photography – Page 65

Sunset. Stat

2017-Feb-01 adohertyhLeave a comment

The key to getting the most incredible image of a view is to take “luck”/chance out of the equation. I’ve been watching this same view (from the balcony of my research facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) almost every night for just the right kind of sunset to appear. After a hazy, cloudy day, I hadn’t expected last night’s sunset to have much character—until I was texted by a friend at the lab: “Sunset. Stat”

The reds were worth it.

Equally astonishing to me is that this image wasn’t taken with my DSLR, bur rather was assembled from multiple exposures taken with my iPhone 7 Plus. Though I doubt a compromised phone camera can ever replace my handy/chunky main camera, it makes an incredible back-up option.

Berkeley Boarder

2017-Jan-302017-Jan-30 adohertyhLeave a comment

The sun-streets of California, I hear, are where longboarders got their start. That vehicle remains popular with the undergraduates of most colleges and universities, I’ve noticed, from snowy St. Lawrence to here in Berkeley. The bravery to venture into traffic on a bright Saturday afternoon is admirable.

(Or maybe I’m just jealous of the skill required.)

Blue Hour Gazebo

2017-Jan-27 adohertyhLeave a comment

Mohonk’s gazebos are a signature of the hotel, and this particular structure is my favorite of them all. It’s not the biggest, or the most elaborate, but it benefits from being built on a concrete island projecting into the lake. At least to my eight-year-old self, that made it by far the coolest.

The Gate and the Devil Z

2017-Jan-25 adohertyh2 Comments

I’ve had an attraction to Datsun Z cars since I read Wangan Midnight as a teenager and first encountered the “Devil Z”. Around the Bay Area, plenty of these cars are still running, and those that have survived this long come to resemble the style goals of their owners. That might be the “rough style” Z I photographed in Berkeley, or this super-clean example that was kind enough to park in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

That Was the Buccaneer

2017-Jan-232017-Jan-23 adohertyhLeave a comment

Canton’s bars are pretty specific in their target markets: bars for students, or for locals, or for the staff of the local schools. There’s not a lot of overlap. The Buccaneer Lounge, housed in the blue and white building at the lower right of today’s quadcopter photo, was the favorite hangout of faculty. The bar closed this winter, and (as with many third spaces) it will be missed.

Mohonk: Ready for the Show

2017-Jan-202017-Jan-20 adohertyhLeave a comment

Mohonk Mountain House’s parlor is far grander than the name might imply. After dinner, it’s the site of live entertainment. That could be a comedian, or a string quartet, or a band, or an animal trainer. The consistent variety could almost be called old-fashioned—matching the tone of the room.

Bridges to the Golden City

2017-Jan-16 adohertyhLeave a comment

Being back in the Bay Area for sabbatical, I need to take a proper picture of the great spans (Bay and Golden Gate) of the area. The absurd topology of San Francisco and the incredible architecture of this space is laid before the camera in the Marin Headlands.

Three Reminiscences of Fall in the North Country

2017-Jan-112017-Jan-10 adohertyhLeave a comment

The Bay Area seems to experience seasons at a different pace from much of the rest of the country. Summer is a month-long period from mid-August through mid-September, fall lasts from October through March, and the summer goes from April until August. Winter (as the East Coast understands it) isn’t a part of the equation. Being back in fall, then, has me reminiscing about fall in the North Country, with leaves starting to dot the ground and the Blue Hour arriving sooner.

Berkeley’s undergraduate student population is still mostly gone for winter break, leaving UCB’s campus to resemble St. Lawrence’s during Fall Break in October. The empty-ish parking lots might be bleak, but at least it’s easy to get a table at lunch time.

And one final bonus from that fall weekend: a most dramatic and exciting picture of a most unexciting car. I present to you: the World’s Most Interesting Toyota RAV-4.

Landing the Molecular Foundry

2017-Jan-06 adohertyh2 Comments

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory sits in the Berkeley Hills, so close to multiple centers of scientific and technological innovation; the intellectual climate on its campus is astonishing. One of the newer facilities on campus is the science-fiction-come-to-life Molecular Foundry. The most dramatic part of the building hangs in space above the bay. I can’t resist the image of a spacecraft coming in for a landing.

Mid-Show Snack

2017-Jan-04 adohertyh3 Comments

Flashing back to a St. Lawrence University IHSA show from last fall: between the big jumps and competition, sometimes a rider just needs an M&M break.

Two Views of Mohonk

2016-Dec-30 adohertyhLeave a comment

Mohonk Mountain House has grown like lichen across its mountaintop, but its oldest core shapes much of the structure’s identity. Tea time happens at 4:00 PM each day, and guests sit in the array of front porch rocking chairs with their tea during the warmer months.

Just around the corner, gazebos crusted with snow dot the cliffs.

Grizzly Christmas

2016-Dec-28 adohertyh1 Comment

Christmas, back in the Bay Area! Up on Berkeley’s Grizzly Peak, alongside the tuners and drinkers and stoners, the clouds rolled over the hills and the whole bowl of the Bay lit up. This is a weird and special place.

Bonneville Salt Flats Flooded

2016-Dec-262016-Dec-25 adohertyh1 Comment

Driving through the Bonneville Salt Flats, home of land speed records and long empty stretches, was a mirage-filled experience in the summer. Traversing the same alien landscape in the winter, following a series of major storms, is a brain-twisting exploration of optics: perfectly smooth surfaces (too shallow to support waves) make perfect clones of every hill and mountainside. This five-shot panorama captures the full scale of the space; I encourage you to click through to the full-size (32.1 MP) image on Flickr and see the detail for yourself.

Little Mill Houses

2016-Dec-212016-Dec-22 adohertyhLeave a comment

We’re on our way out of the North Country, headed for a sabbatical in California, but the little houses (first built for mill workers) of Canton, New York will be there to welcome us back.

We Prefer the Snow

2016-Dec-192016-Dec-18 adohertyhLeave a comment

Horses don’t seem to mind the snow. Wintery Vermont afternoons, with the appropriate amount of horse treats, are just their style.