University House Reflected on the Duck Pond

I was on campus and downtown on this day, and it was absolutely gorgeous weather, cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, with blue skies and abundant sunshine. Perfection, actually; like living in paradise. Late summer is turning into early fall, and weather doesn't get much better than this!

I stopped by one of my favorite places, the duck pond by the alumni gardens. This is a shot I often take when I am there, if the light is good: standing with my feet on one of the big rocks, facing University House, tilting the top of my camera forward just a bit to get everything I want in the shot.

A version of this shot won the Penn State summer photo contest for me a few weeks ago. :-) That photo had a bit more pink in those flowers to the left, and it included a turtle on one of the rocks in the pond.

This one features a mallard over there swimming against the reflection of University House, a building which used to house our university presidents, but is now part of the alumni center complex. Could that duck be the same one we spotted canoodling with a turtle on the big rock last week? Why, we'll never know for sure but it just might be!

A thing I like about this space is that it feels very Southern, which is due primarily to the style of architecture of the main building. According to PSU history, "The last major renovation to the President's House occurred from 1939 to 1940 when the large portico and columns were added, giving the house the Southern plantation look popularized at the time by Gone With the Wind."

I have been thinking about undertaking a project to create a series of images of this place in every season. I think that would be fun. Hmm, perhaps it would give me yet another excuse to come back to this particular little corner of paradise.  ;-)

Let's dish out some Southern rock to go along with that southern look. The soundtrack: 38 Special, Back to Paradise.