Sunday, October 25, 2009

Tripod Work

Most of my picture taking is hand held. These are at places with a lot of light. Mostly outside. Fast moving people on the street. I don't often have the luxury of using a tripod. And I don't really like the overhead of carrying one around, although I do have a little tiny mini one that I occasionally don't use either.

But, I had an assignment to photograph the inside of a fabulous old church. I don't usually care much for churches, but this one was kind of special. It was built in 1914 and was just incredibly interesting with its stain glasses and multiple balconies. I had the place completely to myself.

I was left to my own devices pretty much for lighting and had to hunt down where the switches were. I finally found an electric panel in a back room. But, they control only a little bit of light. This meant, that I would need the tripod that I had brought along with me to take time exposures of the interior. This would be the first time I used it in years.

Even though it was very dark inside, taking these long shots made it look fully lit. Each shot would take 20 or 30 seconds in addition to the time to setup. But, it helped challenge me to think about the pictures differently. (I'm not usually that patient when I shoot).

Because it was pouring rain outside, I will need to take exteriors on a different trip. I won't need a tripod (but just may bring one anyway).

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Farm's View

When I was a kid, every year we would go up to the summer home my grandparents had in the Catskill mountains in NY. We called it simply, "The Farm". Above is a painting of how it looked in my memory. The Farm was sold long ago after my grandparents passed away, but recently we went back to take a look.

The house has now been greatly modernized primarily as it is now inhabited by a wealthy family. While it still resembles the original building build in the 1800s, it has been enlarged and modernized. Several wings have been added as well as a new barn down the road a bit. This is it now:

The original horse hitching post remains where it always was right in front, looking much like it did in the painting.
What is also unchanged is the look across the street. A magnificent view of a slate wall, field, and distant mountains. I remember the view would change daily based on the weather. The focal point always was a tower built on the primary mountain called Point Lookout. After a while, the tower burned down but the main building was still visible way up on the mountain. Point Lookout remains an Inn and has a view of 5 states. It was fascinating how the view could appear so many different ways.
Our visit came on a rainy foggy day. Sadly, the mountains could not be seen. But, I still had memories and the view here was still gorgeous. I am happy that it has been kept up and improved over the years.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Tour Group Underhead


A rainy day. I turned around to look outside from my office window on the 32nd floor. Straight down was a tour group which I spotted by the clustering of colored umbrellas. I guess my windows need washing, but still an interesting perspective.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Neon

Now, as the days are getting shorter, its getting dark when I get out from work. While there's still some light, the street lights and store signs pop a bit. So, I'm noticing the neon signs much more.

This shot could have been me, looking at old baseball cards in the window of a sports card store. I call this picture, "Memorabilia Desires".

This picture is self-explanatory.

For this one, I pointed at the sign and just kept shooting as people came by. I was looking for a mix of people, or some interesting positioning. I took about 40 shots. There was one of a huge portly guy, which would have been a nice juxtaposition with the deli food, but it was a bit fuzzy. This is the one I liked the best.