178 : Day lily corner

Seems like these yellow day lilies will never die... funny how all the other colors of day lily have already come and gone. Just love the yellow bloom against other yellow blooms in the background with the green of the blades.

176 : Sunflower on blue

I can't believe how tall some of the sunflowers are this year... seems like I'm craning my next to get a sot of some of them, but it least they're easy to shoot against a clear blue sky.

175 : Yellow day lily in shadows

Clouds rolled in and out throughout the day, so didn't get a nice window of sun until the evening when I got this shot. Just liked how the light and shadows seem to hit the bloom. Sure feels like the sun is setting earlier... couldn't believe this flower was in shadows at the time I took this shot.

174 : Hot sunflower on blue

Mostly overcast today, but did find a window of blue sky and sunlight to get this shot. Just love how the shadow of the back petals shows up on the front petals. Shot this with the sun behind the flower... like how the shot has an almost neon feel to it.

173 : Yellow bud on blue

The blue grass bushes in our front yard caught my eye today, so wanted to get what was left of the flowers in a shot with the crisp blue of the grass. Found this one bloom and got a handful of shots of it... think the colors go pretty well togehter.

172 : Sunflower with blurry bee

Was taking a bunch of shots of this sunflower when a bee flew up, landed for half a second, then took off again. When I went through the photos I noticed I got him in this frame... even if he was just a blur.

171 : Bee in pink flower

Overcast today, so just followed this bee around for a minute. It landed in this little flower, and I found a little gap in the petals I could it from. Think it turned out pretty interesting... think the background colors sure turned out moody.

170 : Bees on sunflower

Seems the bees really love the sunflowers... maybe it's because most of the flowers up front are dying off, but it's not uncommon to see a handful on the same sunflower. Like how the sun peeks through the petals on the back. Love the detail on the left-most bee.

169 : Firey sunflower

Finally got a bright shot of this sunflower. Just love the warm colors in the petals. Hope to see more of this type pop up soon!

168 : Sunflower seeds up close

Went out to the sunflowers around noon to see if I could get some better lighting than I have in the evening when I get home. I wish more of them had bloomed at this point, but this shot turned out pretty interesting nonetheless. Love the texture of the center of the sunflower.

167 : Squirrel eating on green

I haven't seen the squirrels out in a while, so it was good to see this one out on the back deck while I was reading. I gave her a few walnuts and snapped a handful of shots. Really like how the background turned out, and just thought this was an interesting angle... usually it seems like she always sits perpendicular to where I'm shooting from, but this time she seemed a little more relaxed with me moving around her a bit, so I was glad I was able to get a little different angle.

166 : Dried day lily on green

Seems like most of the lilies nowadays look like this... but they still make for an interesting photo. Just liked this bud against the slanted greens and yellows in the back. Wish there could have been some direct light on it, but the sun had already set behind the house at this point. The colors still turned out pretty crisp I think.

165 : White day lily alone

There's still a few lilies out front... mostly the white ones. Thought this one looked pretty interesting by itself against the shadows. Love the yellow hue on the inside of the bloom, and the ruffles of the petals.

164 : Colorful flowers

Just really liked how all the colors turned out in this one... really vibrant, and seem work well together. Wish I had framed it a little differently (not sure how with so much going on) but couldn't pass on those great colors.

163 : Reddish sunflower side

A new variety of sunflower has finally bloomed. This one has the black center with the red to yellow petals. Thought it looked pretty interesting from the side... I think the gradient in the petal from red to yellow helps to bring out some texture in the petals... pretty neat petals I think.

162 : Lone sunflower petal over center

Each day seems to bring a new sunflower bloom on the side garden, but I noticed one was already dying. Seems as though the stem somehow broke (too tall?) and was already losing all it's petals. Just liked how this one scraggly petal was hanging on in front of the sagging head. Love the greens and yellows of the background, and the shape the bloom makes against the light gray backdrop.

161 : Sunflower corner

Another overcast day here, so thought I'd head to the side yard and get some shots of the sunflowers. Only one new one has bloomed and it was the same variety as the others, but at least I could shoot this one from a little different angle. Just love all the cool colors in this from the yellow to the bluish background.

160 : Bird against wave

I forgot to recharge my camera battery once we returned home, so wasn't able to get a shot today. Thought I'd use another one of my favorites from the trip up here instead. Thought this shot turned out pretty interesting as the bird didn't appear to be a seagull (unless there are black seagulls?) but seemed pretty accustomed to the water as he just stood there as the water rolled in. Think the grayness of the day actually helped give this one more of a moody tone.

159 : Orange lucifers

The walk to the beach from our rental house was pretty short, but did pass by these orange lucifers out by one of the beach houses. Managed to shoot these this morning with the sun up, and still wet from the rain the previous night. Just love the colors of these... too bad our red ones here in Gresham are all dried up!

158 : Yellow flower against blurred oceanscape

Really wanted to get a shot of this flower in front of the ocean, but just couldn't get it to work the way I had it in my head. Still think it turned out pretty neat with the green and blue in the backdrop though.

157 : Half sand dollar

So Jill and I met up with her side of the family for a few days at the beach, which is why I haven't posted in a few days. It was pretty overcast most of the time, but the sun broke just enough to get some good shots. Really liked how this sand dollar seems to be cut pretty clean in half, just sitting in the wet sand.

156 : Leaf and sunflower

Finally managed to get a shot of the sunflower in the sun (since it's been so overcast lately!) Just love the colors, and the sunlight coming in from the side showing the layers of the petals.

155 : Horse tail on three daisies

The horsetails seem to be fully opened, so thought I'd get a nice shot of them... and that yellow backdrop is just too hard to pass up... love the three centers from the daisies in back.

154 : Daisies on blue

Overcast again today, but think it works OK with this shot. Really like how the colors turned out regardless. Just love the yellow against the blue, and the outline the petals make.

153 : Sunflower dust

Pretty gloomy out again, but managed to get a crisp sunflower shot. Liked how the dust from the sunflower collected on the green leaf... made for a neat texture.

152 : Squirrel on light blue

The squirrel seem to be out again... think they must hide up in the trees when it gets hot since they've been really active the past few days. Fed this guy a walnut and got a handful of shots of him. Wasn't much sun out to shoot with, but think the colors turned out alright.

151 : White day lily

Not sure why the white day lilies bloom long after the other ones, but this was the first time I've seen one open all year. Love the simple earthy green, yellow and white of the shot. Hope to get a few more shots of these before the summer is out.

150 : The second sunflower

Went out the garden today and it seems a second sunflower has bloomed. It was already in the shade by the time I noticed it and brought the camera out, but still think it made for a nice shot with some cool greens and gray.

149 : The first sunflower

I was out watering the garden and noticed a bit of yellow poking out, and sure enough a sunflower had finally bloomed! I'm sure this is to be the first sunflower shot of many, but hopefully soon a few of the different breeds of sunflower will bloom. Looks like some of the seeds are actually formed already on this one, even though all the petals haven't even popped out from the center yet.

148 : Yellow daisies at an angle

There are a ton of these yellow daisies out front... just thought I'd get a photo of a bunch of them layered together against our poor dying lawn!

147 : One and a half purple flowers

These little flowers are starting to pop up. Thought it was funny how the bottom one had all its petals nice and straight, whereas the top one's were all messy and furled. Love the yellow/purple/green of this shot.