PHOTO FOR THE DAY

Dinner.

PHOTO FOR THE DAY

The journey. It took him a while but he finally made it to the top.

TOHONO CHUL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

Tohono Chul Park is a lovely desert park in the north portion of Tucson. They are getting ready to celebrate the National Pollinator Week from June 21 to 27. Events include talks and walks and seminars; including lectures “Hummingbirds: More than Just Eye Candy”, “Sonoran Desert Bees: Trouble in Paradise?” and “Gardening for Butterflies and the Caterpillars Than Become Them!”. Though all programs sound interesting the one that intrigues me the most is the FREE macro photography seminar. If you’ve been through my blog at all, it is a little (see what I did there?) obvious I love to do the close ups.

The other thing of interest was the Pollinators in Action Photography Contest. Open to Arizona resident amateur and professional photographers. Criteria: “The subject is any live pollinating animal(s) visiting native or cultivated flowering plants found in the state during 2010”. Well I have a few of those, so I submitted 3 photos in the professional category. I was a fairly pleased (and surprised to say the least) to learn one of my photos won the Grand Prize and another took Honorable Mention. WOO HOO! So, there is an award ceremony on Saturday June 26 where I will be presented with a prize. I haven't a clue as to what the prize is, but I still win a prize. Again, Woo Hoo! On top of all that prize winning stuff, my photos will be on display at the park from June 21 to July 4th. Woop!

Grand Prize - "Who's There?"

Honorable Mention - "It's Mine, All Mine!"

The Bee's Knees

So, I promised and I teased and now I have to follow through. Thanks for the many requests to see the bee photos; here they are. I saw this little guy while shooting photos of perfect prickly pear cactus flowers, right after an afternoon monsoon rain. He was out trying to dry off from the unexpected shower and made his way out of an open bloom, up a closed bud like it was Mt.Everest, to his final hiding place, inside the closed flower. With a flick of the tail and a butt wiggle to rival JLo, he schootched backwards down into the flower where he proceeded to check out the newly clean world and, for a short period of time, the lens of my camera.

The Cusp

It's The Journey That Counts

The Climb

It's Mine, All Mine

Who's There?

These photos have not been enhanced in any way. And, please note the size and resolution (and therefore quality) have been reduced for posting on this site.

These are all available as fine art prints and, might I suggest, would look great in a triptych (thanks Jack and Phyllis) hanging next to the dragonfly photos. And (a shameless sales pitch follows) --- all of my photos are available on greeting cards; great to have around the house when you need to send out a get well or birthday card so there is no need to run down to the store when you’ve realized Great Aunt Mabel’s birthday is today. My Mom used my cards this past year as her Christmas cards (she felt the prickly pear cactus with the ripened-to-bursting red fruit was decidedly Christmas in the desert-y). So plan ahead, order yours now, you’ll be happy you got that out of the way.