Happiness is Exploring with the Camera

One of my favorite parts of photography is wandering around with my camera with no particular time limit or destination. This past Saturday was a beautiful day and I wandered all over. I took photos of things that I found intersting and fun. I have a ton but these are some of my favorites that caught my eye or I experimented with ... 

I loved the colors of the mountains and how the flag was highlighted -- I wanted to get a little closer but since I took it from the overpass with my zoom lens I really couldn't . Like the overall scene 

These rocks were grouped toghether in the middle of campus. I think it was done purposely. I loved the shadows and the colors -- they reminded me of big Dinosaur eggs like you see in the Flintstones 

Of course my travels took me to the duck pond -- the ice was melting and the fish were coming to the surface. I caught these two beauties and thought I would share :D 

I took this one for the pattern. I'm not sure what kind of seed pods they are but the 4 of them were just hanging down so nicely with and I loved the light and blue backdrop. 

Took this one because of the shapes and the colors. I love the metal work on the lights on campus. I thought this was especially fun because the cloud was right in line with the bottom curl ... 

More architecutre -- this is from one of the sides of Old Main. What caught my eye was the lighting on the balcony. I also liked all the lines from the windows, bricks and the lantern. My eye was happy 

An ordinary tree but the way the light hit all the tiny branches made them glow and it was so pretty 

More glowing -- the natural light made these wintery brown flowers look shiny and gold 

This was for the color patterns -- an orange bike and an orange wall -- couldn't resist and then all the wheels made it even more interesting. 

This is about perspective. This building has a huge open area to the sky. Yes I was on the ground to take this photo 

Another view of the open space in the ceiling. I loved all the colors and the shapes -- so fun 

I loved how these branches intersected -- fun with shapes 

This is now one of my new favorite trees on campus. I love the color of the bark and how the many branches intersect and reach out. I can see so many different things -- it just depends on how you look

This was two different parts of the tree-- I loved how the light made them sparkle and also the way they reached out for each other. 

More about the shapes -- I loved all the different layers of the branches

This one is all about the light. These plants were glowing and I loved all the shapes they made

This one is about shape and shadows and being in the right place at the right time. I was looking at the arches and thought it was fun how they made all the different size squares and they still had some vine on them. Then I noticed the shadows of people who were talking off to the left ...

I was drawn to this for several reasons -- the blue sky, red berries and yellowish bricks complimented each other very nicely and then there is the shadow from the tree which adds contrast and depth to the whole scene

I really liked the color of these leaves and the different textures also. I also likes the lines created by the branches. Makes it pop out 

The last series is take as it was getting darker. The moon was out and almost full. I saw it in the sky over the tree tops and thought it would make a cool photo. It took several tries to get it lined up the way I wanted but I was pleased with this one

I liked this one because it kind of looked like the middle of a sling shot ....

Waited for the sky to get a little darker. I like how the moon is sitting on the branch

I moved so that it looked like the branches were holding the moon like a ball of energy 

I love this one for the colors and the shapes and how they fade up from dark to light and the tree gets thinner at the top of the frame 

These branches really looked spooky and like they were going to pounce

This was high in a tree -- I like it because it looks like part of a heart or someone shrugging their shoulders. 

Thanks as always for sharing my photos. I really did have fun just wandering around. I think I was out for 4 hours on that beautiful day. I just love finding new and different ways of capturing things that we may see everyday. 

Walking in the Weather

Over the last week we have had some crazy winter weather. I love to take my camera out and just experiment or find interesting things to capture. These pictures show how crazy the weather was and also some of the fun things I saw while I ventured out.

Took this one during the snow storm on Tuesday the 9th on my walk home between 5 and 6. I loved how the snow was clinging to the branches and then how the heat vent added contrast in both color and pattern 

I just loved how this scene looked -- the way the snow was sticking to the tree and the light around it. 

The same scene just capturing the streaks from the traffic on the street behind it. I love the way the light streaks enhance the scene 

And another angle of  the same tree . I love how the branches are coated and then the fence and the way the color of the streaks blends behind it. 

This is from Wednesday 2/10 -- the morning after the snow. The scene was pretty and felt very rustic to me. I also loved how the sunset was coming up

Another scene from the same morning. I loved how the light was coming up and moved so I could see it through the fence. Sometimes its all about point of view and perspective :D 

This one is all about the color of the light and the different textures between the clouds and the smoke from the stack -- throw in a nice silhouette and its all good 

Again from Wednesday morning -- this was a patch of ice on the side of some of the cement walks. I just loved the patterns and the glob of ice in the middle ... 

Took this one because most of the snow was still undisturbed and I just loved all the shapes of the benches and then Old Main peeking in the background 

This is just to show some of the interesting things that people leave behind in the show. This was on one of the ledges outside of Rec Hall -- makes me laugh 

One of the views from the 5th floor window during the Monday night squalls.....its pretty if you are safe inside 

An the view from the other side of the 5th floor window. Just like how whispy and white the snow looks 

This one if from the storm we had Monday 2/15. I took it from the safety of the over pass .. To me it shows a lot of different aspects of a storm .... 

Also from the overpass Monday night. I love the house in the back and it shows how heavy the snow was coming down. 

These are from yesterday after the ice and rain had stopped. Taken during my walk home- I just loved the patterns of the ice still clinging to the bushes .. 

I took this one because of the pattern in the ice and the way the evening light was making it sparkle 

Capturing the evening light -- I really like the contrast of the sun peeking through the clouds and the blue of the trees because of the dusk 

Another night scene. I loved the tire tracks in the icy slop that was left over and then all the lights ... 

The row of lights from the bottom of the over pass  -- it was still messy but better than in the morning and having the people adds a little perspective ... 

More remains of the crunchy ice from the morning. I liked how it was undisturbed and really shows how the surface is crusty by having the little globs on top 

Saw this as I was walking through one of the parking lots -- I loved the patterns in the crusty ice plus the glow from the street lights. 

The same parking lot -- the lights were yellow street lights -- loved how the dusk made the ice the bluish color 

I pass this laundromat all the time.  It looks particularly deserted and spooky last night 

More light streaks -- the light is actually blue -- I also like that there are treads in the ice too

And last but not least the sky a little later the same night -- the dusky blue is really striking. 

Thanks for sharing my adventures and experiments with me. I love looking and finding fun things with my camera. Hopefully will be going out this weekend and have more to share soon. 

The beauty and mystery of ice

Though we have not had a lot of cold wintery weather this year, I had the chance last weekend to explore around my sister's pond and get some pictures of the ice. It is amazing to me how many different shapes and patterns that you can see in it. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I took. 

This photo was from along one of the narrow edges of the pond -- where it had a little bit of run off. I found in interesting because of all the tiny bubbles in it 

Don't know if something made the cracks appear this way but it almost looks it is bubbling from underneath and one of them almost looks like a heart. Loved it 

I liked the patterns in the cracks and how thin the ice is around the edges 

Again all about the pattern. The crystals are just very interesting 

This one is the grass right on the edge of the pond. I don't know if water pooled there or if this was a residue from the cold -- I just thought it was cool how the blade of grass poked through the ice ....

I really liked this pattern. It almost looks like someone drizzled the design in the block of ice 

this one is all about the star shapes in the patterns and the fun contrast of dark and light 

This was frozen over the runoff area of the pond. I really liked the way it has patches that are clear and then the cloudy white where it is thicker.

This was along the edge of the stream off the pond. I liked how thin it was in spots that it had holes but still had the sparkly white patches and then of course the reflection ....

I like the contrast in this one where it looks like it has air bubbles underneath it and then also has more frosty looking areas 

The striping and shapes made this interesting. It almost looks like a face in the lower left  

This was from a patch in the pond where the ice had broken. I really like it because the shape around the open water reminded me of a man wearing a hat.  (Can you see it) plus the added bonus of the reflection of the branches ... 

I had to take this one. It made me thing of some kind of creature/ claw breaking up through the surface of the pond ......

I loved all the different kinds of bubbles just under the surface of the ice. 

The ice was not really thick in this part of the ice. I really liked the way the leaves were outlined and the droplets froze in the patterns 

The last few pictures are overviews of the pond. I love how the surface just looks like glass and has so many intersting curves and the added things like leaves and branches 

Took this around 9 am when the sun was starting to hit the ice. It was overcast but there was enough light to make shadows and give it a silver sheen 

I like this one because of the different textures and the tiny stick that pokes up towards the shore

As I said the morning light was making a silvery glow and I love the way it silhouetted the leaves and sticks 

And last but not least I saw this shadow on the silvery surface and knew I had to capture it. 

I really love exploring in all seasons and love really love all the different things you can find and see in the ice. Not sure what I will be taking pictures of next  but thanks as always for sharing my images with me.