The Cockspur Coral Tree (Erythrina crista-galli) is a large-flowered South American tree that is cultivated as an ornamental plant in parks. It is the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay.
For Cee´s Flower of the Day.
it is the time that time of year again when the magical color show begins, it’s not at it’s best glory as yet. But You can smell , sense the coming autumn.
Autumn colors paint a breathtaking masterpiece on nature’s canvas. As the crisp air descends, the foliage transforms into a vibrant symphony of oranges, yellows, and reds. The once lush green leaves now burst with warmth and enchantment. Each tree becomes a glorious work of art, showcasing the beauty of transition. Take a moment to immerse yourself in this kaleidoscope of hues, as nature bids farewell to summer and welcomes the season of harvest and reflection.
Posted for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
This summer/ autumn the mushrooms have been really popping up, I don’t remember when we have had this much of them pop up in our yard. I Don’t recognize them from each other, so I don’t pick them up. I take photos instead and buy the ones I eat, better safe than sorry .
The white fly mushroom (Amanita virosa) is deadly poisonous. Dangerous cell toxins damage internal organs: kidneys, liver, heart muscle, brain and blood vessels.
The white fly mushroom is completely white, and the color does not change from contact or other handling. The cap is egg-shaped when young, then bell-shaped and almost flat when old. It is sticky when wet and silky shiny when dry, and slightly yellowed in the middle when older. The gills are permanently white.
The leg is also completely white. Its upper part has the characteristic sign of a fly agaric: a ragged and hanging ring. A good sign is also the thick, lumpy basal part of the foot surrounded by a sheath.
fly agaric have been popping up some of them are rather big
I did some search about these mushrooms, and was surprised that they are editable. The cap of the honeydew(Armillaria borealis) mushroom has clear scales, the ring is strong and effervescent. The scales of the tadpole mushroom, on the other hand, are insignificant, its leg is club-like and often dirty yellow. The ring of the species is thin and pendulous and often disappears completely.
The way the species grow is also different: the mushroom grows in dense clumps on the stump.
Oriental bittersweet is not flowering at the moment , but we are at the stage when the berries are yellow and leaves still green. Soon to turn orange and the leaves to turn yellow.
I like to see the leaves to entwine around each other
Water, the essence of life, flows endlessly through the rocky crevices and gentle streams. It is a symbol of resilience, adaptability, and transformation. Just like water, we too must learn to flow through life’s challenges, gracefully navigating the twists and turns that come our way.
Imagine a babbling brook, its gentle melody soothing your soul. The water, sparkling in the sunlight, dances over pebbles, creating a symphony of nature’s music. It reminds us to embrace the beauty and serenity of the present moment.
As water cascades down a waterfall, it reminds us of the power and strength within us. With every drop that falls, it signifies the potential for change and growth. Just as the water carves its path through solid rock, we too can carve our own destiny, shaping our lives through determination and perseverance.
So let the flowing water be a constant source of inspiration. May it remind you to adapt, to embrace change, to find strength in the face of adversity, and to let your spirit flow freely. Like a river, may you navigate through life with grace and purpose, leaving your mark on the world.
I was playing with my photo, or should I say editing my images. I shoot in raw so I can easily play with the color tones and change the mood. Mostly I stay true to the actual photo. If I don’t I mostly bring it to in the open. I usually do not like over edited and color enhanced photos. If it is beautiful – it is that with out over doing it. There are lots of images like that in Instagram, the may look lovely. but realistic is long way from them.
As I’ve opened about that… lets go. The image above is the original photo. I have edited the light and contrast.
Below you can see too mood changes as I yellows and softened the greens to get a more autumn feel to it. The one on the right I added orange tones and blue tones to the green.. autumn also , but the mood is totally different.
Then there is the monochrome image. Time well spent editing ☺
Any thoughts about these, please share, I would love to have opinions on these.
The road may be beautiful or ugly; it may be easy or hard, smooth or rough, it doesn’t matter; what matters most is where the road will take you!
Mehmet Murat ildan
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.Lin Yutang
I love black and white photography – or monochrome, what evet we wish to call it. So under this Monochrome title I will try to post regularly images that I think look good in this format. Hope you enjoy them.
Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness
The river makes the water flow. That’s how I live. I just let everything flow. Flow with the river.
Vitor Belfort
Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
– Heraclitus
Last chance this year to take photos of fall phloxes or other commonly used names are, garden phlox, perennial phlox, summer phlox, and panicled phlox.
Many thanks to Tina for this challenge.
She challenges us to choose up to a MAXIMUM OF TEN images which are your all-time favorites and tell us why you chose them.
I enjoyed looking through my archives to choose my favorite images. I have to say that I had really hard time picking the images. I had already a picked some images that I like to my blogs side banner. I noticed there are few that I chose here too. Some of my favorite shots .
Tina’s images for “Tell Us Why” are beautiful, check them out be inspired.
This image has the mood , an element that I enjoy catching. It is sea and clouds two topics that I love.
I took this on a supposed beach day in Florida, Del Ray Beach, that did not happen, instead I did get this
Again, I love the atmosphere in this night street shot, it was early October night, a bit of drizzle in the air as we walked in old town Nice, in France. I like the framing in this photo and the feeling of waiting that I sense in this photo.
Taken in Thailand in a temple in Phuket. This monk statue placed so that it looked at the mountains with well wishing bell hanging in front of it. Yes, Mood and I like how the photo is composed. If I would now edit it, I would remove the rope hanging that causes distraction.
Black and white still life from Verla It is a unique UNESCO World Heritage site that brings the turn of the 20th century to life. This is a detail from the THE MILL MUSEUM . I was given permit to take photos for a photograph exbibition that I had. This is one of my favorite shot of used cogwheels placed on the wall. The side window gave the shot beautiful light.
This is from Australia, taken from the twelve apostles. That coastline is so beautiful, I could have picked one of many shot I took there. I like the natural colors and the composition in this one, it is balanced and you can feel the cool wind.
I took this at the Helsinki Zoo as the brown bears were playing in the water. I le the movement and action in this animal photo. I like how the bears fits the frame and you can feel the energy they created in the moment.
This is from my home town of Kirkkonummi in Southern Finland. A road in afternoon light. The leading line of the gravel road and shadows from the low light gives it a mood and invite you to go t the light.
Composition and simplicity of the nature make this shot.
Well this one of my favorite shots of my husband, it fills the frame it is authentic in expression and you can see signs of life lived.
Sunset are lovely. spectacular color shows, but in my mind if you have something else also frame it is more interesting. This from Key West, Florida the sun setting and the pelican flying in front of a pier. The composition works and the silhouette’s of the background gives it depth.
Let’s end with a shot appropriate for the season. Colors, framing, leading lines make this shot.
The header is 10+1 it from Cape Verde . I love the colorful feeling of it the leisurely mood and I think the framing works. 🙂
A field full of flowers, and the farmer had posted a sign with a permission to pick them up for free.
I on took pictures of them. Calendula flowers shine bright
They can’t take that away from me…
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No no they can’t take that away from me
Six words in a the title and photo to match – linked to Six Word Saturday at Debbie’s
We all have these photos … throwback photos! Don’t we just… so many. It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”.
This week (#TB Thursday). I was editing photos and for some unknown reason LR just kept taking me back to photos I took at Mojave Desert in Southern Nevada. I then took the time to have a fresh look at the photos. made few edits and Voilà – Here we are , some of the winding roads from the drive
The colors of the rock formations are really something so to name the place valley of fire is very appropriate
I do like these curve roads
This one I know – I think, my guess is Cholla 🌵cactus
The various species of Devil Cholla are all Club Cholla, so-called because they have club-shaped joints with well-defined tubercles. Devil Cholla have no sheaths on spines. All are low-growing, often forming thick mats that can be impenetrable. Spines come in all colors, but can be sharp as daggers.
Mojave Desert of southern Nevada is where I took these photos
Opuntia parishii
Desert: Mojave Desert of eastern California, southern Nevada and eastern Arizona
Height: Up to 4 inches
Joints: Obovoid segments up to an inch in diameter
Flowers: Lemon-yellow with greenish centers
Fruit: Fleshy, smooth, yellow, to 3 inches long
Elevation: 6,000-8,000 feet
Guest host Egidio of Through Brazilian Eyes says he turns to nature to rejuvenate and asked us how we recharge our body’s’ batteries. I would have to agree to that, nature does that.
Music, art and good food and dessert and wine accompanied by friends.. got to love that.
This weekend is a good sample of recharging for me, if you have read any of my posts you know that I am a often at my summer house, like many other Finns are, away from the city, hassle and buzzle of everyday life. Outdoors, barbecue, sauna and glass of wine, maybe two. Nature surrounding us is it the forest, lakes, sea or fields , as in my case.
Driving this road already set the mood for the moments ahead. Below water as an element is recharging. I love the sea.
Animal’s well you got to love them. Veikka and Tinka are my most recent pets. Cuddle them and you relax as you hear them purr.
Forest, trees, well the lungs of the earth, they are so important at the prospect of recharging no matter what the season.
If you would like to participate weekly in Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
It’s like climbing a staircase. I’m on the top of the staircase, I look behind me and I see the steps. That’s where I was.
Jeanne Moreau
The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.
Samuel Johnson
“No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp.”
~ Stella Young
I love black and white photography – or monochrome, what evet we wish to call it. So under this Monochrome title I will try to post regularly images that I think look good in this format. Hope you enjoy them.
September has been rather rainy, but today we have blue skies and lovely comfortable temperatures . I am enjoying my backyard and the sunshine
“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“When it rains, the streets start to get deserted! And the rain has a special sympathy for those who wander in the street despite the rain!”
“The only thing I shall want for a rainy day will be my umbrella.”
“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.”
― Roger Miller
I got a lovely bouquet from my husband and it had so many flowers in it, and I could name few, but some were just pretty flowers without a name tag to me, and well, that’s my approach to flowers anyways, if they are pretty it is good enough for me.
No facts this time either
Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day
My first post to the this challenge, six words in the title and photos to match it.
I think this is a pink carnation, I am not all that good with flower names.
I got a lovely bouquet from my husband and it had so many flowers in it, and I could name few, but some were just pretty flowers without a name tag to me, and well, that’s my approach to flowers anyways, if they are pretty it is good enough for me.
No facts this time
Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day
The Japanese are famous for their mesmerizing gardens and revolving stories around their flowers. The hydrangea is no exception: legend has it that a Japanese emperor gifted blue hydrangeas to the family of a girl he loved to make up for neglecting her.
I got a lovely bouquet from a friend and the main flowers was this colorful hydrangea. Loved the details and colors of the pedals. It’s said that including hydrangeas in flower arrangements invites good fortune into one’s home. Purple hydrangeas are said to be particularly lucky as they symbolize abundance and prosperity.
Some facts
For one type known as bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), you can change the color of their flowers by adjusting the soil pH with soil amendments. The more acidic the soil, the bluer your hydrangeas will turn out. The more alkaline, the pinker your hydrangeas will be.
The hydrangea represents gratitude, grace and beauty. It also radiates abundance because of the lavish number of flowers and the generous round shape. Its colors symbolize love, harmony and peace..
Hydrangeas don’t have petals.
Those beautiful petals aren’t petals at all. They are sepals, which are leaves that protect the flower bud. Only after they age do they turn from green to the pigmented colors you see.
Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day.
I don’t know why I am having such a hard time getting back to the groove of posting. I have not taken many photos, well of flowers I have, as I got several bouquets for my birthday and I needed to use them to get some nice flower shots.
Yesterday was a typical Finnish August day, sunshine and rain in sequence. I went to the seaside with the idea of sitting there and enjoy the scenery and relax, and take few photos. I did take some photos, but sitting there and relaxing, no. Did not happen it started to drizzle and rain. I did get some nice shots of clouds.
August is coming to an end, this morning I woke up to a thunderstorm – a good one. Lots of rain, and flashes and the pressure of thunder made windows resonate. It was so close. I should have gotten up to take photos, but I rather continued sleeping.
Rosa glauca
also known as Read-leaved rose, Redleaf rose ( punalehtiruusu)
Roses and briars (Rosa spp.) are large-flowered, prickly shrubs. Their leaves are imparipinnate. Fruits are achenes which, however, are not visible, but enclosed by the enlarged receptacle, the whole being called a hip.
The genus comprises between 100 and 250 species, depending on the defining criteria. They are distributed over the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. Roses have been cultivated in China and the eastern Mediterranean at least for 4,000–5,000 years.
Red-leaf rose is native to the mountains of Central Europe. It has been a fairly common ornamental in Finland since the 19th century. This species does not produce suckers. Its stems are erect and fairly tall. The slender, spreading young branches are covered in a waxy bloom. Prickles are fairly sparse, and they are slender and straight or slightly curved.
The little flowers are pink and made up of five petals. They are formed in small clusters and will have a light scent at best.
The orangish-red fruits are called hips. They can help add color during the winter since they can take a while to fall off. You can also cook with them and use them in alternative medicine.
Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 