Lens Artists Challenge #313: Cool Colors

Who doesn’t like something cool in the summertime? A cool drink with plenty of ice. A day at the coast enjoying the ocean. Cool and inviting colors. This week, John wants us to delve into the world of cool–whatever our interpretation. I chose nature.

Let’s look at flowers first. You know I love to photograph flowers, especially tulips (deep purple) and orchids (pink).

And who doesn’t feel the coolness of fog. Its mist lingers in the air as it darkens the scene.

Machinery and tools are another subject for cool. Patina can turn a discarded piece of a machine blue while steel has a totally cooling effect to our senses.

A lush rainforest is so cooling on a hot day. The color green just envelopes you as you walk along the path.

On a recent vineyard outing this artist was painting, and to my surprise all the people were wearing cool colors and she was surrounded by green foliage.

My last picture was taken at a community park where greens and blues abound. So totally relaxing!

And so ends my cool adventure. Thank you John for helping me see how nature can be so relaxing and sweet. When you post your response, please remember to link to John’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week, I’ll be back with another relaxing challenge, so look for my post.

A country wedding: Pheasant Trek

If you’re dreaming of a wedding set in the country, Pheasant Trek at Dunnigan Hills may be the place for you. A working ranch of olive groves and vineyards, Pheasant Trek, in Yolo County, mostly bills itself as a wedding and event destination. We were invited there through the Yolo Arts and Ag Project.

On the way there we stopped to catch this scene and more.

The actual ranch consisted of buildings, a barn, a water tower converted into a bridal dressing room, an enclosure for a cow and two donkeys. Here are some of the buildings seen from the central part of the ranch.

Here are the animals.

I walked around to the back of the ranch and found these.

Yes, I was a little disappointed, but there was enough to photograph and keep me busy. I’m wondering what Yolo Arts and Ag has in store for us in July? Really, I’m very appreciative that we are allowed to photograph in these venues.

May was…: M3 Ranch, Woodland

What can I say. May was sometimes good and sometimes disappointing–for photography. I’ve taken you on many Yolo Art & Ag farm tours and this one of the M3 Ranches in Woodland promised such varied crops like olives, garlic, almond trees, agave plants and more. How exciting! Well, maybe not.

The first clue was there was no greeter to take our names. The roads were open and we drove around them. I’m thinking maybe we missed something???

We did find the almond trees. At least we think they are almonds.

Then we found a pond that they call their oasis.

And now the agave plants.

The grape vines already had fruit.

I think these are the olive trees. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

I’ll end with some of the vistas I photographed.

Working with the images for this post, I’m thinking it wasn’t such a disappointment after all.