I met Gordon and several other photography friends Sunday in Golden Gate Park to photograph the Dahlia Garden next to the Conservatory.
We arrived a bit ahead of the others and found the garden mostly empty, the sky was overcast which lent itself to nice even lighting.
The company was amazing, the blossoms were at peak perfection, and the bees were busy humming along doin’ their thing.
Here are some images from the morning,
Target in Sight…
Nikon Df| 24-70mm f/2.8G ED| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5
Red, and Yellow
Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer w/ Soft Focus Optic @ f/2.8
This is my best side… This Blue Jay posed nicely for me.
Nikon Df| Nikkor 80-200mm f.2.8D @200mm| f/4
…and there was real live Tom & Jerry cat, and mouse games in the background. The cat caught and let the mouse go 4 times while I was paying attention. Later in the morning I noticed other people watching the cats movements, so I think it was still toying with the mouse. In this image which is really dark…it was overcast, and the cat was far down the path from me…the cat has the mouse in its mouth.
He dropped the mouse in this flowering bush and began the chase all over again. I sure hope they both liked the game!
Gordon, myself, and two other friends headed for Brunch at lunch time. I started with a Virgin Bloody Mary: It’s an iPhone pic and I’m not that good at those! It was spicy and really good! I want to learn how to make this drink.
iPhone5| Park Chow, San Francisco
I had a marvelous veggie omelette with goat cheese, zuccini, and cheddar cheese, home style potatoes on the side, and toast with homemade blackberry jam. I was too hungry to take a photo. I was so fat when I left the table!
We headed back to the park to see the Rose Garden and then we did a mini Doorscursion.
Those images will come in the future.
Images developed in PS CC 2015.5, and Nik Suite
More to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
Beautiful captures, Deborah, and certainly a fun day! 🙂
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Thank you so much Donna! Yes, it was a fun day!
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Beautiful photos, Deborah! You are so talented! 💕💖🌈 BTW, my cat plays with his “food” too! Lol! 😃
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Thank you so much Jill!
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Beautiful assortment of photos, Deborah :-). The bee and flower are my favourite – flower action! I like the cat a lot too… but they are somewhat brutal creatures. You described cat hunting perfectly with the chase, catch, release, repeat sequence.
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Thank you Myriam!
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Great set! I especially like the first 2 images. So often we see images of a bee on the flower that I find this a refreshing and fun change. I also like the soft focus on the second image.
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Thank you so much Denise! It was wonderful seeing so many Bees in the Dahlia garden. They were everywhere. Sometimes 3 on a flower feeding! One would fly in another would leave …great fun with a camera. 🙂
The soft focus optic on my LensBaby Composer is my favorite optic. I’m so glad you like that image too.
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Really nice photos. Could your Blue Jay be a California Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)?
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Hi Robert! Thanks! I think you’re right about the Jay being a Scrub Jay!
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Sounds like an amazing day 😀 Gorgeous photos!
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Thank you so much Antonia! It was a fun day.
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These pictures are just amazing! wow the cat and mouse Deborah! xxx
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Thank you Lynn xx! I never expected to see the cat chasing the mouse!
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The shots were all so vivid and different, it was a special treat, the cat was just bold!
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It was wasn’t it! Thanks again for the visits and lovely comments! xx
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most welcome xx
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That sounds like a great adventure, Deborah. Thd photos are beautiful. I like the soft focus one and I really like the blue jay. I only ever seem to get pictured of them at a distance.
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Thank you so much Dan! I really enjoy my LensBaby Soft Focus optic with flowers.
That Blue Jay wasn’t happy with us there that morning. He was making low passes and squawking like crazy. I kept one eye on him and when he landed thankfully I was close enough to get a decent shot of him. He didn’t stay there long enough though.
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Blue Jays can be nasty. One attacked my friend’s dog while he (dog) was “using” the tree the Blue Jay’s next was in.
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Oh! I’ve seen Mockingbirds dive bomb cats, and dogs, but not Blue Jays. I’ve only seen those make very vocal low passes. Poor dog!
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Well, the cat and mouse was a surprise. Guess we were so focused on the dahlias that I didn’t know you found this side action. Literally, “great catch”!
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It was early in the morning when the cat was chasing the mouse. You were busy with the Dahlias. 🙂 Thanks Gordon!
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I know it’s the cat’s instinct but I feel so sorry for the poor mouse. As the weather starts to cool, I know I’ll be experiencing my own version of cat-and-mouse games with Theo who will be bringing home his *toys* to play with 😦
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Thankfully Diva Dog doesn’t often bring in “toys” or “gifts” for us!
I did feel sorry for the mouse too, and hoped it found a good hole to escape in!
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Poor thing probably died eventually of a heart attack anyway.
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It was a thought like this that turned me away from the cat and mouse games and back to the pretty flowers. 🙂
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Amazing first image!
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Thank you so much Katie!
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I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the garden today 🙂 Your images are just so beautiful. Target in sight cracked me up, and the next one was so soft and dreamy. And now I’m craving a virgin bloody mary!
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🙂 Thank you so much Melissa!
I’m craving another one of those drinks too. My next trip to the market I’m picking up tomato juice, and Tabasco sauce! 🙂
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Beautiful images Deborah
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Thank you so much Harold!
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