Some pictures, and The Sandpit

Okay, just a quick post for now. I'm still job hunting, but something will come up. I had a couple of interviews, but both places are still evaluating different people--actual hiring won't occur for another week or two, so I'm not sure if I'd even be offered a job at those places. And I try to keep busy working on projects and some photography. Just a couple of pictures below--

Busy, busy, busy -- I messed up taking this picture and didn't blur the ground enough, so the background is really distracting. I decided to have fun with it anyway and ran it through the "Creative - Split Tone 4" preset in Lightroom. I thought the warning label was interesting, seeing as how I didn't even know it was there until I loaded the picture up on my computer screen.

Same park, different swingset. That's about it.

Again, another picture with a busy background. The tree on the left just makes the picture feel crowded to me.

But here's something that is far more interesting. This is a short film called "The Sandpit" by a photographer named Sam O'Hare. It looks like it was all shot with miniatures, but it is just the way it was shot and processed that makes it look that way. He shot it entirely with a still camera, taking pictures at 4 frames per second, and then he edited it together afterwards (I believe he mentioned in an interview that he took around 35,000 pictures just for this project...). To get the full effect, click "Play" and then hit the full-screen button (it looks like square made up of four arrows pointing away from each other)--it should play in HD. Watch until the end--the whole thing is just fascinating.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Hi-res

Hmm, for some reason the other post didn't let you click to see a hi-res image for the two pictures below. Hopefully this post works--

New York --> Utah

Talk about a hectic semester. After looking at my situation there in New York, I came to the decision that I had to move back to Utah once I finished my master's program. I decided this in the last week or so of November...and I finished my classes in December. So the last month was extremely chaotic, trying to balance school, work, and moving. I was also in the middle of applying to Ph.D. programs. On top of that, I started dating someone in the first part of December, and I was trying to find a way to spend time with her with everything else that was going on.

Anyway, I survived. And I hope I never have to pull another all-nighter ever again...Things got so rushed near the end that I had to pull four all-nighters back-to-back (I do NOT recommend this by any means). But it's over and done now. I've moved back to Utah, and I'm just waiting to hear back from the various Ph.D. programs (I'm looking for work in the meantime). At least I have time now to actually take some pictures and update my blog.

A passenger leaving the subway at Columbus Circle. I think it's interesting how this picture came out. I didn't have a tripod with me, so I had my camera propped up on a railing. I wanted to try and isolate a single person right as they were heading up the stairs. Even though this was at the end of the workday, to me it seems as if this man is just getting ready to face the city again.

Columbus Circle again.

Right by my parent's house. I was just testing out my new camera. If I could take the picture again, I would have tried to frame out all of the houses and the fence. But whatever--I didn't want to go tromping through someone's yard just to get closer.

Again, just testing out my new camera. I really like the amount of detail it can pick up (if you zoom in, you can see all of the paint flecks and pits on the hydrant's surface)

This is literally right in front of my new house in Salt Lake City. Sure, there have been countless images of trees silhouetted against a sunset--I just haven't done any myself :)

And yesterday I went up to Red Butte Gardens just above the University of Utah. It was interesting how the garden was still fun to walk around in, even though everything was brown and decaying.

Red Butte Gardens again

Last one from Red Butte Gardens. I'll have to head back in the spring/summer, when everything is in bloom. There was just something appealing about a dead garden--

Anyway, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I should be able to keep this more up to date without an insane amount of deadlines--