UMD Early Morning

About one week ago I got up early to take pictures from the University of Maryland entrance and way to the mall during and shortly after sun rise. Although I made some technical mistakes while taking the panorama shots, most of them turned out surprisingly well. The pictures of the current post will be black and white, but I am planning on making a second post soon with a slightly different assortment of color pictures.

Here we go:

The University main gate shortly before sunrise.

A panorama shot of the engineering building on the way from the main gate to the University mall.

Traffic circle with the classical Maryland "M".

A panorama shot back from the traffic circle towards the main gate.

Fountain on the mall and the flight of stairs leading up to McKeldin Library.

Fountain panorama with Administration Building in the background.

McKeldin Library with an eye towards the mall architecture.

Some Flowers (1)

Here are some random shots of flowers from last year, not associated with a specific trip or location. Most were shot handheld with my trusted Tamron lens (why some may not be tack sharp), some were shot with a tripod and the additional help of the Canon Close-up lens. I will post more flower shots in due time.

Here we go:

One of my favorites, because of the beautiful color gradients in the rose petals:

An orchid seen in a conservatory:

A white topped pitcher plant outside in a park:

A wild flower in a forest in Canada. Possibly a daffodil, but I'm not sure:

Great Falls National Park 2012

A few weekends ago I went for a hike in Great Falls National Park with a friend.
We saw a lot of wildlife: snakes, small birds, big birds, todds with suicidal tendencies (long story). There was one animal though who was kind enough to sit still for a couple of seconds to give me a great picture: A couple of five-lined skinks!

The following pictures are some impressions from the path along the old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal which runs parallel to the Potomac great falls. The historic-style boat you see below provides mule-drawn tours on the canal.

There are lots of things one can do in Great Falls: having a barbecue, site seeing of the falls, rock scrambling, or just enjoying a relaxing walk next to the canal.

Harpers Ferry 2011

Wow, another long break since the last post. Below are some photos of a family trip to Harpers Ferry, a town and national historic park in West Virginia. The town and it's history are very interesting, but my personal highlight was the hike up Maryland Heights to a scenic overlook which provides a grand view over the town.

The following is an HDR picture of the entrance to the railroad tunnel through Maryland Heights. There are a few HDR pictures which I like better in black and white, because of the way it makes the additional contrast shine.

Huuh, who is this? We met this little fellow on our way down the mountain. He is a male Eastern Box Turtle who ventured too close to the hiking trail and was spotted by me.