Our 4th of July weekend was enjoyed up in Willits with good food, great friends and lovely surroundings. I was lucky enough to photograph a friend's expansive garden in the evening, morning and afternoon light, and that was pretty much the best.
In the morning, I grabbed my camera and headed out to the garden in my pjs when everyone else was still asleep. The bees were making their rounds to the poppies, which had opened overnight. I watched their wrinkly new petals change in the light as the sun made its way through the trees. Poppies may be my favorite flower to photograph. I love them from every direction, in any light, in focus or as a speck in the background.
That the afternoon I returned with Christa to water. She proved to be a lovely subject. As were the chamomile and the sunflowers.
I'm appreciative of good friends who cook up delicious breakfast feasts, make ice cream sandwiches with cookies warm from the oven, play multiple games of ping pong and Settlers of Catan, and share their bounty.
I'm anxious to have our own garden, where I can watch the bees dance from flower to flower and study the light on petals and greens.
P.S. Last 4th of July in Santa Cruz and the one before that (also in Santa Cruz).