Introduction to Belgium/Delft Trip

I'm counting the hours to my eventual departure to Belgium and eventually Delft! These are very excited times for a great opportunity to learn more about European bicycle facilities, which is precisely the reason for the trip.

My background is as follows: California transplant, '09 OSU grad in Mechanical Engineering, '11 PSU grad in Civil Engineering, Transportation, and have been working at Kittelson & Associates, Inc for the past year, and what a year it has been. 

After a year of Kittelson working as a transportation consultant I desire to expand my horizon beyond the immediate workplace. Without a doubt the skills I've learned at Kittelson have given me perspective on how and why facilities are built. This trip will help aid me on why we do it the American (or Portland) way and why Europeans do it their way. 

The reason behind their way could be from many different reasons: financial, space constraints, political will, etc. Furthermore, understanding the history behind their construction will help build context on how they ended up where they are now. Maybe (I hope) there are ways their lessons can be transferred to the American context. 

One of my personal goals is to construct compelling photos showing a 'human' vision of the European urban/rural landscape. Key to the vision is illustrating landscapes as one would see with their human eye. I think panoramic photos will help the viewer see wider and gain a better perspective of what they are actually looking at. See an example below.

This picture illustrates one of the many traffic circles throughout Seattle, Washington. There is nothing particularly special about this traffic circle, but one can see a wider field of view than regular photographs. I hope to create more of these so a viewer can 'be immersed' in the landscapes of Europe, and of better quality!

I'm excited for this trip and opportunity to look at Benelux with a new lens!