Group #24: Ismet Kucuker (London), Julia Nichols (Paris), Marie Youngcourt (Edinburgh) and Jenny Zhao (London).

For this week our group decided to use photographs of nature that we have explored during the last few weeks as fall has come into full force.

This past weekend I embarked on another trip to the Scottish highlands. I took this picture while at a sheep farm watching a demonstration of how sheepdogs operate and keep the sheep organized and protected. I like this photo in particular because not only in there a beautiful natural landscape behind them but I think the sheep give this image a lot of life. Although they are quite small you can almost look and see the expressions on their faces. Additionally, I think the movement in the photo makes it more interesting as well – the movement is created by the dog seen running on the right side and of sheep shuffling around trying to follow the dog’s guidance. I could not imagine a more stunning place to enjoy fall scenery so I really wanted to share a photograph from this trip to the highlands which was perfect for our theme of nature!

This is a photo taken at Regent’s Park in London. It was amazing to see the change in colors of the leaves signaling the end of summer and presence of autumn. Regent’s Park is also located near central London, so it was amazing to see how there is such an amazing place for natural scenery by the busy streets of London.

When Jenny suggested nature as our theme for this post, I was elated. I spent my fall break in Iceland, which is full of opportunities for nature photography. From waterfalls to ice caves and glaciers or the faintest northern lights, the options are endless. I’ve decided to share one of the few photos of the northern lights I was able to capture, not because it is the best photo I took on the trip or because it’s a particularly good photo of the lights, but because of the story. Seeing the northern lights has a lot to do with luck, meaning you have to be in the right time at the right place, which is hard when there is cloud coverage paired with the brightest full moon. The northern lights we saw were faint, and we saw them on accident. I was with my dad in Iceland, and we were traversing the country via camper van. We were at the campsite near the infamous Skógafoss, about to go to sleep and by complete chance, my dad steps outside of our van and happens upon the faintest northern lights. Luckily, the aurora borealis green looks brighter on camera than it does to the naked eye, and because it’s ever changing, they get both stronger and weaker with time. They’re special, though, regardless of their strength because of the adrenaline rush that comes with seeing them and witnessing such an incredible phenomenon of nature.