2023

Norumbega Reservoir, Weston, Massachusetts

It was a surprise that my fiance was able to visit me for the last week of summer before college. We wanted to make the most of our short time, and we did! We had the gayest little picnic and took in all of the flowers and forests.

It's real easy to get lost taking pictures at this reservoir the moment you step out of the car. The dark foreground of the forest contrasts with the light of the lake.

While we were having our picnic, a group of American goldfinches were playing right above us! They were frantic, but with enough shots I was able to get one with decent visibiliy. Besides the first bird in the middle, you can spot another on the top right.

Besides the goldfinches, we didn't many active birds, as it was a cloudy day. So me and my fiance focused our efforts on the foliage - their camera's superior detail at close range meant they had the lion's share of good pictures that day.

Of all the weird plants we saw, this one would be my favorite. It's like an ear of corn that contains flowery blossoms instead of kernels. The rest of the plant seemed to falling apart, but the buds were doing just fine.

Environmental storytelling. Lining the reservoir is a big fence, and every so often there's a padlocked door so the reservoir keepers can access the other side. Most of the doors were overgrown by vines like this one here, though. Now nobody can unlock them.

I've taken a lot of bumblebee pictures in my time, but this one is likely my best yet in terms of how well I was able to focus the camera.

Okay, I have a serious tip for those getting into photography: one of the best camera aiming drills you can give yourself is to take pictures of pollinating bees. They'll regularly fly around from flower to flower, but on each flower they'll give you 3-4 seconds to focus on them before they move on to the next one. It's always fairly obvious where they went to next, so it's just a matter of repositioning - try to follow them as they go!

Take a look at these trees for a moment, and see what pops out at you. Do you see it? They're suntanned red on one side! How does this happen?