From my ole stomping grounds of Austin, TX. This was taken one day on a photowalk with my good buddy Jim Nix. We walked around the University of Texas this day taking lots of HDR’s. This is a wide angle of the Texas Tower. The Texas Tower has some serious history. Some info from the web: The 307-foot tall UT Austin Tower, designed by Paul Cret of Philadelphia, was completed in 1937. Through the years, the Tower has served as the University’s most distinguishing landmark and as a symbol of academic excellence and personal opportunity. The observation deck of the UT Tower offers a spectacular view of the UT Campus and the Austin area in all directions. Thanks to the cooperative effort of students, staff, and the University administration, the observation deck has recently been remodeled and reopened to the public for the first time in nearly three decades. As a part of the renovation process, persons with disabilities now also have access to this monumental view.
Category Archives: University
Vienna, Austria – University of Vienna (HDR)
While in Vienna walking around the Ringstrasse, you can find the University of Vienna. It was getting near blue hour this day and I asked the security if I could walk inside to take pics. With no problem I entered the court of this building. Students were studying in the center court and as I explored…I found this cool hallway! Enjoy!
Talke Photography Settings:
ens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 12.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6
Pittsburgh, PA – Cathedral of Learning (HDR)
One of my favorite cities to photograph due to my love of its sports teams…Pittsburgh. This day I went out with my good friend and fellow photographer, Dave DiCello. You can find his blog here.. HDR Exposed . He has tons of great shots of the Burgh!
I told my wife one day we have to live here for year so I can go to all the games..Steelers, Pirates and Penguins! ..probably when I am retired. The Photogs in the Burgh have tons of places to shoot…the city, sports parks, bridges all over the place, steel mills, old and abandoned buildings all over! HDR heaven!
One super cool place you must stop by to HDR first if you ever visit is the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning. It is the perfect spot to HDR! Dave and I went early this day before classes started and it was nice and quiet! The kids probably had too many Iron City Beer’s the night before! Enjoy the photo!
If you are a photog and shoot HDR’s my HDR techniques have been evolving recently and I have a few new tricks. The shot above and a few recently have utilized these new methods. I still use Nik’s HDR Efex Pro…but its what I do in Photoshop that helps! I’ll do a post on this soon! Have fun!
Talke Photography Settings:
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 12.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 5 Exposures (+2 to -2)
Aperture: f/16
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6
Houston, Texas – University of Houston (HDR)
One more shot from the University of Houston – Light Sculpture called “A,A”. I gave this one an extreme angle..thought it may be cool? I have only be here one time and cant wait to try to photograph it again one day! I did take quite a few shots here this evening, but I always enjoy getting a second try at a subject. Hope you enjoy this shot! Have fun!
Talke Photography Settings:
Stanford, California – Stanford University (HDR)
From the picturesque Stanford University in Northern California above is a photo from the main quad at the campus. Stanford has many great photographic locations…the best spot is the Memorial Church….it is only about 500 feet from these pillars. Some other point of interest are…Arizona Garden, Cantor Arts Center, Campus Sculpture, Hoover Tower, the Dish and much more! Stanford is about 35 miles south of San Francisco, so stop by if you are ever in the area!
Talke Photography Settings:
Houston, Texas – University of Houston (HDR)
From the University of Houston…this is the Light Sculpture called “A, A” located at MD Anderson Library. So very cool! We were just in Houston for a quick stop over last weekend and I only had time for one shot, this was my target. We pulled in on a Friday nite and students were walking around enjoying the beautiful 80 degree evening. I had no worries about them as it was dark and I knew my exposures would be long enough not to include them in the shots. I had seen a photo of the sculpture in a magazine and noted it for my next visit. The U of H is about 10 minutes form downtown and easy to get to! Parking is somewhat fun as it is a major college…especially a Friday nite…we ended up taking some reserved spot…as I only needed 20 minutes of photo time. Luckily we received no summons! Ah to be a rebel! LOL
I basically know nothing about U of H or this spot…so here is some info from the web: The A,A is a sculpture by artist Jim Sanborn located at the University of Houston.
The A,A is located outside the University of Houston’s M. D. Anderson Library. Completed in 2004, it was installed on campus at a reported cost of $240,000. The work of art took the sculptor a year to complete. The A,A is composed of portions of poems, novels, and prose from a number of different languages from different parts of the world. Some languages included on the art includes Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese. At night, a built-in light projector casts light through the sculpture. This causes the effect of illuminating the sculpture’s text onto the outside of the library’s walls.
In addition to the sculpture in front of the Anderson Library, there are two additions from Sanborn within the library. These include a 24-ft.-long bronze scroll detailing the history of papermaking that hang from the ceiling of the first floor and bronze panels along some of the guardrails containing portions of poems and other literature.
Talke Photography Settings:
Pittsburgh, PA – Cathedral of Learning (HDR)
Located at the University of Pittsburgh…the Cathedral of Learning is not only a great subject inside (as you have seen per my previous posts)…the outside is excellent as well! Standing tall…it is one beautiful structure located in the midst of the campus. If you are ever in Pittsburgh…stop by..you will not regret it! Good luck Panthers!!
Talke Photography Settings:
Stanford, CA – Stanford Memorial Church (HDR)
If you are ever in San Francisco, take a drive down to the beautiful Stanford University (about 30 minutes south). Here you can find the lovely Stanford Memorial Church. I had never visited the campus and this day I visited with my buddy Horace Kwan (Horace Kwan Photography). We arrived real early one AM and walked around and took a few shots. When the church opened (this was out target), we went in and grabbed a bunch of photos. The architecture is amazing. I can imagine a great spot for a wedding! If you are ever going to shoot a church, stop by as soon as it opens. I usually luck out and have no issues with using a tripod. I think photographers need to compile a book with a list of locations that allow tripods. Now that would be a book I would buy in a second!!
Info from the web: Stanford Memorial Church (also known as MemChu) is located at the center of the Stanford University campus in Stanford, California, United States. It was built during the American Renaissance by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband Leland. Designed by architect Charles A. Coolidge, a protegé of Henry Hobson Richardson, the church has been called “the University’s architectural crown jewel”.
Designs for the church were submitted to Jane Stanford and the university trustees in 1898, and it was dedicated in 1903. The building is Romanesque in form and Byzantine in its details, inspired by churches in the region of Venice and, especially, Ravenna. Its stained glass windows and extensive mosaics are based on religious paintings the Stanfords admired in Europe. The church has four pipe organs, which allow musicians to produce many styles of organ music. Stanford Memorial Church has withstood two major earthquakes, in 1906 and 1989, and was extensively renovated after each.
Talke Photography Settings:
Pittsburgh, PA – Cathedral of Learning (HDR)
One more shot from the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh. This place is meant for HDR!! People posted on the previous shots that it looks like something from Lord of the Rings or even Hogwarts from Harry Potter. I’ll go with Hogwarts as my choice! I can see Dumbledore teaching in Pittsburgh! I enjoy the Harry Potter movies..so while checking out if Hogwarts was design upon any particular building (no luck)…I stumbled across the grading system at Hogwarts…too funny!!
Most O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizzarding Level)consist of two parts, a written theoretical test and a practical demonstration of skills before the examiners. Subjects are graded on the following scale:
Passing Grades
- O = Outstanding
- E = Exceeds Expectations
- A = Acceptable
Failing Grades
- P = Poor
- D = Dreadful
- T = Troll
Great stuff…ah writers!! Imagine getting a “T” = Troll grade…funny!! Ok, have a magical day!
Talke Photography Settings:
Pittsburgh, PA – University of Pittsburgh (Infrared)
This is a follow on shot from my Cathedral of Learning HDR. As we were leaving Dave was setting up for this HDR. I liked the view and told him that it would look great in Infrared! You can see a small part of the Cathedral of Learning to the right…the only building section showing. IR Rules! A simple path lines with trees looks sweet! Just like a winter scene in midst of summer! My travel schedule slows in September. After I get back…I will work on a Infrared Tutorial. Probably will take me a few weeks. So roughly look for it in early October. Enjoy!
Talke Photography Settings:
- Camera: Nikon D70S (Converted to Infrared)
- Infrared Conversion: D70S modified by LifePixel
- Lens: Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6
- Setting: Aperture Mode
- Focal Length: 26.0mm
- ISO: 200
- Exposure: 1/25 sec
- Aperture: f/7.1
- Gear: Tripod
- Post Process: Adobe CS4, Viveza, Silver Efex Pro
Places 2 Explore 