At Max’s urgings, I went back and looked at these long-exposures that I took while we were hanging out on the dock at Buffalo Springs Lake earlier this month. I’m actually a little surprised they turned out pretty good. Usually, my D90 doesn’t like extreme low light or long exposures too much, but the noise and color distortion is rather minimal in these.Read More
Here’s a smattering of photos from Barcelona that haven’t been posted yet. Don’t worry, this will be the end of Spain for now!
Most of these were taken from around the Hotel ARTS, but I threw in a few from the empty airport in Barcelona. We got there around four in the morning and there was hardly a soul in sight. It wasn’t until nearly an hour later that the first travelers started trickling in.Read More
L’Aquàrium de Barcelona was our last stop on the great Spain trip. It took about 30 seconds to fully explain to the cab driver where we wanted to go. Apparently, aquarium is pronounced ah-KWAR-ee-oom in Catalonian (though, it seems like uh-kware-e-yum would be close enough). And after all that, it was pretty much around the corner from where we were (but it was nice to get out of the sun for awhile after walking around Montjuïc Castell.Read More
After checking out Montjuïc Castell, we needed to high-tail it back down to la Barceloneta area if we wanted to have time to visit the aquarium. Traveling down from Montjuïc by cable car was the quickest way down the hill back to the seaside, so we packed in and held on! It was pretty wild and definitely afforded us some unique views of the harbor.Read More
When I heard that the subject for this months show and tell would be water, I honestly had no idea what I would submit (if anything at all). Maggie had shown me a shot she found online of a water balloon bursting captured at a really high shutter speed. It looked cool enough, but it was lacking something. But what?
Ah, yes. It needed someone stupid enough to stand below the bursting balloon!Read More
The castle atop Montjuïc was one of the last destinations we visited on our trip to Barcelona, Spain. Though Montjuïc Castell was only a small taste of what the Montjuïc area had to offer (there are supposedly some amazing gardens, the magic fountain, and the national palace, as well), we also wanted to fit in a trip to the aquarium (pronounced ah-kwer-ee-oom; we had a hell of a time trying to explain to the cab driver where we wanted to go).Read More
Second only in its fame to Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, the Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia is the most impressive Gothic church in Barcelona (and an attraction no Spain trip should go without!). Though small compared to Gaudi’s masterpiece, la Catedral is not without its own magnificence. The vaulted ceilings, the gargoyles adorning the outside, the choir stalls, chapels, and cloister. The whole scene is lent an ethereal quality by the light flowing down from the stained glass windows.Read More
Having never shot fireworks before (at least with a DSLR), I didn’t have super high expectations, so I was pleasantly surprised with how well my first attempt went.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that we spent the entire evening out at Buffalo Springs Lake with friends on an absolutely beautiful night.Read More
Things were pretty jam-packed with work and sight-seeing taking up 98% of my time, but I still managed to get up with the birds one morning to capture the Barcelona sunrise. The area right outside my hotel is called La Barceloneta and it’s comprised mainly of beaches, restaurants, and clubs.
The beaches were nice and clean, and there were always people out playing volleyball or just laying on the sands. Sadly, I wasn’t one of them. By the time I was done with work, the sun was setting and the water drastically cooling.Read More
I didn’t expect to run into the Arc de Triomf while walking through Spain (shows how worldly I am), as I always thought the one in Paris was the Arc de Triomphe. Oh well, we live and learn. The Barcelona Arc was built more than 80 years after construction began on the Paris Arc, and is a completely unique piece of architecture.Read More
A while back I had the pleasure of photographing singer/songwriter Joseph Washington for some promos he was working up for Veteran’s Day.
It was an impromptu shoot that we threw together in just a few minutes after hours, but it was for a good cause. Joseph was promoting his new single “We Thank You.”Read More
After braving the towers of La Sagrada Familia, it was on to the spiral staircase that was the only way down. It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic. The staircase looked like the inside of a seashell, one person wide and spiraling down around an opening about a foot wide. Looking straight down, it’s impossible to tell how many floors up you are. It didn’t help that I didn’t pass a single person on the way down (which was enough to make me wonder if I was actually going the right direction). Crazy stuff. My knees were pretty shaky after climbing all the way back down.Read More
I’m not usually one to be scared of heights, and the majority of the towers at La Sagrada Familia were totally doable, but there was one point in particular that even got me a bit nervous. The five-person lift that takes you up would be enough to rattle some (and one British chick actually was freaking out a bit as the stories flew by outside), but the view alone was worth it. Stepping right out of the lift, you walk across from one tower to the next by a narrow walkway. The walkways and stairways were probably the worst part, as they were all pretty much one-person wide. There were numerous times I found myself going down a stairwell at the same time another person (or people!) were going up (and vice a versa). Aside from that, however, the views from the towers were breathtaking.Read More
As awe-inspring as the exterior of La Sagrada Basilica may be, the inside blows that all out of the water. Or maybe into the water would be a better choice of words?
My uncle commented that the interior looked like the inside of a giant sea creature, and I don’t disagree. The whole thing looks like a Giger/Seuss-inspired amalgam and it’s absolutely amazing. The columns reach towards the ceiling like organic tendrils. Said ceiling is festooned with flowering star-shaped objects.Read More
Though it’s been a work in progress for over a hundred years, La Sagrada Familia has long been one of the most iconic buildings in Barcelona, and was definitely the high point (no pun intended) of the Spain trip. The basilica is a phenomenal experience to behold, and for a few extra euros you can ride an incredibly claustrophobic lift up to the top of the church.
All in all, though, it was all completely worth it to get the views of the city. The inside is spectacular enough and well worth the wait.Read More
Not having a long-range telephoto lens at hand, I tried experimenting with time-lapse to get a progression of the annular solar eclipse that happened on 20 May. Unfortunately, the clouds ended up obscuring most of the coolest part. Oh well! Still turned out pretty good for my first time-lapse.
The result isn’t a steady exposure. I bounced between manual settings every five or ten minutes as the light diminished. I suppose with some more time to test settings before the main show started, I could get a more constant exposure throughout.
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Overall, Roswell was pretty disappointing. Being a big alien geek, I was expecting so much more from the way it’s depicted in movies and TV shows. It had a handful of neat alien-themed gift shops, a rather lackluster UFO museum, but that was about it.
They did, however, have a pretty nice courthouse (which is right behind me in this photo). The sun was setting and the storm clouds gathering, so I set up the tripod and started snapping away at the courthouse. If I hadn’t turned around when I did, I would have missed the sunset completely.Read More
I’m super stoked that one of my photos won first place at the 9th Annual Garden & Arts Center Photography Exhibit in the Landscapes category. All of the photos at the exhibit are meant to showcase City of Lubbock parks. There are some great photos on display through the 25th of May, so go check them out!Read More
I promised this review to Tim Hsu, inventor of the Carry Speed straps, a long time ago, but I really wanted to get some use out of them before writing anything. Since I got my CS-Double (this link will take you to Amazon, as the CS-Double isn’t available directly from Tim’s website anymore) from Tim back in Houston about a year-and-a-half ago, he’s really made quite an impact on the camera strap scene.Read More
