fstopandsee

I had time for a few quick photos on my way from the bus stop to one of my favorite sunrise locations, the bean in Millennium Park. This particular building with some morning traffic in front of it was worth the stop.

Not today anyway. The snow was too good where I was without hiking to go for these lines, but they sure did look pretty from down below.

Two boats and a few groups of crazy kids on the beach.

What more needs to be said?

Every year the city of Sapporo in Japan hosts one of the country’s largest winter events, the Sapporo Snow Festival. This attracts visitors from around the world to check out the many snow and ice sculptures. The best view of the event is from what is simply called the TV Tower. Personally I think it looks like a mini Eiffel Tower. I’ll admit that Mini Eiffel Tower would be an even worse name than TV Tower, so I’ll stick with the official name. This was also my first time travelling with an SLR! Even as I was learning the ropes I was excited to have the city and mountains as a backdrop to the display of snow and lights!

As the sun went down the layers in these clouds kept changing from white to orange to dark blue as they went completely into the shadow. I think I hit the shutter at the exact right moment to capture all of the shades!

This was a familiar scene for me last week, and it was a hard one to leave. I love winters in California, they are mild in Sacramento with fantastic mountains and skiing nearby, but after a week on the beach in Mexico I’m having a hard time adjusting to my regularly scheduled life.

A view from under the Sundail Bridge. This overcast day made for some great shots of the bridge with the sky in the background. The soft light made the green colored floor of the bridge light up when looking at it from underneath!

This is a typical view in the area I grew up of a snowy barn in winter. I have to admit it is a sight that I miss every once in awhile!

One of my favorite hikes is Half Dome in Yosemite. This view of the cables on the way down means a lot of things. It means that you have come a long way, you’ve seen the top, and you still have a good couple hours of downhill that will be harder than you think before you get home.

I took this shot while skiing at Powder Mountain in Utah. Obviously there was some fresh snow to be had on this blue bird day!