Glowing sunset behind the Mississippi River Bridge just before the rain started, followed by lightning strikes over the Belle of Baton Rouge casino, Baton Rouge River Center, and Downtown Baton Rouge.

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http://www.msbphoto.com/blog/2013/5/baton-rouge-lightning-storm

Summer in Baton Rouge brings some miserable heat, but it also brings some of the best sunsets of the year.  I was downtown for the Live after Five concert and walked over to the levee once the sun started going down.  I took a few shots with my camera and also balanced my iphone on top of my tripod for a quick timelapse video.

I had not heard of The Color Run until about a month ago, but I can now say that you're missing out if you've never been to one.  It was an awesome event with thousands in attendance.  I'm not sure how many were there - I think I heard one of the announcers say 9,000 - but it was a sea of people everywhere you looked.  Everyone was in a good mood and everyone was happy to have their picture taken.  If you want to look for pictures of yourself or someone you know, there are 168 pictures in the full gallery.

When you get to the bottom of this page, you'll see what it's like to be in the middle of a big red cloud of color powder and a picture of what my camera looked like when I came out of it.

http://www.msbphoto.com/blog/2013/4/color-run-baton-rouge

Pictures of Orphan Annie Band and the Live After Five crowd from this week's concert in Repentance Park.  

http://www.msbphoto.com/blog/2013/4/orphan-annie-band-live-after-five

The Phunky Monkeys played the first concert for the Spring 2013 series of Live After Five.  This was also the first event to be held in the newly renovated Repentance Park between the Old State Capitol and the Baton Rouge River Center.  The Live After Five concert series has been held at many different locations over the years, but I think Repentance Park will be the best one.  People filled the park, lined the second floor walkway next to the River Center, and filled the plaza next to City Hall.  The park offers a great view of the LASM Planetarium and Louisiana's Old State Capitol.  Sunset came about halfway through the concert with the opportunity to see the colors in the sky over the Mississippi River and the light reflecting in the windows of City Hall.  The fountains at the back side of the park were an added bonus for all the kids.

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These images of a red and white tulip were taken over a three day period during various stages of growth.

All of these flowers were in bloom on my last trip to BREC Botanic Gardens.  I also took other shots of red roses in the rose garden, but already posted those on Valentine's Day.

What's more appropriate for Valentine's Day than a walk through the roses at BREC Botanic Gardens?  I made three trips to the gardens in 2013, but did not take any shots on the first two visits.  After a couple of weeks of rain and warm temperatures I made another attempt and found something to work with.  All of these were taken in February 2013 so I decided to hold on to them to make a Valentines Day post.