Flowers in my Backyard

Flowering Dahlia

Although I don’t do it a lot, I really enjoy macro and close-up photography. Most of my subjects are flowers that I buy from the store, so it’s really nice when I have the real thing, live, right outside my door. Something about spring flowers in the garden just makes me feel good and I could spend hours out there making images. Of course if I spend too long then I start to feel guilty about how long the grass is, or how dirty the fence is, or that the garbage needs to go out, or…

Flowering Dahlia

Flowering Bracteantha

Flowering Bracteantha

Flowering Dahlia

Flowering Dahlia

Flowering Dahlia

White Feather on a Sandy Beach

Closeup on a White Feather on a Sandy Beach

I found this feather standing upright on the beach while I was in Kelowna a couple of weeks ago. I had been trying to make some nice images of the sandy beach at Waterfront Park in downtown Kelowna, but the light wasn’t cooperating and I really wasn’t all that inspired. When I saw this feather I thought it had some potential and so I switched to my macro lens. I laid right down on the beach beside it to get some closeup images from an interesting angle.

At the time I was out for an early morning walk with my Dad, but he was further off down the beach and nowhere in sight. When I was finished with the feather I stood up and saw him walking towards me. From the look on his face I think he thought I was crazy!

Pussy Willow Catkins in early Spring

Pussy Willow Catkins in early Spring

Another sure sign of spring is when the willow buds start to show up. I found these in Kelowna a couple of weeks ago while visiting my family there. The spring weather in Kelowna was well ahead of Calgary at that time, so it was a nice change from the long winter here. I’m glad that Calgary has finally started to catch up!