Today's Photo - Mystery Flower

I spotted this one blooming in my yard this afternoon.  Can you identify this flower:

Hint:  Many people have these growing in their gardens, but most do not pay much attention until after the flower is gone.


Also, can you find the Ant?

Greenville, SC
Sunday, May 10th, 2010

Yesterday, Amy and I decided to make a visit to Greenville, SC to check out the “Artisphere” festival.

We figured that parking would be an issue downtown, so we decided to park at Cleveland Park and walk about a mile to the festival area. It’s a nice stroll along the Reedy River and a beautiful day to be outside.

The Artisphere festival was centered around the Falls Park area.

Reedy River Falls and the Liberty Bridge at Falls Park

My favorite part of the festival was some of the awesome photography on display.
These are a few of the photographers that really impressed me:
Gary Love
Doug Remien
Chris Coffey
Dick Cunningham


Here are some of my very snapshotty photos from yesterday:

Small Cascade below Reedy River Falls

Me hanging out along the Reedy River

Choo Choo

Dogwood Blooms

Downtown Greenville, SC

The Liberty Bridge at Falls Park

Reedy River Falls view from the Liberty Bridge

The Liberty Bridge at Falls Park

Falls Park - Downtown Greenville, SC

A visit to Rutherfordton, NC

A visit to my wife's parents house
Rutherfordton, NC
May 8th, 2010

I always enjoy visiting my in-laws in Rutherfordton, NC.  There never seems to be a shortage of things to photograph, especially when my nieces are in town too!

Caroline

Wind Blown

This time of year, it is not an exaggeration to say that the number of daisies blooming on their property is easily in the millions!

Daisy Blooms

Caroline picking Daisies

It is also Strawberry Season!

Amy's Mom feeding Caroline some fresh Strawberry's

 

A little Redneck Ingenuity feeds the Strawberry Patch

The woodshed

Like any good redneck family, there is never a shortage of rusty things around.  Since rust is one of this months photo contest themes, I decided to see what I could find

Rusty Chain

Rusty Tank

Rusty Mailbox at Aunt Stella's place

Aunt Stella passed away a few years ago, but I still like to explore around her old homestead a short distance down the road from Amy's parents.

Old Barn at Aunty Stellas place

I took a few other random shots before enjoying a nice meal with Amy's family

Target Practice

Amy's Dad with Grace and Caroline

After dinner we took a ride to the Dairy-O to get ice cream

 

The Dairy-O 

 

Caroline Enjoying some Ice Cream

On the drive back home, Amy and I made a quick stop at the family cemetary to pay our respect to Amy's deceased family members

Amy's Grandpa's Gravestone

Today's Photos - A morning at Hatcher Garden

May 8th, 2010
Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve
Spartanburg, SC

http://www.hatchergarden.org/

Since it is only about a 5 minute drive from my house, Hatcher Garden is one of my favorite places to visit.  I almost always find something new and interesting to photograph there.

My favorite subject for today was a family of Geese!  Mommy, Daddy, and (3) little ones:

Help Mommy!  This crazy guy with the camera is getting a little too close!

Cute Chick!

Momma Goose

What you looking at?

Going for a little swim

A little Black and White for contrast

Happy Family

Just hanging out

A few flower shots:

Mountain Laurel

I thought this was some kind of moth, but someone corrected me and identified it as a Skipper Butterfly:

Skipper Butterfly

I also took some time with the mini tri-pod to capture some of the Morning Dew Drops (Actually, I think it was from the sprinklers, but Morning Dew sounds better).  It was a bit breezy, so I had to crank the ISO up to 1600 to get the shutter speed I needed and therefore they turned out a bit grainy:

Overall, a very enjoyable way to spend the morning!

Today's Photos - Squirrels

Squirrels like to hang out in our yard.

This is probably due to the fact that we have a bunch of large Oak Trees which offer up a plethora of squirrel food (aka Acorns). 

So today, I decided to switch over to the zoom lens and try to capture some of these little critters. It turns out that they are a little camera shy! But, I did manage to get a few shots of these cute little critters!

Today's Photo - Mountain Laurel!

To the casual observer, Mountain Laurel leaves look very similar to Rhododendrons.  In fact, when they are not in bloom, I still have trouble telling them apart.  However, the Mountain Laurel blooms look completely different than the Rhododendrons. 

The Mountain Laurel is one of my favorite flowers.


I see a lot of Mountain Laurel while out hiking in the mountains, but here in Spartanburg, SC I have never seen any.  I thought that maybe it's called "Mountain" Laurel for a reason as Spartanburg is not a mountainous area.

However, it does grow naturally around my in-laws place in Rutherfordton, NC.

Last year we decided to dig up a small Mountain Laurel bush from Amy's parents place and attempted to transplant it in our yard here in Spartanburg. I never really thought it would make it!  Thankfully it turns out that I was wrong.

A year later, here is today's photo right in my own backyard!

Mountain Laurel Blooms