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Salk Institute is one of those mind blowing places that you can’t believe is real. The most unbelievable part about it is that it’s a part of the University of California San Diego campus and that scientist can actually get work done in this beautiful place.

This was my second time visiting Salk. The first time was last year, but I knew I had to go back for this year’s trip. However, the main goal of this visit was to capture it differently than last year. I started off with my wide angle that provided me with some really cool views but spent most of the time with my 70-200mm. This allowed me to compress much of the building to provide the unique views that I was looking for.

Even though it seems like a really quiet place, there are people all around. Maybe because sunset was around 5p when working hours typically ends and people were leaving to go home, but there were people walking around at almost any given moment. It could also have been that I was there at sunset and other people wanted to get that golden hour glow on the buildings but I was definietly not alone.

The unfortunate part is that you’re not allowed to walk up the stairs. I totally understand why but I would have loved to capture someone standing at one of these stair landings. The best I could do was capture a fellow photographer at the very bottom of the steps. Either way, I love the way that it turned out. The pattern, the line, the shapes just fascinate me. I could seriously spend a whole week here and not get bored.

My camera settings for this image is F4.5 at 1/80th sec at ISO 1250 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom handheld.

university, Pennsylvania, penn, upenn, levine hall, airplane, airport, travel, architecture, looking up

While I was in Philadelphia, I spent most of my time at the University of Pennsylvania. I remember visiting the campus a while ago when my cousin was an undergrad there but haven’t been back since. I LOVED the campus. At first I loved how close all the colleges were together (Drexel, Penn, Wharton) but then while I was walking around I feel in love with the community. Everyone is so nice and friendly. I felt like I was home. The campus itself was beautiful and very clean. I also liked how there were plenty of shops and restaurants in the area to keep me entertained.