Barrett Davis
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barrettdavis.bsky.social
Barrett Davis
@barrettdavis.bsky.social
350 followers 150 following 200 posts
Biosensors and Computational Systems Bio • PhD Candidate • Proponent for cleaner air • Here for science and photography
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barrettdavis.bsky.social
At the heart of Purdue University's campus, the Engineering Fountain (and totally not the Atari logo) sublimates into brilliant white light, as red auroral curtains dance overhead

#Photography #BlueSkyArtShow #Bright #Aurora #LongExposure
A long exposure photograph of Purdue University's engineering fountain, shaped like an Atari logo, against red curtains of aurora overhead.
November 15, 2025 at 8:54 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
A long walk turned into a much longer walk doubling back home for a tripod, then ambling around my university's campus for a couple of hours.

#Photography #Aurora #LongExposure
A satellite is silhouetted against striated bands of greens reds, yellows and purple aurorae punctuated by bright white stars. A long exposure shot of trees standing against bright pink, green and purple aurora overhead. A dark path snakes along the tree-line. A panoramic crop of students looking up at the aurora, each holding cameraphones to take long exposure photos to share with friends and family. A 1/4 s exposure is used, freezing most students in place, as they stand still to take their own shots. A scooter lights the scene in red and blue light. A non-de noised shot of a pink to blue/green aurora gradient against silhouetted tree branches, their leaves freshly fallen with the past week's cold snap.
November 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
A local spin on Iceland's "Sun Voyager" sculpture, featuring a university crew team's boat rack in the foreground, during the first few minutes of this past week's solar activity.

Stacking my phone, keys and wallet beneath the lens worked in a pinch as another #CraftyTripod

#Photography #Aurora
A long exposure photograph taken from the ground of a boat rack in front of red and green aurora over head.
November 15, 2025 at 8:32 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
One of the first few serendipitous shots taken out on a walk during this Tuesday's burst of solar activity.

It's rare that alerts of "possible aurorae" have materialized into atmospheric fantasia near me, so ended up using a bollard as another #CraftyTripod for the year.

#Photography #Aurora
A long exposure photograph of a bridge, with multiple lampposts yellow lights streaking across a smooth river flow. Traffic lights are visible streaking left to right as is the faint green glow of aurora overhead.
November 15, 2025 at 8:27 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Coming back to this past week's #aurorae photos with a devil on both shoulders
Two panel meme from 2001's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Top Text: "After all... why not?" Bottom Text: "Why shouldn't I crank the saturation?". The bottom panel is unnaturally saturation boosted.
November 15, 2025 at 7:45 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Sure, ice scraping's a pain and biking now requires gloves, but we're making the most of the season's first snowfall

#photography #winter #snow
A panoramic photo of a large (45 ft / 14 m diameter) metal sun sculpture casting cool blue light onto fresh fallen snow. Research buildings glow yellow-green in the background.
November 12, 2025 at 12:43 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Also took some photos in ultraviolet, to varying degrees of success in humid air and under cloudy skies #uv #uvp
A black and white photo taken with an ultraviolet filter stack on a full-spectrum camera. Protesters stream down a bridge holding signs and chanting. Skin is rendered in darker gray tones. The sky is blown out. A blackened white ultraviolet photo of a protester in an alien costume. A black and white ultraviolet photo of protesters holding up flags marching beneath the courthouse in Lafayette. A team of police observe from the courthouse balcony. A color ultraviolet photograph of protesters crossing the pedestrian bridge after most of the march had dispersed. Taken from a parking garage. The scene looks nearly two-toned between cyan concrete and dark cherry clothing and foliage.
October 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
... as well as inflatable costumes galore. In a nod to the 2017's Women's March and ongoing protests against ICE in Portland, some protesters also sported crocheted frog eye hats (not pictured).
A protester dressed in a pink pig costume holds up a white sign with sharpie'd text reading "Hoosier hogs stand with Portland Frogs". Two protesters dressed in inflatable panda costumes stand and smile for camera while holding signs that read "The only thing I kneel for is bamboo!" and "Pandas don't do thrones". A protester in an inflatable green alien costume stands for camera holding a sign that reads "The constitution guarantees due process for everyone. Even aliens." A woman in an inflatable unicorn costume, holding a "NOPE" flag jumps to high five a protester in an inflatable t-rex costume holding a US flag.
October 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Numbers easily into the thousands with live music, dancing, and plenty of colorful signs...
A man looks into camera while holding up a sign that reads "STOP FASCISM" in red text on a white background. A man stands in a three-quarter turn to camera holding a cardboard sign that reads "Trump can't find Indiana on a MAP anyway". A panoramic crop of a police officer looking onto protesters below from atop a parking garage. A pair of binoculars is perched on the wall. A low angle photo of a woman looking on with a smile at a stream of protesters walking the opposite direction. The Lafayette courthouse is visible in the background.
October 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
No Kings protest in Greater Lafayette, Indiana on October 18th, 2025 #NoKings #Photography
A child holds a sign that reads "No Kings in America" on the way to the start of the march. An event organizer speaks into a megaphone. A US flag is visible in the background, as is the Lafayette courthouse and a protester holding a crossed out crown poster. Protestors march holding an "Indivisible" banner. Dozens of signs are held high, and some people are looking directly into camera. A zoomed out image of the protest as thousands of people walk onto the pedestrian bridge between West Lafayette and Lafayette.
October 18, 2025 at 11:22 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Another couple from this past summer. Taken about an hour and 580 m / 1900 ft in vertical elevation apart. Much easier juggling two cameras on the way down than up!
A color infrared view from atop a 1000 ft (300m) cliff looking over the waters of Lake Superior below. Pink watermelon trees contrast cobalt blue waters and charcoal bluffs in an almost two-toned final image. A row boat washed onto a sandy beach around twilight, with creamy sunset colors still reflected in background clouds and water. Sail boats dot the inlet behind the row boats' shallow depth of focus.
October 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Thanks, Chris!

I shot these with a 1.5 mm Tangsinuo QB39 (BG39) and a 1.5 mm UG11 (ZWB1) filter from Globalelec. Then applied a channel mix for the halloween-ish colors.

I haven't yet tried it, but since the same process renders SPF red, I imagine it would make for a dramatic beach scene.
An "unedited" panoramic photo of a pickup truck with a canoe mounted to the bed in front of structural supports for an unfinished building. A processed panoramic photo of a pickup truck with a canoe mounted to the bed in front of structural supports for an unfinished building.
October 13, 2025 at 10:36 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
A welcome surprise to see this heron stalk into place while out crossing our pedestrian bridge #infrared #photography #nature
A color infrared photograph of a heron standing at the edge of a highlight-blown river sandbar in translucent steel blue waters. Super saturated watermelon trees contrast against the sand bar and a more muted polarized sky.
October 13, 2025 at 1:59 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Taken along the US-Canadian border. Fun fact: so long as you go over in a barrel, import restrictions don't apply here.

#IR #LongExposure #WaterfallWednesday #Minnesota
A long exposure color infrared photo of a waterfall. Wispy white water cascades over wet black rocks. Pink leaves poke out of the bottom of frame while carmine trees stand above the falls. A blue sky is just in the top of frame.
October 9, 2025 at 1:44 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Super luminous blues and Wood effected yellows, give a child-like, sugar-high-saturated preview to autumn

#photography #bluetue #infrared
A color infrared photograph of a city block corner, in shades of blue and yellow
October 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Shots you text your parents like "Relax! Nobody got hurt." Taken for effect along the rim of Goosenecks State Park.

#Utah #Photography #Relax #BlueSkyArtShow
A shot of a person holding onto the side of a boulder in hiking boots. A roughly 300 m (1000 ft) drop in the background gives the impression there's a very steep fall. In reality, it is a very rocky, 2 m (6 ft) drop.
October 4, 2025 at 6:45 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Taking in some new sights while visiting Notre Dame's campus last week with my infrared camera in tow
A high-contrast color infrared photo of a light brick building with a cross atop it. The bottom half of the image is blotted out with inky black shadow. Bright reflections off the building stand out against a dark sky and crimson grassy patch. A color infrared photo of a small building atop a beach and across a lake. The building is framed by leafy silhouettes, giving the impression it's being stumbled upon through a wooded path. A color infrared photo of a church or some similarly large building ornamented with crosses. The building is framed by crimson trees and set against a steel blue sky. A blue and yellow color infrared panorama of Notre Dame's campus, as seen across a lake. A power plant is visible on the left in opposition to the campus proper on the right. The image has a dark, two-toned appearance.
October 1, 2025 at 7:43 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
It's hard to believe some people still call it the "Sears Tower"... because it's not. That's on S. Wacker, which is about another mile west and regrettably out of frame.

#Chicago #Photography #BelieveInFilm
A photograph of the Chicago skyline as seen from the North end of the city along the lakefront trail at Fullerton Beach. People relax in pairs along a green lawn at the very bottom of the shot, as the city rises in the background into a cloudless sun. Taken in the late afternoon.
September 28, 2025 at 11:54 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Another favorite from this past winter’s road trip out west, taken along an unplanned detour up the side of Colorado’s Blanca Peak

#TheRoad #BlueSkyArtShow
#IR #Landscape #Mountains
A color infrared panorama of a road disappearing off a mountain horizon into a thicket of carmine colored juniper scrub and a great sandy basin in the middle ground, before rising into Kit Carson in the background. Puffy white clouds and blue skies give an air of normalcy to the otherwise otherworldly aerochrome adjacent colors.
September 27, 2025 at 11:27 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
No longer content just listening to them rattle around in the glovebox, I finally got a few rolls of film from back in December developed and scanned.

#Colorado #Roadtrip #Nature #Landscape #Scape #Mountains #BelieveInFilm
A landscape photo of snow covered mountains looking over a lake in the middle distance. Yellow brown scrub covers the foreground. An overcast sky adds to the contrast of the mountains. A slightly different angle of snow covered mountains looking over a lake in the middle distance. Yellow brown scrub covers the foreground. An overcast sky adds to the contrast of the mountains. A bridge cuts across cold, inky water surrounded by white snow cover and patches of dry yellow and black brush. The bridge from afar, with more mountainous bluffs visible in the distance. Light dappling through the cloud cover illuminates one bluff in gold agains the others.
September 27, 2025 at 3:22 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Letting off steam

#ir #infrared #photography #nature
A color infrared photo of a wooded field. A tall conifer in the foreground is set in silhouette, as is the field below. Just on the horizon, a red band of sunset lighting delimits the shadowy field from an aqua sky. A tree further in the background is illuminated bright red. Wispy clouds overhead give the illusion that the red tree is smoking or letting off steam.
September 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Two water-loving dogs and their owner, trying his best. A story in four parts.

#street #photography #dogs #fountain
A white dog with black ears and black spot over one eye stands up in a fountain with only his head and paws visible on the lip. A man standing in the fountain tries wrangling his black and white dog up and out of the same fountain. The dog looks to the camera. The man braces against a second white dog jumping into the fountain as the black and white dog stands at his side looking on. With an air of acceptance, the man looks on at his two dogs, both now standing in the fountain, while the spotted dog barks at camera and the white dog sticks its tongue out at the man.
September 22, 2025 at 2:42 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
I usually avoid UV photography (vs UVIF) because I feel like it washes the world out in a cancerous coal-and-cigarette haze.

Still, coming around to appreciate an industrial aspect to it with a bit of IR leak and a channel swap.

#uv #uvp #photography #pano #photowalk
A color UV photograph of a round, shiny, chrome food truck. Windows are rendered opaque black and the white reflective "STOP" on a nearby sign is rendered almost transparent. Green trees turn a crunchy autumnal brown. An oncoming train cuts through dense atmospheric haze. Windows in a nearby carpark are blacked out, and white street lamp bulbs take on a yellow haze. A sickly cool tone washes against vegetal browns. A construction crew leans against a railing, silhouetted in an overcast afternoon sky. Cranes and traffic light arms give a sense of depth. A panoramic photo of a fountain encircled by ramped walkways to a pedestrian bridge. A county capitol building is seen framed by trees on the other side of the bridge, the building mirroring the fountain's jet. Green and yellow-tinged trees are rendered black and orange, as if stained by smoke.
September 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Dipping into memories with this sea-side photo I took alongside wonderful people I hope to see again someday

#BlueSkyArtShow #Summer #Photography #Beach #Kayaking #Greece
A color photo of children paddling a kayak in aqua-teal waters under bright skies while their parents look on from a rocky beach.
September 7, 2025 at 2:55 AM
barrettdavis.bsky.social
Went out to capture the observation tower in the background, but saw an opportunity with the fisher caught in afternoon sun.

#infrared #photography #bnw #lightrays #MinimalMonday
A high contrast black and white infrared photo (475/550/850 nm filter stack) of a fisher standing along a sandy river dune lit with a narrow sunbeam from behind. The reflection off their light colored clothing vs the inky black waters below gives the impression of a two-toned image.
September 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM