Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: Canon 5D Mark III

(+ 3 insets!) (please view large for more droplety goodness!) Steve drove his sister to the airport this afternoon and what happened to me? I found myself making a beeline for my bed! I couldn't believe how tired I was! Isn't that interesting how exhausting company can be? We all had a very nice time though, and Steve got to spend lots of quality time with his sister and that was really great. I was so befuddled this morning that I thought it was Monday! I hadn't taken my photos for Macro Monday yet so I grabbed some knives--the subject this week--and took a bunch of pictures. I really didn't think I'd have anything worthy because I was pretty low-energy but it looks like I'll have a few nice images to post tomorrow! Hooray! I was hoping to process a few pictures from yesterday's adventure to the Pear Blossom parade, street fair, and especially of Jacksonville but I clearly need some recovery time. Instead I'm going to post something else from my bloated folder of finished pictures. Let me see what looks good! *peeks into my archived pictures* Oh, perfect!! The other morning I went out to take some pictures after a long night of rain. I'd seen some mushrooms on my walk that I couldn't resist and grabbed my camera when I got back. However, as I turned to head down the drive, a tiny flash of purple caught my eye and I remembered what I had noticed. The afternoon before I saw a Henbit Deadnettle plant with buds just about to open and made a mental note to come back with my camera the next day. And there we were! I had no idea how fabulous these little 1/3" flowers would look drizzled with raindrops! What a sight! I'm sharing another picture I took as an inset and also a pair of other pictures I took from a few years back. To me they look like miniature orchids with their juicy color and spots. :) Pam, I looked to see if you had any Henbit or Purple Deadnettle flowers but I didn't find any. However, I did find a gorgeous little flower that will do just fine, your lovely Prairie Violet. Such a beautiful little blossom! We don't have anything like that here but I've seen similar flowers growing elsewhere in southern Oregon's wilds. Makes me wonder if I have any good pictures to process so I can show you. Happily I remember exactly where I found them. Hmmm...I'll have to look and see. Sending much love and hugs your way, ma'am! *big hugs* Explored on 4/15/19, highest placement, #1.

(+9 insets!) I've been having a lot of fun working on the pictures I took up on our hillside the other day. When I went up there, the one reason that got me to make the trek was the hope to find Henderson's Fawn Lilies. As I had mentioned, these outrageous beauties are fairly small and feature blossoms that are about three inches at their widest point. Their petals range in color from nearly white with just a hint of lavender to a rich, shaded purple. Every one has its own unique appearance because the flowers open with the petals sweeping up and back. They are one of the most elegant wildflowers I've ever photographed and it will always amaze me that they grow in profusion on our property! The challenging aspect of this flower is that they like to grow very low to the ground with their gorgeous faces positioned downwards. If you hope to do this flower justice, you must take your pictures from ground level so you can aim up and capture their breathtaking countenance. This is when an avid fan must flop on the ground, contort in strange shapes and occasionally appear to be balancing on one's head to get a good shot. I'm used to these shenanigans of course, but this flower really makes me work for nice angles! My hillside photography had me rolling around in the plants and twisting in strange shapes to get my pictures. And, when I'm focused on my photography I'm not paying attention to things that I ought to. Like poison oak, for instance. Did you know that our hillside is infested with this stuff? Right now it's exploding into growth and every one of the vine-like canes is covered with urushiol oil—that's the stuff that causes us to break out in a rash if we come into contact with it. At one point something brushed my eyelid and drew along the crease before I could pull away. I looked to see what it was. How nice...a poison oak cane. I rubbed my eyelid with a wet finger and promptly got back to my photography. When I got back to the house I wisely changed my clothes, treating them as if they were radioactive. I was sure they were covered in poison oak oil but didn't think any of it had touched my skin. Well, other than my eyelid...and anyway, I rubbed it off, right? Yeah. That's right. NOT. At about 2am the next night I was awakened to itching. My eyelid was so ITCHY! In a sleepy stupor I wondered what that was all about. And lots of spots on my left hand were itchy too. As a professional recipient of poison oak over the years it didn't take long to sink in. Oh no. Poison oak. Looking in the mirror, I could see that my eyelid was swollen and my hand was covered in welts. *whimper* I got a wet paper towel, heated it in the microwave and gently pressed it on my itchy spots. The heat releases the antihistamines that cause the itching and instantly stop the maddening urge to scratch off your skin all the way to the bone. Ahhhh...the moist heat gave me immediate relief and I went back to bed. So, I did pay a price to get my pictures but I am fine with it. The rash will go away in a week or so and all will be well! Today's main image appears to be a windswept model, her tresses blowing in the gale! Isn't she magnificent? The first two insets were also taken on the hillside the other day and give you other views of the colors and petal arrangements. The nearly white one I call my Cinderella...she looks ready for a ball, dressed in her finest! I have also included lots of others that I captured in years past. I hope you enjoy them and can see why I am so very enchanted by this stunning flower! Pam, I did a search for "lily" on your photo stream and found many pictures of the incredible orange day lilies that grow so nicely for you. I picked your Orange Day Lily as my choice today...what rich, gorgeous orange tones they have. Your picture is just perfect and does that flower proud! Thank you for sharing it with us, I adore lilies of all kinds and these are really lovely. Sending big hugs from southern Oregon!! Explored on 4/10/19, highest placement, #3.

(+6 insets!) My goodness but the trees were brimming with singing birdies this morning! Twitter, tweet, beep, cheep, peep, trill, call! And in the distance, HONK-HONKs from Canada Geese and CAW-CAW from crows and ravens, and the cry of Red-Tailed Hawks were heard over the hills. My my. All was covered with raindrops from last night and dew coated everything else. The air wasn't too cold and overhead the storm clouds were drifting in diaphanous wisps towards us. It will rain soon but I got my walk in before the drops began to fall. Yesterday I mentioned that I made some wonderful discoveries up on the hillside…and indeed I did! But first, a short story… All the way back in March of 2012, I was exploring our ridgeline for flowers and plants that don't grow in our meadows or lower forest. I found it fascinating to discover that our 26 acres had a microcosm of its own. Our hill rises steeply to the ridge and the difference in elevation between the land down by the front gate and at the top of the ridge is quite a lot, and it's enough that some plants are found in only some places. As I walked along, I noticed an unusual stalk of flower buds growing at the side of the trail. I kept an eye on them over the next couple of weeks and took pictures when it appeared they would be opening soon. Late one afternoon I saw that finally it was about ready and one petal had curled back. Enough to confirm that it was a Scarlet Fritillary! I was so excited but I'd have to wait until the next day before it was completely open. The next morning I fairly raced up the hill and arrived at...the place the flower USED to be. *sagging shoulders* Something had come by and eaten the whole plant, leaves and all. I was so disappointed. Every year after that I checked to see if another flower had popped up but no, I didn't find any more. Sad Janet is sad. Wind the clock forward to yesterday... I went up the hill on my search for trees that might work for the Saturday Self-Challenge. I won't lie. I really wasn't in the mood to climb up there. However, I knew it would be a good idea to see how the hillside was recovering from the wildfire that swept up our hill a couple of years ago. Were there flowers everywhere? I convinced myself to go and up I went. Immediately I was rewarded by flowers everywhere! The hillside was dotted with purple from Henderson's Shooting Stars. Then I saw a flash of yellow. "OH!!" I exclaimed. "MULE EARS!!" The outrageous golden blossoms which look like miniature sunflowers were growing in thick clumps all over the place...WHAT A SHOW! They are so stunning and I lost myself taking pictures of these showy flowers. (Sorry, no pictures to show today! They want their own spotlight!) Then I began hunting for Henderson's Fawn Lillies, our most elegant blossoms and a most treasured flower to me. Small and growing low to the ground, these pastel lavender flowers will stop your heart with their incredible beauty. Scanning as I climbed, I suddenly burst out with, "THERE!" I spotted one nestled in some grass...and then another! Here and there, as I rose to the top of the hill, I found lots of the little Cinderellas and did my best contortions to get images from down low so their lovely faces could be seen. How lucky we are to have such a breathtaking flower growing wild here! (Sorry, no pictures of them today either! They refuse to leave the dressing room unless they get first billing!) At the top of the hill I stared up at the dead trunk and branches of my majestic Madrone friend and then back down at the incredible vibrant growth—much taller than me now—circling its base. This tree had burned in our wildfire and broke my heart because I thought it had died. It had not. Seeing it recovering and growing larger each season eases my pain of its loss and instead fills me with joy to see it doing so well. Skirting the Madrone, a flash of red just a few feet away stopped me in my tracks. I screamed in excitement, "A SCARLET FRITILLARY!!!" I could hardly believe my eyes. Two buds, just about to open! I looked past them and...AN OPEN ONE WITH A BUD! And...ANOTHER FLOWER AND BUD!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I was so excited I hardly knew what to do with myself. Oh yeah...TAKE PICTURES!!!! I forgot about trees. I forgot about the Madrone. I forgot about the recovering hillside and I forgot about the fire. All I saw were those amazing flowers. They are so incredible!! At some point I was satisfied and decided to walk over to one of the fence lines and then take some pictures of trees on the way back. I kept my eyes open for more Fritillaries and I found three more! In fact, my main picture is one of them and the insets feature the others! (I would discover later that all of the flowers near the Madrone had been damaged by insects. The flowers I'm sharing today were all perfect! I hope you enjoy my triumphant finds—I'm so delighted that I found them! In fact, I feel like these special flowers were a reward for going up on the hill when I wasn't in the mood. And for that matter, the entire floral show was such a great experience for me...I'm happy that I made the effort and listened to the voice in my head that told me I really did need to go up there. :) Pamy, since these flowers are so red and lovely, I did a search on your stream for "Red" and found your gorgeous Amaryllis Collage ! Oh my, aren't they just incredible!! Your pictures are fantastic and perfect, how wonderful that you had a plant for the holidays! I am hoping that you are doing well on this very rainy day! I'm thinking of you and wish that we could have been there together to discover those lovely flowers together! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 4/8/19, highest placement, #1.

(+11 insets!) Today is simply gorgeous! It might as well be March 20 because it couldn't be a more classic spring day. Sunny, warm, the rich smells of plants and earth perfuming the air, birds twittering in all the trees. We've filled our bird and suet feeders and the back and forth of the birds to their nests is constant and a great source of enjoyment whenever we look out the back window. We've seen Oregon Juncos, Acorn Woodpeckers, Pewees, California and Spotted Towees, Scrub and Stellar's Jays...still waiting on many types that we commonly see. The neighborhood is still learning about the new food source, at which time the feeders will be very busy all day! The only thing that tells me that spring hasn't truly arrived yet is the lack of spring flowers. I have been creeping all over the meadows, forests and hillside, and so far as I can tell, there are only six species in bloom at this point: Whitlow Spring Grass, Saxifrage, Buttercups, Bird's Eye Speedwell and two new finds: Redstem Storksbill and Spring Sandwort. I can't even include our daffodils because they are still in bud though they may begin to open in the next few days. It is definitely the latest spring in all the years we've lived here—about 15 years now. Saturday Self-Challenge has arrived, and with it, the day's topic: Signs of Spring! I thought about driving around and looking for newborn farm animals but decided to just stay on the property for the most part. I did ride my bike around our rural block yesterday to confirm that it's just too early for most flowers right now, and it's true. I found exactly ONE daffodil in bloom that I was able to photograph. Other than that, the native flora is only beginning to prepare for the yearly extravaganza. I enjoyed looking for different flowers and all of them are harbingers of spring. I didn't find any Buttercups or Saxifrage for my presentation but the flowers I did find were very nice subjects. When I could, I photographed them in bud, though some had glorious blossoms that rivaled flowers ten times their size! Today's main picture is a Redstem Storksbill flower and bud and though the face of this flower is quite beautiful, the back is truly stunning with wonderful hairy and striated, variegated details that shine luminously. The finished image just had to be my main picture! I hope that you enjoy all of the images I've added as insets. What a delightful SSC challenge this was! Pam, I wanted to find a picture on your stream that signified spring, and found this breathtaking and artistic crocus in a bubble with water reflection. It's so pretty and makes me so happy that you have posted these lovely creations for all of us to enjoy and be inspired by! Thank you! I do hope that today is better than the last few...I'm sending hugs your way my dear! :) Explored on 3/17/19, highest placement, #1.

Last August, Steve and I went on a group motorcycle trip from southern Oregon to Vancouver, Canada. I took a rented Canon 5D Mark III camera and had some fun trying it out. These are some pretty leaves I found at a rest stop along the way.