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