Throughout our neighborhood, the Palos Verdes trees are in full bloom. The bright yellow flowers against the blue sky are so gorgeous.
This is how beautiful our driveway looks right now. Most of the year, the plants are brown without blossoms.
Even the saguaro in our backyard is bursting out in blossoms. A Gila Woodpecker is taking advantage of the nectar from one blossom.
I took the saguaro photos Monday. Today there are seven blossoms. I’m taking pictures each day to see how the blossoming crown progresses.
This is the walkway from our driveway to our courtyard and front door. I have never seen it look so “Springy” before.
Then there’s RED:
I decided to take a few more photos of the saguaro blossoms for this post and guess who showed up? He landed right in front of me and started singing with all his might! I think he wondered why my camera was pointed at the cactus — and not him!
Here is Red singing his heart out! None of the photos today are edited, cropped or touched. My professor’s last words of wisdom for us this week was we can start editing in Adobe Photoshop — but it has a steep learning curve. I’m thankful for the lessons I’ve had with this professor and that he didn’t let us crop or edit — we had to be aware of what our photos would look like untouched.
Even the bees are buzzing today!
Happy Spring and thanks for going on my photo journey with me.
Perhaps it’s time to get back to writing and editing my manuscripts?
How lovely. I’ve never seen a saguaro bloom before..
Thanks! I was so surprised when I first saw them in bloom.
I think the best editing is done before you snap the picture. I like your framing and composition. Nice photos.
Thanks! That’s exactly what our professor taught us.
You can really tell that the plants are incredibly happy that spring has arrived!
I’m surprised at how everything looks so fresh and in bloom. We had very little rain this year, except for a late rain storm.
Those cactus flowers…..beautiful
I love having them outside my window.
That is wonderful
👍🏼
Your photo journey has been fun to watch and learn about from afar. I adore the bright cheerful colors in these photos.
Thanks! It’s so gorgeous with the bright colors to take walks and enjoy being outside.
The cactus flowers are just so amazing. And so are the trees. Red must be jealous that you are taking pictures of other things.
I think Red was jealous! I was sitting in a chair on my patio and he started singing and landed right in front of me.
How intelligent these birds are.
They are!
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
The woodpecker on the saguaro blossom is great. Love that Red got jealous and decided to shine as well!
Red was something else. I must have gotten more than 20 photos of him singing in front of me. I wish I could have recorded his voice, too. The saguaro looks even prettier today.
Great photo of the woodpecker eating and of course, always love RED photos.
Thanks! I am enjoying having the know-how to capture the beauty of birds and plants this Spring. Red is a treasure!
Yes to.writing and editing!!
👍🏼
“He landed right in front of me and started singing with all his might! I think he wondered why my camera was pointed at the cactus — and not him!” He really is a cocky one, isn’t he? Ha, ha.
You are so right about Red! I did catch the sweetest thing on my bird buddy camera today. Mrs. was munching away and Red joined her and fed her seeds!
“Fed her seeds.” Aww, he’s debonair and handsome, and a kindhearted romantic too. Wow! Ha, ha. You go Big Red.
It’s amazing how tender he is with Mrs. I can’t wait to see him as a dad!
😎😎 😎
💕
Those are beautiful photos! I love the bare scaping of Arizona-fewer weeds to pull and the cacti,
Thanks! It looks so lush right now that I think it doesn’t look like the desert. In the winter the leaves on the trees are bare and there aren’t any blossoms.
Beautiful to see the saguaro blooms
Thanks!
I love the Palo Verdes trees with their green trunks and limbs and yellow foliage. We have a few around here but it really isn’t the correct climate for them. Your bird photos are fabulous! You really learned a lot and it’s obvious that you are committed to getting even better. I love the shot of the woodpecker and blossom. I had no idea they went after nectar.
Thanks! I love the Paolo Verdes trees now in bloom. They brighten everything in the desert! Thanks for the encouraging words about my photos. My next hurdle will be to learn Adobe Photoshop. The instructor recommended it to us in his last comments about the class. I was speaking with a professional photographer friend of mine from my PR days. He now shoots birds and is in art galleries in Palm Springs. He reiterated what the teacher said about Photoshop — it’s hard to learn and tough to use. He said he spends about an hour per photo editing with it!
I’m a little surprised the teacher didn’t recommend Lightroom instead. My understanding is that it is easier to learn and much more focused on photo editing rather than photo altering. I took a Photoshop class years ago and felt completely overwhelmed. Lightroom is more intuitive. There are great YouTubes on both, which should help. I really like Scott Kelby.
You are correct. Both the photographer friend and instructor recommended Lightroom and Photoshop. They use them together! They start with Lightroom and then use Photoshop. Thanks for the advice on YouTube. I’m thankful for your recommendation!
Beautiful blooms, and I love Red and the woodpecker photos. Your driveway is also nice and long. 🙂
Thanks! The blooms are so gorgeous right now. I’ll enjoy them while they last! Our house is more set back compared to others in our neighborhood. I like the long driveway. We have 80 homes by the same builder. There are four or five floor plans, and for some reason — ours is the only one that’s unique!
😁🌻
Your photos are magnificent, EA! Red is outstanding.
Thank you so much!