Storm in the Badlands of SD. Was just gorgeous (and scary). Lots of folks in tents, trying to keep their tents up. And one poor guy with a tiny tent and a motorcycle. He probably spent the night in the shower house (which was made from cement blocks).

Toby jugs, from a late uncle's estate.

Jim, i thought we owned the only "non swimming " yellow lab. You look like you are encouraging the dog to enjoy a swim. Most will knock you down to dive in first. Our second lab only liked to play with a garden hose

Our grandcat Hazel.

Oh, she is gorgeous! Green eyes too.

My ditch lillies are about to open. My kids and grandkids call them ‘freedom flowers’ because they open at the end of the school year.

Gyr_falcon, I love how you get a black background. Is that a special technique?

Dolly, I use a flash unit, or sometimes the on-camera flash, and try to take the shot with the background distant enough to be outside the ideal flash lighting range. So the flash lights the subject, but does not lighten the background as much.

Delicious

To go with the original picture. While in Sydney, Australia we were walking through the large botanical gardens that parallel the downtown area, and in one location I smelled some "fragrance" that reminded of a cats litter box. Looking up I thought maybe it is from those large brown fruit on the trees above me.

Then I saw one of the "fruits" stretch its wings, and it became quite apparent why it smelled like a litter box. I decided to leave that area before it started to "sprinkle".