Trough Creek

The next trip for my Nature Photography class was Trough Creek, a three hour drive away from Pittsburgh.  It was snowing in the city and sure enough the park was lightly covered in a white blanket with snow falling pretty much the entire time we were there.  It was a beautiful and huge park and I was eager to explore.

 The reflections in the water were one thing that interested me while we were there, and I took a lot of pictures playing with the reflections.  One area had really clear water and really crisp reflections, and this spot made for the best photos.

Even though the constant snowfall was annoying me, I did like how it added to some of my pictures.  I tried not to photograph the traditional snowy-winter-forest scenes, and tried instead to capture other photographs in which the viewer could still tell that it was winter and snowing without being cliche.  

Raccoon Creek

Last Tuesday we went to the Frankfort Mineral Springs at Raccoon Creek State Park.  It was such a beautiful day to be able to escape the city, sunny and 55°, we could not have asked for better weather!
This trip I was focusing on two things: 1) How things were interacting with the water, and 2) Getting up close and personal with some of the nature (even my foot got up close and personal when I stepped through a pile of branches right into the creek, good thing I brought extra socks!!)

These first two pictures are examples of how I was paying attention to how things were interacting with the water, its coincidence that they are both leaves.  For the first photo I took about 20 of those until I got one that I was happy with.  There was a slight breeze allowing the leaves to blow and just barely graze the water.

In the second one I really like how not only did I capture the leaf in the water, but also the reflection of branches in the water as well.  

These are both photos that I used my telephoto lens for to zoom in on the details.  The first one is mushrooms (?) on a log.  There were bunches and bunches of these, and I took photos of several different varieties, and these were my favorite.  

The second one is moss (I took A LOT of moss pictures, it seemed to be the theme of the day).  This particular moss was on a roof of a small abandoned building along one of the trails.  I climbed on the not so stable or sturdy roof (didn't fall through, yay!) to get a good angle on this picture.  

And of course I had to take waterfall pictures!  This was my first attempt at using a slow shutter speed to photograph water, and I am not completely happy with how they turned out, but they aren't too bad!  I would have liked to get a different angle, but there were so many of us taking photographs of this waterfall at the same time, I did not want to get in the way of anyone else's photo.  

So I have this one, and I can't decide if I like it better in color or black and white. 

Presque Isle

On Saturday (January 28) my Nature Photography class went up to Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA as our first endeavor into nature outside of Downtown Pittsburgh. After waking up at 4 a.m. and driving about two hours we made it to the park. Before going out and shooting though we listened to Chris Rolinson, our professor, give a talk about is Pennsylvania State Parks project. Although we were all very tired, I think listening to him talk about something he is so passionate about and looking at all his fantastic nature photos, we were all inspired to go out and shoot and create our own fantastic photos.

I first walked along a trail, which was flooded in places, making this a true adventure. We were able to get pretty close to some branches with berries and other branches that had fresh water droplets on them. After taking about 75 "water droplet" photos, I stumbled upon this isolated green branch with red thorns on it. This was the br

anch and the photo I

was looking for.

The day was quite gray, but a fresh coating of snow had just fallen, making the beach a beautiful scene. I was able to capture a slight glimpse of the sun poking out behind the clouds.

After walking along the trail we cut up through the brush and walked along the beach. There were trees and driftwood and lots and lots of pebbles on the beach, making for some interesting photos. These trees were especially interesting because they were just coming straight out from the sand.

The pebbles that lay close to the water made good photo subjects. I probably stood for ten minutes trying to capture the perfect photo of the pebbles properly juxtaposed with the water.

This was a fun trip, and I think a good intro into the rest of the semester. I cannot wait to go to all of our other destinations though!

Downtown Pittsburgh Navigation Adventure

Before our little orienteering adventure throughout downtown Pittsburgh I had probably picked up a compass approximately 3 times in my life, but I never bothered to learn how to use one. Needless to say it was an interesting experience navigating my way from Point Park's campus to Point State Park and the North Shore using a compass. My group and I got off course a few times (mainly because we are kind of compass dumb) but we made it, sticking to the path set out for us.
I'm glad I now have some sort of idea on how to use a compass, even though I'm still not an expert at it, but I am sure that will come in handy someday...I hope.
Finding "nature" in downtown was a bit of a challenge. There is nature, but not a lot that proved to be interesting right away. This was a good exercise on finding ways to make visually boring things more interesting. It was definitely a challenge of creativity. I liked finding all the ways to juxtapose what nature there was with the urban surroundings, which made for some interesting pictures.

Occupy Pittsburgh from Karen Bullock on Vimeo.

Marshall Mangler

Runners participate in Marshall Mangler Race on Sunday Nov. 13, 2011. The annual race was held at North Park in Pittsburgh for the second year in a row.

Election Day

Mae and Richard Smethurst, of Shadyside, stand outside their polling place on Nov. 8 2011. Both Mae and Richard have been voting for 55 years, and they hope to see funding improvements in schools.

Jackie and Jon Lloyd, both 72 of Shadyside, discuss their reasons for voting outside their polling place on Nov. 8 2011. They have both been voting since they were 21, and Jon says he “[hopes] the community will get the feeling that their voice is being heard. And by the community I mean the 99% of people who are getting screwed.”

Satya Naranyanan, 57 of Shadyside, stands outside his polling place on Nov. 8 2011. Naranyaan moved to the U.S. from India and has been voting since 1990. “It is my citizenly duty [to vote]…I’m proud to be a citizen, I had to earn it,” says Naranyanan.

Ron Davenport of Shadyside discusses his thoughts about voting outside his polling place on Nov. 8 2011. “Voting is very important…it is a unique opportunity Americans have…it is what our nation is founded on.”

Nancy McGough of Shadyside, stands outside her polling place on election day after voting republican on Nov. 8 2011. McGough believes voting is an important responsibility of citizens, “It is one of the few ways a citizen’s voice can be heard.”

Christian Manders, 36 of Shadyside, stands outside his polling place on Nov. 8 2011 after casting his ballot. “I enjoy voting,” says Manders. “It is an important part of the process.”