Europe 2012 Trip in HDR

It’s crazy to think it’s been 3 months since I left for Europe. I definitely want to go back sometime, but not sure when. Anyways, throughout the trip I attempted HDR pictures. Only a handful turned out half-decent… Soooo here they are if you missed them in my previous blog postings.

Reading Train Station. Reading, United Kingdom.

St Mary De Crypt Church. Gloucester, United Kingdom.

Gloucester Cathedral. Gloucester, United Kingdom.

O’Connell Street. Dublin, Ireland.

Kilmainham Gaol. Dublin, Ireland.

Trinity College. Dublin, Ireland.

St Patrick’s Cathedral. Dublin, Ireland.

Temple Meads Station. Bristol, United Kingdom.

St Paul’s Cathedral. London, United Kingdom.

Tower Bridge. London, United Kingdom.

Cardiff Castle. Cardiff, United Kingdom.

Day 16 of Europe 2012 Trip: London During the Olympics

Shannon and I were pretty stoked about lining up our trip with the Olympics. It was cool being able to experience two Olympic games in a row (the other one was in Vancouver)! I thought London was going to be PACKED with people, but when we got there, it wasn’t THAT busy. I mean, it was busy, but not crazy busy… It was kind of weird, but oh well. It was still lots of fun wandering around the place.

We went by train this time because last time we took the bus and we were delayed by about an hour which was not cool. And with the Olympics going on, we weren’t sure how busy it was going to be, so we decided to pay a little bit extra and took the train. We arrived at Paddington Station. I’m really liking all these train rides!

River Thames.

Shakespeare’s Globe.

We then headed over to the Millenium Bridge which is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the River Thames. It was pretty cool, and you can see St Paul’s Cathedral in the background, which is where we’re going to next!

The next picture is an HDR picture of St Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately, the tours to the top of the cathedral were done for the day, and we weren’t allowed to take pictures of the inside so we just walked around some more! Yay for saving some money!

Another HDR picture.

Tower of London

Tower Bridge!

One more HDR picture!

Day 6 & 7 of Europe Trip 2012: Dublin & Back to Bristol

One more full day in Dublin and then back to the UK. Since yesterday involved a lot of walking, we decided to go check out places that were a bit closer to where we were staying. First stop, Trinity College – the best university in Ireland.

The Sphere Within Sphere (Sfera Con Sfera) can be seen in different versions all over the world! Here is one of the versions!

HDR picture of Trinity College!

Apparently this sculpture of Molly Malone is an attraction in Dublin… And the leprechaun just happened to be there too.

Next stop, Temple Bar… It’s pretty much a street laid with cobble stone with a bunch of different restaurant/pubs. Really cool area!

I still think all the brick buildings are pretty cool.

Look who I’ve found!!

Next stop, St Patrick’s Cathedral

HDR pic of the outside of the cathedral.

HDR pic of the inside.

More wandering around Dublin!

The Ha’penny Bridge! It had a bunch of locks locked on the bridge. Pretty cool to see.

The next day, we bummed around for the morning and then headed off to the airport back to Bristol and back to Gloucester.

Back in Bristol waiting for the train at Temple Meads station.

The last picture is another HDR pic. I think it turned out alright!

I have a feeling it’s going to take me a long time to post my whole trip on here… Oh well.

Day 5 of Europe 2012 Trip: More Dublin

Scott and Aileen left for Victoria the next day, so Shannon and I were left alone in Dublin to check out the different sites they briefly took us and suggested us to go. It was a really full day – a lot of walking since we didn’t have a car. It was worth it though. We ended up going to the Guinness brewery and the Kilmainham Gaol.

There was a cool market on the street!

More pictures of the really tall spire, downtown.

The next picture is an HDR picture of O’Connell Street, downtown Dublin.

Shannon and I were geocaching around the area, and we found the Dublin Castle. It was really cool!

We found the Guinness Brewery!

Guinness ads!

This is where you can pour your own free pint of Guinness the right way, or you could get your pint up at Sky Bar which is at the very top of the building.

The proper way to pour a pint of Guinness.

Up at Sky Bar! Pretty sweet view.

Then we went downstairs to grab some lunch! Soooo good!

After lunch we walked over to Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced the same as “jail”).

We had a little bit of time to kill before the tour started, so we checked out the museum part first.

And the tour begins!

Shannon trying to hide in a cell.

HDR picture of the cells area.

On the way back home, we got distracted by the Irish Museum of Modern Art… Oops… But at least we didn’t go inside to check it out.

Well, this was definitely a huge post…. Hope you all enjoyed the pics as much as I enjoyed taking them! I’m hoping to get more frequent posts. I just have too many pictures to go through.

Day 2 & 3 of Europe 2012 Trip: Gloucester

Shannon and I spent the first day traveling by plane and train. We met up with Pete, and we spent the next two days recovering from jetlag and exploring Gloucester. So off to downtown!

I love all the brick buildings and the old warehouses along the canal that are now offices/apartments.

The next two pictures are HDR pics of St Mary De Crypt Church.

Gloucester Cathedral

This is the remains of St Oswald’s. It was really cool because it had a picture of the different expansions throughout the years.

The next day we wandered around downtown Gloucester again and checked out the folk museum. Just a bunch of history lessons. It was interesting!

The Long Plane Ride

After a long day of 9 hours being on a plane, two 1.5 hour train rides, and an hour or two of waiting around, Shannon and I finally made it to my friend’s place in Gloucester, UK. The scenery definitely felt familiar yet different. A lot of the buildings were made out of bricks and a lot of fields. It’s cool seeing different parts of the world! It’s still hard to believe that we’re actually on the other side of the world, but I’m sure it’ll set in soon.

This is what a lot of non-paying people don’t get to see at the airport. We had an hour or two to kill before we boarded the plane, so we walked around for a bit.

We’re on a plane! …. To the UK! It’s sooo crazy!

We caught two sunrises. It was pretty sweet.

I believe this next picture is when we were flying over Greenland.

UK!

Waiting for the train at Reading.

Thought I’d try out this HDR thing again.

More pics to come!

My Encounter with a Woolly Mammoth and a Grizzly Bear

When I was a kid, my folks took me to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria. I didn’t remember much of it except for the big wooly mammoth, a cool dome where you can stand across from each other and talk to each other and it’ll seem like they’re right beside you, and a few other animals on display. This past year, I went there a couple of times with friends, and on the Easter long weekend, I decided to go with my folks. As my mom said “we used to take you to the museum, and now you’re bigger, you’re taking us to the museum!” It was great spending time with them. There was a special exhibit there – The Wildlife Photographer of the Year which was closing on that Monday. I’ve heard great things about it, so I knew I had to go check it out. And since my dad loves photography, I thought he’d enjoy it as well.

We got to the exhibit and spent a good couple of hours looking at all the amazing photography on display. It was awesome! But unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures in there. We caught an IMAX about building the railroad through the Rockies. Then afterwards, we strolled through the older part of the museum. I’m always amazed at how much stuff they have there – fake animals on display, totem poles, Native history, old Victoria history, etc. It’s pretty diverse so you could easily spend an entire day wandering around the place. So here’s some pictures of the museum!

The next picture is a HDR picture. I thought it’d be a great place to try it out because there’s lots of little details in the picture, and it’ll look like I had an encounter with a Grizzly bear! I’m really happy how well this one turned out.

14mm, ISO 400, F5

Is it weird how some of my childhood toys I used to play with now sits on display at a museum? What do you recognize here??

For more information about the museum and the current exhibits and IMAX movies that are on, check out the website here. It’s definitely worth checking out!

Why Is There So Much Gum on The Wall?

Shannon and I went to Seattle on Sunday to get some epic pizza, geocaching, and do some sightseeing. We wandered around the Pike Place Market. It was a really cool place. Really busy though (maybe because it was Sunday).

I’ve been hearing about this “wall of gum” for a while, so we had to check it out. It was pretty gross and at the same time it was also pretty amazing. You couldn’t help but to keep staring at it. So obviously I had to get an HDR picture of it because of all the different colours.

10mm, ISO 200, F4.5

Sweet light!

After all that, we wandered around the different piers and grabbed a couple geocaches.

Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to check out the sculpture park. Till next time!

Highlights of the 52 Week HDR Project

It feels kind of weird not having to take a HDR picture every week, but it’s been also a nice relief because I’ve been so busy these days. Through the year of photographing, I’ve definitely learned quite a bit about HDR. For the most part of it, I’ve felt that it’s been a real hit or miss with my shots. But during the last 5 – 10 weeks of it, it felt as though I’ve finally caught on.

There’s definitely been a bunch of weeks where I was really impressed with the shots, so this blog entry is to showcase all my favourite weeks of the project. I’m going to warn you all in advance that this might be a long post.

Week 1: Chinatown (Victoria, BC)
Who would’ve thought that my first week would be a gooder! I love all the different colours and ever since Chinese New Year, they decided to leave the lanterns hanging across the street which looks really pretty especially at night.

Week 2: University of Victoria Library (Victoria, BC)
Night photography two weeks in a row. This is the new extension of the library at the University of Victoria. The glass section looks really awesome at night, but the so-called “pond” is still gross as ever!

Week 4: Beacon Hill Park (Victoria, BC)
I must say I got pretty lucky on this shot. I was strolling through Beacon Hill Park and decided to check out the petting zoo. Peacocks freely roam around the park. I’ve always loved the colour of them. Anyways, as I knelt down to take a picture of one, he opened up his feathers. It was phenomenal.

Week 8: Whatcom Falls (Bellingham, WA)
The two Shannons and I went to Bellingham for the day to do some shopping and geocaching. We came across this park and so I decided to give the HDR thing a try with long exposure water. Turned out a lot better than I was expecting.

Week 10: Uptown (Victoria, BC)
Uptown is the new shopping area that was recently built. The second half of it is still under construction. I just got a new car not too long ago, so I decided to show it off. Also I wanted to see what my car would look like in HDR.

Week 11: Johnson Street Bridge (Victoria, BC)
Night time photography is always fun! I decided to take pictures of this bridge before it gets torn down and replaced with a new one. I got lucky again as a bus drove through my shot which added some cool light trails.

Week 13: Shipyard (Victoria, BC)
Every time I walk to downtown, I pass by this shipyard where they fix up ships and boats. There seems to be a different boat there every single time I walk by there. Love it.

Week 15: Berwick On The Lake (Nanaimo, BC)
My friend Matty P and Lotta played at a retirement home, and I was the chauffeur. We had a bit of time to kill so we decided to check out this place, and it was pretty nice.

Week 16: Samsun Narrows (Cowichan Bay, BC)
This was where I did my first rock climbing multi-pitch! This was near the end of the day and on top of the first pitch (2 pitches in total). The route name is called The Roof is on Fire (5.10a). Not a bad view from up top. This is what I LOVE about rock climbing.

Week 20: Nanaimo River (Nanaimo, BC)
This is where I rock climb. Dion and I went camping here, and this is what we wake up to.

Week 22: Crescent Beach (White Rock, BC)
Gotta love catching the sunset at this beach!

Week 23: The Chief (Squamish, BC)
One of my favourite places. Beautiful hiking and rock climbing. It’s the mecca of bouldering. This is one of those places that just makes me smile the whole time I’m there.

Week 28: Fisherman’s Wharf (Victoria, BC)
Houseboats! … Need I say more?

Week 29: Rotary Pier (Sooke, BC)
The sun was going down. It was overcast. I was in Sooke, so I figured to take a picture here at this dock. Definitely wasn’t expecting this kind of result. I really like the colour.

Week 30: On Top of the Space Needle (Seattle, WA)
The two Shannons, Pete (UK’er), and I decided to go on a geocaching road trip. This was day 1. On top of the Space Needle. I can just hang out here for the whole day. It’s so awesome up here.

Week 31: Snoqualmie Tunnel (Rockdale, WA)
Last day of our road trip. Went to this tunnel that goes on for a few kilometres. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to walk it. It was really cool!! Perhaps next time. I really like the sharpness and the colours of the shot out telephone cabinet thing. And obviously tunnels are pretty awesome too.

Week 36: BC Ferries (Victoria, BC)
I’m constantly going back and forth to Vancouver, so I figured I might as well take a few HDR pictures especially since one of the vessels were in dock.

Week 44: Saddle Trail (Port Alberni, BC)
A few of us decided to go snowshowing, and it was my first time going. It was SO much fun! I think I’m hooked. So we hiked this trail in a valley that was between Mt. Arrowsmith and Mt. Cokely. I was soaked at the end, but it was well worth it. The views were amazing, and the people I was with were awesome.

Week 46: Mt Tolmie (Victoria, BC)
Once snow hits Victoria, all hell breaks loose. People don’t know how to drive, and it just gets really messy around here. Luckily Scott drove a truck, so we were able to go to the top of the mountain to capture some sweet shots.

Week 49: Esquimalt Lagoon (Colwood, BC)
The last couple of weeks in the project were definitely my favourite. The pictures just turned out really well.

Week 51: Christ Church Cathedral (Victoria, BC)
Cathedrals are always so beautiful especially in the inside. This has got to be one of my favourite shots from the project just because there’s so much detail and colour to it.

Week 52: Whiffin Spit (Sooke, BC)
The last ones of the project. A spit that shoots out a few kilometres out. It’s a really nice walk especially when the sun is going down.

Well, there you have it folks. My favourite pics from the 52 week HDR project. You can check out my other weeks under the HDR category of my blog. Or you can just snoop around… Hope you all enjoyed the project! And feel free to give any suggestions/comments/feedback about these photos. Would love to hear from you people!

The End of the 52 Week HDR Project: Whiffin Spit

Sooooo it looks like this is the last week of my 52 week HDR project! Can’t believe it’s been a year already. Time sure flies… For the last one, I went to Whiffin Spit which is out in Sooke, BC. I was looking around the geocaching site to see where I can find some caches, and I stumbled across this place. So I loaded up some caches onto my GPS and off I went the next day. This place is beautiful! The sun was slowly going down, and it was a really easy walk on a spit, and the weather was great! What more could I ask for for my last HDR project post.

10mm, ISO 200, F9

10mm, ISO 100, F9

10mm, ISO 100, F9

I hope you all enjoyed my series! I had a lot of fun doing this project. It made me go shoot more, and it made me learn how to do HDR pictures. I don’t think I’m going to stop here though. I think I’m going to be continue shooting HDR, but I might just post pics once a month (maybe more if I end up going to a lot of awesome places), but we’ll see! Comments? Feedback? Would love to hear from you all!