Days are getting longer and I know (in spite of temperatures below -10ºF) that summer will eventually return.
Author: adohertyh
Berkeley Christmas Redux
This image of Berkeley and San Francisco on Christmas Day 2016 is one of those shots so lovely that I’m not sure why I haven’t shared it already. All of the little details laid out in the hillsides and city streets of the Bay Area… How did I miss this one?
Remains of Berkeley Pier
In the era before the Bay Bridge and BART tunnel, the ferry between the East Bay and San Francisco departed from the end of a long pier. (The pier used to be even longer—the Berkeley Marina extended into the water around it.) The ferry ended service in 1937, after the bridge opened, but remained a popular location for fishing until it deteriorated to its current unsafe state. I’m kind of fascinated to see its skeleton jutting out into the Bay, a linear form amid rolling marine layer clouds.
Six Views of Payson and Piskor
As I did in the past, I captured a time sequence of views of St. Lawrence University’s Payson and Piskor Halls (with the ultimate goal of making a dynamic desktop for macOS.) A steady tripod and a very large lens skirt made this possible.
I: Morning
II: Late Afternoon
III: Sunset
IV: Blue Hour
V: Night
VI: Dawn
Rain Chases the Sunset
One of my favorite shots of 2020 is this quadcopter-captured image of a thunderstorm on the horizon chasing the setting sun, with the village of Canton’s public works in the foreground.
Sykes in the Winter
Unlike the generally empty dorms of St. Lawrence over winter break, Sykes is home to many of our international students who remain on campus. The traditional architecture seems natural under a crust of ice, with a sort of “Harry Potter staying at Hogwarts” vibe.
Hurry Up and Wait
When it’s time for their rounds, riders have to be ready to head into the ring and perform. Being late is not an option, so “hurry up and wait” is the standard: Lots frantic action to prepare, followed by lots of waiting. The sense of stillness amid chaos that goes with that waiting are captured well, I think, in this image.
Shipping Beneath the Marine Layer
Views like this one, capturing the marine layer rolling across the San Francisco Bay towards the Port of Oakland, are the kind that first attracted me to photography. I took this picture nearly four years ago, during my sabbatical to the Bay Area, when I was still shooting with my Nikon D7000 (already antiquated tech in 2017); I can’t want to be able to safely revisit Berkeley’s Grizzly Peak to capture more cityscapes with my new Sony a7R IV.
Sightseeing
The castle is the other way! Of course, this sightseer is aiming in just the right direction to see the Dancing House upriver.
Alfa Romeo on Shattuck
I remember thinking at the beginning of my “serious” return to photography in 2011 that I’d someday look back to those pictures of a particular place and time (Berkeley in the early 2010s) with a sense of nostalgia that then random street scenes didn’t necessarily offer at the time. This view of a 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV parked outside the Cheese Board has now become one of those images: in 2020, the prohibition on diners in the road median is now being enforced, while the parking for the cars see here has been largely removed and replaced with additional sidewalk seating.
Along the River in Old Town
This expanse of dramatic clouds, Petrin Hill, and the Vltava River was across the street from our hotel in Prague. While always a gorgeous view, most evenings brought rain instead of this kind of skyscape. I was lucky to find this scene on the final night of the trip.
Sky for a New Semester
Though St. Lawrence’s students are arriving to campus in a safety-mandated trickle over the next few weeks instead of a single-day flood, there’s still a sense of the snow-blanketed halls coming back to life. I love the energy of a college campus in full swing.
Smoke in the Distance
Citizens of the North Country spent much of their spring quarantines in the woods; the campfire smoke from just beyond Lampson Falls attests to the family spending the night below.
New Year: Clouds Over Petřín
My hope for the New Year is more opportunities to travel to places like Prague and capture views like these.
Water Above Falls
The apparently slow and placid water above Lampson Falls seems out of character with the dramatic torrent downstream.
