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.