A MinD in MoTown

The purchase of my “new” (as in not-so-new anymore) camera several months ago coincided with my first, and thus far only, trip to Chapel Hill, NC, the home to the University of North Carolina.

After a day full of journalism-related courses, including one on the topic of photojourn, I decided to wander around campus and take in the sights. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon the Coker Arboretum, filled with beautiful flowers, vines and trees, that I pulled out my camera and starting snapping away.

So here are a few shots and – as always – complaints, criticism and comments are both welcome and appreciated! But keep in mind that the photos are a few months old now and I’ve, optimistically, grown a bit as a photographer since then.

These flowers were everywhere. I'd name it, if I knew what it was called.

Love this.

Decent...

How awesome is that tree? That's the only reason this photo was included. Ha.

I really only like the way the sun shone through here.

Something about these little statues in the window caught my eye.

Ahh, yellow.

One week ago this moment, I was at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, readying to head back to the Charlotte area. My short vacation was much-needed, but unfortunately plagued by rain for the only full day I had at the beach, Thursday.

I didn’t let it stop me from wandering among the debris left behind by some high, ferocious waves and snapping a ton of photos. I also tried to take a few more when the clouds and showers finally departed on Friday, making way for some sunshine.

Here’s just a sample of the hundreds of pictures I took. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

The waves were so violent that they'd leave behind foam all over the beach.

This might look like a small stick, but no. It was an eight-foot log that washed ashore.

A little hazy - I hadn't realized the rain made my lens fog - but I like it anyway.

By far, my favorite photo I've EVER taken.

My boyfriend's initials ... and me being a huge dork.

This is actually the first day, Wednesday, and the waves were already huge.

My feet created those two lines.

The contrast of ocean to sky is gorgeous.

Also adore this photo. I found the black shell on the beach and decided to play with it a bit.

That’s right, it’s time for another “Foto Friday.” Several pictures today and these were taken at a local quarry during a newspaper assignment I was on. The area – which I’d previously never seen – was too beautiful to ignore and snapping some photos was almost necessary. Some of these are more news-y (not a word, I know) and others veer toward artsy.

As always, share any constructive criticism and let me know what you think!

This kid was too cute and he kept flexing like that whenever I aimed the camera toward him.

Decent photo. Just decent though.

This one was used in the paper.

I wanted to include one of the kids jumping.

Moving a little more artsy fartsy, ha. But I love this photo.

The life preserver made for a few fun pictures.

On the fence - no pun intended - about what I think of this one.

A tree on the walk away from the quarry.

It’s been a few weeks since I attempted another “Foto Friday,” so here’s a few shots from the nearby amusement park, Carowinds. I mostly snapped pictures of rollercoasters because, clearly, they are the most riveting ride at the park, but there’s a couple others as well (though not many as I was too busy riding DropZone five times and frolicking around with my boyfriend, ha).

As always, constructive criticism muchly appreciated – especially from you professional photographers lurking out there!

I'm not totally in love with this picture, but it had some good qualities to it.

I don't know why, but this is, by far, my fave photo of the day.

I didn't ride this coaster (because it went backwards), so I had ample time to snap away as my boyfriend rode it.

Decent-ish picture, but I had to include it. This is DropZone and I loved this ride.

Sweet, sweet sustenance. Yuengling. Mmm.