HDR Photography
Tower cranes are, without question, the coolest pieces of modern construction equipment. In order to reach these heights, the cranes actually lift and build themselves! This particular crane is working on building the replacement to Campbell Hall (which we’ve previously photographed being demolished.) On this particular morning, the clouds aligned in just the right way with the arc of the crane and produced this composition.
Everything about BC is gorgeous in early August, including the swanky condos near UBC’s campus. Walking through this development I wondered how far I’d strayed from campus, but this is basically directly adjacent.
Today’s photo, taken just as the rain started to pick up in the Marin Headlands, is one of my favorites. The alignment of this little bridge to the Golden Gate itself, the harbor, the construction equipment, with Angel Island and the rest of the North Bay off in the distance: it all provides a sense of scale and perspective. The way the warm sodium lamps contrast with the colors of the evening bring your eye to the bridge and its gorgeous structural steel. Rigid geometries contrast with the fuzzy plants of the hillside. This is a picture I want to crawl inside.
This is the lovely entrance to the Nitobe Memorial Garden at the University of British Columbia. Brendan previously showed you some views from farther inside, but there’s something about the entrance itself that is particularly lovely.
Part of my attraction must certainly be from all of the anime and manga I consumed as a teenager, but even when considered objectively, the garden is gorgeous. I first thought it a bit contradictory to imagine a serene place to be overwhelming, but that was just the experience when I walked into the Garden.
If you give people a maleable surface and some privacy they will almost undoubtedly deface it. This is certainly true on this soft, well-worn sea cliff on California’s coast. It was difficult to make out much of the writing but it is evident that someone sure wanted to make sure that heart would endure. Almost makes one wonder if the original artist periodically comes back to touch up and admire their handiwork or if the heart just serves as a painful reminder any more.
Another from my series of photographs from UC Berkeley’s student machine shop: the autofeeder of a practically-antique milling machine. I love the gold colors from the machine’s recent work in cutting brass, and the was it smears into the other tones of steel and plastic.
The relative safety of the fire trails above Berkeley you can survey most of the rest of the bay, in this case I’ve got a nice vista of downtown Oakland which makes it seem much more reputable (but maybe less charming) than it is when you actually walk into downtown proper. When you’re down in the thick of it all you often forget how green the bay area actually is, something you are reminded of from the hills.
This photograph comes from within the walls of Green College at the University of British Columbia. I really recommend clicking through to read all about its somewhat bizarre history. The dormitory is a place where academics of all ages come together to exchange ideas and cook extremely garlicky food. The combination of alpine architecture and enormous trees makes it feel like a cross between Hogwarts and Rivendell. I was feeling these mystical vibes in the middle of the night, as the Moon peaked through the trees and I took this picture.
Usually, Brendan has a monopoly on gorgeous scenery from the Seattle area, but today I get to show you my version. Here, we see the sun setting over the rooftops of Burien. To the left, the Puget Sound peaks through the trees. I love the sense of depth and scale provided by the roofs as they climb the distant hill.
The Nitobe Memorial garden (previously featured here) is full of water features, each with their associated symbolism. Featured here is one of several water falls. On this particular occasion I was shooting free hand and so the washed out highlights are somewhat unavoidable here, but there is something I find appealing about the effect created by the falling water and its spray in and about the rocks at the foot of the falls contrasted with the pool only a little further on.
I’ve always enjoyed photographs where I can contrast the stark geometries of man-made objects with the stochastic curves of most natural forms. (You can see the theme again in Part I.) In this case, I love the hexagonal cross-section and rough texture of the concrete in comparison with the smooth, vibrant waves.
Shorewood beach at low tide is a completely different place from Shorewood beach at high tide, a place filled with tranquil tidal pools and beach combers. At low tide there are sandy beaches whereas at high tide the beaches are rocky. Pictured is the row of houses which is adjacent to Shorewood beach as shot from about halfway out to the low tide point.
During our recent trip to the University of British Columbia, Brendan spotted what looked a bit like a castle rising from behind the otherwise modern architecture of the university. What he saw was the Iona Building, the heart of the Vancouver School of Theology. It struck me as a little bit odd to see such an imposing and explicitly religious building on the campus of a public university, but hey–that’s Canada for you. The building’s provenance does little to diminish its architectural achievement.
I’ve shown before how beautiful the Fourth of July can be in the Bay Area; the overlapping sensory inputs of multiple fireworks shows is stunning. This year, the Berkeley Marina’s display was particularly lovely.
My parents were recently doing some much needed repair work to one of the walls of their basement during which I was able to snag this shot of the wall in the midst of the repair work. The struts were just there to keep the rest of the house from sagging while the wall from being put in but it is slightly alarming at first glance how much those struts are flexing (not entirely the result of lens distortion!).
