Posts primarily focused on the topic of photography.
Another experiment with macro.
I went back to that patch of pansies on a new day to see if I could do a bit better with exposure, depth of field, composition, and other aspects of my photography. I’ve added the best to the macro gallery starting here; below, you see I found another visitor.
Not the fastest critter I’ve ever photographed.
Now that my “hiking” constitutes long walks through the streets of Zürichberg’s hillside neighborhoods, I need to keep an eye out for the smallest of photographic opportunities. Today, I nearly stepped on one as I walked out the front door.
This little fellow was cruising across the path, literally 2 meters from our building door. I put on my macro lens, lay down next to him, and popped off a hundred photos. At one point he looked right at me – yes, I think those are eyes on stalks – just the thing any wildlife photographer loves to see in a subject. Indeed, this subject also had the advantage of moving more slowly than the pansies I shot yesterday. He was making his way around and over the colorful white & red blossoms dropped by the chestnut tree outside our window.
He is perhaps 5cm long when fully extended.
I’ve added full-res photos to the Macro gallery.
Experimenting with a macro lens.
I’ve done very little macro photography, but while the flowers are blooming in Zürich it seemed to be a good time to pull out that macro lens (thanks dad!) and experiment a little. I found a bed of pansies, beautifully deep purple and dripping from a recent drizzle. Sitting on the sidewalk, while passers-by snickered at me, I snuck in close to these pansies and explored different approaches. Here are a few favorites – I often found it more interesting to zoom in on a droplet, or part of a petal, than on the whole flower. I have a long ways to go to get the right exposure, depth of field, and crisp imagery. Maybe tomorrow.
Same photos (full-res) in the gallery.
Even the housecats enjoy Zurich’s many public fountains.
Finally, after more than six weeks without more than a drizzle, it’s raining. I went for a walk, as usual, but was diverted by some road construction and ended up on a path that tucks into the entrance to the neurology clinic at the nearby university hospital. There is a truly lovely fountain there, and I was not the only visitor. Like all of the many public fountains in Zürich, the water is fresh and drinkable.
A weekend above the Arctic Circle in an effort to photograph the Northern Lights.
I recall a warm summer evening, about forty years ago, when I reclined on the rocky shore of Lake Champlain to watch a distant aurora borealis dance across the stars of the far northern sky. Ever since then I’ve held a quiet fascination with this phenomenon, determined to see the northern lights “for real” some day. I’ve longed to visit the Arctic, in part so I might see the northern lights. This weekend – capping a week of academic travel in Finland and Sweden – was my first opportunity to travel above the Arctic Circle. I flew to a tiny village in the far northern tip of Sweden – so close it was practically in Norway – and spent two nights standing in the snow, watching the sky above Abisko National Park. Did I see the aurora? yes! Was I satisfied? no; if anything, I want to return to see more! From the other people I met there, it is clear that Abisko has that affect on many people. Read on, and check out the photo gallery.
My favorite photos of 2019.
I had the good fortune to explore many parts of the world in 2019. Along the way, and around my home, I took over 10,000 photographs. You’ve seen many of them in my blog posts, or associated galleries, but I decided to create a gallery of my favorite 75 photos of 2019. I selected them because they are personally important, or photographically pleasing (or both!). You’ll see photos from England, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, Malta, Mexico, Switzerland, and the US (New Hampshire, Vermont). Enjoy the slideshow!
A selection of the best photos of the season.
This trip is not far from home – just into the interior of Lyme, our own hometown. Every week during the fall the kids went to riding class; on this particular day, I think we hit peak fall colors. While the kids did their riding, I took a few hundred photos. See a small selection of my favorites in a photo gallery.
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2021, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
The best of the best.
With 5,662 ‘keeper’ photos from India, it was awfully difficult to narrow them down to my favorites. I tried to select a dozen in each of several categories, based on a mixture of criteria – trying to represent the diversity of people and experiences, and also an amateur notion of what makes a nice photograph. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
[nature] [people] [children] [farms] [streets] [sights] [IISc] [universities]
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2021, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
We visited Bangalore in August 2007, after filing our Fulbright applications but long before we knew whether we would be accepted. This was my first trip to India!
Pam and I went to Bangalore, India, for a week in August 2007. [Saturday August 18 – Friday August 24]
I was speaking at Intel, Infosys, Microsoft, and IISc, and we were scouting the city in advance of our plans to live in Bangalore for a 2008-09 sabbatical. My goal was to make professional connections, find a place for us to live, and to identify which school would be best for the kids.
We also toured the Canadian International School, just before its new campus opened for the first day.
See the photo gallery.
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2020, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
I attended WiOpt 2005 in Riva del Garda, Italy.
When I attended WiOpt 2005 in Riva del Garda, Italy, I spent some time strolling around this picturesque village, and took a day off to drive around Lago di Garda. Gorgeous place!
On another day off, I walked right out the front door of my hotel; in a few blocks I reached the base of the mountain to the west; enclosed is a sunrise photo of the mountain from my hotel room. I climbed up past the ruins of a small castle, and a beautiful tiny mountainside chapel, to a tiny peak near the summit. The little peak, known as Cima Sat, seems to be the common destination rather than the actual, higher, summit. Although a direct trail offers a lot of exposure and hundred-foot ladders.
Cima Sat is at 1270m; I started my hike at the lake (200m).
See my photo galleries.
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2020, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
David Kotz 