The Stanford Quad and Hoover Tower at dusk.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, 0 EV, f/16, 30.0s

I had arrived quite a bit earlier in the evening to see if I could catch Memorial Church at sunset. The skies had a few wispy clouds, and I was hoping that the sun would light them up. Unfortunately, Memorial Church faces north, and the sun sets to the east. So I ended up with this sunset photo instead.

Still a touch of blue in the sky.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, -2 EV, f/8, 6.0s

10 minutes later, pitch black.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, 0 EV, f/16, 20.0s

It was raining and overcast the entire day. Not the right conditions for a blazing evening sunset, but one of these days, I’ll get it.

I returned to Stanford University to view the blood moon and recreate this photo at night. Fortunately, the Quad was pretty much empty when I arrived.

With a 24mm lens, I knew that I had to move further back to capture the roof lines from the front arch. However, I also had to crouch low to keep the entire front face of Memorial Church visible. I think I only had one section of each tripod leg extended. I do wish I had some more separation between the cross and the arch. I guess that will have to happen during a return visit.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, -2 EV, f/3.5, 1.0s

When I stepped outside earlier this evening, I thought the night would be one filled with disappointment. I looked around the sky and easily located the moon. But, it was obscured by clouds. Still, I headed out to Stanford University. Just in case the sky did not clear up, I could still practice some night photography.

I wandered around the campus and returned to Memorial Church as the eclipse began. Fortunately, the sky cleared up in time. I experimented with focus stacking for the first time (i.e., focus on the church, focus on the moon, and blend in Photoshop).

The bright dot by the cross is Mars.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, ISO 100, 75mm, f/2.8

Here’s a close-up of the blood moon.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, ISO 100, 200mm, f/2.8, 3.0s

I had posted the above image at first because it was brighter. But, this earlier photo is a lot sharper, although I had to adjust the shadows in Photoshop. Maybe there was some motion blur since it was a 3 second exposure.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, ISO 100, 200mm, f/2.8, 1.0s

I borrowed a Nikon 24mm PC-E lens and headed to the Stanford University campus. During a previous trip, I had used a Nikon 16-35mm f/4 lens to photograph Memorial Church framed by an arch in Memorial Court.

However, the photo has some barrel distortion that is really noticeable if you look at the right and left columns. Maybe I should try to correct this in Lightroom or Photoshop.

With the Nikon 24mm PC-E lens, I tried to replicate this shot. While the camera was level, it wasn’t complete perpendicular to the image, so I did have to perform some minor perspective correction in Photoshop. It’s also not the same exact shot because the field of view is different at 16mm and 24mm. With the 24mm, the further back I moved, the lower I would have to be to the ground in order to still see the entire church under the arch. I couldn’t move too far back because while the quad looks empty, there was a crowd right behind me. I’ll have to return when it’s a bit quieter.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, -0.3 EV, f/8

The -0.3 EV was a setting leftover from a previous photo. I had taken three photos at 1s, 1/2s and 1/3s. Still not enough to recover the details in the sky.

A few months ago, I visited Memorial Church at night during a full moon. I wanted to return during the day to test a Nikon PC-E lens that I had borrowed.

The morning started off a bit overcast. As I was about to leave the Quad, some sunlight broke through the clouds and left Memorial Church in a wash of warm light. This is a three shot HDR photo at 1/3s, 1/13s, 1/5s. I has left on an ND filter on from an earlier series of photos because a tour group had just arrived and I was seeing if I could remove some of these people from the photo.

Nikon D800, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED, ISO 100, 24mm, -0.3 EV, f/8

I took this photo almost four years ago. This was before my tripod days.

Since then, I have worked with a D50, D7000 and the full-frame D800. However, I am not sure what I could do differently even with the latest gear. First, the inside of the UK Pavilion was crowded, as was the entire Expo. I could not have even set-up a tripod.

Next, the inside of the pavilion was dark. Despite the aperture, I was still at ISO 1600. You don’t want to see the photo at 100%.

The most challenging part would be the exhibit itself, where all the illuminated rods are situated at different depths. A depth of field nightmare.

Every factor conspiring against a sharp, noiseless photo.

Nikon D50, Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8 N, ISO 1600, 50mm, 0 EV, f/2.5, 1/30s

Sacré Coeur has a unique vibe. I don’t know if the atmosphere is always like this, but when I went, the place was vibrant. The path up the hill was a slow climb with street hustlers and peddlers tempting passersby.

At the top of Montmartre, shoulder-to-shoulder crowds packed the Christmas market and the church. If you are late, forget about finding an unobstructed view of the sunset.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 100, 42mm, 0 EV, f/16, 1/13s

Update: I had to re-upload this photo. For retina quality photos, I read that I could save them in a lower quality setting, which quickened the load times. That was pretty much true for most photos, where I could see the higher resolution, but no noise when photos were saved in Medium (30) instead of High (60) Quality. For images with a lot of sky, that was not true. I could see obvious banding at the Medium Quality.

The magician performed at an indoor stage in the Musée des Arts Forains. After the crowd had cleared, I tried to take a clear indoor photo. I used a Pocket ‘Pod TFA-01 from Really Right Stuff. This compact mini tripod gets you into places where a larger tripod would trigger a stern stare from security.

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, ISO 400, 24mm, 0 EV, f/19, 3.0s

The only time I wish that the camera had a swivel screen is when the camera is inches off the ground.