My website, cdcoleman.com first went live in April 2006 to serve a fairly simple, straight HTML website, as a repository for my capstone projects in undergrad, and so that I’d have a somewhat professional looking e-mail address when I started looking for a job.
Though I have changed web hosts a few times, I have kept the site running more or less continuously, adapting it over the years to whatever the need at the time may be. Part of the time it served as a photographic portfolio, when I dabbled in pseudo-professional photography. As I decided to relegate photography to a hobby and pursue graduate school, the website took a more professional tone; however, a considerable amount of my photography remains.
This is my second site based on WordPress. Rather than doing extensive customization, I am running a pretty basic variant of the stock Twenty Seventeen theme, which you can find more about here: https://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/some-improvements-on-5-hacks-for-twenty-seventeen-theme. It works well, and serves my needs.
Photography
I am proud of the fact that all of the feature photos on this site (which constitute the bulk of graphics on this site) are my own work. While they come from a variety of different cameras and lenses, most were taken with a Canon 5D mk II using either Canon 50mm f/1.4, 24-105mm f/4L, or 70-200mm f/2.8L lenses. Most of the images used do not necessarily related to instruction or to my professional or academic interests, but are merely interesting images that are meaningful to me because of the experience that surrounded them. While most people may not care, I feel compelled to share more about those images here.
Taken during a 2009 trip to the Western Cape of South Africa, this is a photo of the sprawling city of Cape Town, South Africa from the top of Table Mountain. Signal Hill is the prominent hill cutting into the urban sprawl (Lion’s Head is obscured here). Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during apartheid, is visible in the photo above Signal Hill in Table Bay. You cannot see it in this version of the photo, but also visible was the then-under-construction Cape Town Stadium prior in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Also taken during a 2009 trip to the Western Cape of South Africa, this is a photo from a drive between Cape Town and Cape Point. It has a different, but pleasing, look due to the use of a tilt-shift lens and the motion from the vehicle.
Channeling my inner-Sheldon-Cooper, I have a tendency to photograph flags – particularly in foreign countries. These flags of the City of Montreal and Canada were flying from the Mont Royal Chalet observation area. Fun fact – this version of the Montreal flag has been replaced by an updated version in 2017 to reflect the heritage of indigenous peoples still living in the area and in province of Quebec in general.
Again, channeling my inner-Sheldon-Cooper. This South African flag was flying somewhere in the city of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa.
I would not be a very good American without including an American flag in my collection. This American flag was photographed flying outside of the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – about a block from Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center.
The oldest Roman Catholic cathedral in the United States, the Saint Louis Cathedral-Basillica is perhaps one of the most photographed landmarks in Louisiana. The wider shot of Jackson Square and the statue commemorating Andrew Jackson’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans is as instantly recognizable as New Orleans as the Statue of Liberty and New York and the Eiffel Tower and Paris. From years of several visits to New Orleans, I could dedicate a volume to photos just of Jackson Square. This is one of my favorites, owning to the perspective being one not typically captured.
This shot ranks as one of my all-time favorite pieces of my own work. Captured during a weekend stay in Boston in 2015 prior to graduating from my Master’s program, this was taken at night near the Hyatt Boston Harbor (near Logan Airport) using a tripod and long exposures.
Not nearly as interesting as the Boston shot, but still a nice skyline shot of Montreal across the Saint Lawrence River from Parc Jean-Drapeau.
What would be another iconic establishing shot in film, this photo was taken from the pathways around the Potomac Tidal Basin in Washington D.C. Clearly visible on the left is the towering Washington Monument with the Jefferson Memorial on the banks of the Tidal Pool to the right. The only thing missing are Cherry Blossoms – an unfortunate side-effect of visiting in December.