More Cloud & Ground Lightning

In one of our many summer thunderstorms, I got several photos which included close cloud-to-cloud lightning and more distant cloud-to-ground lightning. I posted one of these a few weeks ago, and here's another. (In fact, this one includes two ground strikes, but one of them is rather faint.)

And from a more recent storm where I got several nice shots, here's some lightning flaring across the sky.

It's been a good summer for lightning photos - if you like them stay tuned because I've got lots more. And for more sky-themed photos, visit the awesome Skywatch Friday meme.

Dog Wash

This week's PicStory theme is animals. And from my perspective what better photo this theme than a photo of my favorite animal, Socks? Here's a photo of him after a shower. This is a rare photo not taken by me, this was taken by my son while I was drying him. (That's me in the background holding him.)

He doesn't like showers, but he loves the blow-dryer. And he knows he gets his favorite treat when it's all done!

Red Rock Canyon Quarry

For this week's Scenic Sunday post, I'm taking a break from Bellevue and going back to October of last year for some shots of the Red Rock Canyon quarry, taken right around sunrise during an early-morning hike. I started before the sun was up to try to capture that great early morning light.

This is a great off-season hike because it's lower in elevation, so it's generally free of snow, and in town, so it's close.

Grey Waterfront Fountain

Here's another grey-sky shot from our Seattle trip. This is Waterfront Fountain, in Waterfront Park, in Seattle. For some reason, the F-shape makes me think of Facebook, even though I'm one of the few people on the planet who doesn't use it. And yes, this was taken in the rain, as were many of my Seattle photos this spring.

This is in memory of Klaus Peter, one of the maintainers of the Skywatch Friday meme.

Solar Light Pattern

This post is dedicated to Klaus Peter, the founder of the awesome My World Tuesday meme, who recently passed from this world. Others are carrying on the meme. Events like this put things into perspective.

One night when I was taking some lightning photos I turned around and noticed the patterns cast by our solar light. I already had my camera and tripod ready, so I shot it and this is what I ended up with.

The tiny white spots are hot (bad) pixels on my old camera, and they're one reason I'd like to replace it. And that's a small part of My World this week.

Theatre of Dionysus

For Sunday Scans this week, here's the last of my photos from Greece in 1973. This time it's the Theatre of Dionysus. There's so much to see here I'd love to go back again, as an adult with a clue about photography and a decent camera. But I have to admit that I'd be nervous about all the unrest and strikes, and I'm not sure I'd lay out the large amount of money to travel there at this time.

Bellevue Botanic Garden Trail

Here are a couple more photos from the lovely (and free) Bellevue Botanic Garden, this time some very green shots from the trail. It's very rainy here!

For more scenery, wet and dry, visit the Scenic Sunday meme.