One of the skills I've tried to hone this spring has been nature photography. I have loved taking photos of plants and animals for a long time, and it used to be a regular part of my job back when I worked in a plant ecology lab. On some of my increasingly long walks this spring, I found myself slowing down to admire the beauty of spring wildflowers and started taking my camera with me when I went out. After getting frustrated when photos didn't turn out quite how I wanted them, I checked out some ebooks on photography and started studying. Here are a few of my recent shots.

1. Cucumber vines searching for the sunlight
2. The biggest dogwood tree I've ever seen in the wild, Sharon Woods Metropark
3.Lavender from my garden
4. Lucky at sunset
5. Orange mint from my garden
6. Petunias after the rain
7. A pink peony from the front yard, after a storm
8. Trillium, my favorite spring wildflower, Sharon Woods Metropark