White hydrangea

Getting away to the Northern California coast is always a fun adventure for me because I never know what I might discover along the shoreline; but no matter where we end up staying, I’m also eager to spend time exploring just outside my door. Sometimes the unfamiliar back yard can be full of wonderful details — things that are easily overlooked in the rush to get “out there” and away into the wilds.

Wild roses by the front gate

African lily

In this case, it was the middle of November and I didn’t expect to find too many flowers blooming in the yard. The ones I did see were a wonderful surprise — but I also had fun shooting a collection of rather large dried flower heads. I’m still working on identifying them; Google has not been cooperative and keeps insisting these are pine cones.

Using fill flash

I can’t resist shooting fuzzy leaves!

Marigold