Random things

As those of you who follow my blog know, one of my favorite things to do is just take a walk with my camera and capture whatever strikes my fancy. I love just finding beautiful scenes or just totally random things in my world. In many cases I am drawn to light, color, shapes or something just  rare and different. I have so many images that I take that don't really fit a theme or would make the blog post too long. So for this post I am going back over the last few weeks and posting images of things that caught my attention

 The first series of photos are sunset pictures and  I chose  them because of the colors of the light

I love how red the sunset reflection is in the windows and then the shapes on the roof 

This is the overpass that I walk home on. I just loved the way the light was streaming in and bouncing across the car roofs and the roof of the overpass -- natural light can be so amazing sometimes 

I like this one because of the glowing windows and then the car driving by -- was fun -- not something that people pay attention to in our busy lives 

This one was chosen because of the different layers of the clouds. I  love the patterns and the shapes 

and  from a wider angle. The blue dome was really fun and then all the different colors make it fun

another one because of the clouds and the colors -- add some stars and it reminds me a lot of Vangogh's Starry Night. It just made me stop and go wow -- I just can't help myself 

And the randomness in this: the color of the sky was intense and beautiful and then right in the middle is the light post that looks like it is wearing a propeller hat -- just made me laugh

And now comes some fun and really random stuff I found on campus: I do a lot of walking especially since I make it a goal to get 10,000 steps and 5 miles in most days. And doing so I pass by the same places frequently. There is a tree in the middle of campus where someone keeps creating little scenes. I keep going back there to see if it has changed

The first time I noticed something in front of the tree was on March 23 right before Easter -- such a fun little scene -- but I am guessing that  a lot of people walk by and don't even see it -- more reason for me to take a picture and share it. 

And this is the scene as I saw it on Friday April 1st. The little skunk statue is in the base of the tree and note the purple dinosaur :D 

                                       

And this was the scene on Wednesday April 13th -- we definitely have some fun and creative people on campus -- there is now a purple cow 

and yes the little man is looking in the flower cup :D 

The next section are a few of mother nature's random shapes 

Plants always amaze me -- there is so much variety and color  -- and I know these are just green -- but a dusty green and I really loved the shape of them

This forsythia just made me think of the adaptability of plants. It grows over an around the fence 

White violets again amazing because they grow alongside the stone -- almost framing it

I always see birds flying or on wires -- sometimes they can be really hard to capture. I caught this crow one morning sitting on the wire and sounding off. I also liked the way the clouds created a light patch around where it was sitting. 

 The next few photos are from when we had a few snow showers in April 

This is from the morning after. We only really got a dusting of snow and it didn't last very long. I took this photo because the snow was melted but the light was catching the drops that were left and it just glowed, so pretty 

I loved the way the snow flakes were just resting on the leaves 

The splash of purple among the green plus the leaves and the snow -- winter and spring all in one

I really liked the pattern in this one. The green plants surrounded the stump and then it was dusted with snow. You can find beauty anywhere if you keep your eyes open 

 Most of the rest of the snow was gone but this leaf was still covered .. too cool to pass by 

 And so I don't end on the April snow that we had -- the last few picture are some fun images I found of the natural light highlighting some alreay interesting things and making them more fun

I really love how the light hits the water and makes it sparkle and the shape of the spout at the top is the most fun

And a close up. I like this photo because it shows the stream and splash of he fountain and then you also see the beam of light on the metal -- again I find it amazing how light affects the world

These were some early signs of spring (taken before we got the snow and cold). I just love the way the sun was lighting them and how most of the leaves and shoots are still curled up -- really makes me thing of spring and new life 

I had to get a close up of a few of the sprouts. This grouping was interesting and so beautiuflly lit 

I was drawn to this group of daffodils because of the beautiful evening light -- but look closely there is a lady bug in one of the flowers

And last but not least another shot of the daffodils in the glowing light. I loved the way they were bunched together too. 

Thanks as always for sharing my images and photography journey. For my next post I will probably talk about my technique. I was showing one of my friends some recent photos and she was wondering how I got got the shot -- and so now I am inspired to talk about that -- stay tuned 

Blooming

 Over the past few weeks I have been happily spying signs of spring and really love seeing things in bloom. We were definitely spoiled by all the warm weather we had this winter, but there is always joy in seeing signs of new life. And of course trying to catch it in some cool lighting which ends up usually being in the morning as I go to work or in the evening after work. I am like a kid in a candy store when I see mother nature at work. I am also privileged to be in an area that has lots of amazing landscaping. It makes me happy to see and photograph them and I am happy to share some of my favorites with you.

The first batch was taken last week when I was at home in Beach Lake Pa with my family. So these are my mom and sister's flowers and trees.

This red tree is right in front of my moms house. I knew as soon as I saw them that I had to get some pictures. This shot is taken from her porch in the morning light around 8 am. 

I took this one because of the way the light beam was all over the scene. The dappling was totally awesome and gives it a magical  quality 

I have trouble getting the purples to show in my camera and was very pleased that I could capture this deep purple crocus. I also like the pattern from the grass around it. 

I loved the stripes on these lavender crocus and the grouping -- so color, shape and of course light made me take this one 

Loved the contrast between the white and purples in this one . Mother nature is so fun :D 

The rest of these are from State College -- around town and campus seen while I was walking around with my camera 

This forsythia is right outside my apartment and so nice to see. Couldn't resist getting a close up of some of the flowers 

This lovely flower is in one of my neighbors flower beds -- I was surprised to see it in March but happy it was there 

I loved the colors of this one -- so bright and pretty 

Took this one for the angle and loved that the front petal is folded down and also that you can see some of the pollen and the shadow in the center is fun too 

I love finding tiny blossoms. These fun flowers were next to the sidewalk near my apartment. I loved the way they are grouped together and the pretty star shapes they make 

 The last group of photos are from all around campus and were taken Friday April 1st after 5 pm (before we got the latest cold snap)

I was drawn to this tree because of the white blossoms that just smell so good. I was pleasantly surprised to see the birds nest among the branches and the blooms and new I had to get a shot of it. 

This is one of the blooms -- I just loved the shape of it and how the petals were not quite open all the way and stood up . There is so much beauty in nature if you look ... 

And these are different blooms from the same tree. I love that they have the tiny pink center and how fluffy and white the petals are. And the bonus is the fuzzy bud on the left 

Differnt type of blooms on a differnt kind of tree -- I love finding tiny buds and blossoms. I really like how they curl down and then am able to get the texture of the bark in the background -- and then the light on the edges of the flowers is just beautiful 

And a different angle and different bunch of the blossoms. I love all the tiny dots in the center and love getting the white bocca in the back so the bunch stands out 

More purple flowers -- I did share this one as a photo a day on my facebook page, but I really love the color and the way the flowers are grouped together. I find that for the purples, if I underexpose just a little from what the meter says it should be they look better 

This one was taken because of the way the light is just touching the bunches of blossoms. They looked so bright and pretty I could not resist 

I saw this tree from a distance and loved the way the sky was reflecting in the windows behind it. The whole scene just made for a pretty and more intersting picture 

I loved the framing of this one. Some of you may recognize this from near the Palmer Museum of Art. I loved the balance of the tree through the archway 

I saw these pink bloosoms and then saw the blue wall behind them. I loved the color contrast and the branches are so dark they add a nice line component to it 

More of the pink and blue combination. And with the fluffy clouds reflected in the window I liked it even more 

As I was taking these miniture daffodils on campus, the person who planted them came up to me and said he was glad I admired his flowers  -- pretty cool and I loved the way they 3 blooms were grouped together 

There is a whole line of white trees toghether -- I loved the lines and how bright the light was making them -- to pretty to pass by

This gives you a better idea of the line of trees -- and how they blooms just blend together -- really pretty to see in person too 

These flowers are so tiny I was not sure the picture was going to come out at all -- they were so bright and colorful and I loved the way the bunch of them curved. So glad it came out 

I included this one because the evening light just made the whole tree glow -- not something you see everyday I thought it was really cool 

We have a lot of these narcisis/ white daffodils all over campus -- i took this one so that you feel like you are right in the middle of them ( and I actually was ) 

Close up of some of the  floweres. I like this one because the petal on the left is reaching toward the one in the middle - the lines lead you right throught the photo

I like this one because of the way the two flowers are lined up but are a little askew so it kind of seems like there is a cape flowing out behind the front flower 

And this final photo is about the shape and the colors. I like the triangle patterns and the lines and the different shades of yellow in it. 

Thanks as always for sharing my photos with me. I have a  lot more of blooms and spring things that I can post and I know I will be taking more (provided that the cold snap does not prevent them from blooming). I love taking my camera out and capturing mother nature in all her glory. Time permitting there may be a part two to this post coming soon :D