Trees

I took this picture deep in the forest. All around me were hundreds of feet tall trees. I wasn't trying to take a picture like this but I really like it. The center tree is in focus and everything else is blurred. It is almost like the blur is leading your eye toward the center tree. I also like all of the trees surrounding the main tree. I don't take too many pictures of woods full of trees so I thought it was something new and interesting.

Moss

These woods were very, very dense. This means that moisture became trapped very easily in the woods. All the moisture and additional rainfall created this moss. It isn't much but I thought it was interesting to see all of the obstructions on the moss, there are leaves and bark from trees.

Into the Woods

Near the place where I was staying was this trail into the woods. There are woods in Texas but these were a completely different type of woods. I walked in then after 2 minutes of walking there was no more trail. I used my phone's GPS to try to walk further toward a lake. I ended up in a US Wildlife Protective area so I had to head back. Not only was there no path, but I also found 2 tombstones from the 1850s. I could only read one of them, and that person was William Barbee born in 1777 and died 1857 (yes it's a real thing, search it up!)

Football

On the trip, I took many pictures that even with my wide-angle lens were too wide. To solve the problem I took multiple pictures then using photoshop I merged them together. This picture is of the University of North Carolina's football stadium It was hard to create this panoramic picture because the pictures didn't line up correctly. I had to stretch the last two but it came out relatively good.

Pine Trees

I took this picture as we walked from the bell tower to the football stadium (picture coming tomorrow). It's nothing too special but I like the way the trees look. The trees are different than the ones in Texas. These trees are pine trees, rather the oak trees in Texas. It's hard to tell the difference with the trees on the left, but you can clearly see they are pine trees from

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.