Laura Griffin Designs

I recently visited the Arboretum for the Dallas Bloom festival. I’m not sure if it’s just in my head, but I always feel healthier after I’ve spent a day outdoors breathing in the fresh air! This particular day was no exception. I captured a few shots I wanted to share with you here…

A purple daisy bursting with color…

A beautiful Japanese maple branch gently blowing in the wind…

And the vivid hue of spring tulips in bloom…

Took a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, and snapped a few photos I thought I’d share. I was surprised to see so many beautiful roses still in bloom!

Isn’t this guy a cutie?!

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I think the highlight of the State Fair for my mom was going to the “Birds of the World Show”. She was fascinated by how close we were able to get to some of the birds of prey as they swooped just over our heads. This white falcon was particularly beautiful. Watch out for those talons!

We also saw a number of exotic birds including a brightly colored singing parrot that knew the lyrics to four separate songs!

Now if you’ve seen this show at the State Fair before, you probably know that it usually runs like clockwork. Nobody misses a beat, and you’re amazed at the talent of the animals and their trainers. The day we attended the show, though, it truly was a comedy of errors. First, they announced a hawk was flying in from the ferris wheel when he apparently wasn’t loaded yet. Next, they introduced a bird who flew out from the stage & disappeared for about 10 minutes. He was later found & recovered from a nearby tree. And finally, it took about 12 different attempts to get one of the birds to obey a command to fly out to an audience member & collect a money donation. The emcee kept saying, “That’s just the way this show is gonna go today,” but I think we enjoyed it even more with all of its flaws.

The highlight of the Fair for me was visiting an enclosed butterfly garden that held hundreds of native Texas butterflies! I always jump at the chance to take photos of them. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the afternoon…

I visited the Ft. Worth zoo last weekend. It was a hot day, but it was lots of fun. I took along my camera & took some fun shots. My favorite part was the area where you can actually feed the birds! You buy these little sesame seed coated sticks for a $1 and then they hop right on your stick & eat away. Here are some of my favorite pics of our visit… including everything from birds to lizards & zebras!

All of the birds had truly brilliant-colored feathers…

You would think they would get full based on the number of folks that were giving them treats… but they just kept coming back for more.

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You may have noticed that some of my recent macro pictures have been taken with a white background. I actually built a light box for under $10 using a cardboard box, some white tissue paper & a piece of white posterboard. Beats paying $100 for a professional one! You can learn how to make your own here. Is great for when you can’t go outside for a pic or you need to take some late at night.  It works great with ott-lites or daylight lamps if you own any.  Happy photographing!