Many of you know that I work full time at OU and I LOVE my job. One of my favorite things about working for the university is the beauty I am surrounded by – campus is gorgeous and is a constant source of inspiration for my work. My favorite time of year is the summer (for obvious reasons – Fourth of July, warm weather, country music…) but also because campus is SO quiet. I love getting to partner with with students, but there’s something refreshing about having a little breather in the summer when things just slow down, campus is at its peak (EVERYTHING is green and blooming!), and you can actually park…hah!

I’ve probably taken a few thousand photos of campus over the past 8 years, but there are a few that stand out as my all-time forever favorites. I use these any opportunity I have – print pieces, a social media post, or on my own instagram! You might think campus would get old after a while and there wouldn’t be anything new to take photos of, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I find variety by shooting at different times of the day, in different weather, and taking photo walks to scout for a new or unique perspective/nook of campus.

My go-to places are the clock tower, Evans Hall, the Seed Sower (when I make it that far south haha), and anything with flowers or greenery. I sifted through some of the images I’ve taken over the years and thought it would be fun to share my top 5 all-time favorite photos of the OU campus! (Side note – if you wish to save and use these images for any reason, please be sure to provide proper credit in the description or by tagging my social media accounts in the images. Better yet, tag @go2ou!)

5. Bizzell Memorial Library at dusk. Because every other time of the day this place is cute but crazy. Sunset is by far the most flattering time of day for the light on this iconic building and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to capture anything quite as dreamy as this shot.

4. Crepe myrtles on the west side of Bizzell Library. See you soon little ones!! They bloom in June!

3. Seed sower at dusk. I was out shooting at Camp Crimson in 2017 and grabbed a few campus shots that same night – I’m SO glad I did. There are a handful that still haven’t been topped.

2. Southeast side of Evans Hall. I remember catching this angle of Evans one overcast day while I was on a photo walk. I couldn’t believe I had spent so many years in Norman and never noticed the beauty of this spot. Once I snapped the picture, I power-walked back to the office because I literally couldn’t WAIT to see it big and make it come to life. There is something magical about this one.

1. Evans Hall. You’ve seen this one before. Not necessarily because I’ve posted it, but because I’m pretty sure a couple hundred other people have. I have no idea how this photo has been passed around as much as it has, but I’ve seen OU football commits use it in their announcement tweets, Panhellenic use it for promotional materials, and our soccer team use it in social media promos. Pretty hilarious!

BONUS! I couldn’t leave this one off my list – it’s OU without being too OU. And I never knew these little guys existed until I stumbled upon them one day last summer on the far west side of campus. They are pretty unassuming, but I felt like I had found a treasure!

Do you have a favorite?