Supermoon - and a super-proud mama

First there was the supermoon...

And then there were the super-proud parents when this super-kid graduated from 6th grade last night. He's turning into a wonderful young man before our very eyes and we couldn't be more proud. Next stop, junior high! (Well, after a fun-filled summer in New Hampshire first that is. Can't rush through summer vacation...)

The shirt he's wearing is a commemorative t-shirt given to all the kids in the grade for their graduation ceremony. Israelis don't go in for button-downs and ties, even for special occasions :).

Happy end of the school year / beginning of summer everyone!

Over the Horizon

.

Makes a fantastic phone case and throw pillow too ;).

Visit Skywatch Friday for more fantastic skies from around the world.

.

Spanish Steps

.

Bright blue skies and full sunlight shining down on the crowds visiting Rome's famed Spanish Steps

Saint Peter's Square - Bernini's Saints

Or more precisely saints, popes, martyrs and evangelists, sculpted by Bernini and his students to top the colonnade with surrounds the square outside Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Oh, and if you wondered where I've been, I was swamped with work (photo and otherwise) last week and then I snuck off to join Jay for a most wonderful weekend in Rome :).

.

Almond Blossoms against a Crisp Blue Sky

Now this is what winter in Israel is supposed to look like :)...

Click here to purchase this image from my etsy shop.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

.

When Pigeons Plan...

.

Click here to purchase this image from my Society6 shop.
(Go ahead, click through and check it out - it makes a fabulous iPhone case...)

Visity Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

.

Edited to add a link to Camera Critters too. Thanks for the suggestion Dina, and welcome back from blogland exile!

Flying South at Sunset

It's been a while since I've participated in Skywatch. It's good to be back.

Flock of birds heading south as the sun set over the Tel Aviv beach.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography on Etsy and Society6 and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in one of my shops yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Lunar Eclipse, 15 June 2011

What a perfect subject for my return to Skywatch Friday after a "life got in the way" (i.e. I had no time to shoot much of anything, including skies) hiatus that went on far too long. I had a fantastic and completely unobstructed view of last night's lunar eclipse right from my patio. Even the clouds stayed away until after the moon was completely covered. Here are a few images of the eclipse as it happened, and then a collage showing how it progressed.

Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Go Fly a Kite

.

Tel Aviv Beach, April 2011

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Window to the Sky

.
We've been having unseasonably late but welcome if you're anyone but me rainstorms the past week so our skies haven't been much to look at, but we're happy for how green they're making the land for a little while longer before the dry browns of summer return. On a recent walk the skies were a drab white but the leaves were kind enough to provide a natural frame.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Split Personality

.
This is one of a series of cloud images shot a while back as a test of a new polarizing filter. Nothing all that exciting but I liked the contrast between the dark storm clouds below, the white fluffy sun-kissed clouds above, and the blue sky peeking out above it all. I'm pulling it out of the archives today because spring seems to have done a temporary runner on us here in Israel, leaving miserably soggy gray in its place. Not only is it not photogenic it's downright ugly, not to mention pouring down rain. Ridiculous for this time of year, but the rain gods apparently didn't see fit to ask me. (Repeats to self over and over: it's okay, we need the rain, it's okay, we need the rain...)

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Postcard from Tel Aviv

.

This shot I snapped on the beach in Tel Aviv earlier this month has a real "wish you were here" postcard-type feel to it, don't you think?

And before you all hate me too much - it really wasn't all that warm. The temperatures a few blocks away from the sea were lovely but right by the beach it was so windy that I was shivering in a sweater! Still better than snow and ice in my book though, so I'll take it :).

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Sculling, redux

An old favorite, revisited (and reprocessed)...

Click here to purchase this photograph

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Sepia Skies over the Mount of the Beatitudes

.
When life gives you lemons, in this case in the form of dreadfully dusty, washed-out skies, what else can you do but make sepia-tinted lemonade?

This image of the back gate of the chapel on the Mount of the Beatitudes has been wallowing in my archives for a while now. I absolutely love the ornate ironwork on the gate, but the terribly washed out skies and the horrible jungle of overhead wires you'd have seen if I didn't just spend far too long painstakingly photoshopping them out, but let's keep that our little secret, shall we? just didn't wow me. Since rain and then a sick kid have conspired to keep me stuck in the house for days now though (not to mention that other little project I have going on) shooting new images hasn't been an option, so back into the archives it was and this little image is the one that got lucky.

More skies from around the world can be found here. For sepia, head here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Andromeda's Rock

.
(Have you entered the Shades of Pink giveaway yet? She's giving away one of my custom Photoverse prints! What are you waiting for? Run! Enter! Now!)

According to Greek legend Andromeda was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster in penance for her mother's boasting. Was this rocky outcropping off of the ancient port city of Jaffa actually that rock? We'll never know, but legend says that it is, and it is known locally as Andromeda's Rock.

More skies from around the world can be seen each week at Skywatch Friday.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Off Season

.

Gray winter skies over a deserted Sea of Galilee beach.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Sunrise, Early January

This was the view from my patio at 6:45 this morning. Almost made it worth being up and moving that early after a night that was far shorter than it should have been.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Blue Skies over Tabgha



Buy this print on etsy

Blue skies, and a teasing glimpse of an olive branch, over the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes at Tabgha.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies from around the world.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My photography is now available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.

Winter Skies over the Galilee

Winter storms finally arrived in Israel last weekend, and not a moment too soon for this parched land. This shot was taken last Saturday morning, just an hour or two before the storm blew in. I was standing on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, looking back toward the hills. If you look at the angle of the reeds you can get an idea how strongly the wind was blowing, and this was just a precursor for the main event where heavy rains combined with a sandstorm to literally rain mud from the sky. (It was quite dramatic, actually, not something I'd be keen to repeat too often. We don't seem to do anything by halves in this little country of ours...)

Click here to see this image as a customizable Photoverse print.

.

All that glitters...

Brussels' Maisson des Brasseurs, rebuilt(!) by the Brewers Guild in 1695 after much of the Grand Place was destroyed in an attack by the French. The statue of the horse and rider on the top was added in 1901 and represents Charles of Lorraine, a benefactor. Today the building is a museum and chronicles the history of the Belgian brewing industry.

The facade shone so even under such dark and overcast skies, I can only imagine how it must glitter in the sun.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

.

If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

.