222 : Carved pumpkin

Thought a jack-o-lantern (in progress) would make for an appropriate post today. This will be the last shot for awhile since I'll be on vacation next week (yay!) Although Daylight Saving Time will end on November 7, I will not have returned by then. But I will post vacation photos once I get back, so I suppose the end of this project will just be delayed a week... starting now.

Happy Halloween!

221 : Droopy starred sunflower

Wanted to get one more shot of this sunflower before this project ends... really think the seeds are neat, and the petals have some great color.

220 : Small blooming sunflower

While the bigger sunflowers seem to be dying off, it seems like the smaller ones are doing alright... guess they're just late bloomers. Love the yellow against the green in this one.

219 : Light lily in corner [past]

Not sure why this one never got put up, as I really like it. Maybe had put up a lily shot the day before getting this shot or something, but it's perfect for a day like today! Love the pink and yellow against the gray of the sidewalk. Love the texture and shape of the curl in the center.

218 : Long petalled sunflower [past]

It was too dark by the time I got home to shoot, so had to pull one from a couple weeks ago. This sunflower seemed to have long, drooppy petals, like a dog with long ears. Really like all the light and shadow on the petals, and the bits of green speckled in between. Glad I got the center of the sunflower in focus... can even see the individual seeds.

217 : Wet red sunflower petals

Kind of gray out this evening, but got a neat shot I think of this water drop hanging onto this sunflower petal. Love the heavy reds against the slate backdrop.

216 : Standing squirrel on fence

Hmmm, I guess there's technically no fence in this shot, but I know this shot was taken with him on the fence, so I guess the title will stand. It was actually pretty breezy out when I got this shot, and you can see the hair on the back of the squirrel's head blowing up a bit. Love how the backdrop turned out with the diagonal white stripe from the neighbor's house.

215 : Curly sunflower on blue [past]

Pretty rainy out today, so dug up a shot from last week. Just love the curled petals against the slightly cloudy blue sky. Wish I would have had more sunflower stand up tall like this one.

214 : Squirrel eating peanut

Saw this guy on the back deck while making dinner and went out to feed him a few peanuts. This guy was a new customer, so it took a few tries to lead up up to the deck railing to get the peanut form there, but he finally wisened (?) up and got his reward. It was a bit overcast out so not as sharp as I'd like, but still a pretty nifty shot nonetheless. I like the little peanut skin flake on his right forearm...

213 : The last snapdragon

Hard to believe that there's any of these left out front, but it has been pretty warm for fall I suppose. Love the pink with the bright green of the lucifer stalks.

212 : Cosmos on blue

Really love how the colors in this one turned out... from the pink and green of the blooms, to the light and dark blue of the sky. Sure is nice having all this sunshine lately, but looks like that's going to change soon!

211 : Red leaf on blue

The dogwood tree outside my window is finally changing to red. It's been so sunny out lately that it hardly feels like fall, but the leaves are changing/falling all over, and that nip is in the air in the morning. Hard to believe I've only got about 10 days left on this year's project!

210 : Cloudy sunrise

On vacation the past few days, and sadly did not get any DSPP pics during the trip... maybe I'll post a few old ones to make up for it, but maybe not? Either way, woke up this morning to this out the front door. Love how angry the orange clouds turned out against the cool blue sky.

209 : Cool sunflower seeds

Really think the star-shape of the seeds are pretty interesting on this type of sunflower... and they sure have some cool burnt orange petals as well!

208 : Rose silhouette

At first I thought I'd try for a true silhouette since I love the intricacy of the little leaves, but I really like the 'dark orange glow' that the bloom seems to have. Still can't believe these have stuck around for so long!

207 : Opening sunflower bloom

Just loved all the tendrils coming out of this sunflower bloom, shadowed, against the blue sky. Too bad this sunflower will probably never see enough sun to fully bloom, but I think this sure made for a neat shot.

206 : Ragged sunflower leaf

Thought the edge of this leaf had an interesting shape to it and fortunately it was out in the sun. Hope this weather can hold for a few more days...

205 : Bee on upper sunflower

Managed to get a little bit of sunshine in the evening. Got this shot a bit before sunset, and really like how it turned out. Love the sunflower dust on the bee's back, and the deep shadows from the inside seeds against the center of the flower. Almost makes we want a new lens to be able to get even closer!

204 : Diagonal peach snapdragons [past]

Pretty rainy out, so I've pulled out a photo from the past... I always feel bad for the ones I think turned out well but never got posted, so think these rainy days might be second chances for some past shots.

203 : Sunflower facing down with bee

A bit overcast out when I got home, but enough light to get some shots of the sunflowers. I don't know why, but most of the sunflowers this year are leaning over, making their heads face down. This one was one of those, but fortunately it's so tall that I have to look up just to shoot it! Love the texture of the seeds, and how well the bee's colors blend in.

202 : Rosebud shilouette

Managed to sneak out back just before the sun set and came across these rosebuds. Hard to believe there are still buds popping up this time of year, but there they were! Love how dingy yellow the backdrop turned out. Glad the front bud turned out so sharp.

201 : Nastershum bloom and leaf

Found some sunlight on this nastershum and had to get a few shots. It turned out a big red (think it was more orange) but I think the color turned out pretty interesting nonetheless. Love the large lily-like leaf below.

200 : Half orange sunflower, half green sunflower

Really love how this one turned out... with the bloom on the left and the green backdrop on the right. The highlights of the sun and the depth turned out pretty interesting for sure.

199 : Yellow curled petal

It was raining out when I got home, so thought to use a shot from last weekend... no need for it to go to waste! Thought this one petal stood out amongst all the others, and managed to get the flower's center in focus with it as well. Just love the monochromatic tone of it.

198 : Sunflower and leaf with holes

Really love these burnt orange sunflowers, but the problem is they don't grow as tall at the yellow mammoth ones and are often lost in giant green leaves. This one actually had a leaf pointing up behind it, and made for some great color to go with the orange.

197 : Bee on sunflower from side

Really thought this one turned out pretty interesting. I was initially just shooting the sunflwer against the dark blue, but then this bee flew in, and managed to get a few with it on there. Love that he picked the same side I was on, and managed to shoot his whole body (abdomen?) so closely that you can even see a linear reflection of it. Think the colors turned out great in this one as well, and the texture of all those seeds.

196 : Peach snapdragon on green

Wanted to get a nice up close shot one one of the snapdragon buds, but had to take it from this angle to get the vibrant green backdrop. Think it turned out nice and bright for sure, which is good because I'm afraid this snapdragon won't be around much longer (these were the last two buds!)