Live Oak

"The name live oak comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and 'live' throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant and leafless. The name is used mainly in North America, where evergreen oaks are widespread in warmer areas along the Atlantic coast from southeast Virginia to Florida, west along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana and Mexico, and across the southwest to California." -- Wikipedia

Balls of Fire

 

Smoketree

 

I'm keeping an eye out for the "smoke." :-) The flowers, it's said, are clustered in a large open terminal panicles with a fluffy grayish-buff appearance resembling a cloud of smoke over the plant, from which the name derives.

Recital

 

It can be tricky shooting photographs in a theater. I'm still thinking about what I could have done under the circumstances to account for the lights on stage as compared to the darkness in the auditorium. Not wanting to interfere with the recital, I only photographed the musicians as they made their entrances rather than during the recital itself, resulting in some blurring of the images. On the other hand, I sort of like the way that helps capture some of the energy that was in the room.