Welcome to the Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge for July. This week’s photography challenge is inspired by a simple color trio: red, white, and blue. While these colors may represent different things around the world, they offer endless opportunities for creativity. Look for them in nature, architecture, street scenes, wildlife, flowers, food, or everyday life.

If you participate in the challenge, capture all three colors in a single image—or tell the story across a series of photographs. You can post images of all three colors or pick one to highlight.

I am also participating in Dan’s CFFC Crayola Box Challenge: Black.

Feeling Patriotic Around the House

“Ev’ry heart beats true ‘neath the Red, White and Blue.” — George M. Cohan

With this year celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States’ Independence, I couldn’t resist surrounding myself with red, white, and blue at home. Beginning around Memorial Day in late May, my home, garden, and patio gradually took on a patriotic touch.

Backyard Bird Decorations

Our resident Say’s Phoebes (western flycatcher) finally decided to fledge on July 1st. Four babies successfully left the nest. Honestly, it’s kind of a relief they’re out of the nest and exploring their new, big world. I enjoy their antics as they flutter awkwardly, barely sticking their landings, and cry for food, but you’ll see more of these cuties in future posts.

Notice in the above image, one leg is dangling (speaking of awkward) as the red, white and blue floral arrangement swayed wildly … good thing these babies weigh mere ounces. This was a lucky shot!

Just a few feet away, this baby thought it would perch on the septic system D-Box. He knew I needed red and black in the image.

We often see bald eagles flying by.

“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow—red, yellow, brown, black and white—and we’re all precious in God’s sight.” — Jesse Jackson

Outdoors in Red, White and Blue

Our Independence Day holiday weekends involve being outdoors, especially when we lived near the Sacramento River Delta and water sports were our must-do activities. Between the windsurfers and stand-up paddlers, many were decked out in red, white and blue to celebrate the long holiday weekend.

I couldn’t resist restyling this image of Brodie.

Also sharing this week for Bird of the Week, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, and Kym & Sadje’s WQ Milestones.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is simple to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives. Your original images reimagined with AI tools in post-editing are also welcome.

• Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
• Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
• Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
• Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
• Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
• I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret the various shades of red, white and blue this week. Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.

Join me next week as we explore the theme “Groups of Three or More.”

Erma Bombeck says it best…“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”

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