An Ode to Rain, and Pictures of Snow

I love the sound of the rain. When it patters against the windows in a gust of wind, and each droplet slides down to tumble off the sash.

It was raining hard last night, with rivers running along the sidewalks, and people running with their heads bowed down. I loved it. Rain is my favorite type of weather.

I've written bad poetry about it :)

But rain is also hard to take a picture of. So here's some snow from a hike I took recently.

My brother invited me along on a hike with a few friends, and we went up the Mt. Washington trail near Mt. Baker, just off exit 41. That trail is a killer. It is practically straight up a mountain. But once we got to the snow about a third the way up, it was totally worth it. I've never hiked in snow before, and after this, I would totally do it again. It was so satisfying to crunch along in the snow, and walk among the trees with blankets of snow on their branches. Along the rocks there were curtains of icicles. We crossed a few streams cutting through the snow, its water glimmering in the sunlight. (But don't get me wrong, it was cold. Very, very, why-didn't-I-wear-gloves cold).

I was recovering from a cold, so the whole experience was a bit muddled with the it's-a-bit-hard-to-breathe-feeling of pressure in my head. But it was still absolutely magical. 

We had lunch at this part where the trail leveled off (finally) into a snow meadow, and this is where I took a few pictures. Just a few, though because it was cold. So. Cold.

Hope everyone is staying warm!

Photo of the day: The campus at night

I live on a beautiful campus. 

Look at these lights on a rainy night;

the soft glow is warmth and beauty.

The weather where I live. But I still love it.

This is the type of weather I live with. It is seriously worth documenting. You'll see why:

This was around noon. Cold, some puffy clouds, but still some blue.

This was at 5pm. The library closed, and I had to walk through this. It was pelting rain, plus some hail, and there was lightning and thunder.

15 minutes later....a complete hail storm.

And then finish off with some more rain.

Later that day, lightning struck the nearby electrical plant, and the entire University lost power for a few hours. I was waiting in line for dinner, and couldn't get food because everything was run on electricity. So what do I do? Call my parents and we picked up my brother for a family dinner! :)

My first classical fencing competition! In Arcata, CA

Hi! So part of the reason why I hadn't uploaded any posts in awhile was because I was just plain busy. This is an example why. I was at my very first classical fencing competition! The historical fencing club at my University drove all the way to Arcata, California. It was a crazy drive that involved a flat tire, no sleep, recalled vans, stormy weather on the coast, the Redwood Forest, and early wake-up times. But nonetheless, it was an interesting experience.

Now, because I was fencing (for 5 hours!), I don't have a lot of pictures, and there are none of me or those I came with :( But here are the few that I have:

That guy in black who looks very high-class English, is my instructor. He is actually amazing, and this picture really shows his personality, haha.

This is Maestro Costa-Martinez. She is amazing, and scary. In a good way! This is one of the historical fencing bouts (there were 4 sections, foil, sabre, epee, and historical). In historical, you start with weapons crossed, and the Director (Maestro) holds a weapon underneath the cross. When he/she steps away, you may begin fencing.

An a messy photo of the stormy coast. It was raining like crazy.

Blue!

Today it was sunny! So I was inspired to upload some photos with the theme of "blue". Enjoy!

This was decorating a mail box on campus. I thought it looked a bit like fish scales, which reminded me of the book, The Rainbow Fish, from my childhood. Anyone read it? 

This little diorama was in the art building advertising umbrellas that the School of Art was selling. I visited a few weeks ago with my friend from Girl Scouts, who is interested in art. It was the first time I had been in the building to look around, and was quite interesting! I really enjoyed the artwork displayed on the walls (and in showcases like this one). 

Because this picture was taken through a glass, I was presented with the challenge to photograph without having a weird reflection. I think I succeeded. What do you think? I also like how the lines of this picture aren't level with the border of the picture. I think it adds some character. however, I wish the foreground lines (the dark shadowed parts) were cut out...

Rainy day

It wasn't rainy today, but previous days it has been drizzling. So here are some pictures post-drizzle!

I think this picture gives the rain drops more dimension...

Not a spectacular picture...

The tree of life? :)

For some unknown reason, I really like reflections. I look in windows, and especially puddles. Who knows why... Recently I've been focusing on the reflection of tree branches. I find them quite delicate. Anyways, This picture turned out as I had hoped, with just one tree reflected in the puddle. I thought it was quite interesting. What do you think?

morning, midday, and evening

Here are a selection of pictures which I thought conveyed different emotions and parts of the day. All of them were taken on the same day, but throughout the day.

Morning:                            lkjljlkjlkjljlj;lkjlkjlkj                                      

The dew on the grass coupled with the harsh morning (overcast) light represents the morning

I liked how I was able to get the water droplets in focus!

Midday:              ldkajfdlakjljljlja;fkldjsa;djs;ojlja

Midday is when people travel around and there's still opportunity to have an adventure.

I really like the arch created by the trees in this picture.

Afternoon:                                         jlkjlkjlkjlkjl

The day starts to wind down, and there are two modes: either people are frantically running around before dinner, or the pace of the day is slowing down, and the day feels old.

I like this sign. It feels antique with the color palette and the old, broken sign. But the word "Flowers" itself is a bright and cheery object, and I like that contradiction.

In this particular photo, I tried to frame the object with the tree and pole since I couldn't get them out of the way. (If you can't get rid of it, use it!)

Evening:                                    lkjlkj

With evening comes serenity. It is calm outside, and we have a chance to pause and reflect on our day--the things we did, and the people we met. 

The pastel color palette that started the day also ends the day, and perfectly conveys our tranquil harmony found by day's end. 

I particularly like the colors reflected off the rain-slicked tennis courts in this picture.

Trip to the outdoor shopping mall

A few days ago I walked down to the outdoor shopping mall by my dorm. It's very small, and the shops are kind of expensive (except for the QFC =) ) but I find it peaceful to just walk around, and there are a lot of families playing on the statues and play structure. It had just stopped raining before I went, so everything was a bit damp but also had the air of new beginnings. This is why I love the rain :)

This is a typical shot of a [whatever this plant is, it looks a bit like cabbage...]. But I really liked the white leaves and contrasting purple veins. I've never seen a plant like this before!

This is something like a purple version of the plant above. But the leaves were different. This one's leaves remind me of Italian parsley (I should mention that I like food, too). To make this shot a bit more interesting than just another plant, I decided to take a picture from the side, focusing on the leaves' textured edges. I like what I could get focused. Looking back, I realize that if I had everything in focus, it would have been too busy. But I think this could be cropped or something...

Lights on a tree, looking from the bottom.

I didn't notice it until I was right next to it, but there are these tiny little metal (brass?) cast frogs! They are so cute! They were positioned in pairs facing each other and interacting, next to the outdoor cafe tables. I think the frog looks a little warped or off balance in this picture, but I liked the water droplets on its back, and the differing colors it creates.

There were cacti on one of the outdoor cafe tables. I LOVE cacti (I have a jade plant named Sula--short for it's latin name Crassula Ovata), and this one was interesting, regarding color and leaf shape (they looked like hearts!)

I just saw this security guard walking by, and noticed he was carrying a bunch of the complimentary bright yellow umbrellas. I assume he was re-distributing them evenly to all the umbrella stands around the mall. Apparently that's what security guards do when they aren't fighting crime :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello, Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are some photos from today:

These two are not so much photography shots, but more that I just liked these signs. Someone put out these signs bordering the pathway in the Quad for Valentine's Day. They were all handmade by different people (telling by the handwriting), and encased in plastic ziploc bags because it was raining in the morning. But I like the quotes! Both I have heard before, but were fitting for today. And everyday, really.

Another sign :)

I found this bouquet of flowers and handmade card by a bench (see picture below). At first I was really confused, and thought someone had died here or something, but then I read the card: "I love you Grandme(sic) and Happy Birthday". It was clearly written by a young child. 

Then I realized that the plaque on the bench read a woman's name, followed by "loving grandmother...", etc. etc. It was a very astounding realization when I connected the flowers and card to the bench in memory of the same woman. How very thoughtful to leave flowers there! This really brightened my day, and I thought this picture really showed the emotional connection between the flowers and the bench.

Raindrops on a rose. A new beginning, or tears?

Not a very good picture :( I was trying to show the contrasting tissue-paper flowers above with the rainy students below. 

This is actually a piece of gum stuck into the non-slip lines on a step. I thought it looked like a heart. Too bad the picture is blurry though. It was hard to focus.

Close-up of one of the more colorful tissue paper flowers hanging in the Quad. I'm very happy that I managed to use the flower to block out the building in the background. This way the background doesn't take away from the flower.

Hope you had a happy Valentine's Day! I know I did :)

(Thank you Boyfriend)

photowalk on the way to class

Hello, midterms are over! I took some pictures this past week, but didn't end up liking them that much, so we'll just skip to these ones I took on my way to Chem lab... Enjoy :)

I always end up doing macro photography (photography close-ups), for some reason. This one wasn't quite as close as some others, but I was getting the lens right up in this flower's grill (yes, I just said that).

I've actually come to realize that my shots aren't really that "close" to the object. I think I might want to work on that for macro shots, or otherwise find different original approaches.

Who wouldn't like this picture?

I also like the rain dripping off.

I really like this picture. It actually surprise me when I took it. I was originally looking at the line of lights on the left, and then noticed the building behind it all lit up, and progressively, the water reflection. After I took the picture, I had this sudden realization that, Hey, it looks kind of cool!

[A sort of planned] photowalk around campus #3

It was sunny today!! After participating in a psychology experiment, I took a walk in the last few hours of light (the sun still sets too early for me...). It wasn't really a photo walk because between classes I passed areas and objects (like the flowers and rain on the leaf) that I put in the back of my mind to take pictures of later. I like the check the weather every day so I can dress accordingly (yes, I'm organized like that), but it also helps me plan for taking photos (like if it's going to be dark or overcast all day, versus sunny). Anyways, enjoy the plethora of pictures to follow:

These yellow flowers are the single most acrid smelling plant I have found on campus. Of course, I haven't been in the greenhouse yet, haha. But there were about 2 or 3 tree-bushes of these that I pass on my way to two of my classes, and you can smell them before you see them. It's not a gross I-stepped-in-dog-poo kind of smell, but more of a this-is-really-strong-and-giving-me-a-headache smell. Due to this unfortunate side-effect, I couldn't stay around them too long taking pictures for fear I would pass out. However, what drew me to these, were that these are the only flowers I have seen on campus. Everything else is bare or dead. (This is why we need snow.)

The most difficult part of this picture was focusing on the "petals." (In quotes because I don't really know what they are.) They were so delicate and thin that it was difficult to focus on all of them at once with the depth of field. Even now, I think the brown part is a bit more in focus than some of the other petals.

Did you really read all the way through this writing to the second picture?

Anyways, this is mud with a few bike tracks through it. I would have liked it to be a bit less washed out where the puddle of water was. Oh well, it add character, I suppose. I did like the slight reflection of a building, in the edge of the puddle though. But I think it's hard to tell that it's there.

This shot reminds me of yesterday's. I think today's flora object is less interesting though. Oh well. I wanted to practice shooting water. I couldn't figure out which droplets looked the best in focus. This picture above has the droplets in the middle and bottom half focused.

This is where it seamed into a regular photo walk. I really liked the light on the tree. I had to take the photo twice though, because my shadow was in the first one.

To celebrate the 100 years of connecting people (I think specifically with Native Americans), a tree was planted with flowers spread around. I took this photo of some of the flowers (also had a problem with my shadow in the setting sun) and I ended up liking the building in the background, giving some depth of field.

 I also like the colors.

This cairn was next to the tree and flowers from above. Thought a close up would make it nature-y. I think the color palate is too grayscale, making it difficult to discern the cairn from the surrounding dirt and wood chips. But the sun made some nice shadows.

If you didn't actually read my descriptions, (but somehow read this), thanks for looking! Have a nice day. Please leave a comment so I know you visited :)

Nature: #1

Today's picture is....

This!

I really like the water droplets, and how I was able to put them in focus so they aren't blurry. Also, the folded leaf with the purple underside was just interesting!