What Arises

Thanks to a semi-scorched earth policy, for the first time in several months, I’ve gotten Google Reader down to “inbox zero”.  Apologies to my several followers for the barrage of shared articles this evening.  I’d say I only really skimmed 250 of these blog posts, and fully read 50.

Backstory: Taken from the Lawrence Hall of Science, where I went on Saturday with the family.  Vista of Berkeley and San Francisco Bay.  UC Berkeley campus below, and Golden Gate bridge visible in the background.  About mid-day sun.

Metadata: Nikon D700 with 24-70mm f/2.8 (at 48mm).  Panorama of one row of 9 images shot vertically.  ISO 400 on f/11 at 1/125th seconds.  Processed in Lightroom 2 (lowered exposure, muted hill color), panorama merged and cropped in Photoshop CS4.

Commentary:  First attempt at a panorama outside of the backyard, so this is pretty rookie faire.  Some highlights in clouds blown out.  Focus was not on infinity, so detail is quite fuzzy at even 50%.  The symmetry of the hills is too bare, though some of the rain lines / sun shafts repeat the hilltop angles.   In a loose way, the city streets point the eye to the pier, which then points toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but this feels clumsy, as the bridge is a very small subject in an overwhelming image. Ideally, I should have found a more interesting position and made a clear decision on what the subject was — but I snapped this relatively quickly from the observation area outside the hall, while the family was inside waiting for me!