New Guinea Impatiens

What a tough decision today. I had birds galore to choose from and how could I go with a flower with all of those faces staring back at me? (I'm a sucker for a face, cute or no... if it has a face I'm more likely to blip it.) But yesterday I opted for the duck over a wonderful flower image. I still stand by that decision, but my reasoning was that the flower would be easily reproduced some other time. Like today for instance... oops, the petals were wilted on the flower I had photographed yesterday and it was the combination of two blooms that made the shot. Maybe flowers aren't as reproducible as I was thinking. So tonight I studied all of the keepers and this one stood out over and over again.

I've tried to photograph this flower dozens of disappointing times. As gorgeous as they are in person, they never seemed to read that way in an image. Today, I took a different approach and shot them from behind - into the sun. Finally an image that seems to represent the soft beauty that these impatiens possess. Have a look large if you have the time.

The birds will have to wait for another day to earn their blip spot... today belongs to the faceless impatiens. ;)

Hot, humid and non-stop sun today. I melted a few times... But we made the most of the late afternoon with a kayak ride around the lakes. When the breeze was blowing it was heavenly. At the end, having to climb our (several flights) of stairs, up from the dock, I nearly fainted... Too much sun, not enough water and a headache. Oh well, it was worth it, we really enjoyed the time on the water. It's supposed to be hotter tomorrow. Yowza.