POTD CHALLENGE: SUMMER

This is going to be interesting, because I haven't seen Pat's post yet; I bet we are putting up the very same things! Yesterday - great summer day! - I took her up to my old stomping grounds for a short hike. We lived in the mountains for many years, and our home is located behind the trees in this pic, where the red mark is.
You can see what a fabulous day we had for our summer hike!

What to our surprise, but the trail was lost under snow! So, my subject for this POTD is
"Is it really summer?" This is Pat; my token photo of proof! The trail is "somewhere out there":
With our trusty hiking sticks, we ventured toward Franklin Falls anyway. We could not get beyond this point because the horrendous water was sending too much spray for our camera lenses and the trail dips steeply - still snow-covered. The pool at the bottom was a roiling pot where, as I told Pat, I took grandchildren to swim in the summer (!) because it is usually a calm, deep pool with great jumping-off rocks all 'round:

But we were so excited to look down and all around at the very late-blooming things on the forest floor. The first things to show in the wake of a snow melt are the wood violets, above; and of course, then comes the trillium - what I always think of as a magical bloom. We rejoiced that we hadn't missed what would usually have shown up 6 weeks ago! Didn't pack my macro lens, so this is the best I could get:

POTD CHALLENGE: SUMMER

Summer in the Northwest, to some of us, means hitting those trail-heads!

POTD CHALLENGE: SUMMER

Summertime..."and the livin' is easy..."

All this toad needs is a barefoot boy with quick hands! Big hands; this guy was about 5 " across:

POTD CHALLENGE: SUMMER

I am happy for this particular theme, but the season hasn't really come to us yet. Anxious to be back, I am posting just a couple of ho-hums; no great photography. But at least we had one day to be in the sun this week! Note the actual shadows - something we haven't seen all year!
Here is dgr.gr.son, helping out:
Sometimes ya' just gotta' get the job done:

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

"Windows to the soul":

"Windows to the world":
"Giggly windows":

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

The following sets of posts are for catching-up with the current challenge. I have been out of town this week, and unable to post, OR take photos.
I have made this set the category of "alley-way" windows:
One could never guess how much fun it is to walk down alleys; what looks SO uninviting and even scary sometimes, can be so rewarding for the photographer.
For instance, who would imagine that such a soft-looking place was actually in a muddy alley:



This is obviously an alley, but what fun to work with the darkness for a natural sooc B&W:
Yes, this one is ancient:
And here is the heart of old Pioneer Seattle, which has character-enough to spare, but even more by poking down an alley!
What alley would be complete without broken windows?
Next time you have the opportunity, poke down some alleyways for the fun of it!

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

The only way to display some of my window collection is to put them in categories - then I won't get too carried-away! So, here, sooc, hand-held, are some "shuttered" windows:

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

I have collected so many windows! So many moods! So much history and culture is shown by windows. Here, I add a sample of what I call "pampered" windows; i.e. decorated and well-tended.

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

Another category: round windows!
All are sooc, hand-held. Some from the outside; some from the inside:



I call this one "Sleeping Beauty":

POTD CHALLENGE: WINDOWS

I love windows! There are so many personalities in windows: the ones that make me curious, like the one below:This one is seen only by its shadow:
Window to the wide blue yonder:
This one is more for display than for looking in or out:
Such style!:

CHALLENGE: MEN I ADMIRE

This is the last day for being on topic. I could have been posting photos of my dh and other family members, but I chose to keep them private. This photo of a bust of Washington was taken a couple of years ago in Mt. Vernon. The bust was in a shadowy room, so I was happy to be able to see it at all.
What I liked about the bust was written on a plaque nearby: that his family chose this one as the "best likeness" of the real man.

SINGLE BLOOMS

After a morning of errands, Pat and I saw our very first sunshine in forever! Of course, cameras are always on hand, so we stopped on the way home at a fun nursery called the Grey Barn. We had only moments, but we went crazy!
Clematis centers:
I was experimenting (at last) with my camera's different focus techniques, and I was pleased with the results. Of course, some went into the trash bin, but for the most part, things turned out. I am happy with myself for finally taking the time to try to learn about my Nikon D300 instead of just using the"P" mode.
These 1st 4 are clematis centers. They are also sooc; I was so thrilled with the natural color and the focus - why didn't I try this 2 months ago?! 1st and 4th were cropped only slightly; the others were not. All hand-held.
Maybe this one is a little hard to look at, being all-white?
And, a miniature gerbera. These colors are sooc; I love the way they look like brush-work.
There will be more from the Grey Barn, but tomorrow is a planned outing (based on a positive weather report!) to the Univ. of Wash. campus. Wheeeeeeeee!

ANOTHER FLORAL ARRANGEMENT

"Nice pedestal" remarked my DD! This is actually right after I finished the arrangement and it is on a very old garage stool. Someone who came to our DgrS's Eagle Court pointed to the huge arrangement I had done and asked if I could make a similar one "in that vase" for a certain senior graduation program. So, the event was last night, and this is the arrangement, about 3 1/2 feet tall.

Do you see the difference in the two? Unfortunately, after a week of pounding rain, it was still coming down when I had to cut the flowers on Saturday. I feared for the life of each flower - they were so soggy and lifeless! (And so was I, after being in fields and forest to prune!) So, by the time the flowers got to the event, about 1/3rd of them had shrivveled up.
Here, the large one is actually quite a bit in the background, not on the pulpit as it appears:

POTD CHALLENGE: WITH FLASH

I found 2 more where I used flash deep in the woods on the Twin Falls hike a week ago. These little fern tips are about the size of a dime. I didn't have my macro lens; this was with my 18-200mm, hand-held, sooc.

In fact, this is the same fern tip, taken from the other side.

POTD CHALLENGE: FLASH

I am still using photos from my Twin Falls hike. The weather has been November-like, making it impossible to even get out for photography. I don't "do" people-pics where flash would be used a lot. This little fungus was taken with my 18-200mm lens. It was on the dark side of the tree; I didn't want to point and flash head-on, so I tried this from the side and, amazingly, the results were as I had hoped! Sooc, hand-held.