Wonderfulicious (wordless) Wednesday

Wordless is often better than writing about what 

is going on , , , ,

Cactus blooms that only last  few hours in the brutal 

desert heat. (almost wordless  . . .)

Vignettes from the garden

Often I dream about leaving the house with the camera and driving to

new places, but then reality sets in and I once again find that it's 

better if I stay home; safer that way.

I'm a believer that photos are everywhere if we look at our 

surroundings with "new eyes." Some times it takes looking through

the viewfinder to see the ordinary in a new way. 

A pot of Agave is interesting enough

but what if the image is layered with a photo of barrel cactus?

Two daily visitors in the yard are more interesting with

multiple textured layers subtly done.

A blending of various cactus and textures.

Every spring a few Orioles arrive. They're particularly fond

of the hummingbird feeder and let me know when it's 

empty. I've probably photographed around a 100 shots of them

and finally got a different one today. Eureka! Getting a side

view this good has taken years. 

Extracted from the boring background of

the hummer feeder and layered with a succulent image followed

by texture layers and my Saturday has gone from

bleak to one full of Joy!

Salton Sea - Egrets/Herons

On Thursday the blue of the Salton Sea was surreal and the perfect backdrop for

photographing egrets. I wasn't the only one who thought this small section

of beach was an amazing spot to photograph. I stayed up on the road while

a photographer with a huge camera and lens ventured down to the shoreline

to get closer to the birds. I would imagine that he ended up with some

sky in the photos. Shooting the photos from above eliminated the boring light

blue sky. 

 If it wasn't for a gazillion pesky flies I think I could have continued photographing

much longer. As it was at least 20 flies followed me into the car when I opened

the door. Buzzing flies made for an "interesting" drive home. 

For most of my life I've lived near the Pacific Ocean so you an imagine

my disappointment 8 years ago when I moved to the desert and first saw

the dying Salton Sea. Waves? Clean walking beaches? 

Non-existent. The stench of dead fish was

overpowering and the area that once dreamed of

becoming a tourist destination was more

dilapidated and barren than I was prepared for. 

  

It's only been in the last few months that I've become intrigued about the Salton Sea.

Last December was the first time in years I even thought about visiting it. My brother

was visiting and we needed a distraction from looking at Board and Care places for

mom. Sunset at the Salton Sea seemed to beckon to us.

• Egrets are commonly pure white in color, but herons exhibit various colors.

• Egrets have significantly black legs and yellow beak, which is not very common among herons.

• Herons prefer to perch on a higher place during resting, while egrets stand on the shallow water more often than not.

I barely got this shot just as I turned to get into the car, in fact I didn't think that 

I'd gotten it. I love how the Egret is walking with such purpose. Just

taking a stroll along the beach; almost human.

While I think this guy is nuts I will be following
along, via FB, on his trek next June around the Salton Sea.
116 miles in 6 days in temps that could
reach 120. Yep, he's nuts!
But it's for a good cause.
Follow along on FB.