I live in Los Angeles

Yes, I am alive.  Here are some photos of Los Angeles.

Who says L.A. is sprawling?

So I took some photos inside the Bradbury Building.

Just realized I forgot to watermark these.  Plz don’t infringe.  Thx.

Duke Chapel (one last time)

Between studying for the bar exam and studying more for the bar exam, I haven’t had much time lately to do anything besides, well, study for the bar exam.

But I did get some night shots of Duke Chapel last week, which I had been meaning to do before moving West. Here’s what I came up with:

Duke Chapel Climb

In addition to winning national basketball championships and admitting rich undergrads, Duke has a tradition of letting graduating graduate and professional students climb the Duke Chapel tower. As a graduate and professional student who is graduating, I thought I should take advantage of this apparently once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (the tower is not open to the general public).

I had to wait in line for quite some time. They only let about 20 students in at a time, and each group took about 20-25 minutes to climb up, take photos, and climb down. Here are a few shots I took while waiting:

They call this a “climb” for a reason—you access the top of the tower by means of a narrow, steep, poorly lit spiral stairway. Not a good place for those who tend to get claustrophobic. Here’s a shot of the stairway (taken during my descent):

Imagine about 10 minutes of this. As you can see, I was appropriately decked out in flip-flops and baggy jeans.

Because they were trying to shuttle people in and out as quickly as possible, I only had about 5 minutes to snap photos from the top of the tower. I must admit that I went for quantity rather than quality—I just took as many photos as possible before being ushered back down the stairs. Fortunately, I walked away with a few photos that (with some editing) were halfway presentable. Here’s a handful:

Looking north, toward the Perkins/Bostock libraries and the medical buildings.

The roof of the divinity school and part of Perkins.

Divinity school, Perkins, etc.

Looking east, toward the entrance to the university (with downtown Durham off in the distance).

  As you can see, there was quite a line.

Here’s a nice vertical panoramic for ya.

And another panoramic (click to enlarge).

Facing south.

Some girl with the Duke statue.

The backside (i.e., the chapel itself).

Hong Kong II: Urban Craziness

Hong Kong is probably my favorite city on the planet. Took the following photos of the city in July 2008.

Sham Shui Po. I love the guy in the bottom-right corner.

The sky, from Sham Shui Po.

Causeway Bay.  This shot is of Yee Wo Street, one of the busiest streets in HK.

More Causeway Bay.

Looking down toward Sheung Wan.  All the noise is regrettable, but again, I was working with a rather unsophisticated point-and-shoot.

Apartment buildings in the Mid-Levels, taken from Hong Kong Park.

Festival Walk shopping center, in Kowloon Tong.

Mong Kok.

Some old shots from China II: Beijing, Hangzhou, Guilin, Yangshuo

Here are some shots I took while traveling through Beijing, Hangzhou, Guilin, and Yangshuo. As with the previous set, these were shot with a point-and-shoot in my pre dSLR days.

Beijing Bicyclists.

Soldiers Outside the Mao Mausoleum.

In the Forbidden City.

Bird’s Nest on a Smoggy Day.

Hangzhou I.

Hangzhou II.

On the Waterfront in Guilin.

Pagoda in Guilin.

Floodlit Cave (Guilin).

Fisherman on the Li River.

Yao Women Preparing for Performance.

A Catch.

Rice Terraces I.

Woman Picking Rice in Terraced Fields.

Rice Terraces II.

Rice Terraces III.

Window Selling on the Li River.

Li River I.

Li River II.

Li River III.

Curtis and “Tiger” (Yangshuo).