Decaseconds

Blum Hall’s Geometry

2012-Jul-202012-Jul-20 adohertyhLeave a comment

During my time as a student at Berkeley, I’ve had a chance to watch Blum hall begin as a foundation and grow to this glowing glass-and-wood holocron you see here. It’s a beautiful building, and its modern architecture fits surprisingly well with the older buildings around it. Still, I have to wonder: given how small its footprint is, I have to wonder what the cost-per-square-foot of the space inside was?

Enormous. But oh-so worth it for the slightly sinister luminescence on winter nights. (I particularly like the manner in which the street lamps ring the building like matadors trying to keep its stampeding bulk contained.)

View From the Hills

2012-Jul-192012-Jul-17 emceehammr1 Comment

The hills that rise above Berkeley and the east bay are home to some of the most spectacular vistas — when the weather is nice. On this particular day we were just lucky enough to get a patch of blue sky peaking through the bleak grey clouds, which was enough to completely light up the east bay while leaving the gloom looming over the city.

The Town Green

2012-Jul-18 adohertyhLeave a comment

So much of New England looks like a post card, but I have to admit that this town green in Weston, MA is particularly charming. The whole concept seems idyllic: this enormous expanse of flawless grass, with an ancient stone wall on one side and a stand of trees on the other. The young family picnicking in the middle makes it perfect.

Hidden Mural

2012-Jul-17 emceehammrLeave a comment

Berkeley is a strange and wonderful place full of odd things in the least expected places. For instance check out this mural by Beth Emmerich, far up in the Berkeley Hills away from prying eyes. It’s actually kind of an experience, and it wraps around on all three sides of this car port. She’s also got photos (not taken by me) of other samples of her murals and other art on her website, if you’re interested.

Purgatory

2012-Jul-16 adohertyhLeave a comment

I’ve always abhorred airports. Actual air travel, if dull, is typically calm and uneventful. Airports are Purgatory-on-Earth where stressed travelers worry and fuss and cope with the imminent delay and cancellation of their flights.

Still, if I have to spend time in an airport, Chicago’s Midway is probably my favorite. It has by far and away the best selection of overpriced food (Potbelly’s sandwiches! Pegasus gyros!) and an at least tolerable amount of seating. In its own way, Midway is not entirely un-beautiful.

Antique Face

2012-Jul-13 adohertyhLeave a comment

The face of this massive grandfather clock comes from the Legion of Honor museum (from which I’ve posted some one of my other favorite shots). The level of craftsmanship exhibited (both in the clock face, and the Legion in general) is just overwhelming. The detail makes me think of some sort of grand alethiometer. My favorite feature, though, is the way the contrast brings out the enscription, “solem arte equor.” If my very rusty Latin is correct, this roughly means “sun by the sea.” Given the Legion’s gorgeous surroundings on the Pacific Ocean, I think it’s quite appropriate.

Jade Gate

2012-Jul-122013-Aug-16 emceehammrLeave a comment

Berkeley is host to all manner of landscaping choices, and on this particular day I found a block or so which was completely dominated by an eastern aesthetic. I found the contrast of the jade with the untreated wood, as well as the lack of parallel lines, especially interesting. The effect was completed by the backdrop of Japanese maples and bamboo.

A magnification of the jade detail in the center.

Underhall

2012-Jul-112012-Jul-11 adohertyhLeave a comment

UCB’s Tolman Hall has a surprising number of urban legends surrounding its uniquely 1960’s appearance. The building is overcrowded and soon to be renovated, but I have to admit that it has a certain charm when the evening light bounces through concrete surfaces of its breezeway. The blues and greens of the shadowed campus and the golden sunset colors are appealing, to be sure, but it’s really the textures that I find so fascinating. The combination of precast and cast-in-place concrete means that there are at least four different textures here, each one reflecting and scattering light in its own, unique way.

Surreal Berkeley Home

2012-Jul-102012-Jul-10 emceehammrLeave a comment

On a recent stroll through the hills east of Berkeley I came upon this house I had seen many times before but never really seen, you know? At first glance it looks like a perfectly reasonable home there’s something about the degree to which the landscaping in the foreground engulfs the home and the juxtaposition of this with the palm tree in the background that I really find fascinating. It looks like the kind of house that would be the setting for some sort of fantasy novel where a normal kid ends up going on some sort of magical adventure.

Oscilloscope

2012-Jul-09 adohertyh1 Comment

My lab is packed with control boxes and oscilloscopes and all manner of signal processing equipment; strung between them all, like the web of a spider on caffeine, is a truly epic array of cables and wires connecting and powering the whole rig. On an average day, when nothing is (seriously) broken, I tend to forget about the mess of electronics, but it’s worth the attention (every now and then) to stop and really appreciate the ordered chaos that facilitates ultrafast spectroscopy.

Fireworks and the Campanile

2012-Jul-06 adohertyh1 Comment

And now a quick holiday bonus. I wanted to get this one out while it was fresh in my mind: the glorious experience of watching half a dozen Fourth of July fireworks shows simultaneously. It’s moments like this, gazing over the bay and its gorgeous lights, that I really appreciate living here.

Both Sides of the Bay

2012-Jul-06 adohertyhLeave a comment

The Bay Area has a set of dichotomies that I’ve always loved fitting into photographs. Here, we have the elegance of San Francisco herself, with towers and an array of sailing boats, contrasted with the decay of the East Bay and its own host of boats.

Berkeley Rose Gardens

2012-Jul-052012-Jul-01 emceehammr1 Comment

While not the most attractive rose garden in the world, there is something attractive about Berkeley Rose Garden’s terraces, which office a nice backdrop for the attached tennis courts and are good for a nice relaxing afternoon on a sunny day if you want to get out of downtown, but not necessarily out of Berkeley. Being situated up in the hills it is surprisingly quiet and I was able to get surprisingly unobstructed views of the rows of plants.

Sun-Bleached Seats

2012-Jul-04 adohertyhLeave a comment

A recent trip to Golden Gate Fields’ delicious/seductive/nauseating dollar days (dollar beers and dollar hot dogs for everyone!) gave me a chance to shoot not only the races themselves (more of that to come later), but also to shoot the mostly-empty rows of seats. They’s all plastic, and over time they slowly lose color and bleach from bright orange to dull, powdery brown. Thus follows the lifecycle of a chair. Gazing out over the ordered sea, their slow march to replacement is obvious.

Firetrail Falls

2012-Jul-032012-Jul-01 emceehammrLeave a comment

The fire trails up in the Berkeley hills are notable for the views they reveal at the top, the payout for climbing the hills on foot, but on the way to top you can find some fairly interesting nature-filled set pieces like this shady water way.