Over the weekend, Erica and I visited the Yerkes Obervatory, near Lake Geneva, WI.

Yerkes Observatory, which calls itself “the birthplace of modern astrophysics,”[1], is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. It was created in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes. The observatory represented a shift in the thinking of observatories, from mere housing for a telescope and observer, to the modern concept of observation equipment integrated with laboratory space for physics and chemistry. A 102 cm (40 inch) refracting telescope built by the master optician Alvan Clark is located inside. It is the largest refracting telescope used for scientific research (a larger demonstration refractor, the Great Paris Exhibition Telescope of 1900, was exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1900). ~Wikipedia

I pieced a few shots together to make this panographic photo (click it to see it bigger):

Panography using 100+ photos.

Click on the image to view it BIG.

Over the weekend, I joined a few friends at Bucketworks to model T-shirts for Teecycle.org.  Teecycle sells used shirts and gives a portion of the proceeds to charity.

Simon and Jake from Valo photography shot the whole thing, and they are extremely talented as you can see below.  Well a good model doesn’t hurt of course ;-)

Here I am doing my best praying mantis attack

And then I made it rain…

And here’s genuine smirk for ya

If you’d like to know more about Teecycle, check out the video from when I interviewed Tim, the founder, for ActionsTalk

Tonight I’m trying some cross processing techniques that I first saw in a tutorial from Layers Magazine.

“Cross processing (sometimes abbreviated to xpro) is the procedure of deliberately processing photographic film in a chemical solution intended for a different type of film” – Wikipedia

It’s a fairly simple process in Photoshop, achieved with a new curves adjustment layer.  The three steps were as follows:

1. Alter the red curve: raise it in the highlights and lower it in the darker portions of the photo

2. Alter the green curve: raise it in the highlights and lower it in the darker portions of the photo

3. Alter the blue curve: lower it in the highlights and raise it in the darker portions of the photo

You can tweak the curves until you get the desired effect…

If you know of any particularly good Photoshop tutorials, let me know.  I’m trying to pick it up after working with Macromedia Fireworks for years.

“Grand Place”

I like this photo because it abstracts the incredible structures of the Grand Place (Brussels, Belgium) and focuses on the cobble stones below. It’s always good to look at things from a different perspective.

“Pudong (Shanghai) from The Bund”

Well, how often does one travel to China? For most people, not very often. I used a tripod and a long shutter to capture Pudong, a region of Shanghai with an unforgettable skyline.

“Brussels (Parc)”

To get this photo, I used my point and shoot Casio camera. I set it on a stone next to a fountain and pointed it towards two strangers (you can see their outline on the right side). I used a timer on the shot to eliminate camera shake in the low light. I really like how the reflection turned out, and it reminds me of an ink blot.

“Le Louvre Nuit”

This is a photo that almost didn’t happen. After walking all over Paris taking pictures all day, I was ready to call it quits with no real winners. A friend of mine pointed this scene out when we walked through the Louvre courtyard. I used a tripod with a long shutter for the shot, and I think the results were amazing. With the location of the moon, the scene was almost too perfect. If you haven’t figured it out, I really like taking long shutter night shots. It’s even better if there’s a reflection involved.

“Light Bass”

This was the first time I had ever tried light painting, which is a ton of fun. Here’s an explanation of how I did it.

“Amsterdam Bicycle”

This photo was taken during Slamsterdam 2K8 with Tad. Bikes like these are all over Amsterdam and they make great photo subjects. I love a few things about this photo: The colors, the tight focus on the bike creating a bokeh effect, and the blurred out people in the background.

“6th Street Bridge”
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This photo was taken in Milwaukee. I like how the bridge structure and the light streams are framed. I used a long shutter and tripod.

“Oslo”

This photo really takes me back to my trip to Oslo, Norway. The colors came out very true to life and every time I look at it, I feel like I’m standing there, staring down the path in the brisk winter air. Awesome place to visit by the way.

“Summer Concert”

I took this photo during the Kanye West concert at Lollapalooza 2008 in Chicago. It’s one of my favorites because it captures the Chicago skyline and the details on the faces of the summer concert goers.

“De Toren”

Dutch for “The Tower”. I took this photo in Amsterdam, and to tell you the truth, I didn’t think it was anything special. Then my friend Tad made it into Black and White with Photoshop, and I really like it now.

One of the greatest things about Flickr is the phenomenal photography from the community. Here is a slide show of my favorite photos. These are a great inspiration to a hobbyist like myself.

Do yourself a favor and watch Eclectic 2.0 by Ross Ching.  What a great thing to wake up to!  And if you’re interested, here’s how he made it. I’m already looking for this equipment…