131/366: Nott Shots

One of my recurring half-serious grumbles about this photo-a-day business is that our neighborhood doesn't offer a clear view of the horizon, making it impossible to get nice sunset pictures. On sunday afternoons, though, we have a babysitter come stay with the kids for a while so Kate and I can do some work, and at this time of year, that window includes sunset. And my work yesterday took me to campus, where there are much better horizon views. Of course, it was grey and dreary for most of the day, but just before sunset, the clouds to the south and west lifted a bit, just enough to be dramatic:

Memorial Chapel at Union with dramatic clouds.

Of course, I'd lose my license to take dramatic pictures on Union's campus if I didn't photograph one particular building:

The Nott Memorial with dramatic clouds.

That's the Nott Memorial, which stands smack in the center of campus and was memorably described by one convocation speaker, the Rev. Peter Gomes, as a metaphor for a liberal arts education: tremendously impressive to look at, frightfully expensive to maintain, and nobody is quite sure what it's for.

And just so you know I wasn't lying about the rain:

The Nott, reflected in a puddle.

I didn't think of this myself-- I saw a student squatting down in the mud trying to get a reflection image with his cell phone, and said "Oh! Yeah, I should do that..." Sadly, I didn't quite have the right lens-- this is with the 24mm f/2.8, and I couldn't quite get the full building and the reflection in the frame together. 18mm would've done it, but I didn't have it with me.

Oh, well. I'm pretty happy with the dramatic clouds picture, so that'll have to do.