…number 12 – ELK of Red or Gray Depends on the Day!  Behind door number one is a 2010 wall calendar, behind door number two is a 2010 tented desk calendar and behind door number three is 25  5″x5″ notecards.  ELK, let me know your address and what door you are choosing (you can use my contact form)!  Congrats!

The photo above was taken at Urban Oasis in West Seattle, which is a vacation rental where my mother, son and I stayed while in Seattle for my other son’s wedding.  If you ever need a place to stay while in Seattle, I would highly recommend this vacation rental.  It is located in a nice, quiet and friendly neighborhood in West Seattle, about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle and just a short drive from Alki beach.  It is very spacious, with two bedrooms and a fold down bed, plus an air mattress if you need it.  You can read my full review on their site (and I’m not getting any benefit from mentioning them here). 

 They have a beautiful garden, which was selected for the 2009 West Seattle Garden Tour.  I can definitely see why.  GORGEOUS!  A photographer’s paradise, really.  The photo above was of some black mondo grass – an ornamental grass – in their garden with little black berries – so cool.  I got down on my belly to take the photo and my mom just shook her head at me.  But, it was the best vantage point!!  You’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do to get the shot.  I’ve got more images from our stay there, but I want to post them in color, so that series will continue in December.

Part of the November in black and white, sponsored by Maya at Springtree Road.

And just so you get an idea of what this black mondo grass actually looks like, here is a slightly different shot in color.  Not much difference!

Peas from the organic farm.  They look scrumptious!

Sunday Spotlight

• Liss at Memory Forever shares what makes her soul sing.  I LOVE the capture of her daughter sleeping peacefully.
• Marcie Scudder at Daily Practice has a knack for capturing that special shot, such as this Hop on Pop - it had me laughing out loud.
• Candace at Glenrosa Journeys has some fun with her fisheye lens, which really makes me kind of want one.

This image of a sycamore was taken last week at the office.  I didn’t notice it until I was working on this photo in Lightroom, but there is something flowing through it – a sort of jet stream.  I have no idea what it is, but I think it’s kinda cool.

Yesterday was a bit of a rough day.  I only got four hours of sleep, had a meeting at work first thing in the morning, during which I apparently nodded off.  My boss woke me up, said good morning, and I think (hope) he laughed.  A little.  I had a headache, my eyes hurt, and it was a strain to see my computer screen.  I was not looking forward to the farm shoot last night – all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap.

Once I got there, however, I got my second wind (really, it was my first wind).  I got a lot of great shots, some not so great shots, and got to flirt with a couple of adorable little girls who are nieces of my friends.  My headache went away shortly after I arrived and my eye strain cleared up, as well.  Sometimes I seriously wonder if I’m allergic to my job.  Lightroom isn’t cooperating in rendering my previews, but I should have something for you tomorrow.  Lots of cool things, from onions and wheat, those adorable little girls, batchelor buttons, bugs  and bokeh.

Thursday night after work, before heading home, I went wandering around the property, which has pockets of plantings of trees and bushes – some flowering, some not.  There are dogwoods, miniature roses, sycamore trees and crabapple trees in amongst the pine, spruce, birch and maple trees, to name just a few.  Yesterday’s post was of one of the sycamore trees, which I love for their variegated leaves.

In this particular planting bed, I was smack dab in the middle of it taking some shots of the dogwood blooms.  The birds did not like me being in there one little bit.  They were sure raising a ruckus, and I was afraid they were going to start dive bombing me, but other than telling me off, they left me alone.  Just as I was about to leave, I caught a glimpse of these leaves and loved the way the light was playing off of them, so I grabbed a few shots.  They were some of my favorite from the day.

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My apologies to anyone who tried to view my site today.  My webhost suffered a power outage and it took a while on their part to get things back online. 

Also, I noticed that I have a big black box on my home page where a preview of today’s photo should be.  If I still have a big black box there tomorrow, then I will know the upgrade that I did this weekend to the new version of WordPress 2.8 broke my template.  Fun times.

I’m starting a new feature.  Yes, I realize last week that I said I was going to start a Wordless Weekend, but I also qualified that by saying I have the right to change my mind.  At least I think I said that.  I should have, if I didn’t.

Anyway, my new feature is going to be a Sunday Spotlight, whereby I provide links to my favorite posts of the week, from you, my fellow photobloggers.  I’m not going to restrict myself by setting a limit as to how many blog/posts I spotlight, so sometimes it might be one or two and the next time nine or ten.  Come back each Sunday to see who I’ve featured from that week.

Sunday Spotlight.

[These will open in a new window.]

• First up is Ken Rathke from One Planet.  This post cracked me up!
• Sharon Wish from Blue Chameleon – beauty in The Other Side of Life.
• Deigh Bates at Deigh Light Images is a new to me blogger that I found in a round about way.  He doesn’t have a lot of commenters, but it is only a matter of time with images like these.
• Jack Larson from Jack Larson Photography has some wonderful black and whites, including this beautiful rose. 
• Se’Lah at Necessary Room posted about the simple things.  Love the capture of her daughter.
• Suzanne Cummings at SLEEC Photos has this gorgeous shot of Big Bear Lake.