a different take

If I had to name the one bridge of which I've seen the most photographs, I'd pick the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. So when I found myself staring the bridge in the eye last week, I wanted to do something different. I had to find a vantage point that others don't often use.

And so I found myself on a pedestrian path almost directly beneath the bridge, holding my camera overhead so that I could clear a construction fence, using my camera's Live LCD to help me frame the shot. A bit of photo-editing -- to eliminate a telephone pole that shot directly up the side of the frame, and to render the image in black-and-white -- and voilà!

one more installment of black-and-white

I took most of these photographs months and months ago (some as long ago as April or May) and only recently developed the rolls. Imagine my excitement as I put three rolls through the chemicals, not knowing what would appear once finished because I had no recollection of when I shot the rolls, or where! I found photographs from New York City, Cape Cod, and Acadia. Here are a few that I scanned and uploaded.


arches on Broadway
Bridges have always fascinated me, appealing to my appreciation of geometry, math, and architecture, not to mention my deep wonder at how these structures support so much weight. I love the repetition of arches into the distance, and I also love the way the small aperture allows for good detail even on the far reaches of the bridge. The cars turning onto this street are heading toward... One can only guess!


preparing for lunch
The dark interior of this Indian restaurant provided an interesting shot, and I remember using the table as a makeshift tripod so that I could use a slower shutter speed. I also remember thinking that the restaurant would soon fill up with hungry patrons, but it never did. Brooke and I were the only ones in there that afternoon.


i'm going to get you with my crab claws!
Yes, definitely weird. I think the photo's title says plenty.


early morning on cadillac
I took this photograph early one morning in June as John and I waited for the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. Although no one else made the hike up, as we did, a number of people waited in their cars on this chilly morning. Those who ventured out ended up backlit by the increasing light, and I captured this group with a crescent moon high above.


pop at hunter's
This is another photo from Acadia, though I took this portrait of Pop much later in the summer, during our August visit and a trip to Hunter's Beach.

a collection of black and white

Ask and ye shall receive. Pop and Martha got me a Holga for Christmas and I immediately popped in some 120 film and began to play. As far as cameras go, this "toy camera" is not very sophisticated, but I'm hoping that it will add some new dimensions to my photography. Plastic lens, fixed focal length (60mm), fixed shutter speed (1/100 sec), fixed aperture (f/11), and the potential for light leaks every which way... nice!

Here, the square frames, slightly washed-out look, and grainy texture all create an atmosphere of mystery. The overcast, foggy day on which I shot these photographs adds a ghostly feel to some of these images, and I think I succeeded in capitalizing on that with the double exposure using the Charles River as a backdrop for a shot of the Olde Irish Alehouse.


A small statue of a boy and girl on a neighbor's lawn. To think that only a few days ago, over a foot of snow hid them from sight. Now, a ring of grass surround them, awaiting the next snowfall.


I took this photograph of the Charles River from Bridge St., on the Dedham-West Roxbury line. It looks so pristine here, white snow having replaced the brown, silty water that normally meets the eye.


My first double exposure, a shot of the Alehouse combined with that of the Charles. There is new meaning here when one says the Alehouse sits on the river. I can't yet identify what makes this image so exciting for me, but there is a sense of motion and transition, of fading out of one scene and into another, as if I'm standing there and panning, first seeing the river and then slowly watching the building come into view.


The layer of fog hugging the ground, coupled with the wide, white expanse with the lone goal sitting in the middle of the field really captured my eye. I tried several angles, some of which included the school building next to this field, but ultimately, I decided on this shot. Now that I can see the photo, I really like the way the vignetting in the corners directs the viewer toward the goal in the frame. And what better image of winter than that of a playing field, grass beneath layers of ice and snow and a goal by itself, players a memory of the past and a thing of the future, but not a reality in the present.

venturing into the world of film

I've done it! I shot a couple of rolls of 35mm black and white film, developed them, and created some contact sheets. Next week, I learn how to enlarge! I don't know how to convey my excitement here(!) without throwing exclamation points left and right, but too many exclamation points just looks stupid. What you see here are not printed photographs but unedited images created from scanned negatives. (Thanks, Todd!)



Getting into the darkroom has been on my list of things to do for a long time. After shooting in digital for so long, it's amazing to pick up a camera and have to do everything manually, including winding the film after every photograph I take. I love handling the film, rolling it myself, and inhaling the chemicals as I bathe the film and bring it into the world. It is through this process that I truly come to understand and appreciate those who describe photography as "creating images," rather than simply "taking photos."



Film photography, as wonderful as it already is, provokes quite a bit of anxiety. Not being able to review each image on an LCD screen means that it may be a while before I see the result of my efforts. Film also carries with it an unspoken need to be frugal. I can't just take as many photographs as I want. Film costs money! And it runs out after 36 frames! Then there is the reality of having to create all the settings and focus manually. Imagine being outside during the winter, trying to take photographs of a fiancée who gets cold very easily, and fumbling around with the camera just to take one photograph...



I've been shooting in manual on my digital camera for a few months now, paying more and more attention to the interplay of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, but nothing makes me learn how they work better than the pressure of shooting in film. I've been recording the lighting conditions, aperture, and shutter speed for each photograph, experimenting a bit with the settings while using the built-in light meter as a guide. Fred Parker's Ultimate Exposure Computer has also been immensely helpful. The goal is to be able to get the correct exposure without the light meter, but I am a long ways off from that!



On another note pertaining to stress, imagine my disappointment when I developed my very first roll last week only to find out that a damaged shutter curtain in the SLR I had inherited rendered my film unexposed and imageless. Yes, 36 photographs down the drain. I had an inkling as I shot that something was wrong, especially as the shutter made more and more weird noises to the point where it stuck and only released when I advanced the film. I took the camera to Nippon Photo Clinic, a highly recommended camera repair store. The man took one look at my camera, shook his head and made a face, and told me to go buy a new camera. But I'm a graduate student with no money!...



See the rest of the album here.

jim's steaks

"Daddy, look! There's another one!" Dressed in pink and snuggled warmly in her father's arms, blond hair blowing in the wind, the three-year-old girl pointed to a taxi that had just pulled up to the curb in front of Jim's. The light rain steadily picked up, yet the prospect of getting drenched did not deter any of us from standing in the line that snaked out the front door of the restaurant and wound itself around the side of the building. In fact, the line continued to lengthen despite the increased precipitation. Jim's famed steak and cheese subs may well have been Odysseus's sirens.





I don't think the little girl anticipated the food as much as the rest of us did, but she became more animated as we inched closer and closer to the door. Still pointing out taxis, her eyes darted from one face to another, soaking in the grease-induced excitement mixed with weather-induced dread. We arrived at the door, crossed its threshold, and... the line continued to snake back and forth inside, offering no immediate reassurance that we would ever have the chance to place our order. Was their food really worth the wait?



I did the only thing I could do to distract myself from the thick air reeking of grilled steak, sweet onions, and peppers: I took photos. Heath cautioned me to be ready for my turn. Know my options and what I want when I get to the counter, else incur the cook's wrath. I rehearsed my choices in my mind: steak, American cheese, peppers, onions. Little by little I moved forward, making faces at the little girl and fielding her brother's curious glances at my camera. I should have offered to let him snap a photo or two, but the thought did not cross my mind then.



When it came my turn to order, the slow-motion of the long wait fast-forwarded to a pace that I did not anticipate. I panicked and forgot my order! Fearing the embarrassment that the cook would lay upon me, I said the first thing that came to mind: provolone. I stuttered the rest, forcing "peppers and onions" from my airless lungs, and as I watched the cook slap several round slices of cheese onto the bun, I quickly realized my mistake: I wanted square cheese.



...more photos of Jim's Steaks and my trip to Philadelphia here

imagination

(click to enlarge in new window)

There's something magical about envisioning a world devoid of color. It forces me to see the patterns, textures, and lights and shadows in my surroundings. Without color, I notice the rough grooves in bark, giving life, personality, and age to the trees they cover; I notice the veins in leaves, running like rivers across a landscape; I notice the hard edge of a ship's mast against a cloudless sky, piercing the stillness as it stands at attention. In people, I feel as if I can see farther into their souls, their deep emotions swirling through my blood. Removing color strips away the protective layers, allowing us to get closer to the source of what gives everything life. It's a different exercise in seeing the world, an exercise that too often we neglect.

I love looking at black and white photos and imagining what colors might inhabit the scene. I start with the probable: green leaves, blue skies, puffy white clouds. But stare at the photograph long enough and new possibilities come to mind. What about a green stop sign, purple swans, and orange sails. Yellow skies, a pink lighthouse, and a flashing blue light at the intersection. My brain stretches in all sorts of directions as I envision a world that doesn't, but certainly could, exist.

It makes me think that we spend too much of our lives rushing to get from one place to the next. We don't stop to see the beauty inherent in the things around us. Having seen something in passing, we rarely stop to examine it. And how often do any of us revisit a setting with the intent of seeing something new in the same subjects?

More photos to follow...

mystic, ct

photos from a recent trip to mystic, ct
see full album here