gerrymorgan

The colours are very striking. If you have the opportunity to re-shoot, you could consider shooting at an angle that does not reflect you in the the window, then use Photoshop's Lens Correction tool to straighten the photo. You'd have to shoot wider, of course, to allow for the area lost during the correction process.

 

I wonder whether (in a perfect world) the pot might be a little further to the right (say, by about half its own width). Then it would form a diagonal from the corner of the photo to the window, and it would be a nice element of the composition further to the right.

I like the peaceful mood of this photo, and the sense of the stairs being taken over by the moss and leaves. The diagonal of the banister makes it a particularly strong composition.

An unknown variety of prickly pear fruit after a rainy night in the

desert.

I'd be really interested to know what type of cactus this is, if anyone has any ideas. Although it grows in my garden (which is really just open desert) near Tucson, It's not a native Arizona species. Around here, that often means a Mexican species, though this one never seems to mind the frosts that we get in January and February. It's a big plant (8 feet / 2.4 metres tall). And it's somewhat similar to opuntia ovata, but this one has no spines. The flowers and fruit grow on the face of the pads as well as the edges (as in this shot).

Engelmann Prickly Pear (opuntia engelmannii). Today's flower (yellow) and a flower that is opening for the second day (the slightly orange one on the right).

Good eye! The Gasthaus sign really helps the composition. And the tree is a nice touch too.

In Saguaro National Park, West.

By late June, the saguaro cactus flowers have turned to fruit (which,

incidentally, taste delicious).

Every year, in late May and early June, the saguaro cactuses in

southern Arizona start to bloom.

I like this shot a lot. The combination of the high-contrast and high-key look is very effective, and the composition is very strong, especially as the bird on the wire closest to the pole is looking directly at the bird who is arriving. Congratulations on a superb image!

Nicely done, Stanko -- a beautiful fly photo! For those people who are puzzled as to how Stanko persuaded the fly to remain still, surely this was taken early in the morning while the fly was too cold to be active. Hence the dew on the fly's body.