quiver

That shivery blur of dogwood blossom in the back of this photo is exactly what they look like when I take off my glasses.  A mess of creamy white rustling at the slightest breeze.

duality

Living pine and dead (also called a snag).

I love the delicate, veiny lacework of the Scotch pine needles--like spiderwebs of ink.  If I had to quibble, I'd blot out those extraneous twiggy branches along the ground and just leave the two trees.  Alas, it can't be perfect, right?  I actually love this shot--I exposed the sky just right to get those clouds to that soft peach against the bluish grey.

oh hot damn

After a huge absence, photos from my Scotland trip in February.  And you KNOW I'm going to stretch these into several entries to make more content. 

The challenges of shooting landscapes weren't lost on me--I don't have a dedicated wide angle lens, so shots on my 18-55mm just looked so...uninspiring.  Compared to what I could see--miles and miles of countryside and mountain and rocky moorland--the camera's view just turned out so blah.  The pictures were flat and boring.  What I wanted to express--the gorgeous, open cragginess--didn't translate to two dimensions.

I honestly don't know anything about shooting landscapes (just that it's hard) because I've really never tried, and I wish I had known earlier the value of closing my camera's aperture all the way down and shooting with a slower shutter.  The results I got from that were so much crisper (duh Joceline, more depth of field) and the colors much richer. 

In all honesty I almost always shoot with the aperture the openest it can go, since I usually am shooting people, and I like a blurry background to add depth.  I didn't even think to change it when I started taking pictures of mountainsides and the like.  I just figured, the camera will focus itself on the farthest object, and if anything, something out of focus will just show depth.  Wrong!  Depth in a photo doesn't come from differences in focus, it comes from taking a picture of a scene with depth in it.  Duh again.  Taking a picture of something that looks good will yield a good picture.  I can't expect a camera to focus on a landscape the way my eyes do--unless I tell it to.  Seeking out a landscape with a focal point, a lot of depth, or a good composition is all on me.  Maybe that's why I've always preferred doing macro photography--it's easy to take a dynamic photo when you get up really close to something. 

Oh well.  I love the photos from my trip anyway, because they remind me of one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  The first is a mountain we climbed, Meall a Ghiubais, that was much steeper in person (trust me).  The second is a detail shot of the delicate frost that edged every fallen leaf and bit of bracken that lined the way.

blue and gold

Bright leaves against the sky is sort of my M.O. when it comes to autumn foliage snaps.  What can I say?  This picture, as saturated as it is (and this is unedited), doesn't do the real thing justice.  There's nothing like standing beneath a golden ginkgo and peering up at the shreds of the bluest blue.

What I like best about this photo:  the thin outline of the leaves where the light catches the edges.  Such an exquisite, paper-thin detail.

What I don't like: the fact that I can't think of any original ways to photograph my favorite tree in its autumnal glory. 

Japanese maples.

Things I like: composition, this photo feels pretty balanced to me.  I like the green too.

Things I don't: Blown out highlights where they shouldn't be blown out.  I need to learn to coax a larger range out of my camera.  Technically this is an example of "bad bokeh" as well but I'm not too sensitive about that sort of thing.

gaping

Feeding koi at a temple pond in Japan.  You would go grab an old plastic mug from a cute mismatched little collection (very clearly the castoffs from temple members' kitchens) filled with fish food pellets, and leave 500 yen or so in another mug.  Then you'd approach the pond and watch the fish go crazy.  There were probably over a hundred of them, some colored but mostly these huge grey-brown guys.

 Things I like about this photo: the curves--in the water, in the fish mouths; the dark-and-light pattern of the water.  Things I don't like:  I wish I had gotten some of the colored fish to do this.  Also, this took some post-photo cropping/rotating, which I just need to learn to do while I'm taking the picture!

rice fields

During September in Japan, the rice fields reportedly turn gold (something I wish I could be there to see).  As it is, the wide expanses of green, sometimes arranged in tiers for efficient irrigation, are breathtaking.  No--not breathtaking...I wish there were a word for the feeling you get when you feel unbelievably free.  There's something about the wide open space that makes me feel bigger, like I'm spreading out into the expanse itself.

Something I'm going to start on this: critiquing my photos.  Things I like:  being able to rule-of-thirds without thinking about it now.  Things I'd work on: not taking crooked photos (I straightened the two landscapes in after-editing).  Also, not photos out of a car window.  I strongly believe in stopping when you see something photo-worthy when possible, so you can move yourself in relation to the scene.  Also still dying for a wide-angle lens...

blue and green

Common speedwell, one of the first spring flowers.  The tiny blue blossoms can be seen dotting grassy medians and edges of lawns as early as February.

ginkgo

My favorite time--ginkgo leaves are just budding out.  Spring always amazes me, with how the slightest hint of pale green erupts into full-on foliage in a matter of days.

weeping cherry blossoms

sunshine

Spring is tiptoeing in.  Cue more photos of flowers appearing on the blog soon.

bonsai

Bonsai cherry tree at the National Arboretum.

flowering quince

Another one from last spring...I just can't motivate myself to take photographs in the cold!

poinsettia

A leftover from winter break--returning back to school has left my routine in shambles, so I haven't been taking photos at all.

delicate shades

Sunset on the Chesapeake Bay at my friend's house in Shady Side, Maryland, where we celebrated New Year's.

scarred

A tree at Roosevelt Island, whose bark is covered higher than anyone can reach, with the initials of old sweethearts who passed by through the years.

scenes of winter

Maple twigs and dying chrysanthemums, their fall color surviving through the snow.

ornamental

Beautiful ornamental berry bushes that I see every day on my way to class.  The top photo was taken yesterday, and the bottom two today after a light dusting of snow.

dendrobium

A dendrobium-phalaenopsis hybrid, actually (my mom is an orchid nerd).

sepals

Witch hazel blossoms after the petals dropped, leaving the four-point sepals behind.