I probably should have done this in 2024 too but oh well, c’est le Temps and you can’t rewind it.

All of my photos are taken on my property, often from my window. It may have become trite, but there’s a lot of beauty in the mundane world if you stop to look. I’ve been doing that since I was a child. Back then, in Brooklyn, I’d be exploring through a weeded section in front of a grassy private lot and finding fascinating colors among tiny flowers, insects and such.

It was difficult to pare the list down to 12 as I can easily pull up two dozen. However, when it comes to photography I suffer from FOBO (Fear of Boring Others). Lord knows, I’ve been on the receiving end once too often.

Click on any image to see it full size. I’ve noticed WordPress opts to show the file name instead of the alt tag which is a bit odd, especially since my file names are highly idiosyncratic. Anyway, here they are in no particular order:

Left: A purple African daisy. The color contrast and strong, dead-on focus makes it appear to float way above the foliage (actually it’s 3-4 inches above). It also looks like it was cut and pasted.
Center: A baby raccoon struggles to climb a stone step to be with two of its three siblings. The pack of four broke into my yard while their mom was sleeping. She wasn’t pleased when she showed up since she’s super shy of humans and prefers to be nocturnal. I left so she could retrieve them.
Right: A red-breasted merganser swimming by. This is a favorite because I got a decent take on the feather coloring and textures, but mainly because of the drops of water.

Left: A pair of baby chipmunks symmetrically stand to touch noses. This was taken two days after the baby raccoon invasion. I guess my steps are Nature’s kiddie park.
Center: PHOOOF! A gust of winter wind fluffed out the downy feathers of this mockingbird showing how insulated they get for cold weather.
Right: Raindrops on a yellow rose during sunset. It rained a lot this year, but that didn’t stop me. I like this because of the sunlit drops and the hint of the golden ratio spiral.

Left: A great blue heron in profile. This heron has lived here for years but every photo I got, until this one, has been under low light conditions. I finally got a nice crisp photo.
Center: A glossy ibis perched on dead lichen-covered branches. This was the first time I’d ever seen an ibis here. I fell in love with the muted colors and almost Art Deco patterning.
Right: A green heron pauses to preen. I like this one because it highlights the variety of feathers and also because it’s simplistic: there are only 3 elements (dead branch, heron, sky).

Left: A red-breasted woodpecker opts to leap from one branch to another rather than use its wings. I posted four sequential photos, showing her preparing for the hop then landing, a few days ago on Bluesky. I was certain I’d get some spreading of wings. Instead, I got a unique leap.
Center: Another windy, rainy day photo. This one of a preening robin. I like the way the raindrops came out as well as the colors despite it being a dull, grey day.
Right: As I mentioned, it rained a lot. I thought I was grumpy about it until I saw this drenched robin.

That’s my roundup for 2025. Have a prosperous, healthy, happy New Year everyone.