Let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven...

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I took this the same night I took the Houston Panorama. I was fascinated by the orange glow of the  JPMorgan Chase Building, so I stowed my 24-105mm and whipped out the 70-300mm for a close-up shot before I left.

JPMorgan Chase Building is a 37-story 130 m (430 ft) Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Houston, Texas. Completed in 1929, it remained the tallest building in Houston until 1963, when the Exxon Building surpassed it in height. The building is the Houston headquarters of JPMorgan Chase Bank, and was formerly the headquarters of Texas Commerce Bank.

The title quote is from the Book of Genesis, 11 verse 4, concerning the tower of Babel.

Night on the town

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Here we have a panoramic photo of Down town Houston. It's roughly 180 degrees. Made up of 12 portrait HDR shots. To see it in all its glory click here: http://gigapan.com/gigapans/128389.

I got lucky that the Astros were playing that night, adds something to the scene I think. I had mad this trip to get some sunset shots with the Houston skyline but I didn't leave the house early enough.

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present

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Still in Austin, Texas.

I was just starting my walk back to the car from the South Congress Ave Bridge cutting through the back lot of the Hyatt and I saw this scene. The light from the Hyatt was reflecting off that window on the building to the right and it just kinda demanded my attention.

This photo is a composite HDR/fusion of two long exposures, it wasn't nearly this bright in the alley way. I'm not completely happy with it, I may play around with the original images in Lightroom later on when free time is a bit more free.

Title quote by Francis Bacon.

May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out

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This is a composite of 5 separate 30sec exposures taken as a cruise ship eased it's way down Lady Bird Lake in Austin Texas.

I was heading back to my car and I saw that a restaurant/cruise ship had left out of it's dock so I hurried down along the shore of the lake to see if maybe they were going to turn around and head back this way. And to my luck they did. So I sat there and waited patiently for them to make there way into my line of sight to take these shots.

Technically not the whole photo is a composite. The buildings and water are a composite of the last 4 of the 5 photos. I did this because after looking at the photos on the computer screen, I realized that the first photo was blurry, so I only used the light trail from that photo. Also the sky is a single photo, I used photomatix's natural/fusion to do the composting but I didn't like how gritty the sky looked so I selected the sky of one of the original photos. This is also how I took only the streak from the first photo, once I had an initial composite of the 4 photos, I used that composite and the blurry first photo in the photomatix process again and selected all but the streak and use the orirginal compsoite and
voila...

Title from "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.

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Took a trip to Austin, Texas the other night. I had planned on getting some star photography from atop Mount Bonnel(great view of downtown Austin and it's pitch-black at night). But mother nature thought otherwise; it was thick with clouds all weekend.

But I persevered and after getting some decent long exposures at Mt. Bonnel I proceeded down to Auditorium Shores and walked along Lady Bird Lake up to the South Congress Ave Bridge and got the shot you see here.

At the end of the street, where the light trails seem to emanate from, is the Texas State Capitol Building.

Title quote is from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

If there be light, then there is darkness; if cold, heat; if height, depth; if solid, fluid; if hard, soft; if rough, smooth; if calm, tempest; if prosperity, adversity; if life, death.

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Underneath the majestic Sam Houston Tollway(Beltway 8), and Interstate 10(not pictured).

I love light trails, I've been wanted to do this long before I got my first and current DSLR. Can't wait to do it again.

The layout of Houston's highways, specifically it's inner(Interstate 610) and outer(Beltway8) loops have become a popular metropolitan highway design for other large metro areas around the world.

Tittle quote by Pythagoras.

Each, from his peculiar angle of observation, takes in a certain sphere of fact and trouble, which each must deal with in a unique manner

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The other night after class, I walked down to the intersection of Interstate 10 and Sam Houston Toll Way(Beltway 8) and took some long exposures.

There's just something about the freeway system in Houston that is awe inspiring.

This is the only one without light trails (which was my objective for the whole endeavor) but I love the angle.

This is a 30sec exposure tweaked in Lightroom.

The title is an excerpt from the quote:

“. . . I do not see how it is possible that creatures in such different positions and with such different powers as human individuals are, should have exactly the same functions nor should we be expected to work out identical solutions. Each, from his peculiar angle of observation, takes in a certain sphere of fact and trouble, which each must deal with in a unique manner.”

  By William James

City Lights

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Interstate 59 making it's way through Sugar Land, Texas from downtown Houston.
30sec exposure.

The Water Wall

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And facing away from Williams tower you get to see this beauty  the Water Wall. Also located in the Galleria mall area of Uptown Houston, Texas. This too is a 30sec exposure (my first ever in fact), tweaked in Lightroom to bring out the textures and colors, tone down the brights and bring out the darks. Gotta love editing RAWs in Lightroom.

Wlliams Tower at night

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Williams Tower in Uptown near the Houston Galleria shopping mall in Houston, Texas. This is a 30sec long exposure with some lightroom tweaking.

A sea of snow

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My bro-in-law's boat at sunset in Searcy, Ar.

This is an HDR composite of 7 long exposures ranging from 2 to 30 seconds.

Oyster Creek Park at night

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Oyster Creek Park at night, in Sugar Land, Texas.

This one's not HDR, just a single long exposure taken the new 5D MrkIII tweaked in Lightroom.