A Bird Ballet

 

At a lengthy stoplight during sunset the other day the girls and I sat in silent awe as hundreds of birds danced above us in the sky. It was a magical moment.

This bird ballet clip by Neels Castillon is a stunning and a grander scale of what we saw, perfectly paired with the right music. Nature constantly blows my mind.

Pink Australian Lagoon - By Steve Back

Check out this pink Hutt lagoon in Western Australia. It made me do a double take, it is so beautiful especially the artistic way photographer Steve Back captured it.  Remember this pink lake I shared here? Well, this one is also a natural occurring algae, nature you blow my mind. You've got to see Steve's other work too, it is stunning. His Pink Lakes series is also jaw-dropping. How great would these be enlarged on a wall for art?

// via Dreams + Jeans

Inside Nature : Stripes

Feeling black and white stripes for an Inside Nature post today. Zebra's are such amazing creatures aren't they?!

1 Portrait by Sonia Szostak
2 Wall & Decor (via Kika Reichert)
3 Zebras by Sajjad Fazel


“I asked the Zebra, 
are you black with white stripes?
Or white with black stripes?
And the zebra asked me,
Are you good with bad habits?
Or are you bad with good habits?
Are you noisy with quiet times?
Or are you quiet with noisy times?
Are you happy with some sad days?
Or are you sad with some happy days?
Are you neat with some sloppy ways?
Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?
And on and on and on and on and on and on he went.
I’ll never ask a zebra about stripes...again.”

-Shel Silverstein

Inside Nature : Rows of Flowers

"Earth laughs in flowers..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (Hamatreya)

Constantly inspired by rows of neatly planted flowers, stripes is on my mind for Inside Nature today, time to get laughing....


1. J. Crew Neon-Stripe Skirt
2. Candy Stripe Teaspoon Set
3. Kate Spade Live Colorfully iPhone Case
4. Fiesta Stripe Pillow
5. Kate Nolan Botanical illustration

// Top photograph by the amazing photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Inside Nature : Pink

Did you know about the pink lake called Lake Retba in Senegal? It is pink due to its super high salt content that supports the growth of a red pigmented microorganism that turns the water pink. The color changes to different shades of pink throughout the year. Surprised and amazed to come across it, I decided that I am going to start up the Inside Nature series again. Nature is so fascinating! This time I'm also going to also throw in a little fashion. What do ya think?

1.Yolanda Sanchez Modern Romance Painting

2. Red Monroe Shift
3. Lake Retba or Lac Rose (image originated from Barcroft Media)

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn.

Tree photographs

I spotted this collection of tree photographs by South Korean photographer Myoung Ho Lee and it took my breath away this morning. The series is a collection of various solitary trees shot against a white backdrop standing out in nature. Go see the whole exhibition here. Stunning.

// (via Miss Moss' pins) all photos Myoung Ho Lee

Looking down from Space...

Hello. I hope you had a nice weekend and are having a great week. I'm still getting back into the groove after a long break and all that comes with that. Aerial photography is some of my favorite, and from space, could it get any better? These unbelievable photos by André Kuipers (ESA/NASA) are jaw-dropping, I'm in awe. Mac and I were just talking about Astronauts and how surreal it would be to look down at earth and see such amazing things like this!

// all photos by ESA/NASA - see more on André Kuipers' flickr.

Inside Nature : Illumination

Images : 1: Fireflies 2: Outdoor Lighting by Bruce Munro

Spring Blossoms

Signs of Spring have been all around, the trees in my area have been in full blossom for weeks (I love that about sunny California!) and I am thinking about bringing some branches indoors. I popped over to Terrain's website today looking for vases and was happy to see that you can actually pick up branches from their site, a really cool thing if you don't have easy access to blooming branches in your area. Do you bring spring inside?

Inside Nature: Repetition

1: Pine cone photo by Cobalt123
2: Crimean Pinecone Lamp by Pavel Eekra

"Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inside Nature: Smooth

1: Livingstones
2: River Rocks Photo by John Walkenbach

"All smooth rocks were once rough around the edges." - Ashok Aggarwal

Inside Nature : Dwelling

1: Cardboard Heaven by Nina Lindgren

2: Cave Dwellings in Cappadocia,Turkey

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. 
- Lao Tzu.

New Beginnings...

2011 was a bit rough, so I welcome 2012 with open arms as being a year of calmness and a renewed simplicity and today I can't believe it but I turn 32, eek. The clip of this lovely girl Klara Harden who hiked all over Iceland on her own is incredibly beautiful and inspiring. I like that it even shows a glimpse of those vulnerable challenging moments that happened along her journey because it sure seems like those tough moments are the ones that truly teach us to soar. My obsession over the beauty of Iceland continues on.

(via Odessa May)

Inside Nature : Light

1: Eric Cahan Sky Series Photo
2: Navette Lamp Ensemble

What is true by lamplight is not always true by sunlight.  ~Joseph Joubert

Ahoy! Attack of the Icebergs

Crikey! Did you see this? From what I understand, a mondo iceberg four times the size of Manhattan broke into pieces off the coast of Greenland last year, and now nearly a year later they are seeing it appear off the 'iceberg alley' shores of Newfoundland! 

The top photo is a slice of ice that hit Newfoundland's Goose Cove temporarily blocking the harbor until it broke and melted a bit. 

That largest iceberg piece? They call it 'Petermann's Ice Island' which NASA has been watching and it has yet to hit the shores. Pretty surreal, huh?! I am continually fascinated by the mighty nature and beauty of icebergs! (See previous post) You can see a video clip for the magnitude of Petermann's Ice Island here.

(via @sophistimom twitter - sophistimom)

top photo - Gene Patey // bottom photo - Jeff Schmaltz for NASA

Rainbows

I couldn't help but pull off the side of the road and take a shot of this vibrant rainbow while driving the other day. They are so magical!

Beauty in Nature

These works of art in nature from the environmental artist Stuart Frost are remarkable. Can you believe seagull feathers make up that first work?

Also, I can't remember where I first came across this amazing video clip about nature below, but it pretty much knocked my socks off, maybe even made my eyes water a smidge. I am in constant awe at the mysteries and wonders of nature!

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."  ~Kahlil Gibran



This clip is stunning too! I hope you will have an extraordinary weekend, we hope to get out in nature and go on a long bike ride!

Video by TSO Photography

Norweigan Architecture in Nature

Architectural elements were created in Norway to enhance the tourist routes and experiences. I love seeing beautiful stuff combining nature and structures like this. How would you like to stop at one of these rest stops?! See more at the National Tourist Routes in Norway website.

 

 All photos from here by various photographers credited below:
1 by Vegar Moen // 2 & 4 by Jarle Wæhler // 3 by Jiri Havran // 5 by Helge Stikbakke 


(via knstrct)

Altered Landscapes by John Pfahl

These Altered Landscapes photographed by John Pfahl are beautiful and remind me of similar work that I have been seeing around lately, although would you believe these are from the 1970s? He has a lovely collection of different series of his photographic work here.

(All photos by John Pfahl spotted at The Best Part > zero1)

Nature Moment: Transforming

Nature is amazing, today while driving I spotted and had to turn around the car to stop and capture these frozen waves that are part of a normally free flowing river. It made me think about transformation, do you ever have interesting thought-provoking moments with the forces of nature? What magical nature scenes or moments have you seen lately?

(photos by rachel jones -- blackeiffel)