Forest Spring

June 21, 2021 | thetigershadow

Enjoying the spring ephemerals and the dappled sunlight in the forest understory. Trillium, lady’s slipper orchid, salmon berry, wild ginger, pinesap, vanilla leaf.

Around the birdfeeder

June 2, 2021 | thetigershadow

It’s bizarre to see that it’s been almost a year since I last posted anything. An international move, an interstate move, and a new job, with a young family, during a pandemic took just about all my energy. But I have been taking pictures and we are loving being back in familiar surroundings and exploring our local natural areas. To start back up, here’s some photos from our time in California, and a few of the backyard birds we met there.

Rhododendrons in the rain

June 7, 2020 | thetigershadow

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A gardenful of rhododendrons—Washington’s state flower—in our local park in Leipzig. Something beautiful of home to break up the isolation of quarantine so far from home.

Spring walks

May 13, 2020 | thetigershadow

Like much of the world, we’re limited in our travels and consequent photo opportunities. Instead we’ve been enjoying walks in the city park near our home, especially with all the flowers and waterfowl. The family of coots swimming around the pond yesterday was a big highlight!

Past Snapshots: Magic Gardens

April 13, 2020 | thetigershadow

Since we’re not going out much, I’m trying to continue working through old photos, cleaning out a lot of them and posting a few favorite memories. This one is from a trip to Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens over Thanksgiving weekend, 2013.

Giant’s Causeway

December 20, 2019 | thetigershadow

I spent last week in Belfast for a conference, and was lucky enough to get an extra day to explore the Northern Ireland coast. The weather was volatile, with sleeting rain switching to bright sun and back every hour. At the Giant’s Causeway, intense wind gusts kicked up choppy waves and forced tourists off the columns, providing a few unexpected openings to take people-free pictures. Topped off with a beautiful sunset and a final stop to see castle ruins, it was a pretty incredible afternoon.

Past snapshots: frozen sunset

November 9, 2019 | thetigershadow

Going through old photos, another trip to Yosemite. This one was pretty special, a New Year’s Eve weekend following a long cold spell but no big snowstorms. We were able to go up to Tenaya Lake, which had frozen solid. It was really beautiful standing in the middle of that mountain lake watching the sun set and the moon rise.

The Sleeping Beauty Castle

October 26, 2019 | thetigershadow

Schloss Neuschwanstein, one of the most photographed sites in Germany, was built in the 1800’s by King Ludwig II. It’s an idealistic version of a medieval castle, and has in turn been a source of inspiration, including for the design of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle. We braved the tourist crowds for an afternoon, and enjoyed the bright evening views across the valley.

Bavarian Castle Sunset

October 21, 2019 | thetigershadow

My favorite part of our trip to Bavaria was our visit to two castle ruins, Eisenberg and Hohenfreyburg. The castles were fun to explore, and the sunset over the valley was stunning.