Monday, May 5, 2014

Downtown Buildings and Plants Bloom

Is it possible to have spring beauty in a downtown urban setting?

YES!

We in upstate New York had a cold winter, and now we are having a cold spring.  I work in a small city of about 47,000 with a downtown that is starting to recover from some less than ideal last 20 or so years.  But, it isn't hard to look and find some real beauty in downtown Binghamton, New York.

Part of the beauty of photography is being able to play with natural light.  On Friday, when these pictures were taken, it was mostly cloudy with some breaks of sun. and I took a picture of a magnolia from a couple of angles at around noontime.  Here, everything is dark.
This is when the sun came out.

A small weeping cherry near a monument on the lawn of the Broome County Courthouse.  Don't you love the blue building in the background?  This is the Perry Block, designed by architect Isaac Perry (the architect who designed our Albany state capitol), and construction on this building started in 1876.  This is the only cast iron building in our area

Flowers paired with a historic downtown Binghamton landmark.

Some white blooms in our Broome County library garden. Yes, our downtown library has a garden. I wonder if the library will be "lending" seeds this year, which it has done for the past two years.

To remind us that it is, indeed spring, I will try to bring you some mspring photography for several days this week.  And, if I get any requests, I can feature more of the architecture of downtown Binghamton.

Is it spring where you live? What is the weather like?

8 comments:

  1. Alana,
    All these beautiful natural blooms look even more stunning, surrounded by concrete and steel. I'm sure they are appreciated in their urban setting, too!

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    1. This is the "normal" way I see spring blooms - and, they are so very, very appreciated.

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  2. What a beautiful combination of photographs, Alana!
    I loved your explanations, and how you sought out to showcase the beauty you saw through your lens after that hard winter. We had the same kind of winter here in Pennsylvania. Such a lovely reminder of the gift we have right here in our midst. ♥
    Amy

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    1. Thank you so much for your praise. If I can capture beauty with my picture taking, I have succeeded.

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous photos! We've experienced similar weather here and are now starting to appreciate the blossoms - I noticed some very similar to your second picture today. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. I get a lot of pleasure out of taking pictures and sharing so - it really was my pleasure!

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  4. Beautiful pictures. After the long cold winter, Brooklyn is in glorious bloom as well.

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    1. I was in Brooklyn last May - won't be this year, but people don't realize just how full of trees and other plants Brooklyn (and many other parts of the City) are!

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