Bell Tower

This is the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower on the University of North Carolina campus. It is 172 feet tall, has 14 bells, and rings every 15 minutes. It was difficult to take a picture of it because of the sun. I wasn't facing the sun, but since there were little clouds I could not place the tower in front of a grey background. I had to use a fast shutter speed to compensate which made the tower darker.

Red

Near the tiny white flowers was this bunch of flowers. I took pictures of it because of the number of flowers. There usually are a few flowers near each other on a bush but this bush was full of flowers. In addition to the number of flowers, I also like the brightness on the picture. The sunlight is coming from the center of the bunch and as you look outwards either left or right, the picture becomes darker.

Tiny Flower

This picture is of a flower but it is very simple. I used my regular wide-angle lens but stepped in closer and zoomed in. I didn't use the macro lens because I wanted to show how small the flower is. The yellow parts within the flower stick out to me. There is a green background, then white flower, but the object that I notice the most is yellow. It is like an unexpected surprise from the flower.

Summer Blues

During the entire trip, I was taking pictures of different flowers. I thought this one was interesting because of its colors. All of the colors are light and bright. There is light blue and green but in the background of the picture and deep into the petals the blues and greens become darker. I also like the shape of the flower. It looks like it should be a flower that stands directly up, but this one doesn't. This flower in hanging down.

Sunny Walk

Near the gazebo was the covered walkway. Vines covered it but not completely. I found it interesting how the lines of the pathway and poles lining the walkway all led to the end of the tunnel. I then had people walk in front of me to show the walkway. If I could change one thing, it would be that this picture was a long exposure. I wish I could capture the movement of the people walking, but regarding that, I still enjoy the picture.

Orange and Yellow

This flower reminded me very much of a sunset. The oranges and yellow colors were bright and reflected the harsh sunlight. I also enjoy the flowers' composure. It has no flowers on top, some non-blossomed in the middle, and bright yellow flowers at the bottom. When I first was taking the picture, I was just standing straight at it. The background was out of focus like this, but it wasn't a nice green background I like. I adjusted my camera position to change the background which allowed me to capture this picture.

Gazebo

Over the past weekend (including Friday), I went to North Carolina. While there, I visited North Carolina and Duke Colleges and Raleigh. This first picture is of a gazebo on the North Carolina campus. It is one of the many structures on the campus but it also caught my eye. I like how it's bright green and white stand out against the dark green leaves. Even though it is an old structure it is clean and still looks new

Face

This picture is the closest I have to a bee. I positioned my camera very close to the bee. I just let the bee do whatever it was doing and I took pictures when I could. I have found bees normally aren't very aggressive when I am taking these up close pictures of them. There are a few times when I bee will circle around me but by then I normally am done taking pictures.

Buzzing Around

My next pictures are from the Dallas Arboretum Botanical Garden. I was taking pictures of flowers when I heard the familiar buzzing sound. I looked around and found some bees hovering over then landing on these blue flowers. I chose to post this picture because I like the reflection from the wings. This is one of the few pictures where you are able to see the wings.

Central Flower

For this picture, I used my macro lens again. The goal of the picture was to capture the central part of the flower. I used a low aperture to have the only focus be on the middle. I also used it to blur out the back of the flower. I like how the pink is blurred but also visible.

Green and Purple

This picture is simple, the colors contrast each other well, and I like the lines in the picture. The picture is just of a plant in front of a house. The green and purple don't overpower each other. I like how the purple is the same color all the way around, but the green has different colors. Towards the top, the green is lighter and on the bottom, the green is slightly darker. Lastly, the lines are very simple. The lines are either straight or curved.

Classic

I reverted back to my classic, original picture style. A macro picture of an object with an interesting yet simple background. If you remember from a few days ago I talked about an increased aperture. I kept that increased aperture for this picture too. I wanted to have the front bluebonnet in focus but also have the other bluebonnets visible.

BEEautiful 

This picture is one of my favorites from this series and also one of my all-time favorites. I spent almost half an hour trying to take pictures of bees on bluebonnets. Sometime during that half hour, I was able to take this picture, a bee collecting nectar from a bluebonnet. Everything is perfect for this picture. There is the yellow bee standing out in the center, dark blue flowers, and green grass background. One could even say it is BEEautiful. :)

Little Butterfly

In addition to finding different types of flowers, I was also able to find different types of animals. There were bees and two types of butterflies. This butterfly was gray which I like. I took other pictures of a white butterfly but the white stood out too much. I like the gray because it blends in with the picture but not enough that it isn't recognized.

Mini Flowers

One of the other flowers in the bluebonnet patch was this tiny white flower. I took pictures of it because I liked the smallness and symmetry. It feels like for every bunch of flowers there was another on the other side. I also tried to not have the focus be so harsh. To change the focus, I increased the aperture to f10. I normally have it at f3.1 for close-up macro photography but at f10 there is a longer depth of field.

Blue

For this picture, I positioned my camera closer to the ground. I used the lower angle to capture more of the sky. I wanted to highlight the bluebonnets and weeds near the bluebonnets but I also wanted to include the bright blue sky. It provides a subtle background that fits with the picture. The sky complements the bluebonnets and acts as a neutral color to the grass.

Bluebonnets and Bees

As we return to Texas and spring, I thought what is unique to Texas and vastly different than the Colorado series. I settled on the Texas state flower, bluebonnets. While I was taking pictures of the bluebonnets, I heard the familiar sound of buzzing bees. Using my macro lens, I was able to take very close-up pictures of the bees. With this picture, I did not have the shutter speed at the highest I can set it (1/4000). This is why the wings are blurry. The bees wings were moving so fast that my camera at that shutter speed was not able to capture them in focus.

White Snow and Blue Skies

The last pictures I am going to upload are panoramic ones from the tops of mountains and a timelapse of a sunrise that I shot. I really enjoy the panoramic pictures. I like to see how all the individual pictures come together to create a big one. I specifically like this picture because it appears that the mountains go on forever.

Rolling Clouds

While the sunset was not as interesting as some of the ones in Texas, these rolling clouds helped to make it interesting. I divided this picture into thirds both from the top to bottom and left to right. Starting from the bottom, it goes snow, the mountain, then the sunset. The snow and sunset are brightly colored then there is the dark but visible mountain. From the left to right, it goes the clouds, sunset, and mountain, then the tree. This is opposite of the top to bottom. From left to right it goes dark, light, dark.

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.