Weekly Photo Challenge: Green

A gallery of green, where the challenge for me is to not just post a tonne of leafy forests and grassy meadows.

Hammersmith Bridge

Larry the Green Tree Frog

Northern Lights

Dragonfly

Green Christmas

Peacock Feathers

Niagara Falls at night

Green Poinsettia

Lake Botnstjorn in Asbyrgi Canyon

Cueva de los Verdes

Lanzarote parrot

El Golfo

My green things:

• Hammersmith Bridge, London. I lived near this bridge for over four years, worked near it for over seven years.
• Larry the Green tree frog (yes, I snuck him in again, but only because he’s so cute)
• Northern lights over Iceland
• Lil dragonfly spotted in Richmond Park, London
• Christmas decoration from a Christmas shop in St Goar, Germany
• Peacock feathers from a handsome fellow in London Zoo
• Niagara Falls at night
• My very first ever photo taken with my first (and so far, only) DSLR, of a poinsettia I couldn’t get to turn red again
• Lake Botnstjorn in Asbyrgi Canyon, Iceland
• Cueva De Los Verdes – the Green Caves, Lanzarote.  The still water is a perfect reflection of the cave ceiling and walls
• A friendly parrot in Lanzarote
• El Golfo, a volcanic lake on the west coast of Lanzarote

Weekly Photo Challenge: Happy

So WordPress are showing off a new feature, and with the theme being “Happy” the challenge for me was limiting the new photo gallery to only nine photos. Missing from the gallery are all the people who make me happy, but here’s several things from around the world that will always bring a smile to my face:  Bright coloured flowers and the sunny days they grow in; spotting wildlife right on my front door (or in this case, my front fence); sharing the beautiful world around me through photography; relaxing in beautiful locations (a glass of wine can add to with happiness too!); living near the sea, and seeing the full moon bright on a clear night.  Fireworks!  Being high up; being in love, loving, and feeling loved; and I can’t go past a kitten for instant happiness, so here’s two!

 

Surprise

One of the things I love about photography is that you never quite know when you’ll get an unexpected chance to enjoy it.  A few nights ago, I was rushing home from work, the plan being to change quickly and head straight back out to the supermarket (that’s the kind of rock’n’roll lifestyle I lead).  Anyway, as I pushed open the gate in front of the carport, from the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow jump.  I took a closer look, and found what I think is a green tree frog, contemplating me calmly from his perch atop my gate.  How rude of me to disturb him!

Well, what’s a girl to do?  I had to go and grab my camera, and see if I could capture a few shots before this adorable little creature disappeared.

It turned out that my frog here was quite the poser, and not at all camera shy.  He let me get hugely close to him, so I spent a while snapping away like some kind of fashion photographer.  An age later I figured I’d better go do my duties and get to the shops, but instead of grumpy post-work tiredness, I left with a beam on my face from the chance to spend time with my camera and this gorgeous little critter.  Dinner might have been a bit late as a result, but it was worth it, right?

A tree frog named Larry

He was back the next night, and I’m pretty sure he’s the same frog I once saw on my letterbox a few weeks back (which I did photograph but due to circumstances I only captured three shots. None worked).  As he appears to be a resident of our front yard, Will has called him Larry.  The fact that we haven’t seen “Larry” since he was dubbed such suggests to me that he’s not happy with his name.  I don’t blame him.