Carol's Garden and Akela

During a recent visit to my sister-in-law Carol's house, I snapped some photos of her amazing garden, and of her Seppala Husky dog as well. The garden is the result of an intensive project begun during Covid to revamp the front yard from mostly grass to mostly gardens. The gardens are filled with intense color blooms which make it a joy to observe and walk through. Below are some of my favorite photos taken during the visit.

Her garden contains magnificent dahlias.

Delightful Dahlia

... and some other purple blooms, much loved by several insects.

Small Yellow Flyers

Bee on Task

While not as colorful as many of the plants, this blue spruce tree has plenty of camera appeal as well.

Bristling Blue Spruce

Here we take a brief intermission and introduce you to Akela, a Seppala Husky (also called a Seppala Siberian Sleddog). Check out the movie "Togo" (2019) to learn about Seppala Huskies. They're an intelligent and amazing sled dog, now considered a different breed from other Siberian Huskies.

Seppala Smile

Akela is one of, if not *the*, most alert dog I've ever met. He is always paying attention.

Eye on the Prize

Now back to more garden photos of a much smaller animal: a praying mantis.

Natural Pest Control

Special Garden Visitor

New Dahlia

Dancing Joyous Petals 1

Dancing Joyous Petals 2

Outreach

Bee Bliss

I enjoyed the textures displayed in the large petals of this hibiscus.

Sails Up

Once again, back to the glorious dahlias.

Basking Petals

Dahlia Derriere

 All photos © 2021, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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Animal Appreciation

Here are three animals in four photos for your enjoyment.

These first two images are of a very tiny spider I saw spinning a web and waiting patiently for prey on the railing of our deck. These are taken with my macro lens. I estimate its body is between 1/8" and 1/4" in length!

Tiny Spider 1

Tiny Spider 2

Here's a much much larger animal. This is Max, a neighbor's dog. He behaves like a human in a dog's body. He always "talks" to us when we visit with him. He vocalizes talking sounds without barking. He's one of the coolest dogs ever.

This is taken with my 12-40mm lens.

Max

We've been seeing a lot of rabbits lately. The old adage suggesting they multiply quickly seems a truism. Here's one grazing in our backyard.

This is taken with my telephoto lens from about 25 feet away. If you look closely you'll see that his/her ear has been split. Guess life is tough out in the wild.

Backyard Bunny

All photos © 2020, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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January in July

It's hot around here in July, so I thought I'd cool things down a bit by blogging some winter photos. Today's post contains photos all taken earlier this year, in January.

Here's one of a set of focus-bracketed photos of a tree in the woods. One unexpected side effect of getting several shots all with a slightly different focus point, is that, even if I don't combine them, I can pick the one with the most pleasing focus point.

Ringed Tree

Winter Path

The next two photos are taken at Ashland Res. They are actually taken with my Nexus 5x cell phone!

Reflected Sky

Sky on Ice

The next set of photos are from Lake Waban, at Wellesley College. I was lucky to be there when a large number of ducks decided to visit.

Ducky Brigade

Takeoff Zone

Shimmering

Feather Pattern

Skimming the Surface

Duck Turbulence

Ducky Playtime

Color Spread

Flapper

This next set is at Halibut State Park in Rockport.  If you look very closely, you'll see the ducks on the ice near the center of the photo. The first two pictures that follow were also taken with my Nexus 5x cell phone.

Ice Quarry Blue

For perspective, that's Deb in the white coat on the left:

Quarry

Quarry Sample

Waves on Rocks 1

Waves on Rocks 2

Waves on Rocks 3

Waves on Rocks 4

Exploring Dog

Pool by the Ocean

Blocks on Ice

All photos © 2016, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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Patterns in Nature

Still doing some catchup blogging here. This collection reflects a few different photo outings.

This is a miniature horse I passed during a walk in a neighborhood with which I was not familiar. The horse was a welcome surprise. I had not anticipated passing any farm animals on this particular stroll.
This is taken with my Nexus 5x cell camera.

Miniature Horse

These next three sunset shots were taken - you will not believe this - from the parking lot at Trader Joe's.  I stepped out from grocery shopping and was greeted with this amazing orange sky. These are taken w/my Nexus 5x. Need I mention it was even better in person? At least you get an idea from the photos.

Memorable Sunset 1

Memorable Sunset 2

Memorable Sunset 3

While also a sunset, the following is taken on a different day with my Olympus and 12-40mm lens. The sky's purple color felt soothing.

Late Light

These next two are different crops of the same photo.

Against the Sky 1

Against the Sky 2

Leaf Texture and Color

This is Ranger. He's my sister-in-law and husband's dog. He's a Catahoula. He's looking at something important.

Eye of Ranger

Eye of Gargoyle at Ranger's House

Afternoon Buds

Wood Grain 1

Wood Grain 2

All photos © 2015, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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