The beauty that surrounds us

Isn't it a pity
Now isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Some things take so long
But how do I explain
When not too many people
Can see we're all the same
And because of all their tears
Your eyes can't hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isn't it a pity

("Isn't It A Pity"  George Harrison  1966)

[I hope to visit you all shortly ..]

A brief moment in time

I mentioned our wilderness tour in my last post, where we bounced around over the trail in an old school bus (affectionately referred to as a 'buggy' by the tour guide - I suppose as in 'swamp buggy'). The focus of the adventure was definitely on the wildlife to be found there, but I also noticed some plants and flowers and I tried hard to get a decent shot of them. That was a bit difficult because the buggy didn't really stop at those points. I managed to get this one in my sights just as we stopped briefly to get a glimpse of a gator partly hidden behind a tree in the swamp. It will be another 3 months before we have an abundance of these back home in Canada.

(70-200mm  f5.6  1/500 sec  ISO200)

(Day 150) Iris Sunday

No, I'm not starting a new theme to compete with Scott's Sunset Sunday. It's just that the irises have been beckoning me these last few days to immortalize them (well, at least take their photo) before they fade away again. So I went out today to various places - around the pond (some irises thrive in shallow water near the edge), and in the garden. It was a little breezy and as I waited out the occasional gusts I was rewarded with the fragrance of the irises wafting about.

(60mm  f5.6  1/320 sec  ISO800)

(60mm  f14  1/10 sec  ISO200)

(60mm  f5.6  1/250 sec  ISO800)

(60mm  f4.5  1/80 sec  ISO200)

And for Sunset Sunday I have the following photo, shot when we were away a couple of weeks ago:

(18-55mm  f8  1/320 sec  ISO200)