For the last few weeks my campus walks have been taking me in directions I don’t normally take, and I have thoroughly enjoyed other sights and sounds of campus. As always, there’s no shortage of trees to love.
A couple of weeks ago, my walk started with the tree below:
I pass this tree twice a day–on my way to and from the office. In fact, it’s had a moment on the blog before. But as I was on my way to a different tree, this lone tree and its shadow caught my eye. The photo is a bit boring because I was really photographing the shadow.
Then…just yesterday, my camera wanted to play and found the tree again!
Again, I was drawn to the tree’s shadow. 😉
I’ve had a DSLR with a Creative Auto (CA) setting for at least a decade, but until a few days ago, I had not even attempted to play around with CA. Gasp! Don’t judge me too harshly.
There are various fun settings–toy camera, vivid, monochrome [of course], fisheye, soft focus, miniature, ambient, and more–but the grainy black and white stole my heart. I don’t know what it is about this setting that’s made me go ga-ga! The images are nostalgic and dramatic and artsy and moody all at once.
The really cool thing about the CA setting is that it captures a normal [color] version of the image as well as the “creative” image, so there are no regrets about missing the opportunity to shoot a particular object in color.
Thus, we have my two favorite photos from today’s escape-the-screen photo walk:
Yes. I walked to the willows today.
Be sure to take some time away from the screens and have a weekend filled with joy and creativity!
I am joining Parul Thakur for #ThursdayTreeLove every second and fourth Thursday of the month. If you would like to play along, post a picture of a tree on your blog and link it back to her latest #treelove post.
Pics and Posts 
Beautiful images…love the B&W
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Thank you!!! 🙂
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Yes! to joy and creativity. 😊
I love the shadow cast too. ❤
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Thank you!!!
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You’ve captured the willows so beautifully!
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Thank you, Cy!
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Beautiful pics, and lovely trees. 🙂
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Thank you. 🙂
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Absolutely wonderful! I cant decide if I like the monochrome or coloured one better!
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Thank you so much! Have you ever walked “in” willows? It is such a beautiful experience. Maybe, one day, I’ll share my inside the willows photos.
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I also don’t use the CA functionality at all but your post is encouraging me to try that out. I love the shadows and you are right that shadows are so dramatic that they are drawing my attention too. Thanks for joining, Chandra! I hope to see you back on the 12th.
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Looking forward to your CA pics!
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I don’t think your top photo is boring at all and can understand being drawn to the shadow. I’m extremely low tech with cameras, etc, but love to play around with basic editing. What would you think about cropping out some of the blue sky to put more emphasis on the shadow? Just wondering. I sure do love that line of willows!
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I actually have one with less sky and more shadow. Maybe, I’ll share it. Shadows can be so intriguing! And the willows? Yes!
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