Category: Photography

 

Fall bloomers, and no I’m not talking about your grandma’s old fashioned undergarments.  Flowers!  Beautiful late fall flowers!

The featured photograph above and the pink double flower below are the gorgeous Azaleas.  Being from the north originally, we are used to seeing these beauties only blooming once during the season.  However, down here in the wonderful warm south, they seem to bloom longer and multiple times.  And even though it is late in the season, they don’t seem any less vibrant.

The other flowers of multiple colors of pink, purple, and red are Zinnias.  These are one of my wife’s favorites.  We didn’t get these planted very early in the spring, but now that it has cooled down, they have really taken off.  And like the Azaleas, they are still very vibrant and bold in color.

Over the next few days of this weekend, as I mentioned before, we will be moving about 2 miles down the road.  I will most definitely miss the backyard here, the small moss covered pond, and the variety of trees and birds that they held.  But our new place has a much larger pond and 56 acres of various trees and wildlife.  We were told that this past spring there were ducks and geese that stayed and actually hatched babies on the pond.  I can only imagine some of the pictures we will be able to get while we are there.

Don’t forget to hit the “Like” button below, leave me a comment, and please share my page, RMGoldsmithphotography.com, with all of your friends.  A quick shout out to the two new countries that have visited my blog:  the Netherlands and Malaysia.  That makes a total of 25 different countries around the world that have “hopefully” enjoyed our photos as much as we did taking and sharing them.

So, from my camera to yours, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”

Ah fall, with all of its colorful sights and scents, a wonderful time of the year.  We have been moving for the last couple of weeks, as we have the benefit this time of just moving a load or two every night in the pickup truck, since we are only moving about a mile or so down the road.  So we haven’t had a lot of time to go on any 3 Hour Photo Trips recently, but I’ve tried to go outside and walk around at least once a day or so.  Some days, like on my last blog, you luck out and get a Blue Jay and a Cardinal in the same shot.  Other days, no birds, but there’s always something to pause and photograph.

This trip around the yard Monica was with me.  It was still pretty early, everything was damp and covered in dew and it created just a quiet and peaceful time.  In the back part of our yard, there are a lot of oak trees and pines; all of which are very mature trees.  In the first photo just below the title above, is a small round “fruit” of some kind.  I haven’t determined what this is, they were here all summer as well as now.  When you cut them open, they seem to be dried out and empty for the most part.  I haven’t seen them actually on trees, only on the ground.  Monica and I have looked them up and just can’t seem to figure out their identity.  If you know, please leave me a comment and let me know.

In the featured photo at the top, is one of natures sweetest offerings:  a ripe persimmon that has fallen off the tree.  Fortunately for me, the deer hadn’t found this one yet, so it was all mine.  Little is as sweet and tasty like a fresh ripe persimmon.  On the flip side, let me offer a “buyer beware” type of comment:  not much is more bitter and mouth drying than an unripe persimmon.  If it soft and mushy feeling, you are safe to indulge.  If it’s firm really at all, you’re better off passing it by.

In my last photo, we were next to the pond and found the a lifecycle of a fall persimmon. One that’s dead and dried out, one that’s almost dried out, and one that’s a little past ripe but still edible.

This photo didn’t fit the “Fruits of Fall” motif of the blog, but it was taken the same morning and really captures the whole feeling of a fall morning.  Dew covered, damp, still a little cool out, and the sun just starting to peak out and warm things up.

This week two more countries were added as viewers of the blog, so welcome Poland and Malaysia!  Press the “Like” button below and leave me a comment, especially if you know what to call the spotted thing above.

So from my camera to yours, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!

Haven:  a place of safety and refuge; a place offering favorable opportunities or conditions.  This is Merriam Webster’s definition, and from what we came home to the other day after work, I would say that I agree and our backyard became a temporary Bluebird Haven.

Actually, when I got home there wasn’t much going on in the yard; except me throwing the frisbee with Ripley.  About half an hour later when Monica came home she told me there were a bunch of bluebirds all over the place.  So, of course I grabbed the camera and went out on the hunt, and it was very rewarding indeed.

The hard part was catching them in some good lighting, as it was already getting dark with the fall sun setting early.  You also have to realize the average size of an Eastern Bluebird is about 16–21 cm (6.3–8.3 in) long from beak to the end of their tail.  Their body and head is only about 7 cm (3 inches), so not a very large bird to try and capture in the cameras sights.

I hope you enjoy these Beautiful Bluebirds as much as we did.  They are one of my wife’s favorite birds and they made for a wonderful photo shoot.  If you liked the photos be sure to click the “Like” button below and by all means leave me a comment or two.  Share the page with all of your friends, and if you feel so inclined to purchase a print or two, let me know and I’ll get them right out to you.

Until next time from my camera to yours, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”

This morning, once again the temperature was starting to drop and the rain from last night had turned into an off and on drizzle.  So I snuck out for a trip around the back yard tree lines.  It was pretty quiet except for some Cardinals “peeping”, but I did happen to see a new bird:  a Nashville Warbler.

I’m guessing he was headed south, and maybe saw our bird feeders and thought this would be a great place for a rest stop.  We had some peach slices laying out as well, so maybe those tickled his fancy too.

After that, I came upon an all black toadstool or mushroom.  Not sure what the difference is between a mushroom and a toadstool, but it looked fairly interesting.  After that, it started to drizzle a little again, so I took some refuge underneath the pine trees.

After a short rain spell, I heard a bunch of different sounds coming from the same corner of the tree lines.  I knew exactly what it had to be:  a Mockingbird.  Sure enough, there he was perched on top of the neighbors playhouse roof just singing away.  It’s a shame that such a beautiful sounding bird, has such a drab appearance.  I guess you really can’t have it all.

Lastly for the morning, I came across another reddish pink mushroom, but this time it had a tiny pool of water laying on top.  Without a bright sun out, I knew it would be hard to catch the water, but I managed to get some of it to show up.  That tiny little blade of grass is actually floating in the water, and if you zoom in, you can see the reflection of some tree limbs in the tiny puddle.

Not a “knock it out the park” walk about, but I did get to see and record a new bird, hear the melodious mixture of the Mockingbird, and hang around a couple of “fungis.”  Sorry, I had to.

So, it may be getting cooler, it may not be bright and sunny, but you never know what you might see and what might just be passing through your backyard, like a Nashville Warbler.  Until next time, “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”

So, the other morning I decided to take the camera out and just walk around and see what I could find.  It was sprinkling a little off and on and definitely very overcast, but I was able to get a few shots.  If nothing else, it’s always good practice to take pictures in all sorts of conditions:  light, bright, dark, dreary…because you never know when a great shot will appear and you’ll need to know what to do to make it happen.

That being said, on the way out of the house Monica told me to come to the bathroom and look at this crazy bug.  Well, crazy it was.  I’ve never seen anything like this little guy and I’ve been Googling it and still haven’t found out what it is called.  I’ve seen two other pictures that look just like it, but no name.  So, if anyone has a clue as to what this thing is called, please leave a comment and let us all know.  But what a cool picture of this bug crawling on the mirror.  I must say, it was a little challenging getting good focus and lighting of a small bug crawling on a mirror.

After that, I went outside and just walked one trip around the yard.  I saw the toadstool/fungus first.  Not sure what this is either, but it looked pretty neat in the middle of the pine straw and a few blades of really green grass that are still hanging on as fall is starting to get into full swing.

Then I heard that old familiar sound:  the fast drumming high up in the tree.  I looked up and sure enough, there’s a Red Bellied Woodpecker.  Even though his head is actually red on the back and top and his belly is not red…some genius scientist decided to name him a red bellied woodpecker.  I can only imagine that this bird was spotted about 1 minute after the first red “headed” woodpecker (pictured in the blog before this one).  In  frustration, the naturalist that saw it, missed the opportunity to call it a red “headed” woodpecker by one minute and angrily just said fine, it’s a red “bellied” woodpecker.  Probably not a true story, so don’t quote me on that one.

Some may call it cheating or not “natural”, but I loved the color contrasted with the Carolina Chickadee, the wet cedar wood, and the bright yellow peach slices.  It seemed like the peaches were attracting a lot of birds, but I really didn’t see anything eating on them much.

Lastly, a good ole gray squirrel.  Just sitting up in the tree munching on some bird seed that he stole from our bird feeder tray.  A lot of people get upset when the squirrels eat their bird seed, we don’t.  We actually enjoy them just as much as they climb, stretch, and perform all kinds of gymnastic moves just to get some bird seed.

So, don’t forget to press the “Like” button below, click the “Follow” button as well, and please share my page with all your friends:  especially the rich and influential ones…lol.  Above all, if you know what the little green bug is with red eyes, please leave me a comment and let me know.  Until next time, from our lens to yours, Enjoy Our Wonderful World!

 

On our last day, of two days total, we got out early to see some of the birds.  We were fortunate enough to have some great weather, bright sunlight, and caught a few birds in the lens as well.

Before leaving the campsite, Monica looked up and saw this Red Headed Woodpecker in the tree right behind our camper.  I grabbed the camera and fired off a few shots.  It was still pretty dark under the tree top, but I was able to get a couple of good ones.  I especially like the one where it looks like he is still a little sleepy in the early morning, and just laying his head on the branch napping.  Even his eyes are closed.  I’m pretty sure that woodpeckers don’t sleep like this, but it’s a pretty neat thought.

Most professional photographers say that in wildlife shots, it makes for a better shot if the subject, in this case the woodpecker, can be caught with his head slightly turned away.  In these two pictures he cooperated and gave me both profiles, what a nice guy!  And they did turn out well.

The featured photograph and the last photo in the collage is of the White Pelican, and a Black Cormorant who decided to photo bomb the shot.  In both shots the sun was making the water a beautiful blue and just make the pelicans jump out in a bold vibrant effect.

In the next couple of weeks we are being forced to move…so I won’t have our little pond and all the trees in our backyard, that I’ve shared so many pictures of on my blog.  However, we were blessed to find another house out in the country that literally has what you would call a small lake and 56 acres of field and woods to patrol with my camera.  The owner said that this past spring there were baby ducks and geese that hatched right there all around the “lake.  So, be prepared for some “new” backyard pictures coming soon.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos as much as we did taking them and being out there in nature.  If so, please click on the “Like” button below and then click on the “Follow” button as well.  And by all means, leave me a comment or two and be sure to share with your friends.  As always, get out there with me and “Enjoy Our Wonderful World!”