Note: This is the second posting in an ongoing series of photographs I will be publishing throughout 2009. All of the “Backyard Wonders” photographs in this series will be taken in my own back yard. My challenge is to see how many different kinds of landscape and wildlife photos I can come up with by the end of the year. Enjoy!

I thought this pattern of curled up leaves on my Azalea bush made an interesting pattern in black and white.

In the spring, the leaves are dark green and round. Beautiful pink flowers fill the branches by the end of May. In the fall, the leaves turn a maroon color. When temperatures drop into the teens and single digits, the leaves curl up, as if going to sleep for the winter.

Our birds love to hid in the branches, hoping to go unnoticed by predators. The photo was taken with a 70-200mm lens, and converted to black and white using Photoshop.

-Bob Hammerstrom

Tags: azalea, backyard, Black and White, blog, Bob Hammerstrom, bush, cold, New Hampshire, photographer, photographers, photography, posting, scenic, snow, staff, the telegraph, winter, wonders