I’m no professional photographer at all, but I do love to snap pictures with my iPhone camera everywhere I go.  My most common subject is landscapes, with a preference for rolling hills, mountains, and water.  Now, the last week of February, we flew down to Indian Wells, California, for a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar, and I had a ball taking photos of the surrounding mountains.  We drove up California Highway 47 into the mountains, and stopped at the very windy Coachella Valley Overlook.

I liked this view, because you can see the winding highway, and the mountains, and the entire valley spread out before you.  And if you look in the very far distance, you can almost see the approaching rainstorm.  Just after we left, it rained pretty hard for a desert area, and I’m sure the people were happy to get drenched.

I’ve always been very fond of our own Skagit Valley just north of where we live.  It has some of the most fertile soil in our state, and they grow all sorts of flowers and vegetables there.

This is just one of the many old barns the dot the back roads of the valley.

And in the Spring, there are the fields of tulips.

Mountains and farmland in Eastern Oregon, which looks similar to our Eastern Washington terrain.

My favorite shrub-steppe terrain near Wenatchee on the Columbia River.

The Yakima Valley is its own AVA (wine region), and you can see all the vineyards marching up the hillsides.

I also have a thing for patterns, both natural and man-made.  I like how I can capture a plant close-up so all you see are the patterns of the leaves.

This plant grows on the grounds of the resort where we stayed in California.

And these grow in the planning at a local outdoor mall!  Simple elegance, courtesy of Mother Nature, and mall landscapers.

Finally, I just love to take photos of clouds.  Whenever I am outside, I always look up to spot beautiful cloud formations.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, we never have a shortage of clouds!

Over Stevens Pass, the clouds came down to meet us.

Right near our house, the clouds are tinted pink in the sunset.

The white clouds really emphasize the deep blue of the sky.

I really consider myself fortunate to have been able to capture this very strange-looking cloud formation in Colorado.

Here’s the Link to John’s Original Post for this week.  And Tina’s too-can you spot a similarity this week?