Snowy Sunset

As the Colorado snow series is coming to an end, the pictures will soon return back to Texas. There are many flowers on trees and plants and now that summer is approaching, there is actually leaves on trees. I also have been experimenting with long exposure photography. In addition to the plants and trees, there might a picture or two that is a long exposure.

Sunset Tree

I spent my last day in Colorado outside in the snow then when the sun started to set, I took pictures of it. I wanted to capture the sunset but I also wanted to capture the snow from the mountain. I put the tree into a silhouette but I didn't increase my exposure too much which. If I did, I would have not been able to capture the snow, making it like some of my over sunset pictures.

Base Village 

Similar to the last picture the clouds were on my side. They appear to part and open up the view to Aspen Base Village. Looking back at the picture, I am noticing many lines throughout it. There are lines from the gondola, the poles holding up the gondola, and the lines from the streets.

High Above

I took this picture high above the ski runs and mountain tops. Below me was Aspen Mountain and the race area on the mountain. Looking out and past Aspen Mountain were other mountains I do not know the names of. I was lucky with the clouds for this picture. Clearly, there are many of them in the sky but for this picture, they seemed to part just for me.

Gondola

After the pictures from the top of the mountain, I rode the gondola down. I was able to capture some incredible pictures. Unfortunately, there was water from melted snow on the windows of the gondola. This created some blurry spots, but otherwise, the views were clear. There were also some clouds that blocked me from seeing all the way down to the base but there were a few windows when I was able to see through them.

Snowstorm

This picture is similar to the last one except I zoomed in for this picture. By the time I took this, snow had already begun to fall. You can actually see the snowflakes in the clouds. I also like how the clouds have different densities on different parts of the picture. In the middle, the clouds are almost solid but in the bottom right, the clouds start to thin out.

Clouds

I captured this picture after the third and final snow storm. I took my camera to the top of the mountain and took pictures. There is this huge drop off that leads to rows and rows of trees. Most days (especially in the summer) you can see forever. But the day I took this picture there were clouds from the earlier snow storm. I have a few more pictures from the same spot after this one but by the end of this week, I believe that these are my last snow pictures.

Dark Skies

This picture is one of my favorites of the series. It is so simple how the colors are only dark grey, green, white, and black. There is snow all over the branches and trees but the only branch is this small one that is in focus. But if you look in the background there are the green trees which you presume is where the branch is coming from. It is very simple, clean, and the colors are very nice.

Powder

I enjoy this picture because of all the different textures of snow and the tree. There is the softness from the snow. It almost looks like clouds it is so soft. There is also the sharpness from the pine needles whose color helps to balance out the white snow.

Looking Up 

The heavy snow also accumulated on the walls of buildings. One of those buildings was this uneven brick wall. Only on the bricks that stick out is the snow on. I like this picture for the definition on the snow and brick that is next to it and because of the contrast between the snow and brick. I like how you can see every small detail on the snow. Also, the contrast from the light snow and dark brick are very nice to my eyes. The picture is mostly dark but there small spots with white snow.

Mountain Side View

Most of the times when I was on the mountain, I took about ten pictures in a row with each picture facing a different direction but from the same point. Using Photoshop, I was able to create this image of eight imagines. I wanted to create a panoramic picture. Using the eight images and the crop tool in Photoshop, I was able to make a panoramic picture. While there is not as much definition as the last pictures, I like this one because you can see everything on the ski run.

Spring

Spring skiing typically brings blue skies, higher temperatures (above freezing), and slushy snow. This spring there were several storms that dropped feet of snow. I enjoy seeing everything covered in white snow but there are some parts that stick out and are not white. All over the picture, you can see brown or green spots, these are trees. They stand out against the white background which makes the mountains look very interesting.

Blue Skies

The day after the snowstorm was blue skies and white snow. It was some of the best skiing that I have experienced. I took this picture from the middle of a ski run which is why it looks as if this trail could continue all the way to the base of the mountain. I like how there are the skiers in the middle of the run. This makes the snow not seem like 'dead space.' Without the skiers, the entire bottom half of the picture would be white snow, that wouldn't be as interesting.

Light

The trees at the base of the skiing mountain where covered in lights. I enjoy them because they stand out against the white snow. I wish the lights covered all of the branches and limbs on the tree, but I can't control that. It would have been very interesting if there were just lights scattered around the picture on the branches.

Winter's Colors

Near the clocktower was this branch with dead leaves covered in snow. I really like this picture because of the contrast between the white snow, dark-colored branches, and brown leaves. Each object is popping out in front of the grey background which I like. The snow on the branches and leaves adds a nice bright color and softness to the picture.

Icicles

I like this picture because of the contrast between the branches and the icicles/snow. The branches are a dark brown and possibly black color while the snow/ice is a bright white. The branches almost look like black icicles. They are small twigs just hanging onto the tree. The branches are collecting snow and ice which is why I'm calling them icicles.

Clocktower

Last year I took a picture of the same clocktower with snow falling around it. Between last year and this year, I managed to delete those pictures. This year I was able to make up the picture, but as with any picture you take twice, the first picture is always the best. I had to change something to at least make this picture interesting. So I created this image. I took a picture of the clocktower with snow falling. I didn't like it as much so I photoshopped a picture of mine with heavy snow falling in the background. I like it, but once again the first picture is always better than the second.

Grey Spots

This picture is very similar to the last one, but I think it is also very different. It is similar in the way that I took the picture of an object with snow falling around it. But it is different because of the snow. I like this picture because almost all of the snow is out of focus. The snow only appears are grey spots on the picture. 

Branches

As the day came to an end, the snow started to fall even more. I went to the base of the mountain where I pointed my camera up and started taking pictures of the objects with snow falling all around them. One of them was this branch. I took the picture with my macro lens which meant that whatever is in focus would have great detail but anything out of focus would be very blurred. I like that because it makes the snowflakes look very interesting and you are able to see the differences between snowflakes.

Treeline 

I took this picture as I was going down a ski run in the trees. It was snowing very heavily as you can see the snowflakes falling on the trunk of the tree. I like how the viewer can see the marks on the snow. It gives the viewer something more to look at. Also, I like how similar to the last picture, the trees just appear to stop. This is caused by the low clouds which made for some really interesting pictures.

White

As the snow fell, it covered everything. The snow also caused some clouds to be extremely low to the ground. I like the clouds because they help the picture 'end.' The clouds provide a clean background that doesn't distract the viewer from the foreground snow either on the ground or trees.

Fog

Similar to last year and some of the years before, I was able to capture some pictures of the snow from on the mountain. Sometimes I brought my camera up the mountain but other times I didn't want to waste the moment so I just took the picture on a phone. I took this picture because I found the 'snow fog' interesting. I like how it allows the viewer to see the foreground trees but the trees in the background sort of fade away.

Blurry Drops

I shot this picture from a different angle than the last few of the snow falling onto the pine tree branches. I wanted to capture the snow actively falling while still having the branches in the frame. The problem with taking a picture like this is making sure there is a good background. Unfortunately, I was not able to find a good background for this picture. I recognized this while I was taking the picture, but I was worried about losing the picture so I did not move or find another background.

Big Flakes

There were several different sizes of flakes that fell during the snow storm. Some were bigger and others were smaller. In this picture, the flakes were bigger than average. This is because of the change in temperatures. As the temperature increases, the size of the snowflakes also increases. The temperature when I took this picture was close to freezing making the flakes large. I like the bigger snowflakes because that allows the camera to capture them falling. With the smaller snowflakes, it is harder for the camera to capture them in the picture. But with these bigger ones, you can clearly see them.

Red Rock

The snow covered everything on the ground. Including cars, trees, and this rock. I captured this picture before the snow accumulated too much which is why the rock is not completely blanketed in snow. I enjoy how the snow does not completely cover the rock. It helps to give the picture multiple objects to look at. There is the snow part and the rock part.

Winter

My favorite object that I saw while it was snowing was all of the snow on the trees and ground. It was amazing to see everything covered in white. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture any of the snowflakes falling while I took this picture. Instead, I was able to capture another white tree in the background.

Ice Crystals

All of the snowflakes created these huge walls of snow hanging off of or on top of objects. In this picture, the snow was piled on top of itself and some was hanging off of the edges. I took my macro lens and positioned myself as close to the snow as I could. When I was taking the picture I didn't realize the ice that had accumulated next to the snow. I like how it is there and it is a different texture than the snow.

Sticking Out

This picture is a macro shot of some of the branches. I wanted to capture a close-up shot of the snow on the pine tree. So, I took a picture of snow covering pine needles with the needles sticking through the snow. I took around ten pictures to try to catch snow falling. Since this is a macro shot, there was very little room for the camera to catch the snowflakes in the frame.

Snow

Another snow picture I took was this one of heavy snow falling in front of a branch close to the ground. I enjoy how there is snow accumulating on some of the higher branches but not on the lower ones. It gives the branches a distinction and contrast which I like. I also enjoy the focussed and blurred snowflakes. Similar to the branches it provides a contrast.

Snowflakes

In the past few pictures, I have been talking about how much snow fell. I was able to capture the snowflakes falling in front of a pine tree. Some of the flakes were huge. I positioned the tree in the lower portion of the picture to allow the viewer to both see the snow in front and above the tree.

Snow Fall

For this picture, I positioned myself and camera further from the tree and took a wider angle picture of the snow falling. I chose this plant because I wanted to take a picture of something already covered in snow but also have the snow falling behind the tree. It was also difficult to capture the snow falling behind the tree. I had to adjust my aperture (depth of field) to capture the snow.

Pine Trees

So much snow fell that every object that wasn't blocked by something was covered in snow. I like this picture because it is snow on top of ice on top of pine needles. I also enjoy how there is a sharp focus on the pine needles and snow. You can see all of the details on both. You can see the yellow tips of the pine needles and the sun glistening on the snow.

Snow and Ice

Some of the snow fell when the temperature was above freezing. This meant that the snow turned into rain on contact with a surface. That is what formed the ice, the snow hit the branch, melted, then froze again except onto the branch. On top of the ice is snow. It doesn't look like much, but that is all of the snow the small branch could hold.

Snow Flakes

I woke up, to snow falling on my first day in Colorado, it was incredible. It ended up snowing all day totaling around 8 inches. I took my macro lens and walked around to find objects covered in snow that would look interesting in a macro picture. Unfortunately, the snowflakes were so small that I was not able to take a close-up picture of only snow.

Bees Head

This is my only picture with the bee 'looking' at the camera. The bee is more facing at the camera and looking at the flower but it still looks good. While I am taking and publishing my new snow pictures, I will not be posting tomorrow (Thursday) and the day after (Friday). Instead, I will post on Sunday. It is supposed to snow while I am still in Colorado so I should get some of the same (if not better) shots than last year.

Nectar 

I was debating whether or not I should take this picture with my macro lens or telephoto lens. I decided on my macro lens because it allows me to move closer to the subject while still having it in focus and it takes sharper pictures. For instance, with my macro lens, I am able to see the tiny hairs on the bee that my telephoto lens would probably not pick up on.

Streaks

Another feature I like about this new type of flower is the streaks in the center. They are crisp and stand out against the light background. Also, what is the plant below the center flower? The leaves with all of the balls on it. It might be that balls are the seeds for that plant and it just happened that the leaves were upside down so I could see them.

Sunset Flowers

These were the flowers I was taking pictures of before the bee. I chose to take pictures of them because they are different than the normal type of flowers. They have a greater variety of colors which makes them look better. If you want a comparison of the two flowers, look at the center flower then the flower above it. I personally like the center flower better but solely because I've seen the top flower too many times.

Buzzing Around

I was taking pictures of flowers when I saw this bee. It was harder than I thought to take pictures of because it was constantly moving. This meant I could not put my camera on a tripod. Instead, I had to hand-hold my camera and hope that the exposure and focus were correct. I eventually set my camera on auto exposure because the bee was moving into sunlight then shade and I didn't have time to change my exposure.

Spring Flowers

As spring nears more and more flowers, plants, and leaves on trees are reappearing. Spring also brings back birds returning from their migration. I hope to get some new bird pictures soon as I have not taken any of them in a while. In addition to birds, spring also brings back bees. And with my macro lens, I was able to take some close-up bee pictures.

Berries

I was biking when I found a bush full of these berries. Similar to the picture two days ago, the sun is also high on the berries. There is a small white circle on the berries which is the reflection of the sun. I enjoy how some of the berries are not perfect in color in shape. Some berries have brown spots and bumps.

Fall's Colors

Either the warmer weather made the plants believe that winter was approaching or the plants' leaves never fell off in the fall. I found it really unusual that these leaves were red, yellow, and green. I also enjoy the detail on the leaves. I focussed the picture around the leaves so I was able to capture the veins on the leaves.

Sunshine

Fortunately, the cold front did not stay long and warmer weather replaced it. I chose this picture because of the lighting on the plant buds. I like how the sun is shining on the plant at a high angle. This gives light to the top of the plant but the bottom is dark. I took this picture looking up at the plant and sky. I did this to make the background the bright blue color of the sky.

The Power of Water

Water is one of the most interesting subjects to take pictures of. It can be a liquid, gas, or solid. Water in liquid form takes a shape similar to this. It is clear and magnifies the surface it is on. It can also reflect objects extremely well is great for mirror photos of an object. Water in gas form is the same as clouds. The clouds help to make the sky or a sunset more interesting. Water as a solid is ice or snow. This is my favorite type of water, especially since any object covered in snow looks better. Speaking of snow, I will begin to post pictures of snow in the coming weeks so be ready for some snow pictures.

Rose

I chose to take pictures of this rose because of the simplicity it offers. It is nothing more than a red rose in the middle of some green leaves. I was biking past this bush when I saw the rose. It was in the upper to high 30s when I was biking and I was about to go home to warm up when I saw this rose. I was shocked to see a rose in such cold weather and I knew I had to take pictures of it.

Stand Out

I was surprised to see a flower in the middle of winter. I guess that because of the warmer temperatures the flower thought it was spring which meant it was time to bloom. I like how I was able to capture the individual hairs on the flower and leave surrounding it. I also like how the focus is only on the flower and the entire background is blurred. It helps to showcase the flower and provide a simple green background

Stigma

The stigma is the sticky objects that stick out of the flower. I chose to take pictures of this flower because of these stigmas. I set the focus on the lower six instead of the main one in the center. I did that since I thought those looked better and had more depth in character than the center one. I also found a new tactic to give the picture a broader area of focus. Stack multiple pictures onto each other and remove the parts of the picture that aren't and focus. I'll try that soon and see how it looks.

Macro Lettuce Plant

This type of plant is always the most interesting to take pictures of. Whether it is a macro picture of the top of the plant or one of the raindrops that collect on the leaves this plant always have something new to take pictures of. I like this picture because of the background and the 'branches' that form off of the leaves. I like how they span out from around the center and create a pattern.

Lunch

Towards the end of my picture session with the ducks, they all started to eat flies and the other insects in the air. I tried to take motion pictures of them eating, but they moved their heads when they ate making it very hard to capture it. I caught this duck in between flies and by the look on its face, I think it just snagged a fly.

Stare Down

What I like about the black ducks is they noticed that I was taking pictures of them because they turned and looked at me, but they didn't seem to care. I was able to walk all around them and take pictures from many different angles without them moving. In this picture, I was able to get really close. But in some of the other pictures with some of the other ducks, I wasn't able to get as close which resulted in poorer quality pictures of the ducks.