HDR Photography
Winter rain in Coachella Valley brings deep, somber hues to the monoculture arrays of date palms. I usually aim for depth and variety in my images, with a sense of definite space, so it’s an engaging game to depart from that and focus on a single plane and hypnotic pattern.
If I’m ever feeling too warm, I look back to Belgians bicycling in the rainy winter and feel the chill set in immediately.
Mechelen, Belgium welcomed the New Year with rain and fog and the strange combination of ancient and modern architecture that characterizes so much of Belgium.
And also a forest of scary trees.
A muddy but vibrantly colored cafe space outside of the Moco Museum in Amsteram looks a bit like a matte painting for some Miyazaki-esque anime adventure.
Neither the neoclassical architecture nor the rain make this a “peak Batman” image—rather, it’s the interplay of spotlights with fog that creates what I would describe as “Batmanitude”.
In the rainy hills above Palm Springs, I was able to put the techniques I learned at #GRIDLIFE last fall to good use to get a dramatic shot of a Challenger driving faster than was probably advisable on the rainy road to San Diego.
While hiking the La Quinta Cove Trail may feel like getting in touch with nature from ground level, a mixture of water from a recent rain and a drone’s-eye view reveal the ways in which the landscape has been reshaped by people to prevent erosion and preserve the desert.
A work truck heading into a rainy desert valley whisper tales of a working-classic California life that gets glossed over in many depictions of Coachella Valley.
Welcoming in 2024 with a ride off into the sunset for 2023. A massive rainstorm in the Coachella Valley turned the roads into pools that reflected the last hints of sunset to form a golden path.
Another multiphoto set, this one from the final days of Kentucky Summer at the Kentucky Horse Park. We’ll start off with Dr. Piper Klemm showing Reuben and looking appropriately happy about it.
Team Stonewall Farm is looking pretty gregarious.
Will, on the other hand, looks surprised—and should probably be wearing a helmet.
This wide, dramatic view of riders in the ring, the gate in, and folks sheltering from the rain outside is made all the more dramatic by the one young woman with no rain gear. Mysterious!
We’ll finish as we began, with Piper looking excited to be riding Reuben.
The day before July’s Kentucky Summer horse show was a rainy one—but there was still work to be done.
Naturally, though, we’ll start with a picture of Will taking a break from that work.
Piper hangs out with her horse, Reuben, while he has a snack.
Slick the Corgi is just excited to be here.
Piper gears up for a ride in the rain.
Look at that grin! Even in the rain, Piper’s having fun.
The deep greens make for some dramatic shots.
Emily Elek, Piper’s trainer, observes her warm-up from under a tree. The pony with her is working on his social skills.
The rain paused and the wet raincoat could come off; the smile remained.
There seems to be an understanding.
The trip back to the barn makes some great long perspective shots.
The “let’s enhance” action continues with this image of Berkeley’s College of Chemistry, Strawberry Canyon, and South Campus from the top of the Campanile. It holds a special place in my heart because it shows the entire terrain I traversed going to and from work during my first year in grad school.
A Saturday morning rain left streams of water through Berkeley’s Normandy village and smudges on my camera lens, but when it was done, the sunlight perfectly spotlit the entrance to my apartment beneath a blue sky.
When an autumn day at St. Lawrence University ends with a storm above the Adirondacks, those horizon raindrops scatter warm hues back to the quadcopter camera.
One of my favorite shots of 2020 is this quadcopter-captured image of a thunderstorm on the horizon chasing the setting sun, with the village of Canton’s public works in the foreground.
Decaseconds 