fstopandsee

It is true, I love coffee.  As I was heading out for a photo walk one day I had to stop at Temple for some coffee!  The typical pattern of a latte combined with the old table top and coffee accessories just needed to be captured.

And money don’t grow on trees.  That is what the band Cage the Elephant would tell you.  I saw these guys live and they put on quite the show.  They were so into it (or out of it?) that I’m not sure how the lead singer stayed upright during the performance, but he managed to keep moving all over the stage and sounded great.

One of the last photos I took at the state fair was also one of my favorites.  I wanted to be able to catch the big wheel and the fireworks in one frame, and the only way to do that was to be just outside of the gates.  There were other fireworks that were larger, but I dig the way these white streaks mimic the spokes of the ferris wheel itself.

I have mixed feelings about the California State Fair.  On one hand it is an event full of colors and excitement, on the other hand it has a lot going on and can be a bit much to handle with all of the chaos.  In honor of me not going to the State Fair this year, I’m posting some old pictures of when I did go.  This one is of a ride called the Sky Flyer.  Some things I do love about the state fair are all of the old style lights and signs, and this ride had plenty of that!

Today isn’t my birthday, but I started this series close to my actual birthday. These are the cupcakes I was treated to. Delicious!

There are many fallen trees on the hike to Lake Margaret.  This one was on the side of the trail and someone had taken the time to cut all of the branches off.  I’m not sure why they were cut off, but as I looked at it from the end I liked the way the stumps disappeared into the background.

This is another shot from our Lake Margaret hike.  These flowers were everywhere.  The green and red offset each other nicely, and I like the way the contrast allows the foreground to stand out.

This is my first photo for this series that I’m posting on the day I took it.  I hiked to Lake Margaret by Kirkwood and it was beautiful.  The water was warmer than I expected for a lake at this elevation, and it was amazing to swim in.  The sky was clear all day until this point where the clouds on the right started rolling in and rained on us a little bit by the time we got back to the car. The dead and living trees on each side of the lake framed this shot nicely.  Great day.

This is another image I took in San Diego.  The red flowers contrasted nicely with the blue of the sky, and I like the way the buildings rise up out of the background.

I was in the backyard just as the sun was in the perfect spot to light up a tree with a warm glow.