Bardonecchia, Italy And The Surrounding Alps

Check out my Tilt-Shift The World post on Bardonecchia, Italy and the Alps.  Here are a few photos from the post...

Belfast's First Snow

It's December...has been for a few days.  I really would have expected some good snow by now, but I guess I don't yet have a good grasp on Belfast/Northern Ireland weather.  Well, late last night, and into the early hours of this morning, Belfast was treated to its first snow.  Not a lot, but enough.  Enough for me to grab my camera around one in the morning and get my first snow shot of this 365 photo-a-day blog.  And then, after waking up, grabbed it again and shot the beautiful, now snow covered, mountain that we have as a neighbor.

The 1:00am shot is a tad more abstract, sporting bokeh snowflakes illuminated by a street lamp and one green "spot" (for lack of better term...maybe piece?) of bokeh from a nearby green motion detecting light.

And here is the nearby snow covered mountain that I woke up to.  I must sled down that.  I must.  Also, I must get a better telephoto lens.  I'm shooting with a really old, less than great quality 70-300mm.  I'm looking into the 70-200 f4L series Canon lens.  Not the version with image stabilization.  Any thoughts?  Should I just save up and get the stabilized model?  

A Change of Events

I woke up to snow.  Lots of it.  Far too much of it for the first of April.  But I am extremely glad that it didn't accumulate to anything, turned to rain, and although it made my worldview flip upside down, birds sang while it fell.  The rain that it became ended up making it feel much more like Spring.  A feeling that I hope becomes a constant for at least the next two months.
Driving home from work in the pouring rain was so much better than driving to work in the falling snow. It really threw a positive twist on the day, so I decided I should indulge in the Springier weather.  So, plant pictures it is.

 Diamonds Last Forever

Regardless of how annoying all ring advertisements are, this photo reminds me of one.  I'm sure it has to do with the fact that the main focus is that of a very diamond/pearl-like thing.  Also, the bokeh in the background probably plays a big part.

  Bamboo

This isn't bamboo.  It just has what looks like the right width and curvature.  Of course the physics are all wrong...those droplets would not be able to just rest on it the way they are.

Depth

Though they are all within three inches, this photo seems to have a good representation of foreground, middle ground,  and background.  The colors remind me of a summer sunset.