Winter in the Mountains

I got into the car and headed out to make a quick grocery run, but as I was driving the beauty of the blue sky, bright sunshine, and snow on the ground captured me and I had to drive to the lake and take some photos before going back home. The lake near us is just a couple of miles away so it didn't take long, and I am pretty pleased with the photos. Thought I'd share them with you:

First I drove up a street that led to the top of a mountain and took this photo looking down from there. It reminds me of a country poster. I was looking at the view and driving up, deciding where to take the photo from and suddenly realized that there was more and more ice on the road as I was going up! So I turned around right away and stopped to take the photo.

This was taken from the same spot, but looking up instead of down. Tree silhouettes are my favorite thing to take photos of. I just think they are so beautiful!

Then I drove to the lake. So blue, like the sky, and beautiful!

On the way out, I just had to get that bright sun with the snow and the blue sky. This may be a photo no-no for all I know, but I like it anyway. =)

I didn't think this one was going to come out because I was slowly driving past, but all of a sudden a hundred birds swooped down and landed in the trees and snow next to me, so I had to snap a photo real quick. So neat!

I get a e-newsletter from Digital Photography School and for the new year, they have a theme for each week of the year. You can send your themed photos in and they select a few of the best, but I just use the theme to give me ideas for practicing and trying to learn more about photography. Last week's theme, when I took these photos, was "cold". The site is a community of photographers of different experience levels sharing tips and tutorials, so you can learn new things for free!