Color! I need it!

Yes, I do badly need/ want a tan, but I mean, I need color outside...in nature. It's about this time every year I stop wanting to live here for about 2 months. Gray skies, melty, muddy snow piles covered in car exhaust, birds too cold to come out, wrinkled berries everywhere..So I dug into my springy, summery files from last year and re-edited some old favorites for our enjoyment...just in case, like me, you are in need of a cheerful little pop of color...
I really enjoyed heading outside last year with my favorite macro lens and getting superclose to every flower I saw on the side of the road. Some of them ended up being questionable ("Mary- that's a weed!") and some exciting only for someone with a new lens ("Omg, look, I captured an ant's eyes!") But for the most part I love that I can get those little specks of detail, vibrant color and shallow depth of field without messing around too much with my settings. My macro lens makes the most mundane things look like art!

I love the symmetry of this one!

Black-eyed susans are everywhere by August..so sunny!

Bright and cheery Gerbera daisy..don't the little stamens look like hearts?

Purple coneflower (echinacea) is also a Bee favorite.

A crocus is like a little hiding jewel and one of the first blooms of early Spring!

I remember last Spring, early, when the first day I had no need of a coat came by, I headed out to stalk local yards, desperate for color and beauty...Sorry, neighbors, if you see me driving by with my camera, but these are some of the beauties I was able to capture! I have no lawn, but this year I hope to get to a couple of parks and flower shows so I can learn a little bit more about the different blooms I see around town. Happy colorful day!