HDR Photography
On the western edge of Cal’s campus (which is full of trees to begin with) sits this little grove of trees and benches commemorating the forestry club. The density of trees and the regularity of their positions creates this interesting corridor effect (even if there isn’t much to see on the other side).
This one was also captured at the UC Berkeley Botanical gardens. There’s something just so refreshing about the way that oranges look on the tree. You can almost taste the juicy flesh just looking at the picture.
Another one from Muir woods. Teeming with life, this shot pretty well sums up why I like walking through the forest, even on a grey day.
I haven’t been posting as regularly as I’d like to recently (grad school has caught up with me recently) but since I have some time today I’ve got a double feature. This image was captured during the same outing to the UC botanical garden at Berkeley, this time in the orchid, fern, and carnivorous plant house. Keeping with the theme of the day, this also looks like some sort of crazy creature from a scifi movie.
Ferns always remind me of my childhood and Berkeley seems to have so few. I grabbed this shot at he Berkeley botanical gardens. Looking at this curled up fern up close makes it look like some sort of crazy alien life form.
Another shot from my recent trip to the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley, thought this time from the new world desert area of the garden. This cactus featuring lots of brightly colored flowers really caught my eye among the rest of the cactuses.
Nestled away in the hills of Berkeley is the spectacular UC Botanical Garden. It contains a truly impressive collection of plants from around the world and is host to a wide variety of other critters. It turns out to be a very nice place to spend an afternoon (and I’ll definitely have to come back, I don’t think I caught everything!) to boot! This shot is from their collection of old roses.
The other day during a weekend grilling session on a beautiful day in the bay area I looked over and caught a glimpse of this super cool dragonfly chilling on a bamboo stalk. After snapping a few shots with my iPhone, I realized it wasn’t going anywhere so I grabbed my camera and tripod and grabbed some shots.
The signs of spring abound.
The spring is probably my second favorite time of year, after winter, because of all of the bright green foliage and brightly colored flowers. That green that just pops out at you from everywhere.
During my recent trip to Muir Woods I couldn’t help but notice all of the ferns. They make up the most of the backdrop, coming in all shapes and sizes. They always remind me of home, and I’ve always found the combinations of very green leaves and brown, almost red, underbrush visually appealing.
The bay area is notable for its gentle climate but this is never more true than during the spring. Even Berkeley is full of color, with flowers everywhere. These flowers were just hanging out on the sidewalk.
There’s a holly tree in my parents’ back yard which in the winter seemingly attracts every bird in the area. It also happens to be about the most colorful thing in the Northwest (apart from the sunrises/sunsets).
You can’t tell by looking at the photo but the property being worked on is actually accessible by road. But I can see the appeal of getting things delivered by boat when you live on the water at the end of a rather steep ravine.
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.
Decaseconds 