Desert Blooms...

I ❤️ Arizona...

Desert flowers in bloom!!!

Do you see my heart?

 

"A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, 

can be overcome."

Matshona Dhliwayo

A little fun with Abstract!

"Form itself, even if completely abstract...has its own inner sound."

Wassily Kandinsky

I've never been a fan of Kandinsky's art...

but I resonated with this quote!

Just for a moment...

"If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it,

it's your world for a moment."

Georgia O'Keefe

The Value of Flowers...

"Where words fail, flowers possess the power to express

thousands of emotions.  It makes a bold statement that a single ray

of beauty can out value all the materialistic things in the world."

Unknown

 

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose...

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose 

by any other name would smell as sweet."

William Shakespeare

The Life and Breath of the Photographer...

"It is all very beautiful and magical here---a quality which cannot be described.

You have to live it and breathe it, let the sun bake it into you.

The skies and land are so enormous, and the detail so precise and exquisite

that where you are you are isolated in a glowing world

between the macro and the micro, where everything is sidewise under and over you,

and the clocks stopped long ago."

Ansel Adams

On a Mission...

Sadie, Sadie, Pretty Lady...

Sadie, Sadie...

Pretty Lady...

You are so very missed...

You had just enough spunk,

and a whole lot of love and cuddles to share.

(your nickname Osama Bin Kat, notwithstanding)

My snuggly little love bug...

You even nursed me through my recovery

from knee replacement surgery...

You are so very, very missed...

Rest in Peace Sweet Sadie...

Sydney Sails...Black and White

"Photography is more than a medium 

for factual communication of ideas.

It is a creative art."

Ansel Adams

It's a Maze!

"I have a theory that when you're lost on a path,

go back to the beginning and try the maze again."

Amanda Seales

Windows Made of Glass...

"Don't throw stones at your neighbors if your 

windows are glass."

Ben Franklin

Words of wisdom to remember when talking politics...

or anything else for that matter!

To view more  B&W images from around the world, 

click on the links below...

http://theworldinblackwhite.blogspot.com/

The Ebb and Flow of Life...

"The ebb and flow of daily life can lead to wonderful highs,

crushing lows, and everything in between."

Julie Foudy

Click on the image below to view more Black and White images...

For Whom the Bell Tolls...

"No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of contentment,

As part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee."

John Donne

To view more fine black and white images,

click on the image below...

The Flower of Happiness!

"Happiness held is the seed; 

Happiness shared is the flower."

John Harrigan

Hope all my friends in the US had a lovely Thanksgiving...

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An Afternoon with Wine...

"Wine is constant proof that God loves us

and loves to see us happy."

Benjamin Franklin

To view more B&W photos from around the world...

click on the images below...

The World in Black and White

First time doing glass ball photography!

"Art doesn't just happen by accident.

It is about pulling out new tricks and trying new things."

Nicholas Meyer

Not bad for holding the ball with one hand and the camera

with the other hand!

To view more B&W images from around the world, 

click on the image below...

Wheel of Fortune...

"Life is like a wheel.

Sooner or later it always comes around

to where you started again."

Stephen King

To view more B&W images from around the world, click on the image below.

A Bit of History...

Every now and then I go back over my photos to see
what will work in B&W.
I play with them in LR...cropping more, tweaking this or that.
And of course, converting to B&W...
These were taken during one of my last excursions with
Tri-Community Photo School before they closed.
The Reagan Library.
I appreciate President Reagan much more now than I did then.
Whatever your political whim is...
the Reagan Library is an interesting and educational place to visit.

I love this quote...so up lifting...and so indicative of 

President Reagan's ideals.

Students learning about President Reagan's part in convincing  Russian President Gorbachev to take down the Berlin wall.

At the time of my visit (Feb. 2015), there was an additional exhibit
of vintage cars...which I was excited to photograph with my
new at the time, Fuji XT1.
Hard to do when you run out of memory on your memory card
and don't have any extra cards with you...
...the following photos were all shot with my iPhone 5!

Vintage cars work well in B&W, don't you think?

These days, people seem to forget that this is just what the police

are trying to do...

The tail end of the Presidential helicopter.

The library is located on President Reagan's ranch in
Simi Valley in California,
a beautiful area of Southern California.

These last two are my favorite shots of the day...
I still can't believe I shot these with my iPhone!!!


To view more B&W images from around the world...
click on the image and link below!

http://theworldinblackwhite.blogspot.com/

and for color images from around the world...
click on the image below!