A terrifying cloud (I swear, it makes sense) is the antagonist of “Nope,” and I saw echoes of that shape in this cloud above the San Jacinto Mountains and the Empire Polo Club.
Forbidden Pseudo-Symmetry
This connecting courtyard between two Travelers buildings in Hartford has been blocked from foot traffic (I was shooting through a high fence), making it a strange forbidden liminal space. That the two buildings facing each other aren’t actually symmetrical—despite echoing one another—makes it feel like a sort of forbidden zone where reality has faulted somehow.
Nanomaterials on the Stir Rod
Photographing progress in the research lab can be so useful for answering that future question: “Did it really look like this last time we ran this experiment?” Our memories are imperfect, but so too is an image of a sample if one adjusts the processing settings to amplify saturation or contrast beyond reality. Sometimes, the goal of capturing something true to life overlaps with capturing something aesthetically pleasing, and then I have to share this image of freshly synthesized nanopowder clinging via static electricity to the end of a glass stirring rod.
Snow & Scaffolding on the Chapel
Snow and scaffolding are each the kind of dramatic additions to a neo-gothic building that suggest the dramatic climax of a noir film will take place on its rooftop.
Flag Shadow on Chapel
Passing Trinity College’s chapel on a crisp winter afternoon, I saw the nearby flag casting a dramatic shadow onto the stark white surface of the building and it was too perfect a shot to ignore.
Tall Windows in Snow
While we’re contemplating the architecture of Clement Chemistry Building, I don’t think I’ve previously considered the way in which the dark sculptural stone sections connect together the windows on the second and third floors to make these big, tall, dramatic, dark pillars up each side of the building—almost reminiscence of the tall stained-glass windows of a cathedral.
Snowy Clement and Hartford
White covers Trinity’s campus and accents the Neo-Gothic architecture, but the modernist skyline of Hartford in the distance perpetually suggests what else might architecturally be. Though I love twentieth century architecture, there’s little argument that it would have been the wrong choice for a small liberal arts college. It wasn’t until recently that I came to realize that many of these old-looking buildings are less than 100 years old; in essence, they were built to be old-fashioned from the start. Most east-coast schools are a sort of academic Disneyland—one constructed long enough ago that we forgot about the artifice and now see only authenticity.
The Hall in The Snow
The secretive and elite (and currently-on-probation) St. Anthony’s Hall looks dignified and quiet beneath a layer of snow.
So Many People in a Rowboat
When it’s time to take the family fishing on Lake Mohonk, one rowboat will do.
Studying for Physical Chemistry
There’s nothing like Clement Chemistry Building’s dark-academic library as a place to literally cloister oneself in the days leading up to a big final exam in the end boss of chemistry: Physical Chemistry.
Two Doors Sunrise
Beautiful views from our Hartford balcony have been a consistent Decaseconds theme, and during much of the year (i.e., the colder months), those views usually come through these two big panels of glass that comprise our sliding door. Original to the building, they are thin and leaky and corroded and it’s time to move into the future… But the limits of what can fit up the elevator mean that we’ll be swapping to a three-panel set of doors to replace the two-panel set with which we began. I’m not sure I’m even necessarily disappointed, but I knew I’d be remiss if I didn’t capture the view as I’ve come to recognize it.
Pirates of the Salton Sea
The Bombay Beach Ruins now feature this fanciful pirate ship, but at its core is another sculpture with a far different 1950s-automotive-aerial aesthetic. I wonder what inspiration caused the artist to transform one piece into another—or if this was the work of a second artist? I’m reminded of old masters reusing canvases, painting over earlier works to repurpose the raw materials.
Sunset on 2025
We’ve reached the end of 2025 and I’ll celebrate with what I think is one of my best shots of the year—and also just chronologically one of the last shots of the year. The tiny camper van and far-off lights add a sense of scale, saying “goodbye” to the distant events of that past time. Happy New Year!
Swing Is Dry Now
The Bombay Beach Ruins is a sculpture garden on the shallow shores of the Salton Sea, and this particular swing is the site of some of my favorite pictures—but the gradual evaporation of the sea has stranded a symbol of whimsy and magic on the beach as, well, just a regular swing now.
Sunrise on the Connecticut River
Shadows still cover the neoclassical architecture of Hartford and the red Calder Stegosaurus hiding amongst it as the morning sun falls into the valley.
Decaseconds 