Sensory Escape Images Blog

Death Valley National Park

Nathan Ciurzynski — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:49:07 +0000

I recently posted a few more new images of Death Valley that I haven't blogged about yet. The first one below is of Mequite Dunes taken near to sunset. I shot into the sun for this one. Shooting into the sun can make for some amazing images but the sunspots that occur make it seriously tricky to pull off. I find that I have to hold my hand over the top of the lens hood for shade and eyeball the spots through the viewfinder adjusting the light with my hand until I've got a clean image.

The second image was taken of hikers at Zabriskie Point, also just before sunset. The heat in Death Valley is phenomenal and can almost be seen in the texture and colors of the earth there. The colors there at Zabriskie Point are stunning making horizontal patterns in the hills. The hiking there is a real adventure that few, understandably, take on in that heat.

The last two images are from an adventurous and long, off-road drive from Ubehebe Crater out to Racetrack Playa. Racetrack Playa is a dry lake-bed in a narrow valley that is not accessible by some cars due to the rough unpaved road and lack of assistance in the event of getting flat tires or other mechanical trouble. On the way you'll pass a notorious landmark called Tea Kettle Junction. I have no idea how that got started but I find it comical that it continues to this day as I've read recent accounts of tea kettle donations made there. The dry lake bed is remarkable. You could close your eyes and ignore the visual surroundings and, without help, feel the intense heat of the basin. But taking in the visual aspects as well really makes for a surreal movie-like experience in a truly beautiful desert.

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Yosemite Falls in Spring

Nathan Ciurzynski — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:00:30 +0000

About this time last year I captured these images of Yosemite Falls. I was there to capture a moonbow (or Lunar Rainbow), which I wrote about quite a while back, and snuck in a few other images while I was waiting for the sun to set. The sunlight at sunset just barely kisses the tops of the peaks due to the placement of Yosemite Village at the bottom of a valley, so exposure bracketing was essential to these images in order to get a sufficient amount of detail and a good exposure range.

The difficulty in photographing the amazing U.S. national parks is in capturing their essence in a manner that shows the true brilliance of being there in person. It's impossible to do. I've seen some absolutely stunning images of Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, as two noteworthy examples, but none have compared to standing at the edge of south rim at sunset or walking Yosemite Valley and taking in the sheer granite walls and seeming 360 degree waterfalls in person. There is a sense of grandeur that is hard to capture with words, a little more easily demonstrated with pictures, and perfectly shown only in person.

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Hanna Is Growing Up Too Fast

Nathan Ciurzynski — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:15:12 +0000

Watching my kids growing up in front of me everyday isn't easy. It happens way too fast and I never seem to capture it enough. Here's a few of Hanna with Jackie a few months before we moved to London and some from a few weeks ago. Time flies!

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Old England Through My Lens

Nathan Ciurzynski — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:00:10 +0000

When I was younger and in school, the study of history was one of my least favorite subjects. The past just didn't seem to matter. To me it was old and boring and full of dates and names and lots of boring details that were mostly unmemorable. It didn't matter if it was American History, British, or French or if it was recent history or that from way, way back. I just didn't understand the value of studying it.

As I've gotten older, my appreciation for it has completely turned 180 degrees. All of the sudden, history is becomig super important to me. I'm not sure if it's because I've now lived long enough to start to see aspects of history repeating itself or because my hometown is now London, a town loaded with history. Nevertheless, I am now "one of those" who enjoy a good history channel documentary or a trip to a local museum. No kidding!

Where photography comes into this conversation is my purpose in blogging today. As I've started to visit popular sights around London to take in the history and the stories told by architecture, museums, and, most importantly, the people of London, I find myself wondering what London looked like and felt like a long time ago. What might photos have looked like then? Here's my first attempt at replicating what I think cameras may have seen here a long time ago.

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Royal Greenwich Park and Canary Wharf

Nathan Ciurzynski — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:15:15 +0000

Royal Greenwich Park is truly a beautiful place. Unlike the larger and more notable Hyde Park in Central London, Greenwich has topographical contour...hills! :) It's remarkable how flat London is. A few months back we had a rare couple days of snow and we went out, along with half of Great Britain, to visit the park and take in the fun of the fresh snowfall. There wasn't much snowfall, maybe 2-3 inches or so, but it was enough to invite sledders out to the hills of Greenwich Park. The view from the hilltop beside the Royal Observatory can be seen in the first image below. The first building front and center is the Queen's House. The Old Royal Naval College is directly behind it partially represented by the double blue domes. In the faint and foggy distance you can make out the outline of the Canary Wharf skyline.

The second image was taken from atop a hill at the northeast end of Greenwich Park near to the children's playground. This scene shows another great example of old and new architecture as the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the power station in the foreground lead into the skyline of Canary Wharf in the background.

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Aeolous Acoustic Sculpture Breaks Wind

Nathan Ciurzynski — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:42:32 +0000

Until May 10, 2012, you can view Luke Jerram's Acoustic Wind Sculpture at Canada Square Park - Canary Wharf in London. Aeolous, as it's called, is an interactive, acoustic sculpture that sings with the wind, resonating without power or amplification. If you place your ear to the end of each tube, you'll hear a different note. One that I listened to sounded like a didgeridoo. Stand in the middle of the arch, make a sound and listen to the echo. You can almost feel the echo!

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The Josef Project

Nathan Ciurzynski — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:41:39 +0000

As we did "The Hanna Project" with our daughter. We are doing "The Josef Project" with our son.

The idea is to photograph Josef once every day. A casual, photojournalistic style image...just as he is.

The image sequence starts on the day our 11lb 8oz baby came into the world via water birth and continues through to whatever day my wife Jackie has updated to. She'll indicate that date in italics immediately below for anyone wishing to check back and enjoy this process with us throughout the weeks and months to come.

The images start with birth and work in chronological order.

Updated to:
April 26, 2012

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Big Ben, Westminster, and the Westminster Bridge

Nathan Ciurzynski — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 13:24:04 +0000

Another rare, clear night in London offered me the opportunity of capturing Big Ben during the blue hour to show some beautifully contrasting colors. Big Ben and Parliament light up nicely but, curiously, I've noticed that there are two sections of the Parliament building that aren't ever lit. One of them can be seen in the second image below to the left of Big Ben and the second unlit section is yet further off to the left (not show in the image) toward victoria Tower.

Big Ben has been photographed a million+ times so looking for a unique perspective to photograph this fixed object can be a bit challenging. This time I didn't bother. I just enjoyed being one of the dozen or so photographers lined up across the river capturing the very same image.

One of the things I noticed in most of the nighttime photos of Big Ben that I'd seen was the clock face had come out way overexposed making it impossible to see detail there. That bugged me. To me, that would be like shooting a portrait of someone and exposing for their knees while their face and eyes are left overexposed. The clock face is key to nailing a shot of Big Ben....period. I made sure to expose for the clock face in my images. In the first one, that wasn't a problem but in the second image, and as the night sky grew darker, I found the light to be more contrasty so I used exposure bracketing and created a composite image.

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London Bridge And The Shard

Nathan Ciurzynski — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:44:15 +0000

The weather has been difficult to predict lately with sunny skies, clouds, and rain all in the forecast nearly every day for the past 2 weeks or so. Frequently, all three happen within the course of an hour making me a bit nervous to head out with my camera. One night this past weekend, I took a chance and got a few captures before the rain started up again. I took a train to London Bridge and walked across The River Thames to the north side of the bridge to shoot the south side of the river with The Shard in the background. I'm really enjoying how many perspectives The Shard can be seen from in the London skyline. So unique!

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London City Hall And The Tower of London

Nathan Ciurzynski — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:03:43 +0000

There's a wobbly building right next to Tower Bridge that I've been wanting to photograph since I first noticed it a few weeks back and the other day I finally found a perspective I liked. The clouds had moved in and it was looking like a good rain was coming. The building houses The Greater London Authority - City Hall. I love how the hand-rail wobbles the same direction as the building.

From City Hall, turning 180 degrees and looking across The River Thames, you can see The Tower of London nicely lit up which is shown in the second image. This shot was taken on a different day while it was still blue hour (the time that starts 10-15 minutes after sunset). I shot with a long exposure (30 seconds) to create a nicer texture to the clouds and river and the blue from the sky reflected beautifully in the clouds and on the water.

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