I suppose I should christen this site with something, at least. For those seeing this blog for the first time, my name is David, and I go by Dralnah online. I have a myriad of interests, most of which span audio and video formats, including video games, film, streaming, tabletop RPG, making youtube videos, and most recently, photography. I’d sit down and read more if I was able to cut out more distractions, but as Read more…
I’ve mentioned this trip a few times in passing in other posts; I’ve been planning it basically since April, and it’s taken up a majority of my free time and money since then. I got it in my head I wanted to visit a US national park after the last trip to Niagara Falls was so fun, and eventually decided on exploring Olympic National Park. The plan was as follows: Overall, it was a bit Read more…
Well, it’s been a bit. I’m still here, plugging away and generally far too busy for my own good. The hot weather has been keeping me off of the trails recently, but I did just get a new 35 pound kettlebell to work with to help keep in shape. I’m doing a terrible job at staying consistent at using it, but I do feel a bit stronger, at least. I’ve been experimenting a bit more Read more…
Hello, anybody who’s reading this. As usual, it’s been a while. I’m still my usual self, getting involved in too many hobbies, plans, projects, and such. Photography took a back seat as I got busy and fell out of love with it a bit. The projects of the past few months have been: planning a backpacking around Olympic National Park with a friend of mine (hoping to share pics of that towards the end of Read more…
A few months ago, I noticed that there was a total solar eclipse that was supposed to happen on April 8th, 2024, passing over North America. On further inspection, I happened to find that the path of totality (the area over which one can see the moon totally covering the sun during the eclipse) was passing directly over Niagara Falls. I’d never been to Niagara Falls, nor had I really traveled much on the continent I grew up on. Without knowing all the details, I went ahead and committed to taking that trip, and started asking around to see if people would like to join.
Hello, I hope you’ve all been well. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here; like I mentioned last time, the winter months aren’t particularly my favorite to shoot photos in. I’d much rather stay indoors where it’s warm, especially when there’s 5 inches (~13cm) of snow outside and it’s 15F (~-10C) out. My fingers just kinda stop working when it gets that cold. That being said, my effort has gone elsewhere in the Read more…
The past month or so has been… busy. In case I haven’t mentioned it (or you didn’t read the previous post), since early September I’ve been studying for the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. This is the thing you’re supposed to take after college so you can start working towards becoming a licensed Professional Engineer in the US. Specifically, I’ve been studying to take the Mechanical Engineering exam. It’s kinda the generalist engineering exam and Read more…
So! I went to the Maryland Rennaisance Festival this weekend. For those who aren’t in the know, Rennaisance Festivals (Ren Fests, abbreviated) are exactly that: festivals that celebrate the rennaisance/medieval style of town vaguely and many of the practices that were more common then. The above photo is from a falconry show from a group called Knightwings, who were performing at the festival. They had about 20 birds at the show, with about 7 or Read more…
Photography, like a lot of art, tends to look really polished and wonderful from what actually gets shown; beautiful pictures, very clean and well-made behind the scenes videos, and social media feeds filled with portfolio-worthy shots week after week. Reality seldom mirrors this. This past week I went out on three separate days for photographs, took over one hundred, and may not have gotten a single photograph that could go into a portfolio. Not to Read more…