I’ve discovered that my favorite photos are almost always highly geometrical. This post focuses on my attempts over the last week to photograph geometric subjects. I’ve mainly used a 50mm prime lens that Hayley gave me for our anniversary. (thanks H!)

The lighting, repetition and depth of this photo creates an interesting illusion. From one perspective, it looks like hundreds of cubicles inside an office building. Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that it’s actually the outside of a skyscraper.

I was born on the 23rd of May, so it has always been a special number to me.

Archimedean spirals always interest me. Their perfection is present on snails, cyclones and this rope on a Sydney ferry.

Depth of focus is a relatively elementary principal in photography, but I’m only just learning how to use it to my advantage, especially when shooting repeated objects. It’s always difficult to figure out which item in the set deserves the focus. I especially like this shot, because the focus brings your eyes directly to the last triangle in the series.

Expect to see much more repetition and geometry in my future photos.

Tags: Australia, geometry, mathematics, new south wales, photography, Sydney

Two months ago, Hayley and I snapped some night photos in Circular Quay. We cranked up the shutter speed and closed off the aperture to get the elegant, glowing effect.

The Sydney harbour bridge spanning over the iconic Sydney Opera House.

The Opera House on a bustling Friday evening.

Circular Quay, the Circular Quay train station and the surrounding hotels, shops and office buildings. On the far right is the Overseas Passenger Terminal for large cruise ships.

Go to my Flickr page to see more!

Note: I once again remodeled my website. The last two posts were lacking in photos, hence this post.

Tags: Australia, bridge, canon 450d, Circular Quay, dslr, harbour, harbour bridge, night, Opera House, photography, photos, Sydney

’09 was a pretty sweet year.

January

Nice waves in Del Mar, California.

February

Rugby Sevens in San Diego, California.

Rare powder at Mt. High, Wrightwood, California.

March

Noodle Scrabble in San Diego, California.

April

Crazy weather on Mt. Baldy, California.

White out at Mt. Baldy, California.

May

Hayley graduates with a Masters Degree in Journalism. San Diego, California.

June

Bellagio at night, Las Vegas, Nevada.

July

Visiting friends in San Francisco, California.

Epic surfing at Pipes in Cardiff by the Sea, California.

August

Tower Bridge in London, England.

Don’t stop! Somewhere north of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Elephant crossing in Kruger Park, South Africa.

A hyena and vultures feeding on a dead giraffe in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Just before one of our many elephant scares in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Impala horns in Kruger Park, South Africa.

African sunset over the bush in Kruger Park, South Africa.

Wine tasting in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

“Jackass” penguins- after you know what- in Boulder’s Beach, South Africa.

Hiking up Table Mountain on beautiful winter day in Cape Town, South Africa.

Monster surf at Sea Point in Cape Town, South Africa.

Protea at Kirstenbosch near Cape Town, South Africa.

Kudu Crossing in northern South African farmland.

Cheetah sighting at Pilanesberg, South Africa.

Trampoline at Sun City, South Africa.

Township homes outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Playing with lion cubs in the Lion Park, just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

September

First cockatoo sighting in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Sydney, Australia.

Flying foxes in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Sydney, Australia.

Dust storm in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia.

October

Destroying my only surfboard. Sydney, Australia.

Walking to Cremorne Point, Sydney, Australia.

November

Ford Ranger Cup. North Sydney, Australia.

Balmoral Beach, Mosman, Sydney, Australia.

December

Opera House, Sydney, Australia.

Work holiday party at the Watson’s Bay Hotel. Sydney, Australia.

Attacked by cockatoos in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia.

NYE Sydney, Australia.

Tags: california, kruger park, photography, photos, san diego, satara, south africa, surf, surfing, Sydney

We said goodbye to the Bay Area today. As usual the week was over too soon. On Thursday, we met Tyler and Pete C. for lunch at Brenda’s in the City. I’d say it was in a shady part of San Francisco, but I always think that wherever I go in the city. It’s the only place I’ve been that has filthy dive bars immediately next to five star restaurants. Anyway, Brenda’s was good.

Tyler took us by the street in Full House. We saw five tour buses drive by in the ten minutes we were there. And one guy drove by with his window down and shouted, “Wassup Danny Tanner!!”

The view above the Full House house.

We drove to Fisherman’s Wharf afterward and walked around Cannery Row and Pier 39. Hayley has been pestering me since our last disaster* to visit the harbor area, so I finally gave in. It was fun walking around, although I wish we had eaten at a real restaurant instead of In and Out. Check out our pics, which are posted in a million different places, including http://mswebby.com/flickr/.

The next day my masculinity was put to the test at the Filoli Gardens in Woodside. It was pretty cool for an hour, then I lost it and ran straight to the deli to have a drink. It’s tough being a dude in that place. Ok, honestly it was fine.

One of Filoli’s many Secret Garden-eque pathways.

We spent the rest of the trip hanging out with my folks. Last night mom and dad took Hayley and I to the über fancy Le Papillon in San Jose to celebrate both our anniversaries. My meal consisted of a glass of very nice champagne, a generous helping of lobster bisque and a delicious Pinot Noir Braised Duck Breast with Sour Cherry, Green Peppercorn Gastrique and Black Forbidden Rice. It was pretty fricking sweet, especially since we will be eating much less extravagant meals for the next year and a half (starting July 29, I’m milking this country for all it’s worth, baby).

We flew out today. When we arrived at home in San Diego, we tried Skype video chat with my folks and it worked great.

* Description of the “Last Disaster” mentioned above: We were at the Golden Gate bridge lookout point a few years back and I went prancing down through the shrubbery to check out the famous surf spot at the base of the bridge. Halfway down I noticed that I was surrounded by many beautiful bushes with leaves of three, oily texture and red tips. Yes, Poison Oak, my worst enemy that used to attack me regularly in Junior High while Mountain Biking.

I sprinted back through those bastard plants, ran to the car, changed into my red “santa pants” as Hayley calls them and proceeded to flip out like a school girl. We drove a mile before stopping at the first house I could find. I jumped out of the car, stripped down to the bare essentials and drenched myself under their garden hose, all the while hoping they wouldn’t come out and ask me what I was doing in their lawn. Hayley had put the seat all the way back and was hiding, although I think she may have been laughing at me. She’s very good at that.

We drove another twenty minutes before parking illegally in front of the CVS on Van Ness and I ordered Hayley to get me (1) rubbing alcohol and (2) cotton balls. I scrubbed my legs, arms, face, stearing wheel, shoes, Hayley, etc… until I had finally convinced myself that the Poison Oak was sufficiently removed from my skin.

In the end I didn’t actually get Poison Oak. I guess that’s either because the hose and rubbing alcohol worked, or because it wasn’t actually Poison Oak.

Tags: bay area, breakfast, garden, photography, photos, san diego, san francisco, sunnyvale, Travel

Flickr opened up their service to the programming world with a publicly accessible API. As usual, I’m way behind the times and I’ve just discovered this feature.

I started using Flickr a few months back for photo hosting and I’ve been addicted ever since. So much in fact, that I haven’t bothered updating my own pictures page. The solution of course was to create a section on my website that connects to Flickr using their API. The first iteration of this page is located at http://mswebby.com/flickr/sets.php.

Unfortunately, Flickr’s API doesn’t include any functions for getting Collections of photos, just Sets. So my site is completely disorganized at the moment.

Tags: api, computer, flickr, internet, photography, photos, technical, web, website