The Daily Pic - Look Up

I took this picture on September 22, 2011 in Melbourne, Florida.  I really liked the vertical perspective.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!  :)

The Design of a Palm Tree - 1

So it's no surprise to anyone who has viewed my blog before that I enjoy photography.  What you may not know is that I also do graphic design.

I took this photograph of a palm tree, September 20, 2011, in Melbourne, Florida.

I then digitally manipulated the image to come up with some cool alternative images....check them out!

Leave a comment and let me know which image is your favorite!  :) Rachael

The Daily Pic - One Nation, Under God

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Another picture, taken out my driver's side window, while stuck in rush hour traffic.

The Daily Pic - Stormy Sky

Here in Florida we were having a fairly bad drought, but over the past two weeks we have had more than our fair share of rain...it has provided me with ample opportunity to take some stormy sky pictures.

Around Town - Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

One place that I really enjoy visiting is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  You never know what you will see, but no matter what you see, you are guaranteed to find plenty of things to take pictures of.  This last time that I was there, it was raining like crazy!

The rain made for some beautiful and unusual lighting, but it also made it difficult to get my camera to focus on anything...

I'm not sure what type of tree this is...but if I had to guess, I'd say it was some type of juniper tree...whatever type of tree it is, it was covered in little white berries and I thought it was pretty.

Eventually, the rain stopped and the sun came back out...the greens and the blues looked so vibrant!

Look at the motion in the water....after the rain, schools of hundreds of tiny fish all started surfacing at the same time!  It was very cool to see!  This also brought out the big wading birds...it was so interesting to watch the birds running around chasing after the schools of fish.

And then we rounded a curve and I saw something I have never seen before...I wild hog!  It was quite far out, in the middle of a pasture type area.

Almost immediately after we saw him, he turned and started walking towards our vehicle.

And sure enough....he found his way all the way out to the road.

He didn't even care when we pulled up right next to him, to take a picture!

Check out this bird, spreading his wings to dry, after the rain.

And last but certainly not least....we came upon a very large alligator that was laying in a puddle, in the middle of the road.  He didn't want to hang around with us, so when we got there, he got up and walked away.

If you live in Central Florida and have never driven through the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, I totally recommend it!  And if you are a tourist in the area and want to see wildlife in their natural habitat...I cannot recommend any place better!

The Daily Pic - Portrait of a Friend

Here are a few pictures I took of a friend, while at the beach.

Around Town - Cape Canaveral National Seashore

Have I mentioned I love the ocean???  Here are a few pictures from a recent visit to Cape Canaveral National Seashore.  Beautiful!  :)

Around Town - Baldwin Park 5

I love this top picture!  It's one of my absolute favorites that I took while in Baldwin Park, last week.  At the rate I've been going, there was a distinct possibility that by the time I got around to sharing all of my pictures from that day, that I might have a while new bunch to share....so, I decided to make today's post a long one and to include all of my additional Baldwin Park pictures...at least until I take more.  Hope you enjoy!

Some sort of grass....it's either getting ready to flower or going to seed.

Framed by the fence...

I love the dark blue color of the water in this picture...

and the fact that you can see a full reflecting of the reeds growing along the edge.

I should really save these next two pictures until I hear of a photo challenge with the topic of "Green"...

but I'm not going to.

The unique bark on these trees caught my eye...and made for some pretty nice pictures!

Resident's decorating their homes for the upcoming holiday!

A pretty path...

Neighbors....one house invokes images of Americana...while next door I am transported to the Mediteranean.

I love the stark contrast of the branches against the sky.

It's all about perspective...from one point of view, the tree branches provide an arial border to the walking path...and from another point of view, they provide a natural frame to this post-card perfect home.

And there we have it....say good-bye to posts about Baldwin Park...at least for the time being!  :)