Landscape -- Contessa

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For my location, I chose a spot that holds many memories for me. Each time the sunset draws us outside, my fellow residents of North Campus flock west as fast as we can to get an uninterrupted view of the sun and clouds over the water and mountains. The chase proves fruitful when we find ourselves with "For Handel" in the Performing Arts Center Plaza, or like tonight, on the stairs near the Viking Commons building. Today, the sun covered gloomy Bellingham in warmth and exited with a gentle sunset. All day, I watched the light move behind my computer screen at my job. When I was freed from my post, I raced to the stairs and caught the sky at 5pm.

My two favorite photos from this shoot, the first one being ISO 640, f10, 1/250, and the second being ISO 5000, f6.3, 1/2000, show the beginning of the sunset with clouds over the mountains and Bellingham. I like the first photo for its focus on the sky's vibrance and the gentle coloring, and it's the one I prefer out of all the photos I took of this scene. The second photo, however, invites vibrance from the buildings of the city with an overall lighter feel. It calls attention to the mountains more than the clouds. I think the shorter shutter speed and higher ISO balance each other well, and I find it interesting that I confronted that combination and enjoyed it, seeing as it's a rare choice for me. I typically keep the ISO low and the shutter speed between 1/100 and 1/500, so this was a fun experiment. 

I wish I could have captured a wider angle in this photo because the Bellingham Bay was absolutely beautiful. I wanted to focus on the mountains with my limited lens.

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