7 sure signs spring is here: Our favorite reader-submitted photos of the day

A single purple flower growing by cement wall reaching up to the sky on a sunny day

“Confinement From My Window”. Carla Francisco

For this week’s Photos of the Day gallery, I’ve got spring on the brain. You know what they say: April showers bring May flowers, and this Californian Southern transplant is learning that this is very true in Alabama. But for all the torrential downpours and booming thunderstorms, the payoff has been sweet. There have been explosions of color everywhere as flowers begin to bloom. As the Northern Hemisphere awakens, here are some colorful, floral photos to get you in a warm-weather mood.

And if you’d like to see your own work in a future gallery, go ahead and upload your best shots to our Flickr page or tag them with #PopPhotoOfTheDay on Instagram and/or Twitter, for consideration. The official rules for submitting can be found here.

Lead image by Carla Francisco. See more of her work here.

The Carlsbad Flower Fields

carlsbad flower fields in southern california filled with ranunculus — See more of Sylvia’s work here. *Sylvia Lottes*

Anyone who has ventured to Southern California knows that come spring, Carlsbad transforms into a floral paradise as rows and rows of ranunculus bloom. Sylvia Lottes‘ sunny photograph makes you feel like you’re standing in the middle of it all. For those of us who can’t be in sunny California and are instead still wearing parkas or swimming in humidity, this is a welcome respite.

An explosion of cherry blossoms

7 sure signs spring is here: Our favorite reader-submitted photos of the day — See more of Del’s work here. *Del Hoffman*

Cherry blossom season is one of my favorites, and I crave a walk around a city or a town for the serendipitous chance that I might stumble upon a tree in bloom. Del Hoffman was in the right place at the right time for this cheerful capture, and the white siding instantly brings me back to New England.

Harmony

an orange and black butterfly sits on purple flowers — See more of Flickr user Clarkcg Photography’s work here. *Clarkcg Photography*

Flickr user Clarkcg Photography proves that nature does indeed work in harmony. Without the pollinators, we’d have to kiss flowers goodbye. The vibrant contrast between the orange butterfly and purple flowers makes for a striking image. The photographer used a Nikon Coolpix—proof you don’t need the fanciest camera to make a compelling image.

Bee & poppy

fuzzy bee approaches an orange-red iceland poppy on a sunny day — See more of Stella’s work here. *Stella Grimsdale*

The happy, saturated orange of the Iceland poppy plus the amazing detail seen on the bee stopped me in my tracks. To achieve this photo, Stella Grimsdale used a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. If you look closely, you can even see the blur of the bee’s wings—crazy!

Sampling the sweetness

a hummingbird drinks from a cluster of flowers. — See more of Fred’s work here. *Fred Roe*

I love the heavy compression Fred Roe used that really brings the frenetic hummingbird front and center. The blur of the wings (even at 1/400!) conveys the sense of frenzy when the bird zips by.

Yellow Warbler

Cheerful, sunny, and decidedly yellow, this little birdie sits perfectly perched on a budding branch. I always know spring is here or on the way when the birds start singing in the mornings. This one, captured by Flickr user Ksblack99, reminded me of some very vigorous, hearty opera singers that like to perch on a lamp post near my apartment.

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