I mowed the lawn today for the first time in three weeks. 
As you may recall, I didn’t want to disturb the young fawn that was recovering in our back yard so I put the task of mowing off until he was able to leave. What I found in our back yard, besides very tall grass, was a number of prickly thistles growing. Most of them I was able to mow down, but there was one growing up against the back porch steps that I couldn’t reach with the mower. So, before I took the weed whacker to it, I thought I would photograph it. It is an interesting plant.
All of these photos were done hand-held because I couldn’t position the tripod on the steps to get a close up photo. The little fly on the leave was very tiny. Couldn’t have been more than 1/8th of an inch.
Maralee
Through My Lens 
Lovely shades of green in these soft focus photos.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Thank you, Francine.
I really like the second one!
Thank you, Carissa.
What lovely close ups for a hand held capture… wouldn’t have known if you had not said so… lovely..
Thank you, Rob. I try to use a tripod when I do my closeups but often it stands too high off the ground or I can’t position for awkward positions – like steps.
Do you normally always use your tripod? I haven’t been very happy with the sharpness of my photos lately. I usually just grab my camera and shoot. Maybe with my new 300mm lens I need the tripod.
I use a tripod as often as I can. I think with a 300mm lens it is even more useful. I have a 300mm lens that I have a hard time getting sharp hand held photos. With such a big lens, its hard to hold it steady. But if I’m hiking or walking any distance, I don’t carry my tripod because it’s too heavy. I’m looking for a lighter tripod to take with me when I travel.
Wonderful … the last one my favorite. Miss my old camera now .. *smile Really stunning, Maralee.
Thanks, Viveka. I don’t like the thistle plants because they are so painful :-), but they do have their own beauty.
Love the pictures! Amazing how something like a weed can look good in photographs! 🙂
Everything has its unique beauty. I just didn’t want to get too close. Both the thistle and the leaves are awfully prickly.
Great photos! That plant is really interesting-looking 🙂 I like the close-ups!!
Thank you. They are interesting weeds. But they sure hurt if you run into them. 🙂