A few more shots around Santorini

Here are a few more photos from Santorini. The panorama above was taken atop Profiti Ilia, the highest point in Santorini, looking north. You can see Oia at the tip of the island, sort of hooking left. The airport is located on the eastern side of the island where it is more flat.

UL: This was taken on the volcano as we hiked to the summit. The landscape was pretty bare and boring.

UR: Black beach, color of the sand is determined by which layer of lava is exposed.

LL: Red Beach. There was also a White Beach, but you can only access it by boat.

LR: Some more blue structures in Santorini.

Oia, Santorini, Greece

The town of Oia is located at the northwestern most point in Santorini. Oia is most well-known for it's sunset, which has been rated one of the most beautiful in the world. Most tourists gather at the ruins of the castle to watch the sun sink below the sea. This is also where the panorama of Oia was taken during the day. You can see the silhouettes of tourists shooting the sunset. The castle gets very packed at this time as well and if you are late, you won't get a spot to see it. After witnessing the spectacle, many tourists clap agreeably. Interesting side note, Oia was also where a jet ski scene for Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life was shot, down at the port of Ammoudi.

Panorama: Shot at F-11, 1/2500s, ISO400.

UL: F-11, 1/1600 s, ISO400

UR: F-11, 40 s, ISO100. Moonlit bay with Oia on the left. Not sure if anybody has any suggestions to how to make the moon less over exposed. Tried to cut out the moon and paste another one, but it didn't turn out so great. So left it as shot.

LL: F-11, 1/400s, ISO400. Expose for the sky not the people.

LR: F-11, 50 s, ISO100

Fira, Santorini, Greece

These are some photos of a recent trip I took to Greece with my family. We stayed in the town of Fira, the capital of Santorini. Santorini is known for it's white-washed buildings and blue-domed churches. Most of the towns on Santorini are built on the edge of the volcanic caldera and provides for great views of the Aegean Sea and volcano in the center. The night view of Fira also shows the highest point on Santorini, Profiti Ilia. More to come in the next post (Oia, Santorini).

UL: F-11, 1/1250 s, ISO 400
UR: F-11, 10 s, ISO100
LL: HDR F-11, 1 s, 1/4 s, 4 s, ISO100
LR: HDR F-11, 0.8s, 1/5 s, 3.2 s, ISO100

Happy Fourth of July: Boston Pops Fireworks

All photos were taken at F 11-13, 3-7 sec shutter speed (need tripod of course), and ISO 100. Other important tips: stay upwind of the fireworks so you won't get caught in the smoke (check the wind direction on any weather website), you need to be relatively far away from the main fireworks (you want to be shooting at the fireworks, not looking up at them).

Stanley Cup: What Leafs and Canucks fans can only dream about 31/52

From top left clockwise: Walking down Boylston St. towards the parade, helicopters covering the parade, BPD pushing the crowd back, crowd swells as duck boats arrive.

Lord Stanley arriving on Boston's famous duck boats

From top left clockwise: Big Z (Zdeno Chara) with the Stanley Cup, GM Peter Chiarelli with the Prince of Wales Trophy, Johnny Boychuck and Dennis Seidenberg, BC boy Looch (Milan Lucic).

Amateur Sports Photography 30/52

Group huddle before face-off (L)
Sara getting ready to start the game (R)

Goalie watches on as her team rushes downfield

Sara defending her net

KL and I attended a friend's daughter's final lacrosse game. It was a great photo-op to practice some sports photography. After reading about it ahead of time, many pros recommend using high ISO to allow you to increase shutter speed. In this case however, because we were outdoors, a high ISO was not needed. I was able to shoot most of Sara's game with a shutter speed between 1/1000 - 1/4000 s.

Most of the time for sports photography you would want fast shutter speed; however, there are instances where you may want to use a slow shutter speed and a technique known as panning. It gives a feeling of movement in the photos with a sharp subject, but blurry background. Eg. racing, cycling

KL's Graduation 29/52

MIT Museum 28/52

Bottom photo is an exhibit of a piano dropped from Baker House on the MIT campus. A piano was first dropped to signify the last day to drop classes at MIT. Since then, there have been a few occasions where students have dropped a piano to commemorate the first event.

Last Throes of Winter in the Common 27/52

After a 2.5 month hiatus from photography, I've decided to get back to posting some photos that I've taken over that time period. This set is from one of the last few storms to pass through Boston. My brother had come to visit and we were walking along the Freedom Trail (first time for me as well) and Boston Common. We passed by the site where Samuel Adams was buried. He is one of the founding fathers of the US and also the name a famous local beer. The Frog Pond is converted into an outdoor skating rink during the winter.

Homemade Tiramisu 26/52

F-3.5, 1/50 s exposure, ISO 400

Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar...

A few months ago a very dear friend of KL brought over her favorite chocolate bar from Japan...mixed with some unique flavors. Of course, we can always count on the Japanese to invent the unimaginable, such as glow-in-the-dark mice, obstacle course game shows, cartoons, etc....you get my point. They definitely don't disappoint with these Kit Kat bars. So before KL devours them, she wanted me to document them, not knowing when she'll be able to taste them again. For these photos, I used my DIY lightbox with some light from the left and with a diffused flash.

Flavors include: Green Tea, Raspberry, Cherry Blossom, Raspberry Passionfruit