On Saturday, 21st January, Oxford Astrophysics held the event “Stargazing Oxford” as part of the BBC’s Stargazing LIVE string of events across the country. It was an occasion that brought together the whole of Astrophysics at Oxford (and many people from the Physics department at large) to bring astronomy to the general public. The hugely successful event saw about 1,200
Well, tomorrow is a big day for us all at the Oxford Astrophysics department, as we expect hundreds of people to visit us and learn more about the universe. So here’s a fresh aptly-themed picture from my camera, which I snapped late last night, whilst a good friend of mine (you know who you are!) waited very patiently for me
Very cold, yes. But also sunny, with deep blue skies. Not for long, but it will be like this again, sometime. So we all hope.
Well, we’ve just marked the start of another revolution around the sun, which in my mind I associate with the inescapable reality of our constant aging. And as I stared at this photograph, taking in the fleeting moment which was captured, I was reminded of C.S. Lewis’ wise words, to which I need add nothing else.
Here goes the last post for this year… the very last picture of 2011 that will make it on this blog. The very blog which I started, as a matter of fact, in 2011. What a year it has been! So with this picture, which was taken as the sun slowly set in the West upon my village of Ghajnsielem,
Here goes another one of the crazy waves. Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year to all!
It’s hard to imagine a seascape so different from that depicted in yesterday’s photo. In a matter of a few hours, the sea went from being a serene, peaceful sight to absolutely terrifying. It so happened to be perfectly timed from my perspective, since today marked the annual, traditional (by now almost religious) gathering of fellow photo-junkies. We ended this
Here is a picture of a very calming scene, one of those which I miss whenever I leave this place. This photo shows my village of Ghajnsielem at sunset. More specifically, it shows Mgarr Harbour, as one of the ferries leaves Gozo for the island of Malta.
Here’s another photo from the same sunrise shoot. I take the opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas to all of you!
Early this morning I headed out to the sea again, this time with my good friend and fellow photographer Armand Sciberras, who dropped me a message late last night to ask if I was up for a sunrise shoot. And shoot we did. Early mornings are truly beautiful. There is something incredibly peaceful about them; you look around and there
Yesterday we had a strong gale-force wind (force 9 at one point) which led to some really big waves. Of course I couldn’t let such a fantastic photographic opportunity go by, so I headed out to snap a few pictures of the crashing waves. Little did I know I would unsuspectingly end up being dragged into the sea by a
Here’s a picture of the late Christopher Hitchens. This was snapped at the Sheldonian Theatre in 2010. One might have disagreed with his harsh and direct ways, but it’s hard not to appreciate his honesty and strength until his very last days. Below I reproduce the first page of his memoirs, Hitch-22, in which he described his first memories, which
At long last, I’ve taken a new picture. This evening was particularly cold, at least according to my perception, although I maintain that 2degC should be deemed cold by anyone. Anyway, I was on my way back home from college when I was met by the sight of Jupiter and the moon staring back at me from behind Tom Tower.
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell If you’re thinking that those words were the inspiration behind this photo, then I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you when I say that no, they weren’t.
Right. So basically you haven’t stopped asking for Oxford pictures. I have to admit that the last Oxford-themed photo was posted quite a while back; in fact, now that I check, it’s been over two months since the last one. So here’s an Oxford picture for you. Again, I’m afraid this one was taken a few weeks ago (alas, the
Here is another picture from Madrid, taken around a month ago whilst I was visiting the city for an ELIXIR meeting. Alas, I have a whole album of pictures from the trip which has to be uploaded at some point, but time remains scarce. For the time being, enjoy this one – and happy weekend to all!
I have to start off this post by apologizing to all of you loyal followers of this blog for my lack of uploads over the past few days – and indeed weeks. Time has been incredibly scarce and even the photos I am uploading today were actually snapped a couple of months back. However, I think that the atmosphere of
Here’s a quick post of a picture took in Madrid, where I’m currently attending an ELIXIR (Early Universe Exploration with NIRSpec) meeting. NIRSpec is an instrument built by the European Space Agency (ESA) that will go on board the NASA/ESA James Webb Space telescope (JWST). I will try and upload some more pictures when I find the time. In the
There is no need to explain the motivation for this picture to any of the blog’s visitors, I’m sure. Let’s say that today’s news item was too big to go unrecorded in some way by my camera. At this point, we’ll simply have to wait until we either see this result confined to the annals of short-lived stories or watch
Here are some pictures taken in Berlin during a conference (on the early universe) which I’m participating in. If you want to learn more about the subject matter of the conference, then click here.
So, right now I’m situated at more Southern latitudes. To be more precise, I’m on an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea called Ischia (which lies just off Naples) for an international conference on ELTs (Extremely Large Telescopes). If you are interested in the subject matter of the conference itself, then click here.
It is perhaps quite ironic that very often I realize what a privilege it is to be studying at this place only when I’m looking at the pictures. And that always reminds me that sometimes we forget how lucky we are.
This is precisely what I need right now. But since I’m tied to my desk, I’ll have to do with a picture. (This was taken a while back in Noordwijk in the Netherlands.)
Around this time last year, I was back home in Gozo observing the Perseids meteor shower with some friends of mine. This year I did not manage to see any Perseids from cloudy Oxford, so instead here’s an astronomically themed picture taken a few weeks ago.
Seeing that currently there’s so much excitement about the last Harry Potter movie I thought I’d upload an appropriately themed picture of the Great Hall of Christ Church, the interior of which was replicated in studio for the shooting of the films.
A picture taken a while back. Unfortunately, I’m swamped with too much work at the moment so I haven’t been up to much photography lately. However there are plenty of pictures which I took over the past few weeks and which I haven’t yet uploaded. So expect them to trickle over the coming few days until I get back to shooting new scenes!
A snapshot taken during a walk in Christ Church meadow, which served as a nice break from programming and scripting. As the sun began to set behind the trees, it provided some nice lighting on these haystacks, which happen to be amongst my favourite photographic subjects.
This is a set of photos taken during an international conference on the high redshift universe, titled “New Horizons for High Redshift” which was held at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge between the 25th and 29th of July, 2011.
So, I’m up in Durham for a galaxy formation conference at the moment. Over 350 astronomers working in this field are to be found in just this one small town. And while here, I’m trying to take as many pictures as I can. It’s not that I’m having lots of opportunities since the weather has been pretty bleak, but I
So here is one picture out of many which I took in Christ Church meadow this evening as the sun began to set.
So, lately I have been doing more street photography. When I get some time these days, I head out for a walk in the city centre simply to take pictures of life as it unfolds. And when you stay in a corner for hours on end, silently observing people as they hustle and bustle through a busy street, you start
Whenever I point the lens at people lost in their own thoughts, I can’t help but agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson. I can see no more of the thoughts, as a photographer, than anyone else can. This is indeed one photographic subject that remains always hidden from the lens, no matter how powerful it is. Yet we can get a
Here are some pictures of the hidden side of Christ Church – the parts of college that are closed to the public (and for the most part to members of the college too). These pictures were taken during a recent insider’s tour of college. This collection of twelve images which I truly treasure should help you get an idea of
Here is a snapshot of a very fleeting moment – a picture which will hopefully serve the purpose of showing you that scenes such as this one can indeed still be encountered in today’s modern world. It does not get much more Oxford than this.
The title says it all really. The only thing I will add is that it was a fantastic experience which shall never be forgotten.
This is a picture taken quite a long time ago; I snapped it when I was back home last December and came across it just now whilst I was going through the denizens of pictures I’ve taken over the past few months – an immensely satisfying exercise that always turns up a few forgotten surprises. So this is for all
Right, for the first time ever in the history of this blog, I am posting two unrelated pictures on the same day. The thing is that I’ve just been in the college study room and couldn’t help notice this cute little cow busy at work. Now, let me make one thing clear. No part of this image has been set
What do you do on a rainy Saturday night? You wait at a window sill with you camera in hand for about an hour, until someone walks in front of a car that happens to be facing in your direction so that you get a blurred silhouette against the shiny ground that adds interest to your composition. Well, at least
Today’s picture takes us back to Noordwijk in the Netherlands. After a day-long meeting at the European Space Agency we headed out for dinner at a lovely restaurant overlooking the beach. I confess I was considerably distracted from my food all the time, as I watched the sun slowly setting beyond the horizon. Then, when least expected, three horses came
I haven’t uploaded a new picture here in a while. But I see that all you loyal followers of my blog kept visiting daily. So here is a new picture for you. This snapshot of the Radcliffe Camera was taken some time ago on a late afternoon. It’s not common for Radcliffe Square to be nearly deserted, so this presented
I know. As soon as you read the title of this post you probably thought “The Sheldonian… again?!” But bear with me a moment. I invite you to look again at the pictures of this place which I’ve posted in the past – and I am sure that the first thing you’ll notice is that no two photos quite ever
The U.S. first lady, Michelle Obama, visited our college today whilst meeting a group of school girls of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school. As expected, the level of security was super high – and even as members of the college we had an incredible amount of restrictions. But in the end I managed to take a few pictures. I should be
Those of you who follow this blog will know how much of a fan of mottled lighting I am. So here is a picture of this most beautiful of light falling upon a bike in Leiden on a quiet afternoon.
Here is a photo of the Test Centre at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) which I’ve just visited while attending a meeting at ESA ESTEC about the workings of space projects. This building hosts one of the most advanced technology centres I’ve visited so far and hopefully this picture helps to
Hello from the Netherlands! As you’ll have worked out from that greeting message, I’m away from Oxford right now, having hopped over to the Netherlands to attend a meeting at ESA ESTEC in lovely Noorwijk. And here is a snapshot of the beach in Noordwijk. You will most definitely be seeing more pictures from this trip!
Every Oxford student begins and ends their journey here, at the Sheldonian Theatre. The official entry to the university commences with a matriculation ceremony in this place. Throughout their time spent in Oxford, they will surely have attended many debates, concerts and other events held in this most beautiful of Oxford buildings designed by Christopher Wren and built between 1664
It is 1am. You are tired and about to leave for home. But when you’re met with such a scene (and you also happen to suffer from the condition known as obsessive photographic disorder) you simply sigh and resign to the calling. You slowly take out your camera and the reluctant side of you tells you that you’re crazy because
A late afternoon capture of The High Street in Oxford as the sun reflects off familiar buildings like Shepherd & Woodward, The Varsity Shop and Oxford University Press. A traditional black cab can be seen coming from the direction of Carfax tower (considered to be the centre of the city) heading East along the High in the direction of Magdalen
Well, I am all too aware of how cliché it is to take a picture of a bicycle in Oxford with some famous landmark in the background, but hopefully you have not seen this angle before. I hope you enjoy!
