happy holidays…
–Click images for larger versions–
Well, it may be a bit after the holidays, but I completely forgot to post this in a more timely manner!!
A few weeks ago, I got an email from my PI at my old lab that I worked at in undergrad saying that one of the images I took on the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was being used for one of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) holiday cards! Obviously, I was floored! So, here it is: the holiday card featuring my SEM image of “Dog Vomit Mold.” No joke. That’s the name of it. Scientific name: Fuligo septica. I scraped it off the mulch in front of my brother’s house years ago, processed it for SEM, and took pictures! Mmmmm….nothing says happy holidays quite like dog vomit mold. At least the image is colored blue so they sort of look like snowflakes!
Hope everyone is starting 2011 on the right foot! Happy New Year!
P.S. Stay tuned for a few more relics from my undergrad research days…and more photography!
meet Adorable Anika…
This lovely lady is Anika, one of my family’s “fuzzies.” She is quite fond of being photographed–to the point of pushing other cats out of the way when she sees the camera come out (no joke!). For those of you wondering, she is a purebred Siberian cat and has such a lovely disposition!
This photo was taken, of course, with the Canon Powershot G7. When I looked at the picture on my computer, I noticed that the screen door she is behind gave a canvas-like quality to the photo, so I just played with the contrast a smidge in Adobe Photoshop CS3 and added a sepia filter to give it more of a “painted” feel. Then I had a bit more fun and tried a blue filter on her:
And I just couldn’t decide which to post, so here are both! Feel free to vote in the comments section for the one you like best!
P.S. Sorry for the delays between posts! Third year just keeps me so stinkin’ busy!
city of bridges…
“Pennsylvania’s Watersheds and You”
Check it out!! I was contacted a while ago by a Pittsburgh engineering firm–they wanted to use my photography on a conservation poster that they were creating! Well, just click on the photo above (or the link underneath it) and have a look! I’m so excited that my photograph is on a real publication that will be hanging in real places! 
The photo is of the Pittsburgh skyline in May, as seen from the banks of the Allegheny River (directly across from Point State Park). It was a river-fest with free kayaking…hence all of the little banana-like things in the picture. And yes, I did kayak. And yes, it was great fun.
The image was taken with the (now stolen) Olympus Stylus 820. Post-processed in Photoshop CS3 for contrast.
DON’T POLLUTE YOUR WATER SUPPLIES!!! Keep them fresh and safe for yourself and generations to come.
New York City: Part 1
I finally made it to the Big Apple! About time, considering I’ve been living a mere 2 hours away from it for an entire year now! The wonderful future Dr. Heather served as one of our guides…and certainly showed us some impressive sights. My next few posts will be shots that I took in NYC.
This photo was taken from on the Brooklyn Bridge, back to Brooklyn, facing Manhattan. A much longer bridge than I thought…nearly 1.2 miles. Guess I’m just used to Pittsburgh’s myriad bridges (446 to be exact) which happen to be a fraction of the length of this puppy.
Anyhoo, I couldn’t resist taking this classic shot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Another classic shot that I couldn’t resist taking was what I call my “chick flick pic”. The boyfriend and me stealing a quick kiss on the bridge with a backdrop of NYC, complete with a popped leg. And no. I’m not posting it. A lady has to leave something to the imagination.
So, enjoy the Bridge. Taken with the fabulous Canon G7 and post-processed into and HDR image. And keep checking back for more city shots!
busy as a bee…
I’ve been as busy as this little bee lately…hence the severe lack of new posts in the past couple of weeks!! I’m in between my first and second years of medical school (read: last summer EVER) and I have the most amazing job honing my clinical skills in the Temple ER! That said, I’m pulling insane hours at the hospital/preparing my body for the sleep-deprived years to come and simply haven’t had the time to really sit down with my photos and put together a decent post. So, for all of you anxiously awaiting a post, I apologize for the delay and present you with…A BEE!
I snapped this little bugger on my brother’s porch over the Memorial Day weekend. A wee bit of cropping was done, as it is pretty darn hard to properly compose a shot when your subject is a centimeter long and constantly moving. A little bit of contrast fixing was also done, as yellow flowers + yellow bee stripes + super sunny day = totally washed out color/contrast levels.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot…this was taken with the fabulous Canon G7!!
put a lime in the coconut…
Now for a brief mental vacation!! This stately palm tree (complete with coconuts!!) was gently swaying in the breeze on one of Playa del Carmen’s beaches. Now for a little news update: I will be visiting Mexico once more this August, so stay tuned for new photos! WOOHOO!!!
The photo was taken with an Olympus Stylus 820 and was turned into a high dynamic range photograph when I got back to Pittsburgh . Can’t you just feel that Caribbean tradewind by looking at this picture?
glutamine, shmutamine…
Its been a while since I put up a hardcore nerd photo. And, well, there’s no time like the present! I made a solution (at my old lab, of course) of the amino acid glutamine. When a drop of the solution is placed on a microscope slide and allowed to dry out, crystals of glutamine form. I tossed those puppies under the microscope (Olympus BX51) and took a picture at 10x. Gotta love the ice-like quality of the crystals and the rainbow refractions!
Gosh, I sure do miss the good ol’ lab days sometimes! I was always able to do the most unique microscopic photography there!!!
divine dahlia: part three…
All good things must come to an end…including the Divine Dahlia mini-series! Hope you have been enjoying the photos! Now, I know that this flower was beautiful in all of its colored glory, but I really wanted to try some good ol’ black-and-white to bring out the details in the petals…and I think it worked!
As usual, the photo was taken with the Canon G7. Post-processed in Photoshop to select the color of the black-and-white filter. Enjoy and stay tuned for more pictures!
divine dahlia: part two…
Part two in the mini-series!! Again, taken with the Canon G7. This photo had its contrast fixed a tiny bit in Photoshop. Enjoy one of the bloomin’ beauties of spring!
divine dahlia: part one…
Ok. I’m in love with this flower. It is one of the gorgeous dahlia plants that my mother has at home…and it was so beautifully colored and flawless that I simply couldn’t resist making it the star of its very own photo shoot. This photo is number one of a 3 photograph mini-series.
As usual, the amazing Canon Powershot G7 was used. I think it was definitely more fortuitous than planned that the detail in this bloom showed up so well…who knew dahlias have tiny hair-like things on their petals (look at the center petals up close). And, I’m happy to announce that the sunlight was so perfect that absolutely nothing was “fixed” on this photo…straight from the memory card! Yay!
verdant fern…
This shot is of a rather interesting fern that happened to catch my eye during a stroll through Pittsburgh’s Phipp’s Conservatory. It was taken with an Olympus Stylus 820 digital camera and colorized in Adobe CS3 to make the leaves really pop! Enjoy!!
Pittsburgh!!
This is a cityscape shot of downtown Pittsburgh. It was taken from one of the overlooks on the famous Mt. Washington. Indeed, the view of the city from Mt. Washington (particularly at the Duquesne Incline) has been rated one of the top ten views in the country! The image was taken on a beautiful summer night with an Olympus D595Z digital camera.
