HDR Photography
On a recent outing to San Francisco I captured this shot of the these trees in the financial district. The red color and the way the lights were strung around the trees in a swirling pattern lead to a sense of motion, as if the trees have been set on fire. Its a very interesting effect which contrasted with the cooler colors of a nearby set of trees similarly illuminated but bathed in blue, not red.
In the evenings San Francisco’s Coit tower is illuminated creating a pretty spectacular effect.
It’s undeniable that behind the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz the Transamerica Pyramid is one of the most recognizable features of the San Francisco skyline. Everyone’s used to the view of it embedded in the skyline but it looks completely different when viewed from the base, a less common perspective. It actually gives the impression of exaggerated perspective when viewed from the street beneath it, sort of like it disappears into infinity.
For Halloween, I offer you a photograph from this weekend’s trip to San Francisco’s Coit Tower. Nob Hill, backlit by sunset, highlights the sinister aesthetic complexity that fascinates me about cities. When viewed from afar, this tangle of streets, cluttered rooftops, and modernist towers seems to hold so many secrets. Maybe I’ve been watching too many films noir. Either way, the onset of night in a crowded place certainly has its own unique visual palette.
OK, so not a real spaceship but it does sort of look like something out of an episode of Dr. Who, doesn’t it? I caught this one in downtown SF the other evening. The lighting on the building really caught my eye but only once I was directly underneath it. I captured this shot, which I think is very interesting to look at, and thought I’d share.
I’ve shown you the inside of the Energy Biosciences Building before, but I’m particularly happy with the way this shot captures the grandeur of all of this wood, steel, concrete, and glass. The sun casts the best shadows and refractory patterns through it all. (Well, maybe not THROUGH the concrete–but on it, anyway.)
When I’ve published photographs from UC Berkeley’s student machine shop in the past, I’ve tended to focus on the enormous, ancient, and immovable machine tools that dominate the shop. The tiny details at the edges, however, are the key to making everything function. Here we see the array of a Allen wrenches, tool bits, and cutting oil necessary to turn a chunk of steel into a precise part.
With the sun setting behind me into the Pacific, the light on the Golden Gate Bridge, the city, and the Bay Bridge beyond it (thus the sandwich effect) begins to shift from golden to deep blue. The lights came on just as the rain started to spit, and the whole scene made me wish I’d brought a thermos of hot chocolate with me.
I took this shot the first day I had my Sigma 10-20mm lens to get a feeling for what it could do. To this day I am still floored at the width of the field of view. It is absurd how close I could get to Berkeley’s Campanile and still capture the whole tower.
It’s a little cold for my taste but the folks around the Bay really like to get out on the water. Right around the Berkeley marina the water is absolutely jam packed with windsurfers, kitesurfers, and just small sail craft of all types. This surfer’s colorful sail really caught my eye here against the sort of drab backdrop of the waterfront condos.
This particularly gorgeous flower was spotted in the garden of a particular Berkeley professor. I’d like to think that adds to the mystery.
Today is a double feature to make up for a lack of post on Tuesday.
This shot isn’t so much about capturing a subject as it is about capturing a time of the year. This was the moment I realized that the season was changing in Berkeley. The leaves were changing color and falling (well, as much as they will in sunny California) and the sun was shining on this fine fall morning in Berkeley.
Going back through old photos is always a trip. This particular shot reminds me how far I’ve come in the past year. At the time I don’t think I thought anything of this picture but now looking at it I really like the contrast between the colors in the sky and the darkness falling over the bay and the silhouette of the Golden Gate Bridge. The clouds rolling in from the ocean also add a neat effect.
Little pockets of calm exist all over Berkeley’s hustling campus, but Strawberry Creek on a rainy day is a particularly superlative example. The leaves and water take on this lovely green that perfectly offsets the red needles from the Redwoods above. Against this palette, the textures of the mud and roots are all the more striking.
Part two of the promised double-post, I caught this while playing car photographer with my new f/1.4 lens. Some front damage notwithstanding, this little red Mini is a handsome car, and even better looking in HDR.
Decaseconds 