Down With Numbers

Off to university again. Yay.

Expect nothing for two months. You’ll probably get it.

It would appear that I’ve neglected this ‘ere site of mine while I gadded about at university. But fear not, for a couple of weeks ago I returned for the Christmas vacation. Yes, that’s right, I get about 6 weeks break at Christmas.

So what’s a term at university like? Well, I can only speak for my university, but I think utterly insane would just about cover it. I’d wager there are few other places which have events enabling you to sit and eat a four-course meal in suit and academic gown, drinking port older than you and conversing with some of the best professors in the world.

But anyway. University is supposed to change people, and change me it has: I now like mobile phones. Shocking, I know, but it had to happen some time. If I hadn’t got one I would most likely be socially dead. So there’s that.

There’s also the whole learning thing. I can confidently say I’ve learnt quite a lot, including how to play cribbage, contract bridge and three varieties of snap. Oh, and maybe some maths, but I’m not so sure on that one.

Roll on Lent term.

… did all my time go?

k+1 = 2 for some k. Therefore for all k, k+1=2.

A few weeks ago I made a rambling post on photography and wanting to buy a digital SLR. Well, I bought a Nikon D50, along with 18-55 and 70-300 standard Nikkor zooms. I love it! It’s exactly what I was hoping for - not too small, easy to use and well thought-out. The lenses are good enough for the prices I paid, too, so I shan’t have any excuses for not taking lots of photographs of Cambridge.

I also got a Hoya R72 infrared filter. This is a rather strange filter in that it cuts out all light with a wavelength shorter than 720nm, thus allowing only infrared to be detected on the sensor. The thing is, digital sensors are extremely sensitive to infrared (moreso than visible light, usually), so camera manufacturers insert filters to block out infrared. They aren’t perfect, though, so given a long enough exposure time you can get very interesting infrared images.

This isn’t the thermal imaging kind of infrared, mind - you need extremely sensitive equipment for that, and it’s at a much longer wavelength than the kind we’re talking about here. This is infrared from the sun or household lighting, reflected off objects, just like visible light.

There’s one main visual difference when shooting infrared: foliage reflects infrared much more strongly than visible light. This leads to images like these, where the leaves are glowing a snowy white. Another side-effect is the sky becoming much darker, leading to striking visual contrasts.

I’m still experimenting, but initial results are positive. Now I just need to get a tripod so I can photograph things other than the view from the garden table.

In other news, possible future purchase: 60mm Micro-Nikkor lens. There’s little life flora-wise at the moment, but when it picks up next year I may invest in this fine lens. Stay tuned, folks.