Trees
Frosty Juniper
This Juniper tree still had all these frozen ice crystals from the storm the night before. It created a cool looking natural flocking.
Branchy Icicle
It had snowed the night before. Afternoons in the area reached the mid 50s and the snow & ice were melting fast. I walked past this tree and it was shedding its icicles in the afternoon sun.
Boardwalk by Moonlight
To make this shot interesting, I had to angle the boardwalk, the hot spring, the moon and its reflection into the frame. There’s so much to look at in the photo.
Zen Garden
I walked over to the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden looking for Spring blossoms. It’s late January on the West Coast but the unseasonal warm weather has trees showing color early. When I got there, the Tea Garden itself didn’t have much to offer in the way of colorful blooms and I was disappointed. I walked towards the back of the garden and the sun was peeking through the trees. It added another texture to the Zen Garden.
Japanese Tea Garden
After the conclusion of the 1894 World’s Fair, Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, approached John McLaren with the idea to convert the temporary exhibit into a permanent park. Hagiwara personally oversaw the building of the Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to 1925. He specifically requested that one thousand flowering cherry trees be imported from Japan, as well as other native plants, birds, and the now famous goldfish. After San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition closed, he obtained the two large ornamental wooden gates, and probably also the Tea Garden’s prominent five-tiered pagoda, from that fair’s Japanese enclave.
West Fork Carson River
West Fork of the Carson River near Hope Valley along Highway 88 in California. This is one of my favorite areas to take photos. I was walking along the river at dusk when I stumbled across this tree root along the river’s edge. I thought it would add an interesting line to the shot.
Colors in Idaho
Striking colors, blue sky, red lava flow, Dwarf Goldenbush and a sapling Limber Pine – Craters of the Moon, Idaho
Lil’ dragon of Crater of the Moon
Walking along one of the trails at Crater of the Moon, Idaho, I spied this limb that reminded me of Mushu from the Disney movie Mulan.
Snapshots by Kats 