100 Years of Dental School

Being in dental school has a way of keeping you from getting out and taking photos, so I decided to bring my camera to school and take photos there! The Evans building of the Penn School of Dental Medicine is 100 years old this year, so I thought I would pay a little tribute to my school. By the way, the dental school itself was founded in 1878 and is one of the very oldest dental schools in the nation! Being in a 100 year old building has its pros and cons. For one, the building is in dire need of renovations, (which are beginning to take place). On the other hand, there is some amazing architecture from stained glass windows to hundreds of unique gargoyles.

Architecture photography is really different from other forms of photo taking because buildings are full symmetry and straight lines. That means that if you don't center your perspective on your subject and aren't 100% level then things tend to look distorted or unbalanced; especially if you are using a wide angle lens like I did. The easiest way to overcome this is to purposefully stand off center and maybe even tilt your camera at an angle to bring in dramatic diagonal lines onto the composition.

Here are a few of the photos that I've taken so far. These and more photos to come will actually be part of a photo book that I'm making for students and faculty.

Getting Closer

In my latest round of photos from Longwood Gardens I tried to look for interesting patterns and details and zoom in on them. I really like macro photography. I even liked it as a kid before I knew what macro was when I looked at the 'guess the object' pictures from the Highlights magazine. My problem with macro photography is that I don't have a good lens for it. The best thing I have is an inexpensive 55-250mm telephoto with a 3 ft minimum focal distance and the glass isn't very sharp. I still used it, though, and I think the shots turned out pretty well. Not all of these are truly macro shots, but they constitute a closer look.

1/80 sec at f/4.5, ISO 400, 50mm

1/250 sec at f/5.0, ISO 400, 100mm

1/125 sec at f/5.0, ISO 400, 123mm

1/100 sec af f/5.0, ISO 400, 145mm

1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 400, 171mm

1/60 sec at f/5.0, ISO 400, 55mm

Morris Arboretum

What better place to go to see autumn leaves than an arboretum. This fall, I went with my photography club to the Penn-owned Morris Arboretum. We got there just in time because Hurricane Sandy hit the next day and blew down all the leaves. Here are some of my shots.

1/125 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 22mm

1/25 sec at f/4.5, ISO 125, 18mm

HDR: 1/60, 1/25, 1/25 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 100, 250, 18mm

This last shot wasn't actually at the arboretum, but I took it on the drive home.

Water Lily

Here's to my flower. Happy 4 year wedding anniversary!

Up the Stairs

One of the things I love about photography is looking at a photo and just letting my eyes wander around. Our eyes will first lock on to the most interesting or prominent subject before they migrate across a photo. Curiously, our eyes tend to first look at faces almost instinctually. See for yourself next time you flip through a magazine or a photo album; notice where your eyes focus first. Our eyes next scan other objects in the photo, but often in a predictable progression. Eyes seem to like following converging lines like a road shrinking into the distance or climbing steps in this case. This photo is fun to me because my eyes have a definite path to follow. They first hit that orange stone in the center, then drop down to those broad steps at the base. Then I wonder where the steps lead and I follow them as they zig-zag up and disappear around the corner. At that point, my eyes are free to float around a little until they lock on to the next interesting thing. If you look at a photo several times, your eyes don't always lock on the same thing first or follow the same path, but you might see patterns. Believe it or not, considerate photographers (which I am most often not), actually take all this into account when composing photos. Next time you see a cool photo or even a piece of artwork, be mindful of where your eyes wander. It's a great way to enjoy photography and also develop an artistic eye.

1/15, 1/4, and 1.0 sec (HDR) at f/11, ISO 100

250mm (EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS)

Branching Out

Most of my recent photos (besides my portraits) are taken with my wide angle 10-22mm lens, but I decided to try something different with this shot, so I pulled out my 50mm f/1.4 portrait lens. The bokeh (blurred background) and shallow depth of field give a really nice touch. In case you are wondering, no, I haven't gone anywhere tropical lately; unless you count the tropical room at the nearby conservatory in Longwood Gardens. Seems like that's the only place I shoot these days. I need to branch out more this Summer = goal.

A Brand New Subject

In anticipation of the arrival of my son, Nathan, I needed to clear some space on my hard drive because I only had about 2GB free. A big problem for a new dad who can't keep his finger off the shutter button. Given the size of my photos, that was only enough room for about a hundred shots. So after hours of sorting through my entire photo library of ten thousand photos, one photo at a time, and four thousand deleted photos later, I finally had 80GB to fill with shots of this little guy! Three weeks after birth, this sweet boy has hundreds of photos, and I'm down to 70GB. I'm going to need a bigger hard drive at this rate!

I'm extremely proud to be a first time dad, and I'm thrilled to get to know Nathan better every day! He's such a good boy and puts up with me constantly snapping shots. He must think that daddy has two different faces, one of them shaped like a camera with a bright light on top.

Photography tip: I always aim the flash to bounce off the ceiling or a wall. That way Nathan won't go blind and it casts a softer light without harsh shadows.

Merry Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree

Just one more week until Christmas and what a great time for my 100th blog post! That fantastic light at the top of the tree isn't an ultra bright light bulb, it's actually the moon! It was so bright and full that it looks like the Christmas star when it's lined up just right!

Magical Christmas Hall

Longwoods Gardens turns into a remarkable Christmas display this time of year. They have half a million lights! If that doesn't say Christmas magic, I don't know what does! This is just one of the huge halls in the enormous conservatory greenmansion (not greenhouse)!

Peach Picking

Constitution Day

I meant to post this photo a couple days ago, because it was Constitution Day! This room is where the Continental Congress met, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and where the US Constitution was signed over 220 years ago here in Philadelphia! The chair in the front is the actual one that George Washington sat in! Aside from crazy people, Philadelphia is a cool city with a great history!

Ceiling of Green

Cool tree. 'Nuff said.

Ladybug's 12

Ladybug's 20 would be a more appropriate title, but then you wouldn't get that song stuck in your head. It's been a long time since I've taken a macro shot, but this ladybug and her eggs provided me the opportunity last weekend when we went peach picking.

The Tourist Tracks

These rails run through Valley Forge, and used to be the primary means for tourists to get into the historic sites. The main station, built in 1911, is right next to George Washington's headquarters and looks like it was a very proper, dignified little place to greet old time site-seers.

Glowing Willow

There's just something about glowing things that really captures my eye. Maybe it's my primal instinct to gravitate towards light like that scene from A Bug's Life (Alisha tells me that was a poor attempt at humor). This willow tree was backlit so nicely by the sun to give it a brilliant translucent glow.

Greenmansion

You could spend hours in this giant indoor greenhouse. Greenmansion would be more accurate. Each room, or hall, has a different kind of plants and flowers from different regions of the world including a floor to ceiling room of orchids. All very impressive.

Garden Gazebo

So here's another shot from Longwood Gardens. This old gazebo seemed to have so much character. I'm kinda a germaphobe, so it took a few seconds to muster the courage to lie on my back to get this shot!

Triumphal Arch

It is a amazing how many sites of American history are here in Philadelphia. Valley Forge is one such place. This arch stands there dedicated, "To the officers and private soldiers of the Continental Army." Nearby is General Washington's headquarters and the building is almost entirely preserved in its original state, right down to the handrails you use to go up and down the stairs. The same handrails Washington used. Unless he didn't use handrails, of corse. Who knows. Maybe I'll post a photo of them.

Longwood Gardens Bell Tower

I don't know much about this bell tower except that it looked super cool with its reflection in the pond and the waterfall in the background. Longwood is just outside of Philadelphia, so it's a great place to go just to get out of town for a few hours. In fact, we loved it so much, we are now season ticket holding members! It will be a great place for photography during our stay in Pennsylvania.