My dear friend Stitch enjoying the warm sunset rays.

For Our Furry Friends the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends curated by me.

Also, I hope you will excuse me for not being too present in your streams these days but a bad case of bronchitis coupled with a strong recurrent back pain, is really "bothering" me.....

Luna has been busy cooking up the new theme for +Hawkea's friends: Halloween!!. All your spooky and scary contributions will be welcome from Monday the 22nd until Sunday the 28th.
Have a nice weekend!

PS Do you want to be notified on Saturdays about the new themes for +Hawkea's friends? Let me know with a comment! 

#hawkeasfriends   #halloween  

My first sunrise...

First of all please accept my apologies for having notified you, if you have got to know me a little bit here on G+ you know that I don't usually notify people but this time I had to say a big THANK YOU to all the nice googlers that during my G+ leave have been so kind to leave a lots of comments and plusses in my last posts even though I wasn't here to reply. You were just too many and, for some reason, my pc is making my life impossible when it comes to +mention too many people in a single post. 
So, once again, THANK YOU G+!!! 
And please dont forget that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends  is Silhouettes :)
#hawkeasfriends

Happy  #Caturday to all my friends here :)

#caturday +CATURDAY!  curated by +Jules Falk Hunter, +Shantha Marie Fountain and +Cicely Robin Laing 

For Spring is back in +Hawkea's friends
and +FloralFriday curated by the loveliest +Tamara Pruessner
#FloralFriday #hawkeasfriends

A reshare from the archives just to remind you that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends is RED

Have a nice time!

magic mushroom

for +Macro Monday subtheme Autumn 
curated by +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden 
#MacroMonday  

Another shot for Snowed under, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

#hawkeasfriends

A re-share to remind everyone that this week's theme at +Hawkea's friends is Snowed under.

Enjoy life, G+!

Considering that snow seems to have started to appear pretty much everywhere in most of the northern hemisphere (even here in Sicily there should be some snow coming in the next couple of days), I have decided that the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends will be Snowed under.

As usual, contributions to this theme will be welcome from Monday the 10th to Sunday the 16th. 

Looking forward to your beautiful snowy photos,

Have a nice weekend!!

Time to announce the new weekly theme for +Hawkea's friends. 

The weekly theme #44, starting Monday the 3rd and ending on Sunday the 9th, will be Shadows. Said shadow should be an important part of the frame that possibly enhances the shot itself.

Please do NOT share silhouettes, 'cause we had that theme already and therefore I will not re-share any silhouette shot.
Have a great weekend!

Shadow: An area that is not or is only partially irradiated or illuminated because of the interception of radiation by an opaque object between the area and the source of radiation. The rough image cast by an object blocking rays of illumination.
Silhouette: The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background, esp. in dim light.

Yummy or yucky?

:))

A quick visit to say hi and wish you all a nice week ahead and to remind you that tomorrow we will start the new weekly theme Yummy!!! at +Hawkea's friends  

Soft morning dew weeps
Falling down in grey torrents
Forsaking the rose

(Brenda Barnes)

This is my thanks to all the people that have participated to Colours in Bloom this week (so far we have had 180 photos posted directly to the event and another hundred or so in +Hawkea's friends).

As usual, I have to ask you the courtesy to go there (+Hawkea's friends) and please yourselves with those awesome photos and pick up your favourites by plussing them.  
And if you want to lose yourselves in a gorgeous floral slideshow, click on this link (https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cpspvn1ga4ic8vgrfnbs165pe40/113722211762693166526) and press the blue button "Play live slideshow".
Have a nice Sunday! 

Golden boy

this is an 80% crop of a 1:1 macro (handheld), this guy is really tiny, around 1.5mm wide and 3 long. He seemed to enjoy the sun on a pink tulip.

A late contribution to #MacroMonday

Purple is the sub-theme today at +Macro Monday and I am enjoying looking at all those great purple-y  :) contributions.
Here is my little contribute to my favourite G+ theme curated by +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden.
#macromonday

Winter has almost started to kick in even here, today it's been raining all the day and the next few days should be more of the same, and therefore for the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends starting tomorrow, Monday the 19th and ending on Sunday the 25th, I would love to see some vibrant colours. 
Actually just one of them will be enough, so RED will be our theme for next week!! 
Have a nice week ahead!!

Yellow is the new weekly theme that will be running from Monday the 10th until Sunday the 16th at +Hawkea's friends.

Anything (photos or paintings) where yellow is the main subject will be welcome contributions to this theme.  

Also, please let me know in the comments below if you want to be added to the circle of people that every Saturday get notified of the latest call for the themes.

Snowed under is going quite well, with tons of great contributions that you can watch and plus over at +Hawkea's friends. I remind you that every Monday I select the 5 posts that have received the most plusses from you, for the final evaluation step by our 12 mighty panellists. And the selected shot will be featured in our upcoming charity photobook.

You can see all the photos selected so far in +Hawkea's Charity Book  stream.

Have a marvellous, hopefully snowy but not necessarily snowed under, day!!

Blowing the highlights at sunset......

I know......it's crap :) but I am literally falling asleep and I wanted to catch your attention to remind you that there is all tomorrow still to contribute to Portraits in Mono, the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends, and that from Monday we will run another theme Our furry friends :)
Portraits in Mono has been quite successful with lots of great contributions, so I invite you to go to my page +Hawkea's friends and plus your favourites B&W portraits (there are quite a few) and also the Fancy Fences shots from last week.

Stitch, my favourite cat model, incredibly awake!!! I couldn't believe my eyes ;))

Have a nice week ahead my friends!

Sony NEX-6 with vintage manual lens (Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f1.8, my fave manual lens at the moment).

#NEX-6 #Konica

THANK YOU!!!!  :)

dear friends, old and new, I would like to thank you all so much for your kind wishes and comments that have made this day so very special to me.
This little flower, that I love, is for you all.

 +Елена Ващукова +Ada M +Lella H +Rumiana Nikolova +Maron Glassey 
+judy midrowsky +John Webster +Michelle Potter +Kumiko Parkinson 
+Bonnie Zabytko +Alycia Miller +Kari Tedrick +Nandlal Shah +wes milo +TinaMaria Endeman +thomas mutahi +Jerry Downs +Atta UR REHMAN +Scarlet Wilson +Safeer Ahmed +Danny Boyce +Elie Ghobeira +shahid iqbal +Mohammed Abdullahi +Jolie Narcisse +Jose Medina +Michael Chernyavsky +Don Temp +Isaiah Mullins +Daniel Patterson +Kimberly A Edwards +Brian Thomas +Michael Pham +Keith Gallagher +Lynda Buckley +David Sink +Miodrag Cheza Stojanovic +Seyed Rouhollah +aamir mehmood +Grigoria Tsiakmaki +Kenviaco Brewer +Gabriel Dixon +Keegan Conner +Pamela Jackson +Jay Flemming +Jane Sage +William Wallace +Jason Borg +Sean Zhang +Hridheek Reddy 

“Bursts of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It's the time of day when the sky looks like it has been spray-painted by a graffiti artist.” 
― Mia Kirshner

The quiet after the storm......

Since I won't be around all tomorrow and most of Sunday, I am anticipating to today the call for the new theme at +Hawkea's friends for the week starting on Monday the 17th and ending on Sunday the 23rd.

Thanks to +Taimi Krys's suggestion we'll have Epic Clouds (no need to elaborate on that, right? ;) )  

Have a smashing weekend my friends!!

Blue Moon Risin'

As you know last month had two full moons and therefore it was a Blue Moon month even though blue only in name. In fact, here in Sicily it was quite yellowish :)
Unfortunately I didn't have anything bigger than 100mm with me so I had to crop quite a lot here...

http://youtu.be/21scyhRP_IU (Blue Moon - Nat King Cole)

A moody morning in the Sicilian hills

In the end I decided to follow my heart (and +Jules Falk Hunter's suggestion to do so) and therefore I chose a slightly reworked version of Moody Hills as my submission to #PlusOneCollection2012  http://plusonecollection.com/

This wasn't my most plussed or commented shot of 2012 but this place is very special to me. Hope you like it too :)

+Plus One Collection +Ivan Makarov 

In 5 minutes I will be flying off to somewhere I really love :) (I hope to come back with some new nice shots to share), so please forgive me if I will be slow resharing your Epic Clouds at +Hawkea's friends in next few days!
Have a great week!!

Take-off aka The revenge of the leopard pac-man.........

.......my head is melting (outside it is 40°C...)

Another very quick post (from rainy but beautiful Finland) just to let you know that our next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends, starting on Monday 24th and ending  on Sunday 30th, will be Silhouettes. 
I won´t be around much (as you might have noticed) until the 26th so I apologize in advance for not sharing your works as quickly as I normally try to do.

Heaven is up there....

This week's theme at +Hawkea's friends is Epic Clouds, so please give us your prettiest cloudy skies :)

Weekly theme #52, also the last, for
+Hawkea's friends charity project will be Somewhere over the rainbow. As usual archive shots are fine, so don't worry if you won't be able to catch some nice rainbows in the next few days. 

This last theme will run for almost two weeks, until Sunday 17th, because in the meantime I am starting to get everything ready for the editing and publishing of +Hawkea's Charity Book. 

http://youtu.be/PSZxmZmBfnU 

Tomorrow we'll restart the weekly themes at +Hawkea's friends and, as already anticipated, the theme for the week starting the 24th and ending the 30th, will be Christmas bokeh.
I won't be around much but I'll make sure to reshare all your contributions in +Hawkea's friends as usual.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a decent New Year (one can always hope right? :) )

PS to all the friends with whom I usually interact: I am sorry if I havent been too active in your streams all last week but for a few reasons I havent been feeling too "festive" or active......regardless you're always in my mind.

For +FloralFriday by the lovely +Tamara Pruessner 
#floralfriday  

And my floral gift to all the people that have been participating to Yellow at +Hawkea's friends this week. There is still all the weekend left and I have already reshared a tons of gorgeous photos :)
#hawkeasfriends  
Btw do you guys have any idea what theme we should choose for next week? 
EDIT following +Taimi Krys's suggestion, the new weekly theme, starting on Monday 17th and ending on Sunday 23rd, will be *Epic Clouds* 

One of my favourite Clematis for +Tamara Pruessner and her +FloralFriday  #floralfriday  
Have a nice weekend my G+ friends!

"The whole universe is based on rhythms. Everything happens in circles, in spirals." (John Hartford)

Happy Anniversary G+

And a big thank you to all the awesome people I have met here that have been so important in defining my last year. 
Have a great weekend, hopefully photowalking around the globe!!
#HappyBirthdayGoogle+

CENSORSHIP...............

Now, before you all go berserk on me, considering that my photographic style hasn't included anything like this before, it is important that you know that this beautiful image is NOT mine, but it belongs to fellow G+ user +Jorunn Gudlaugsdottir. The reason why I am posting this here is that this awesome image has been blocked by Google plus most probably after some idiot has reported it and I dont think that this is right. I dont see anything offensive, let alone pornographic, in this work by Jorunn. I actually considered it the best image I have see in a long while and as I said already in Jorunn's post, before the image got blocked, I particularly like the light/shadows play that divides the frame in two vertical zones. Anyone that follows me and thinks that this image is offensive is free of uncircle me right now..........
Based on what logic, does G+ let lots of stupid pages full of hideous shots of girls in thongs and micro-bikini still exist here, and instead this got deleted??
If you, like me, think that this is not pornography but photographic art and want to support my decision to go against G+'s decision, please share this as much as you can. +Jorunn Gudlaugsdottir was obvioulsy informed of what I was going to do and she is happy if you reshare this.
Peace out my friends :))

I have my eyes on you

for +Macro Monday and my favourite trio of curators +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden 
#Macromonday  

Another Finnish midnight's sunset for #HQSPpromotion by +Rinus Bakker +Carina Marsh and +Linda Motoiu 
and for #NordicFeeling curated by +Charlotte Therese Björnström and +Peter From 
Have a nice weekend everyone! I have just finished working on my sauna, so I guess (hope) that my weekend will be a relaxed one, taking a few saunas!

for Still...in motion, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends.

For info and rules on this charity project/book please visit this link  ---> https://plus.google.com/b/100519235758823334026/100519235758823334026/about

Help needed :)
Dear friends,

that time of the year when I ask you to help me choose the best photo of 2012 to be submitted to the Plus One Collection http://plusonecollection.com/about-the-book/ is here again.....

I have uploaded to this album my most popular photos of 2012 and I would like to ask you to kindly plus the ones you like the most, hoping that in a few days there will be a clear winner. Thank you so much for your time and sorry for the notification!!!

In other news +Hawkea's friends latest weekly theme, Modern Marvels hasn't received as many contributions as I'd hoped probably because it was running through the new year's period. Therefore I have decided to extend it for another week, so it will end next Sunday (the 13th).

the CUBE - Kyoto, Japan

The weekly theme #48 for +Hawkea's friends charity project will be Modern marvels. This theme will run from tomorrow, Monday 31st, until Sunday the 6th, and as always the interpretation is left up to you but obviously we are mainly talking of architectural and technology-related submissions.

Since this will be my last post for this year (I'll be back on the 4th of January), I would also like to send you all my warmest wishes for a truly wonderful New Year!!!

A perv view.....
....of a gorgeous ladybug's derriere is my reshare today for Nature Macros at +Hawkea's friends  #hawkeasfriends  
Close-up and macros of natural, living things (bugs, plants, etc.) are welcome starting from today until Sunday the 2nd.
Main focus is on proper macros but close-ups are ok too so that even people without specific macro glass or extension tubes or close-up filters or whatever can participate as well.
Have a nice week everyone!!

My first contribution to #NauticalWednesday and its adorable Admiral +Annelies Kroen!!

Dark Summer

For #MonochromeMonday excellently curated by +Nurcan Azaz  +Manuel Votta +Charles Lupica +Jerry Johnson and +Steve Barge  
+Monochrome Monday 

Also, if at all possible, check my previous post please (https://plus.google.com/113722211762693166526/posts/cZ6hVWwRfLe)  and leave me your opinion. Thank you!

I know....they are bang in the middle but to hell with compositional rules for once :)

For +Tree Tuesday and its lovely curator +Christina Lawrie 
#TreeTuesday  

I am offering my Ray of hope photo for the auction organized by +Nicole Burgoz to help fellow photographer +Charles Crawford, who has MS, to be able to walk (and shoot) again. Please see this post for details: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113490389114169214880/posts/ioMgLWp1caG

A 12.4" x 8.9" matted print of this photo is up for auction. Bids may be placed in the comments of the photo itself. Shipping will be handled by Redbubble and all shipping costs will be covered by me wherever you are. You can see how the finished print will look like here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/hawkea/works/6847202-a-ray-of-hope-international-womens-day?c=27434-flowers&p=matted-print
Share this and the original post (link above) to help raising more money for Charles!

Yummy!!! is the new theme currently running for this week (until Sunday the 6th) at +Hawkea's friends (read info and rules in the about section of the profile of the page). 

This cute amanita instead is definitely not to be tried for its yumminess!!

Lady in yellow

A yellow ladybug to remind you that there are only a few hours before the end of Yellow, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 
From tomorrow we start Epic Clouds.

Have a great week ahead!

For Heavy Metal that is the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 
#hawkeasfriends  
Click on this link if you want to know more about this theme: https://plus.google.com/b/100519235758823334026/100519235758823334026/posts/1s413q2fVDQ

A mono portrait of Luna for Portrait in Mono, the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends and #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica +Hans Berendsen +Jerry Johnson and +Manuel Votta
+Monochrome Monday

Where Fire meets Water

Viewing it large definitely helps!!

For Textures, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 
#hawkeasfriends  
and +Breakfast Art Club curated by +Simply Arlie #breakfastartclub

Help, my friends!
Does anyone want to help me choosing the next weekly theme (#51 and second to the last!!!) for +Hawkea's friends charity project? 

Have a nice Sunday everyone!

UPDATE: thanks to +Annelies Kroen I now have a good idea for the new theme. Going to post it in a minute!

a softy for +FloralFriday and +Tamara Pruessner 
#floralfriday

The Northern lights in a Sicilian fireplace.......

IMPORTANT UPDATE
for everyone that participates to the weekly themes that I run at +Hawkea's friends.
Starting from this week the weekly themes will run from Monday to Sunday and NOT any more from Saturday to Friday. Therefore, if you want to contribute to the current running theme that is Fancy Fences you have time until Sunday night to submit your images.
Have a great day!

Today I couldn't come up with a good idea for the next weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends but hey presto, I just had to ask for help around here to find the right inspiration.

And so, thanks to dear +Annelies Kroen's suggestion, our weekly theme #51 will be Please take a seat!.

Time to share your favourite chairs, benches, sofas, couches, seats, and all different kinds of things where you like to rest your tired backsides ;) 

Another one for Yellow at +Hawkea's friends  #hawkeasfriends  

Important Notice for Hawkea's friends contributors
As most of you already know, Hawkea's friends project is, at its core, a 52 weeks long project that will see at end of this period (around February 2013), the publication of a photobook that will include the best (or to be more precise, most plussed and carefully selected) contributions for each weekly theme.
For this to work properly, it is essential the contribution given by a) each one of you with your plusses and b) by the panel of critics that ultimately pick one out of the 5 most plussed photos.
But the important thing to remember is that only the plusses given to the posts reshared within +Hawkea's friends page will count. Therefore, I need you to plus the shots that I reshare in +Hawkea's friends, even if you plussed them already in the original post.  
Thank you, my friends!

For +Powerline Friday curated by the electrifying +Natosha Davis 

And for Mountain Sights current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

#powerlinefriday   #hawkeasfriends  

Autumnal Moods is the current (from today until Sunday the 21st) weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends. 
Have a nice week!

Monkey face.
Is it just me or the face of this microscopic moth (1x3mm) reminds you as well a monkey? I am under strong painkillers because of some strong back pain, so maybe it is just that ;)
For +Macro Monday and its three lovely musketeers +Kerry Murphy +Jennifer Eden and +Kelli Seeger Kim :)
A friend of this little guy is here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113722211762693166526/albums/5674187321774756993/5734873591278992722 #MacroMonday

My blue star

Colour me Blue is the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends
You still have a couple of days left to show me your best blue captures.
Tomorrow I will announce the new theme for next week.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Comments are disabled because for a couple of days I will not be able to comment on your posts being too busy working in and around the house.

A tiny dragonfly basking in the sunset a couple of days ago.

I am actually disappointed by this shot 'cause it seemed that she was going to stay there for hours but instead she flew away after two shots and so I didnt manage to frame the shot how I wanted  with the dying sun at her back.

For Nature Macros at +Hawkea's friends curated by me. Today is the last day, from tomorrow we'll start the new theme, Smiles

When I saw that this tiny jumping spider had such gorgeous yellow fangs I knew I had to find a suitable location to shoot a few macros of him. And so it started a strenuous battle with the little thing trying to convince him to cooperate and pose for me on a yellow pencil.....30 minutes later I finally had the shot I wanted :))
Disclaimer: No animals were hurt during this shooting session :D
For #SpiderSunday curated by +Kjetil Greger Pedersen +Kimberly Hosey and +Chris Mallory
+Spider Sunday
Btw ID would be appreciated :)
EDIT: Those are not fangs but rather pedipalps and we also have a name for her (Thanks +Vincent Lefebvre)
#PlusPhotoExtract

Ancient, old, new, fake or real, Castles will be the protagonists of the new weekly theme (at +Hawkea's friends) that starts tomorrow, Monday the 5th, and will run until Sunday the 11th.
Have a superb week ahead!

This is my first proper harvest from a redcurrant bush that I planted 4 years ago and if I am so happy to actually have to put it here, it is because we live in Sicily where it is very difficult to grow them.
For Harvest Basket the running weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends curated by me.

A gentle smile from my favourite blonde :) for Smiles at +Hawkea's friends 

Do you think that all that bokeh in the background is adding to or detracting from the portrait? I never seem to be able to make my mind up about this :))

You turn my world upside down

yes, +Johanna Miettinen I am talking to you :)

for #FloralFriday by +Tamara Pruessner and #OnTheWingsOfButterflies by +Sharon Jeannette 
+FloralFriday +On the Wings of Butterflies! 

Crimson Sunset

for Reflections the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

Smokey Sun

The Sun setting (almost) through a thick layer of clouds. I almost burned the sensor......but I like what I got :)

During the Summer, if you remember, we had Feelings of Summer as one of the weekly themes at +Hawkea's friends (by the way if you want to know or forgot which photos was chosen for that, as well as for the other themes, head over to +Hawkea's Charity Book to view all the photos selected so far), so now that Fall is in full gear (not here in Sicily though....) the next weekly theme will be Autumnal Moods. 
As usual the start for this theme will be this coming Monday (15th) and the end on Sunday the 21st.
Hoping to see many beautiful photos, I wish you a very nice weekend!

I am re-sharing this photo of Luna to remind you that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends is Smiles.
We all need lots of smiles in our lives (and especially me in this period) and so I wish that you are going to bury my notification box in your smiles :)
Have a great week plussers!!

To be honest I didn't even watch the game (I am more of a petrol-head....) but to celebrate the victory against Germany of the Italian team (Azzurri) in the European football championship, I thought to reshare this oldish photo, after all we scored twice :)
For #FloralFriday by +Tamara Pruessner 
+FloralFriday 
#ForzaItalia 

My world in a soap bubble

if you look carefully you'd understand why :)
Have a nice evening/afternoon G+.

A re-share from the archives to remind you that this week's theme at +Hawkea's friends is Colour me Blue.

Have a nice day!

Please stop staring at my bum.....

Today's theme-within-a-theme at +Macro Monday is Bokeh
Thank you +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy and +Jennifer Eden for curating the best theme :)
#MacroMonday

The Seven Sisters

can you see them? :)

With this LE of a night view over lake Päijänne, Finland, I wish you all a good night (whenever it will be for you) and a great week ahead!!

One for both +Buggy Friday (curators +Sherry McBriar +Margaret Tompkins and +Ray Bilcliff) and +FloralFriday curated by +Tamara Pruessner
#BuggyFriday #FloralFriday

PS Don't forget to participate to Fancy Fences, the current theme at +Hawkea's friends, with your fence shots! HFF!

I would like to invite you all to share your art (photos or paintings mainly) in my G+ page, +Hawkea's friends, where I am posting new themes regularly (every week) hoping to see as many as possible of you participating.
As you already know for a G+ page to interact with you, you have to follow the page and the best way for me to know that you want your images to be shared is if you tag them with +Hawkea's friends or hashtag your posts with #HawkeasFriends .
This week's theme is Fairy Tales

The wind

I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies' skirts across the grass

Oh wind, a blowing all day long,
Oh wind, that sings so loud a song!

I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all

Oh wind, a blowing all day long!
Oh wind, that sings so loud a song!

O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?

O wind, a blowing all day long,
O wind, that sings so loud a song!

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Have a nice week, my friends!

Yellow is the new weekly theme that will be running from today, Monday the 10th, until Sunday the 16th at +Hawkea's friends. 

Anything (photos or paintings) where yellow is the main subject will be welcome contributions to this theme.  

Also, please let me know in the comments below if you want to be added to the circle of people that every Saturday get notified of the latest call for the themes.

Just goofin' around with Silver Efex Pro.
Something caught my eye in the streets of Erice, Sicily ;)

And sharing this with +Barry Robinson that at his page +1ML Studios is collecting #StreetPhotography shots.

Kissed by the sun

I have been debating with myself whether I should have cropped out the stem on the right or not? In the end I decided to include it! What do you think about it?

Weekly theme #49 for +Hawkea's friends charity project will be Colour me Blue. This theme will run from tomorrow, Monday 14th, until Sunday the 20th, and the interpretation is quite obvious. Anything blue goes!

Yesterday night around 9pm I was going back inside after tending to my garden when I saw my wife whose face was frozen in a static ecstatic expression and whose index finger was pointing at the sky behind me. I turned around expecting to find either Johnny Depp or an alien.....and this is what I saw.....I knew I wouldnt have had the time to take and set the tripod so I just rushed inside to take my NEX with whatever lens was attached to it (in this case the kit 18-55) and took a few shots. In a few seconds the marvel was gone. 
Have a great day everyone.
#hqsppromotion  +HQSPPromotion by +Rinus Bakker  & Co.
+Landscape Photography by +Margaret Tompkins 
#LandscapePhotography

Just a shadow of myself

I keep screaming out your name
What have I become
A mere shadow of myself (just a shadow)
Fleeing from the sun
(by L'ame Immortelle)

A reminder that the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends is Shadows
Have a great day!

The new weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends, for the week starting on Monday the  26th and ending on Sunday the 2nd, will be Mountain Sights.
Mountains will be the main subject but interpretation, as always, will be left to you.

In the meantime, do not forget that there is still time left to contribute to RED!!

Full rules and info on how to participate to my weekly themes can be found here:
https://plus.google.com/b/100519235758823334026/100519235758823334026/about

Another odd one out

In a crowd there always has to be someone/thing that wants to stand out......

In this case though, it is the fault of an eight-legged insect......look closely at the photo ;)

And this image is perfect to introduce the new weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends that is in fact The Odd One Out, anything that stands out in a more or less peculiar way will do!
Looking forward to your contributions my friends!

The underside of a begonia transilluminated by the sun for the sub-theme Leaf at +Macro Monday 
For +Kerry Murphy +Kelli Seeger Kim and +Jennifer Eden 
#macromonday  

Re-sharing this photo of Cric and Croc for Our Furry Friends, the current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends, curated by me.
And remember that as long as they have some kind of fur, your friend-pets are all more than welcome (we will have another theme for the "un-furry" friends soon :) ).

For Snowed under, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

A Venusian spider.....

I am a bit late announcing the call for our new weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends .
For the week starting tomorrow, the 8th of October, and ending on Sunday the 14th, the weekly theme will be Textures. Please beware that I am referring to natural textures and not textures applied digitally. We might have another theme with those digital ones further down the road, before the end of our 52 week project.
As usual, please let me know in the comments if you want to be added to the circle of people that get notified with the last call for the themes.
And if you want to know more about +Hawkea's friends, please read the info and rules in that page's profile (in the about section).
Peace out ,my friends! 

Memories mingle
with the tears of misty eyes
silently, raindrops

(SilentReed)

For Mountain Sights, current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends 

Have a great weekend, plussers!

More autumnal colours and moods from our recent trip to Finland.

Good night, G+, and sweet dreams :)

I am sharing this IR Ilford SFX 200 version ;) of a Cork oak tree for dear friend +Malika M. :)
Hope you like this version.
Have a great day G+!

This is "pappa", my wife's grandfather. He is for me the best example I have ever had in my life of a just, kind, good-hearted and down-to-earth person. In other words he is my hero and if I could just manage to be half the man he is I would be really happy.
For Our Heroes current weekly theme at +Hawkea's friends curated by me.
#hawkeasfriends  

Spring is back and with it the messy bees :)
Don't forget that you still have until tomorrow night to share your awesome Spring-ish images in +Hawkea's friends.

#photoplusextract
#plusphotoextract