This Week on Instagram: 6/30/17 - LotsaSmiles Photography

Happy Friday, all! I had a fun set of photos this week!

This first one is from Washington’s Palouse. We took a weekend trip out there, and while it rained part of the time, we still had some beautiful weather in there, too. This is the expansive view from Steptoe Butte. From up top, you can espy everything from canola farms to wind farms. It was quite the view.

This little boat-billed heron was from our river tour in Costa Rica. He was just chilling in the brush, peeking out at us through the leaves. He was probably hiding out from the crocodiles.

This one’s also from the Palouse. On our last day, we went out to an iconic red barn just as the sun was rising. I was struck by the detail of the lines formed by this silo. We also had some amazing clouds that morning before the rains filed back into the region.

And back to Costa Rica (I’m really not meaning to jump back and forth; that’s just how things shook out). This was at our resort in Puntarenas, and this must have been the royalty cabana – right atop this little hill. We saw a fancy dinner for two set up in this spot one night, but otherwise, it was just another place to relax on the property.

This was my submission this week for Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness. This is from neither Palouse nor Costa Rica; it’s our good ‘ole Crater Lake! This characteristic tree has been photographed so many times, but I can’t seem to keep myself away whenever I visit. Though this lake is breathtaking in color, I find it’s just as beautiful in greyscale.

And now for these last two. I really had a hard time deciding which I like better. They’re pretty much a tie, but I have to put one before the other, so you get a Mount Hood sunrise first. This is from this week’s photo challenge, “transient.” We lucked out a bit with this one. When getting up for sunrise, it’s usually a gamble. You simply can’t always tell if the light clouds will produce any color or just a dud.