HDR Photography
Continuing my recent display of discoveries from my college camera rolls, this picture of a friend reading in the open window of my dorm is fairly perfect. The motion blue of passing students outside further highlights her stillness and the open quad highlights the profile.
With Hartford’s skyline looking on in the background, the brutalist facade of Trinity College’s LSC matches the carefully graded dirt of its adjacent quad before a thick layer of new sod was applied.
I decided to make my collection of photographs from my time as a student available to Trinity’s social media team, which required sorting and uploading them. Among the random motion-blurred messes of my past, I encountered the occasional serendipitous moments of actually striking photography.
The Hartford Marathon traveled past our house and provided an opportunity to capture some weirdly empty-of-cars/full-of-runners streets.
Like molecules through a chromatographic column, the runners spaced farther and farther apart as the race went.
The views closer to home produced intense shadows best viewed in black and white.
Bushnell Theater and the Connecticut State Office Building across the street look warm and inviting in the dusk light—friendly in a way I wouldn’t otherwise associate with massive facades.
Legend has it that the southern face of Bushnell Tower is nearly windowless because it was meant to closely face a mirror twin of the building (never constructed); now it remains a mysterious facade that adds character to the historic structure.
After the rain had passed over Madeira School, the view of the Potomac running through Mather Gorge opened up between the trees.
Rolling northern Connecticut hills hide the bright lights of the distant city just over the horizon, scattered from post-thunderstorm clouds once the sunlight vanishes.
Swagger and a backdrop of vintage NA Miatas make me want to dub this unknown individual with a dramatic title, but I’m sure there’s a tuner somewhere in Japan who has more properly earned the title.
The end of the semester (and some final-exam stress) nears but for now, relaxing on the quad on a warm and sunny spring day could be the move.
The camera hardware required to get a pin-sharp image of a horse galloping at the center of a spotlight in a darkened indoor stadium has never been more accessible, but it serves as a bit of a contrast to Friday’s post: At the end of the day, raw numbers of photons entering through a big aperture to a large sensor can’t be beat.
Though I have my fair share of images that were only possible with the full capabilities of my best camera (just wait for Monday’s post), I’ve been experiencing the impact of Chase Jarvis’s famous quotation lately: “The best camera is the one you have with you.” This perfect warm spring afternoon moment on Trinity College’s main quad was one I serendipitously passed and the image that resulted wasn’t one I would have missed for not having the “perfect” camera.
Clement Chemistry Building is surrounded by flowering plants that complement its red stone structure on perfect spring morning.
After our redeye flight from Madrid to New York turned around halfway over the Atlantic due to mechanical issues, I’ve never been so happy to see sunrise on dry land.
I often capture pictures of my scientific work in progress, allowing me to better explain my protocols to others. In this case: a partial pellet of pressed silica nanoparticles in the center of my 3D-printed gas cell, sealed behind orange-colored zinc selenide window that blocks UV light from escaping.
Decaseconds 