Check out these digital picture frame images:
The Sky Above
Image by miskan
After work I had to go pick up Nat from this place she was at. While waiting for her to finish I parked my car infront of a building in the area, played some Jimi Hendrix on the stereo and just chilled. The building I was parked next to reminded me a lot of the buildings you find in Lebanon. It's an old building but it was in good condition. It had a large balcony that went from one side of the building to the other, something you don't see that much of here in Kuwait. The ceiling of the balcony also had wooden planks, something I have never seen before in Kuwait. Some small trees were also planted outside giving the place a very soothing feel. So sitting there in the car, windows rolled down, roof wide open and a nice sea breeze blowing, it just really felt like I was back in Lebanon. While sitting there day dreaming, I look up into the sky above and right on top of me was this lamppost. My sunroof kinda framed a shot of it and I was like yeah this looks interesting, so I took out my camera and shot this picture. I am generally into new stuff like the latest gadgets, the latest cars etc.. but I don't like old classic cars, antiques and stuff. The only exception to this is with old architecture. I just find older architecture more interesting and more colorful then the current modern stuff. The other day I was noticing the Phoenicia hotel color scheme in-front of Muthana Complex for example and I just loved it. The whole building used to be white but the balconies on the inside were baby blue. It was a perfect balance and I am sure it must have looked really fresh back in the days. If I ever built a house I would probably go with that style myself, all white except the inside of the balcony would be baby blue.
Crypt, Lincoln's Tomb
Image by jpmatth
day 11. this was a true ninja photography mission; i knew exactly the image i wanted before i even got to the location, and i was in and out within three minutes. i pulled up in the nearest parking spot to the tomb, grabbed my bag and put the camera around my neck, set the ISO and exposure to approximate values, and weaved in and out of tourist families on my way to the tomb. i waited outside while some people took pictures in front of the gold-nosed bust, then went in the door as quickly as possible. inside the main rotunda, the guide was chatting up a couple of people and another small crowd was milling around. i didn't see any "no photography here" signs so i walked straight through the rotunda and started to head toward the crypt. at this point the guide stopped me with a "sir! SIR!" and i braced for the inevitable lecture about "you can't shoot here." he said, and i quote: "feel free to use your camera anywhere! NO restrictions!" that took a second to sink in, but i wish i could have told him exactly how refreshing it was to hear. thank you, lincoln's tomb guide, for being awesome to photographers. i said a quick thanks and speed-walked through the halls to the crypt, switching to ISO 1600 along the way to handle the darkness. the crypt was perfectly empty when i got there, and i took five frames in under 30 seconds: three to nail down the exposure and two of the final composition. once i knew i had it, i wasted no time getting back out the halls, past the tourists in the rotunda, and back to my car. it was exhilarating. i felt perfectly in command of my skills.
A gravestone for aspiring scientists…
Image by tychay
A gravestone for aspiring scientists…
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
Nikon D70, Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G
81A + polarizer
DxO (exp, distortion, ca, vignetting, lighting, noise) Adobe Camera RAW (adjustments) NiK CEP (polarization, sat to bright) Photoshop (keystoning)
1/30 sec @ f/18, iso 200, 12mm (18mm)
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Caltech Career Day '06
The Caltech Career Day was a great opportunity to visit my old digs. It is said that the tuition of all the students wouldn’t pay to upkeep the grounds. Inevitably building and grounds are hard at work replacing grass (twice a year) and gardening. One thing you can be sure of, in the City of Roses and in the school with too much money, there are going to be a lot of nice flowers.
Millikan Library is the tallest building in the area and looks like it belongs in the Johnson Space Center rather than in the traditional stone buildings of Pasadena and Caltech. The science sections take up the top three floors of this nine-story building, just as it should be. I thought I’d take a picture of it with the city’s eponymous roses in frame (and in focus), but it sort of reminded me of a gravestone when it came out.
My advisor once said that “fluid dynamics is the graveyard of many great physicists.” Given the number of take-home exams people take in that building, I’m sure it was Millikan Library was the graveyard of a great many physics majors.
Even though I had a very wide angle lens, I stopped down the aperture to keep everything in sharp focus and then composed my shot. The flower slid into a wonderful shaft of light and I took the shot even though a guy was walking by at that moment.
The polarizer did a great job of bringing out the blue sky, but I upped it a little more digitally. Since the building was falling away so much, I used a little digital keystoning to correct it (put I put in a tad too much pincushion)
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