Apex town hall, community building are part of a landscaped campus

A couple months ago, I spent a few hours in the historic downtown area of Apex, N.C., and I presented my images in a post here. Not being as familiar with the town's layout as I would have liked, I missed swinging by town hall and the community on Hunter Road, a nicely designed complex the community calls "Apex Town Campus."

I was back in the area Monday, so I made a point to tour the campus, which consists of a three-floor Town Hall building and a community building (which has two large gyms and several meeting and exercise rooms) separated by a circular plaza.

A nearby pond enhances the campus aesthetics, and with autumn colors still in great form, it made the pond a no-brainer for photo exploration.

The photo leading off the post is I guess what would be considered the back side of the town hall building. It looks out over the circular plaza, across from which is the community building (below). A view of the three-level town hall from the front (which looks out at a parking lot) is the second image below.

As usual, to view a larger and sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. To view a full gallery of this shoot, click on the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I captured everything with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. Even though it was sunny out, I elected not to use my polarizing filter. For each composition, I bracketed for three exposures to allow for melding into one in Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software later in post-processing.

Above: This leaf, lying by itself near the main entrance to town hall, caught my eye. 

Visitors leaving the front door to town hall get this view (above) of the parking lot. If you click on the image to bring up a larger version, look at the horizontal area of the pergola (just right of center and slightly upward). There is some foliage dangling. The photo below is a closeup of that foliage. 

The town hall building has a rotunda, and the rotunda floor appears in the image above, while the dome appears in the image below. 

Above: A view of the upper floors of town hall from the rotunda floor. 

A view of the town council chambers on the second floor (above) and, below, sitting in a corner of the first floor, is an exhibit of what the sign identifies as "Apex's first post office, circa 1870s."

Above: Seasonal decorations on one of the buildings. 

A section of one of the gyms in the community building (above), a brick-lined hallway just outside the gym (first below) and a look inside the rec and game room, also in the community building (second below).

Some of the landscaping in the circular plaza between town hall and the community building (above) and a gazebo behind the community building (below). 

Above and next four below: Various views of the campus along the pond along Hunter Road.

Above: The sign and a garden that greet visitors as they come and go from the access off Hunter Road. 

Charm, church, chimes ... and fall colors found at Chapel Hill's Southern Village

Autumn colors are really starting to show in North Carolina this week, and I thought to take along my camera on a drive to Chapel Hill on Thursday.

My destination was Southern Village, a planned residential and commercial development on the Southside of Chapel Hill, but I had a feeling that at some point I'd run into a situation where I could photograph something new (to me, anyway) adorned by fall yellows, oranges and reds.

Not only did I see trees in those colors at Southern Village, but I also came across a photogenic stone facade church with a distinct bell tower on one of the marketplace's quadrants.

Christ United Methodist Church is its name, and while I was into my second or third photo, a young lady who'd seen me taking photos came toward me and asked if I was doing a project for the church. I told her no and explained my interest in photography ... and churches as subjects ... but was particularly struck by the architecture of this one.

She then began to tell me how great of a church it was, how she'd been a member since (I forget the year now), that they do a lot of charitable work, etc. I think she was making a pitch to interest in joining.

I was mindful of the autumn colors in leaves near the church, so I tried a few angles to integrate them into my shots. The one I liked the most I present at the top of this post in the lead-off position.

After  photographing the church, I decided to capture the character of the commercial portion of Southern Village, which is laid out in an oval surrounding a landscaped amphitheater at one end and a parking lot at the other. One-way traffic flows around the oval, Market Street, with additional parking available along both sides of the pavement.

As usual, click on any photo to view a larger, sharper version. A complete gallery of my shoot at Southern Village can be found by following the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: I shot everything with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. I bracketed all my shots for three exposures to meld together later in Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software during post-processing. I used the aperture priority shooting mode and tried to use ISO 160 under most circumstances, adjusting it upward in full shade conditions.

Above and next two below: Additional views of the church and its bell tower. I was around for the 2 p.m. ring, which plays the familiar Westminster chimes. 

The church's playground area (above) and separate building for offices (below). The latter is across the street from the church itself. 

Above: The steeple as seen adorned by fall colors from the far end of the Market Street oval.

Above: A slice of the west portion of the commercial district at Southern Village. 

Above: The Lumina Theater, an independent, locally owned cinema, anchors the north end of the oval.

Above: Al's Burger Shack gets rave reviews from what I've read about it. Southern Village is one of the local burger joint's two locations, the other being in downtown Chapel Hill.  

Two more slices of the commercial portion of Southern Village. Town Hall Grill and several medical offices anchor the northeast quadrant (above), while State Farm Insurance, Southern Village Pharmacy and Red Room Hot Yoga are among businesses operating out of the southeast quadrant (below). A piece of installment art sits outside near this area (second below). I didn't see any identification sign near it to tell me more. 

The Market Street oval is on a hill, so the upward angle view of the amphitheater exterior above is not a distortion. Below are stairs leading up to the amphitheater, and the second photo below shows the view of the seating area from the stage area looking north.