The weather is much too nice, considering it’s winter.

All photos taken with the Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM.

Here’s the gallery!

I went to my friend’s bar show, and brought a camera along! This was also my first time using this new gallery layout I stole from my friend Greg… repurposed for my needs. Clicking on a thumbnail takes you to a medium-sized image, clicking on that opens the full-sized image.

enjoy!

Warning: Do not attempt this at home. We at hibal.org are not responsible for any damages or injuries as a result of your actions. If you do attempt to recreate these photos, you do so at your own risk.

One evening in college, putting aside many important things to do, my housemates and I decided to play with fire. 

When we play with fire, we do it right.

Some quick science talk to make my college degree seem worth its time and money:

What we call fire in this case is the rapid exothermic reaction between oxygen and isopropyl alcohol. The energy released is in the forms of both heat and visible light. Given an activation energy, this reaction will propagate until one of the reactants runs out. In our case, with a bottle with such a small neck, our limiting reactant is oxygen. Most of the oxygen is used up in the bottle, and the reaction ends quickly – like putting a cup over a candle.

Naturally, the higher percentage of isopropyl alcohol, the more vigorous the reaction. We have also had a very variable amount of luck with the ignition, and have not been able to pinpoint the source of variance. Naturally, replacing the air inside the bottle after a reaction is necessary before trying to light again. The amount of isopropyl in the bottle, and its mixture with the oxygen in the bottle are most likely the variables. There seems to be a significant variance in the ignition. Sometimes, a tiny flame forms in the mouth of the bottle and flickers for several seconds. Other times…

Stay safe, and don’t play with fire, kids.

Here’s a nice desktop background of a photo I took a month ago of my friend Gayle.

I haven’t done this in a while, so here goes…

This weekend, I had the distinct privilege to dive at one of the most untouched dive sites in the area – at the mouth of Big Creek in Big Sur.

Big Creek Bridge

Our dive site was at the beach just under the bridge. The coast forms a nice bay where the creek meets the ocean, which meant a relatively calm entry and exit.

Unfortunately, I do not have any underwater photographs or video from this dive. I hope to purchase a GoPro camera soon to take with me diving, but in the meantime, you’ll have to take my word for it that the diving was incredible here. With 25 feet visibility, one could see clearly through the groves of Macrosystis, Pterygophyra, and Nereocystis (giant kelp, stalked kelp, and bull kelp). Another pair of divers ran into a harbor seal that played with their scuba fins. The diversity of fish was remarkable, and I hope to improve on my classification of the various rockfish that reside in northern California.

We spent two nights at the campsite, but were only able to dive for a single morning. We spent a lot of the other time hiking…

Observing the beautiful flora of the area…

forming awesome but somewhat impractical bonfires…

and having a great time overall!

Coming back to school after an amazing outdoor weekend is always tough, but I have to get right back to the grind…

I reedited the previous shot as black and white. I like it better.

Because the version I took on 4×5 apparently didn’t come out…

Taken August 2012.

Went to a park in Anacortes, WA with some friends, shot some landscapes!

For sale is an MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f/1.2, converted to Canon EF mount. This lens is considered the “holy grail of manual focus lenses” by many. It is in optically perfect condition, with extremely minor cosmetic wear on the focus ring. This is the earlier multicoated version, built at a significantly higher standard than the more recent models.

This lens has been converted to fit on Canon EOS-mount. This is a complicated process that involves taking the back of the lens apart. The conversion was done before I acquired the lens. The lens is converted such that it can attain infinity focus. However, since there is no EXIF chip, the camera does not recognize a lens on the body. Therefore there is no EXIF data in the pictures.

The lens is FULLY manual. Manual focus via a very smooth but well-weighted focus ring, and manual aperture via an aperture ring. The lens goes from f/1.2 to f/22, at half-stops. The lens is as sharp as any wide-aperture lens at f/1.2, and remarkably sharp by f/2. Colors on Rokkor glass are considered very good, and this is no exception,

I am selling this lens because it is a considerable investment, and despite its fantastic rendering quality, I find myself using shallow focus less and less. The lens simply does not align with my interests and direction in photography, and I am using the money to upgrade my archaic Canon 20D.

I am selling this lens for $700. There is only one copy of this on ebay, and it is going for $800 before shipping.

…in that order.

I’ve been very busy here working on blending up algae. Unfortunately, the going has been a bit slow because my project is rather dependent on the tides. I can only get certain samples at very low tides, which occur for 1-2 days every 2 weeks. Unfortunately, these are the species that show the largest efflux (yes, what an awesome word) of acidic compounds. Since they’re so low in the intertidal, even when they are exposed they don’t tend to dry out too much. It’s been difficult trying to see a pH drop around them in the field. On top of that, these species aren’t too common here, so it’s hard to find a large patch of them. I don’t know whether this portion of my  experiment will be successful at all, but we’ll see…

Even the more common species of algae can be very hard to work with. For example, two different species, Ulvaria and Ulva, are shown below:

Do you notice the difference? I don’t either. In fact, it’s impossible to tell between these two with the naked eye. Ulva lactuca is two cells thick, whereas Ulvaria obscura is one cell thick. In order to tell for sure, you have to slice off a one cell cross-section of a leaf and look at it under a microscope. I hope to get some microscope pictures while I’m up here, but I haven’t booked the room and don’t know if I have time.

I’ve also recently gotten rather excited by the cool gizmos in the lab. Being a bit of a nerd, I can’t help but appreciate the design of some of these 70′s designs. This machine to the right is a GC, or Gas Chromatograph, and I’ve bizarrely fallen in love with its boxy design. The lights on the front flash green and red, making it resemble a horrible science fiction prop.  Fellow undergraduate intern Jenna is using te GC to look at DMS production in algae.

My friends here decided to do “thanksgiving in July” several weeks ago. We cooked up a turkey, and all made different dishes. Here’s a couple cool pictures from that…

I’m a bit backed up on this blog, so more to come soon!