Awkward Shot

 
I often find that it is the awkward photos that give some of the best results. For the photo above I had been hiking over and around Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh for the afternoon taking photos when I noticed a lot of ravens flying around. Unfortunately, at the top, there is a constant cold wind [...]

Read Full Post »

William Wallace

 
 
In Stirling, Scotland there is the William Wallace Monument. To the Scots William Wallace is a hero, to the world he is Braveheart. There are no pictures or imagery of William Wallace so every picture, statue and engraving is based on what a scottish hero should look like.
So at the base of the Wallace Monument [...]

Read Full Post »

Lazy Day

 
Today was a day lost to textbooks and lounging about.
Work to be done.
Work stacked on a desk.
Work left unfinished.

Read Full Post »

La Cumbre Peak

 
A ten mile hike with a three thousand foot elevation change? Sure, no problem! I have ten miles before, I did ten miles in a day in Paris, I walked five miles a day in Edinburgh. I assumed that I could do it. To be fair I did make it to the top of La [...]

Read Full Post »

Marijuana

 
I never understood why marijuana is illegal. Alcohol alters behavior and causes us to do stupid things, yet it is legal. Tobacco causes long term health effects including death, yet it is still legal. Coffee alters our state of mind and it addictive, yet it is legal. But marijuana? No can’t have that!
We should legalize [...]

Read Full Post »

Trojan Reindeer

 
If anyone located in northern Europe receives a gift of a large wooden reindeer I would highly suggest that they do not accept the delivery. The particular trojan reindeer was casually grazing on tourists in Tivoli in Copenhagen. It was last seen there last December so given the average travel rate of trojan reindeer it [...]

Read Full Post »

Photo Blur

 
Tomorrow classes start at UCSB and with it a quarter that will be full of work. At first the load of work was going to be manageable: three classes, some research work and graduate school applications. Now I am adding a fourth class (all upper-division physics) to put met at 19 or 20 units (the [...]

Read Full Post »

Christianshavn

 
Christianshavn is an area of Copenhagen located south of the main city across the large canal. My friend had heard of the area and we went to check it out (it was mid-December when we went). It sounded like a really lawless and free area. When we crossed the canal we encountered a surprisingly nice [...]

Read Full Post »

Ice Cream Social

 
Last night I went to the freshman Ice Cream Social held in Storke Plaza. It was not so much of a social and more of a large crowd accompanied by some sort of music. I went for the ice cream, I stayed for the night photography.
My goal was to get some HDR shots of the [...]

Read Full Post »

Calm before the Quarter

 
I moved into my dorm yesterday, classes start on Thursday. Until then I need to reorient myself to Santa Barbara and life in an American college. No more pub quizzes for me.
I bought my textbooks and with a shock remembered the price discrepancies between here and Scotland. For this quarter I have three books (two [...]

Read Full Post »