how many Blue Herons do I get to see posing, anyway, I’m categorizing this as my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Camera Critters, Weekend Reflections and Scenic Sunday for more neat photos.

If there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for others. And check out what’s new at Free Photos next door before you go, hear?

Nothing as delightful as a bit of water splashing into a pond, is there? This scenic view was taken a few weeks ago at the Highline Botanical Garden, south of Seattle. The gardeners in this area, the Pacific Northwest, are very skilled at combining leaves and textures for a subtle but lovely effect. It’s an Asian influence, I understand.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday for more of the same, and try SOOC (straight out of the camera) and Scenic Sunday as well. Weekend Reflections has some fascinating visual reflections for your enjoyment.

Be sure to try something new here; maybe search for “Highline” to see other shots taken in that lovely garden area. If you see only one post here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog.

It was only last month that we went crabbing in our friends’ 28-foot boat in the waters off Anacortes, Washington, but it does seem farther back than that. Summer’s weather was so gray and dismal that the rare blue skies that day were a total thrill. This photo reminds me of the clear air and great watery smell up there. Vrooom!

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, plus Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday and Blue Monday, if you’d like to see more neat photos on those themes. There’s also SOOC Sunday for straight-out-of-the-camera shots like this one.

As long as you’re here, you might as well try a tag like “water” to see more of my own photos with water in them. You can always return to the latest post here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

Even though there are several photos I posted this week that I really like, I think the sense of motion and distance in this one makes it my fave for the week. Plus the sunshine and water, of course—so I’m tagging it my Best Post of the Week.

These are so pretty, aren’t they? I didn’t have a strong zoom lens and you can’t get too close without scaring them off the rocks, our boat captain (hi Chuck!) told us, so here’s a group portrait of harbor seals for you, taken on the waters off Anacortes, WA.

Watery Wednesday has amazing water photos of all sorts, Outdoor Wednesday has outdoor shots and Camera Critters, well, you get the idea. Also, Scenic Sunday and Weekend Reflections are well worth visiting.

Browse around here in a new search, tag or category. Water, perhaps? And you can always return to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Continuing a theme, here is the Sol Duc (pronounced Sole Duck) River in the background swishing over the rocks. The Sol Duc is within the Olympic National Park in Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest.

There’s an unknown wildflower in front. Anyone recognize it? [later: Clairz says it’s fireweed! Yay, Clairz!]

Check out Scenic Sunday and SOOC (straight-out-of-the-camera shots). Before you do, browse around here a bit. What appeals today?

You can always return to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, above.

The Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest has some magnificent scenery. On our way to check out Sol Duc (pronounced Sole Duck) hot springs (we weren’t impressed; just big outdoor regular swimming pools and $12 per person to swim; maybe they might have more appeal in cold weather) we stopped at a roadside rest near the river. Now this was worth a visit! I tried to upload a video but wasn’t able to compress it enough. Any recommendations on how to do that? They are MOV files. I did download a program called MPEG Streamclip but have no idea of what settings to use. Any help appreciated.

Anyway, here are a couple of stills. You’ll just have to imagine the loud burbling and plashing noise and the silence all around it.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday for more interesting photos on the theme. These are both SOOC, and make the grade for Scenic Sunday also.

While you are here, check out a tag like “scenic.” Arriving via permalink, the latest posts are always at Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Here’s another view of that lovely water feature on the garden tour from the weekend. Hope you like it.

Visit Watery Wednesday for more water photos of all kinds and Outdoor Wednesday for photos of, well, the outdoors. And you might try clicking on the “water” tag while browsing around here. Return to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Today I went on the Federal Way (Washington) Garden Tour. It benefits the Federal Way Symphony and I got to see six of the nine gardens. Whew! Here’s a delightful water feature from an amazing hidden jungle in the Hendricks garden.

For more fascinating shadows seen all over the world, visit Shadow Shot Sunday. Or try Scenic Sunday, or perhaps SOOC (straight out of the camera) Sunday.

You might try a search for “shadows” or clicking on that tag while you’re here. Returning to the latest post is a click away, on Sara’s Fave Photos. Thanks for visiting!

Walking along the beach at Fort Worden when we were in Port Townsend recently, we found not one, but a matched set of heart-shaped rocks. It seems to me that Western Washington has more than its fair share of them. We find them frequently while digging in the yard. I don’t know what to do with them, but gosh they are cute.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday after browsing around here. But first try clicking on the Shadow category, or perhaps Landscape? Anyway, you will see all the posts if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Our recent getaway to Port Townsend had some fine photo ops. This view towards Whidbey Island was about as scenic as it gets, with pink sky reflected on water, AND a rainbow, in case the view wasn’t pretty or colorful enough.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen around the world, and try Weekend Reflections and Scenic Sunday, too. And remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photo on top for the latest post.