Foggy Morning

The fog this morning in State College was really heavy and took a while to burn off so I decided to take my camera out on the walk to work this morning and see what I could get -- these photos are straight out of camera and were taken between 7: 40 and 8:10 this morning 

looking out of my door -- even in downtown it was foggy 

love how it just sits around the trees 

i am reminded of a Yukon Cornealius saying : Fog as thick as Peanut Butter ... 

the mst around these really made the color pot 

love the mist pockets on the shrubs 

had to get another shot of these 

more mist in the grass 

not much visibility down the street -- and love how the trees form an arch ... 

enter here if you dare ... 

this bunny was just hanging out in the lawn like nothing happened

Just love how it obscured the fence -- it almost seems to flow around it 

the person in the distance gives a nice perspective.. 

I love how it seems to fill up the area under the bridge .. 

walking into the void 

you can't even see the buildings in the distance 

I've never gotten the lion in the fog -- it was fun to get the new perspective 

and taken from across the street he it really gets lost in the mist 

even the bus stop gets lost this morning ... 

and of course a view of the library 

and the opposite view ... 

These are simple and fun. I love finding new conditions to explore with the camera -- always learning and growing. Thanks for sharing the journey with me ..

Reflection and life around the pond

As many of you know, one of my favorite things in photography is to capture reflections. I love water and light and have been spending lots of time this summer (when its been nice out) around the pond on campus. I've been playing with the angles and the light in my shots. Early last week I went down there and sat with my camera soaking up the atmosphere and thinking about the shots I would take. Here are some of my favorite photos of the reflections and all the life around the pond... 

The ducklings are not so little any more but there are still a few of them around. This one was sunning itself on the rock and the water was still enough to get this reflection . 

The landscaping around the pond is always fantastic. I like to sit down below the bridge. There are really nice trees and the bushes with the purple flowers are just beautiful. I alsl love how this has some dappling in the water ... 

And a little darker in this one -- I love how it really brings out the purple of the flowers -- and makes the water look still and deep ... 

just taking one of the bushes in this one. I really love the texture of the leaves in the reflection 

one of my favorite shots to always get here is looking under the bridge -- I love the swoop of the branch in the front and the way the light falls on it -- I also love the dappling n the water -- and then the green in the water under the bridge .. so much fun to practice there ...

and moving a litte to the left -- loose the sweeping branch, but get some of the purple flowers and the reflection of the stone bridge really stands out . I also like how the water in the distance really sparkles.. 

And this is where I include some fo the life around the pond. This hydrangea was sooo beautiful -- the color really caught my eye. I love how nicely all the petals came out

This is from the same plant -- I think it is in the early stage of the blooms -- I love how they are yellow with the touch of purple on the edges 

This tree was so cool -- I love how the pine cones hang down -- and the light of course was fun 

and a close up -- just love how they are and having them against the trunk really highlights the effect 

Another tree trunk -- I just loved how all these branches twisted -- reminded me of tentacles 

and one more shot of the pinecones -- as I said I just love how they are suspended ... 

more flowers along side the pond -- I love the patterns and the textures in these and just the shape of the petals 

This was just too fun not to capture. I love the pinwheel effect and also the touch of pink ... 

And these looked dusty and I love the contrast of the half of a dark leaf ... 

Ducks taking a snooze in the grass 

and chasing a baby bunny 

Close up of the bunny -- I love its cute little face and the position of the ears 

I likes the color of course and then the buds all around this flower 

a baby turtle in the pond -- I have not seen one before and was really happy to get this one poking its head out of the water

two adult turtles swimming ... again love that they are poking their heads out of the water

This was about the waterfall and the rock reflected in the water -- love the texture 

the turtles always sun themselves on this rock -- I captured the view from across the pond and love all the green you can see in the water ... 

there are lots of chipmunks around there but it can be very difficult to catch them. I used my long zoom to get this one before it scampered away 

again from across the pond -- basically from on the bridge such a beautiful and peaceful scene -- can you see why I love to go there ... 

one more view from down below -- one of my favorite places to sit and escape from the world 

and yes there are daylilies there which even makes it better ..... 

Thanks as always for sharing my photos with me. I really do love just being able to practice and try new things. It may be a while before I post again because I am going on vacation and will not be on the internet alot while I am out and about. But I will share when I get more new and fun things .... 

Venturing forth on a rainy evening and a sunny day

It has been a month since my last post and I am way overdue. I have been out and about and yes I have been practicing just have not taken a lot of time to review and share them lately. So today is all about catching up and showing you a few of the fun nature shots I have taken over the last month...

The first group of shots are from a walk home when it was misting outside (it had been raining harder earlier) I've been wanting to take some pictures of the lights reflected in the rain for a while -- here are my favorite ones from that adventure...

Ok this one is not quite of the rain -- but the leaves were wet and the sun just happened to be shining through at this moment and I love how it highlighted the little flower. I also like how it is hidden under the branch ... 

This one was about the sky color -- it was dusk and just really nice -- the misty sky just adds a nice background and I had to take the shot. I also like the contrast of the curves on the urn and the bricks in the wall .... 

and now here are the rainy shots. These were taken a little later in the week than the first two and later in the evening. I think around 9 pm. This first one is the one of our busy streets taken from an overpass. I just loved how the green was reflected in the surface of the road -- the mist adds a nice touch too. 

This was in a parking lot across the street -- again I loved how the green of the traffic light is reflected in the wet surface. I also like the lines from the parking spaces ... 

this is again in a parking lot on campus. The blue light is from one of the emergency phones on campus. I just love how it streaks across the lot. Of course I had to be at the right angle to see and get this shot, so I played around with that but am very pleased with how it turned out. 

Another view from across the parking lot. I love how the single car is there -- just adds to the sense of  spooky night time -- don't walk to your car alone lol

And an even more spooky shot. Really love the sepia tones in this one -- and it really makes me not want to get in that car .... 

This is a reflection of the red light in the street -- Love the contrast between the red and the green in this one. 

more of the red reflected in the street ... 

and this one -- love it -- I was focusing on the red on the street and saw a person walking toward me. I tried to keep it obscure and spooky and think that it worked. I love how misty it all is and that you see his shadow in the red .... 

And now for the sunny day -- this is around campus one night after work when it was actually nice

I took this one because of the umbrellas. I loved the shape and positions of them an also the sprays of the lavendar in the front. Just a fun shot 

This was all about the light -- I just love how it travels across the daisies

I was trying to get some of the motion and the whitewater in the bottom. What i really like in this one is the shape of the shadow on the stone wall in the background. It feels like it just fits in with the stream of the water.. 

More about light and shadows and shape. I liked how the shadows of the leaves in the foreground draw you to the space under the branch and the fence ... 

One of my favorite shots from the whole day. I was basically standing under the tree in the last shot and shooting over the fence to the fountain and building in the distance. I also love the tree line and the puffy clouds in the sky. 

On to the lily pond. I really love the colors of everything in this one and then the reflections of the clouds and the flower -- plus the fact that the water is clear enough that you can see some of the leaves beneath the surface also ... 

More lily pond stuff -- I really do love the reflections in these and the fact that the reflection even makes the color more saturated -- than the actual flower is --such fun 

I just loved the patterns of these lily pads -- so many different directions and sizes. It reminded me a bunch of pacman's or a bunch of amoeba ... 

again its all about the light-- just so pretty and then I also really liked the lines of yellow in the middle 

This was for the puffy clouds. I love looking at the fountain framed by the bamboo, but seeing those clouds behind it is what made me get this shot 

again the light make me take this shot -- and the fact that the yellow daisies were just so bright and beautiful. I wanted to preserve the sunshiny feel in this scene ... 

This flower was all by itself -- the reason I really like it is that it is kind of a muted red --but has a very dark stem and leaves. I also love how the light just kisses the petals on the right ... 

a hidden treasure 

more relection. loved the blue and white -- and of course all the green 

The color on these leaves was awesome. They look dusty and glossy at the same time. I also love the shape and and lines in the leaves ...

this was about the shape and the texture. The pink blossoms caught my eye and then when I saw the way the leaves fanned out around them, I had to get the shop ... 

Another bright spot of sunshine. it interested me that there is a sliver out of the leaf on the right ... 

the cave in the arboretum children's garden. I love how they added the ferns -- love the light and the textures .... 

Orange being my favorite color, I had to get this shot and I just love all the tiny star shaped blooms plus the added shapes of the leaves ... 

an overall shot of the cave in the arboretun. I loved getting this as the wide angle because the purple and orange flowers and the benches just add to the ambiance ....

Love lilies and these yeallow ones were just so pretty and  add the beautiful light and its a win win 

These spiky flowers were just so cool and differnt I had to capture them 

and the whole group ... again love the spikes 

these are on a vine which is fun but what drew me to them is the dark strips which add to the texture and contrast and then also the way these are grouped together drew my eye ... 

I always am drawn to puff balls like these -- the texture is just interesting and fun 

These were hidden against the wall in one of the corners. The wall made the perfect backdrop and I love how the purple and green really just pop ... 

More fun colors and shapes -- the spiky petas are so much fun and then a bee in the middle -- bonus 

perfect pinwheels -- so love mother nature 

I love the shape of the leaves and the contrast of the red and green. the swirls make it awesome

this was on the edge of a fountain and I just loved how the water drops are on the iris and then sparkle and follow the lines of the  grass around it 

more lilies -- love these because of the dark centers and then like the purple pansies that contrast ...

and had to end with my favs the daylilies and against the fence -- just love them ...

Thanks as always for sharing my photos with me. I have some more fun photos from around a pond that I will share in a few days ...