Category Archives: nature photography

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Duck Duck Goose

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….I may be a little late with Cee’s call for Duck Duck Goose but yesterday’s walk gave me ample material for this week’s challenge

 

In the Hills of Assisi

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….my favourite part of my trip to Italy took place in Assisi

Part 1

I’ve saved the best part of my trip for last. As some of you know my son was married this summer. The family part of the wedding took place in the hills of Assisi. In June, B and A were officially married in the registrars office in London, England and the guests that  attended were mostly friends and work colleagues who lived in England.

In July friends from Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy and family from Canada, Germany and Iran came together to celebrate the union of our son and his beautiful bride in a traditional Persian ceremony.

The family stayed in a beautiful hillside resort, Casa Rosa, above the town of Assisi. Originally all the cottages had been farm buildings. The cottage we stayed in was formerly the pig barn and then later the horse stables. The view from our patio was breath taking and the property was surrounded by olive groves, lavender, fruit trees and rosemary.

Our accommodations were very comfortable and you would never have known that some of the cottages previously housed farm animals. We were warned to watch out for scorpions, yellow spiders and asps but we didn’t encounter any of these creatures. We kept looking over the hills in hopes of seeing some wild boars but we didn’t see any them either.

We took a walk along some of the trails that surrounded the farm. The trip out was pretty easy because it was mostly downhill but returning was a little more challenging. We passed numerous pieces of abandoned farm equipment along the way.

On our first evening in Assisi we took a taxi ride into the town of Assisi and had a wonderful meal on the patio of a local restaurant. It was our first real introduction to the family of the bride. We pretty much took over the restaurant for the evening. I tried to take photos of all the entrees that were placed before us but sometimes they were so mouth watering that half the plate was eaten before I remembered about taking photos. All in all it was a great evening and a good start to the wedding festivities that followed the next day.

More about the Persian ceremony in a few days.

Ciao!

Busy Bees

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….I’m loving my macro lens

I’m still learning how to use my macro lens and right now I feel like I’m not really in control. It’s very hit or miss when I’m trying to capture the perfect shot. I’m not sure what I’ve done right when I get the shot or what I’m doing wrong when I don’t. Here are a few attempts at trying to capture bees at work.

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The bottom photo is obviously not a bee but when my lens got close enough to get a clear shot these orange and black milkweed bugs would quickly move to the back of the milkweed pod that they were sitting on.

Can anyone give me suggestions for getting better close-up shots. When I adjust the lens it doesn’t appear to change what I’m seeing through the lens.

The Changing Seasons: September 2016

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….a new challenge hosted by Cardinal Guzman

September felt like July/August. The school year started with a heat wave. I’m not complaining. It was a beautiful month and when the first day of autumn came around so did the change in the weather. Cool evenings (great for sleeping) and warm afternoons. It’s hard to know how to dress for the day. One definitely needs a sweater or jacket for the mornings but long sleeves and jeans feel too warm later in the day.

The gardens are starting to fade but there is still a lot of colour. Berries and seed pods are starting to replace blooms. The lake is taking on new cool colours of blue and turquoise and the wind is stirring up the waves.