Camera Critters #195 Gorilla Preserve at The San Francisco Zoo

Photos taken at the San Francisco zoo.

Is it just me or is this guy smoking a joynt in the photo? :)

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Thursday Two Questions Meme #67 Beauty in the Ordinary

As you all know a walk through nature can be a beautiful experience.  During Spring the flowers are in bloom and just waiting for us shutterbugs to visit and display their beauty.  For me, though, I find just as much beauty in the ordinary. 

While at the gardens last week I was walking along and found the barren tree in the first photo surrounded by plush green grass and other trees.  There was something about the light shining on this barren tree that just created the perfect moment for me.  I found it to be just beautiful.  Most people would not find brown, fallen or dead leaves to be beautiful but I happen to think they are beautiful in their own way.  

My two questions this week are:

Do you find beauty in the ordinary?

Where do you go to find beauty?

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Watery Wednesday #167

Photos Taken At The San Francisco Botanical Gardens December 2011

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Happy Holidays!!!

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
― Kalu Kalu —

Macro Monday in White

All Photos Taken At The San Francisco Botanical Gardens

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Sundays In My City - Art at the San Francisco Zoo

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Camera Critters #193

All Photos Taken at the San Francisco Zoo.

Above photo, the Meerkat

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The Anteater

The Capybara

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Thursday Two Questions Meme - Holiday Getaways

This was sent to me and taken by my friend Vincent in Hong Kong.

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Many people opt to dodge the holiday madness and travel to more quiet and warm surroundings. I've never traveled away from home on Christmas but when I received this from Vincent who lives in Hong Kong, my mind began exploring the wonders of the season I could be experiencing if I were there. Would I like to be there right now? Absolutely!

My two questions this week are:

1. Have you ever traveled away from home on the holidays?

2. If you had the opportunity to do so, where would you go?

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Watery Wednesday #165

All shots taken at the San Francisco zoo.

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The above shot was taken at the penguin island on a bright blue sky day. I was facing the sun when I snapped this shot which resulted in the dark effect.

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Ruby Tuesday Turkey Vulture

Taken at the San Francisco zoo

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While this turkey vulture looks menacing, they do not attack any living species. However, I must admit that being only about 20 feet away from this creature while he was giving me the evil eye, made me very uneasy. He was fine until I began snapping his photo. That look he gave me along with his spreading those wings told me to get out of there :)

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Macro Monday Zoo Animals

All photos taken at the San Francisco zoo

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Camera Critters - Mandrill at the San Francisco Zoo

Photos taken at the San Francisco zoo

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Thursday Two Questions Meme San Francisco Insect Zoo

All of these photos were taken at the San Francisco insect zoo.

Photo above a tarantula.

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Some kind of ant.

Centipede

HUGE wood cockroaches. These guys blended in with the tree bark and were about two to three inches long.

I don't know what these were but I found their healthy food choice interesting :)

Update: Thanks to my friend George, this is a millipede.

First I have to say insects of all kinds give me the creeps. I have been to the insect area of the SF zoo before and taken photos but due to the lighting they rarely come out well enough to post. Today, however was different. I was in there alone for a while and had to admit I felt very uneasy. Even though all of these species were behind glass I kept having visions of being somehow locked in there at night with all of these creepy crawlers surrounding me. I did have some great ideas for a horror movie :)

My two questions this week are:

1. Are you afraid or uneasy around insects?

2. Do you have an insect zoo or museum in your area?

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