Quick post and run today. When one thinks of Maine, the first thing that comes to mind are lobsters (or in New England speak, Lobstahs). The lobster industry is one of Maine's primary sources of income from the agricultural sector. One cannot travel up and down the coast of Maine without spotting lobster huts and lobster cages. This particular image is from Bernard, Maine just outside of Acadia National Park. It was early in the evening when the shadows were beginning to lengthen and the wind was really blowing. Unfortunately, there were no lobsters in sight and so we had to settle for a lobster-less dinner.
Grand Mural
It is very interesting what your eyes can capture when you are paying close attention to your surrounding. This image from Grand Central Station in New York is a prime example of this. I have walked through the Park Avenue entrance leading to the station so many times that I have lost count. For those of you who have never visited the station, this entrance is a long corridor that has stores on either side as well as a large number of kiosks before leading to the main floor of the station. When I visited the Station in June on a photo workshop, I took my time examining the area and noticed this wonderful old mural on the ceiling of the corridor. I am sure I must have seen this before but never really took notice of it. As can be seen in this image, the details in this mural are quite incredible. I haven't been able to find out any information about the mural, but from the scenes depicted in it, it looks to be original to the station, which might suggest that it dates to the early 1900's. Regardless of it's age, it is a wonderful masterpiece that millions of people walk under without noticing it.
Shadows on the Wall
On my first visit to Monument Valley in 2005, I captured one of my favorite images of the park that was featured in this previous post. On my more recent visit to the Valley in May, I wanted to capture a similar image but more focused on that great tree that just jumps out of the landscape. The timing of my visit was late in the evening when the setting sun was beginning to cast long shadows. As I began to compose the image, I decided to take advantage of these shadows and include the tree and it's shadow on the glowing rock. I thought the great color contrast between tree and the orange rock contributes to the feel of the image.
Walk of Terror
I know that the title of this blog post is probably a bit dramatic, but unless you have visited and spent time at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, you don't know how eerie it feels there. Walking around this immense place and seeing the small cells and peeling walls, I can't help but think what it must have been like being a prisoner there. I can only imagine the terror I would feel walking down this corridor to my cell for the first time. While the conditions were probably not as run down when the penitentiary actually housed prisoners, the place must have been so dreary, at least in my imagination. I think if there is not a "scared straight" program that takes troubled youths through the penitentiary, there should be.
Windmill Relics
Wow, I can't believe that it has been over three weeks since I last posted. Between the Labor Day weekend, two fantasy football drafts and a two week vacation to Europe, there has been little time and very limited internet access to post. But now I am back and raring to go. Our trip to Europe consisted of a river cruise from Amsterdam to Lucerne along the Rhine River. Being veterans of ocean cruising, it was a nice change to see Europe in a more relaxed fashion. Our first stop was in the Netherlands. When one thinks of the Netherlands, windmills and tulips are the first things that come to mind. I had visions of seeing windmills everywhere along the countryside but learned that windmills are quickly becoming relics. At their peak, there were over 10,000 windmills in the Netherlands. Today there are only about 1,000 still standing with many no longer working.
In order to see some real, working windmills, we took a tour outside of Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans, an open air conservation area and museum. There along the banks of the Zaan River, the museum has six working windmills where there used to be more than 1,000. This image shows three of them (left to right), "De Zoeke"'(an oil mill built in 1672); "De Bonte Hen" (an oil mill built in 1693) and the youngster of the group, "De Gekroonde Poelenburg" (a saw mill built in 1869).
Run, Forrest, Run
Those who regularly follow my blog know of my fascination with lighthouses. I am not sure exactly why. Maybe because they are quickly becoming relics of the past with the advancement of GPS electronics or because they are often built in some wonderful location or maybe because most of them have stories of sunken boats and how they were built to save lives. Whatever the reason, whenever I travel, I always am on the lookout for them. On this particular trip to Maine, we had stayed in Camden and were on our way south. Rather than hop on the interstate, I chose to hug the rugged Maine coast, stopping at lighthouses along the way. When we stopped at this particular lighthouse, the Marshall Point Lighthouse on Port Clyde, it looked so familiar even though I hadn't been there before. Then I read a sign in the museum and it came back to me. The light was featured in the movie "Forrest Gump" (one of my favorites). In the movie, Forrest starts on a 3-year run across the country and back. When Forrest hits the east coast, he stops at a lighthouse (the Marshall Point Lighthouse), turns around and starts running to the west coast.
Want a Haircut?
Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is a mecca for Urbex photography though it is a historical site and museum. The penitentiary was built in 1829 and continued operations until as recently as 1971 (hard to believe the amount of decay since then). When the building was erected, it was the largest and most expensive public structure ever constructed, quickly becoming a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide. One of the revolutionary intentions of the time was the idea that inmates were to be reformed rather than be punished (thus the word penitentiary rather than prison). In fact, the warden was legally required to visit every inmate every day as a form of rehabilitation. Two of the more famous inmates were Al Capone and Willie Sutton. This image is of one of the barber chairs that still can be found in the building. The urban decay is evident on the walls along with the algae growing down the back wall.
Basin Flow
A great place to visit if you are ever driving through the White Mountains in New Hampshire is Franconia Notch State Park. One of the easy to get to attractions in the park is "The Basin". The basin was created over thousands of years by rushing water from a waterfall, which has eroded the rock into a smooth, circular cave-like formation. It looks like a granite pothole of about 20 feet. The setting is very beautiful and relaxing and is accessible via a short hike on a paved trail. When photographing the Basin, a Neutral Density filter is required to get that silky smooth water flow contrasting against the stark rock. As can be seen in this image of a cascade leading to the basin, shooting in the fall adds some color in the form of fallen leaves.
Rustic Getaway
Earlier this year, I posted this image of the Fort Wilderness Lodge from my first trip to Disney World in over 10 years. We had been invited to Disney by very good friends to stay with them at their timeshare. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Disney Vacation Club, some of them are separate buildings that are adjacent to an already established resort. While they are not as big as the resort itself, they are still pretty impressive in their own right. This image is of the ceiling of the one attached to the Fort Wilderness Lodge. As is the Disney fashion, you could imagine yourself somewhere in Wyoming instead of Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
The Hand of God
I am sure that everyone with an imagination has looked up toward the sky and imagined all kind of different "images" in cloud formations. This same imagination has been applied to the many of the mountains, rock formations, buttes and mesas on the ground. Nowhere is this more true than in the American Southwest, especially Monument Valley. Almost all of the structures in the Valley have a descriptive name and it is often unknown whether the name was originally created by early settlers, the Navajo people or someone else. Mentioning names like "The Mittens", the "Rain God Mesa" or "The Three Sisters" to people who have visited the Valley will conjure up great memories. Our recent trip to the Valley was my wife Carol's first trip there. Although I told her how beautiful and stunning it was, it wasn't until she saw it that she understood my love for it. She was fascinated by the names of the structures and was trying to memorize them all. The image in this post is of a rock formation known as "The Hand of God" whose fingers can be seen on the right side of the formation.
Iron Spaceship
I commuted to New York City on and off for about five years when I lived in Pennsylvania (a long train ride) and then again when I moved to Connecticut. All of my visits there never took me to the location of the famous Flatiron Building. I always wanted to visit and photograph it but never had the chance. My first opportunity was this past March when I headed to the Big Apple with friends to catch a Bruce Springsteen concert. The plans were to visit Eataly (an incredible Italian market) for an afternoon lunch. Eataly is located right across the street from the Flatiron Building. When I got there I knew that whatever I shot was going to be a challenge as the mid-day sun was harsh and anything I shot would be barely passable. My only thought was to place the sun behind the building and shoot a hand-held 7-shot bracket to bring out the features of the building. While the resulting image is not perfect, the building reminded be of the shape of a spaceship readying for take-off.
Awaiting Boats
At the end of the Akamina Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, is the secluded Cameron Lake. Often overlooked by its two more famous national parks to the north (Banff and Jasper) and the adjoining Glacier National Park in Montana, Waterton is a hidden gem. Being overshadowed as a park adds a great laid back atmosphere to its wonderful and compelling attractions. For example, this image of Cameron Lake was taken in the middle of the summer around 10 am. There were only a few people at the lake and, as can be seen by these empty boats, one could just walk up to the dock, hop in and have the lake almost all to themselves. Try doing that in Glacier. The backdrop of the mountains make this such a wonderful place to spend time relaxing and taking in Mother Nature. If you haven't visited there yet, make sure to add it to your next trip to Montana or Alberta.
Path to the Light II
This image is from the archives that I recently found on CDs. It was taken during our cruise of the British Isles in 2007. I probably passed over it then as my processing skills were not great. I knew there was a good image there but wasn't sure if I could pull it out. Five years later with my skills improved, I knew I could do something with it. The subject is the Brough of Birsay, which is an uninhabited tidal island just off the coast of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. The island is accessible on foot at low tide. It is separated from the mainland by approximately 800 feet from where I composed this image. The weather was rainy and overcast and I was intrigued by the deep green colors and the worn path from the old house to the unnamed lighthouse.
This is another example of seeing parts of the world for the first time. I never had a desire to visit the Orkney Islands but it turned out to be one of my favorite stops on the trip.
Cape May Light
This image is from the southernmost part of the Jersey Shore in Cape May. The Cape May Lighthouse was built in 1859 and continues to provide light to the cape. The light is the third of its kind although the first two would be under water today due to beach erosion. The lighthouse tower is about 157 feet tall. The walls were designed to withstand winds several times above hurricane force. The lighthouse is owned by the state of New Jersey. This image was taken from the grounds of the lighthouse shortly after dawn. The light gave the clouds some wonderful color that acted as a nice backdrop to the white lighthouse tower.
Sandstone Elephant
Back from a short respite from the blog. My first trip to Monument Valley was in 2005 and I wanted to make sure that I captured an image of Tear Drop Arch. I had seen it on the cover of a Grand Circle travel magazine and was captivated by it. The resulting shot was the one in this post. The arch is actually outside of the park on Navajo Tribal land and one can only get to it by hiring a Navajo guide. It was quite the spiritual experience.
This past May, I revisited Tear Drop to recapture the shot. As we left the guide's jeep and walked up toward the arch, he told me that if you looked closely at the scene, you can see the "Elephant" in the sandstone with the left side of the arch forming the head and trunk. I was so focused on the arch itself that I had never noticed the shape. Suffice to say, focus is all well and good but make sure to step back and take everything in.
Side Street
A quick post and run today as I am headed off to a sunflower farm in New Jersey. This image was taken in Portland, Maine last September after we had visited the Victoria Mansion. Located on the southern part of the city, we were headed down to the main drag and I spotted these row homes. Their unique colors just jumped out at me. Have a great weekend everyone.
Yukon Bound
The port of Skagway, Alaska is a popular stop for cruise ships and one of its star attractions is the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Given my love of both trains and mountains, I Was really excited to travel over the mountains to the Yukon. The train climbs almost 3,000 feet in just a short 20 miles and, as a result, has severe grades. The train travels along many winding turns that run along the edge of the cliffs. Before reaching the Yukon, it will negotiate numerous tunnels, bridges and trestles. This image, taken from the back of the rail car, is indicative of the terrain that the train travels through. The waters surrounding Skagway can be seen in the distance as the train approaches the Canadian border.
Venetian Gothic
On any visit to Venice, one can't help being captivated by it's architecture, especially the ones that were built during the Gothic Period in the 14th century. This architecture was unique from the rest of Europe in that it was far more intricate in style and design. One of the other distinguishing characteristics was how lightweight the buildings were constructed. This was done to better provide stability the instability of the city due the canals. This image is of St Mark's Basilica in the Piazza San Marco. The details in the Basilica are very indicative of the Gothic style.
Rugged Reflection
The drive north on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper National Park passes a number of lakes that are reachable from the road. One of my favorites is Bow Lake which can be seen from the parkway. The Crowfoot Glacier hangs suspended over the lake. We pulled into the parking lot of the Num-Ti-Jah Lodge and got out to stretch our legs. Walking around the property, I took a number of shots including this one. It was taken in mid-morning and the sun was starting to lose it’s soft light. The hard light helped highlight the ruggedness of both the mountain and it’s reflection.
Inviting
Last week's focus on New England left out the Green Mountain State of Vermont. Today will will finish our trip through the region by visiting a farm located in the heart of Vermont's beautiful Northeast Kingdom. The Northeast Kingdom has received numerous awards including "Best of New England"by Yankee Magazine and, looking at this scene, you can understand why. The fall season had begun with the leaves displaying wonderful orange color. Contrasting with the foliage was the beautiful green lawn which still retailed its color. The scene was so inviting that you could envision yourself sitting in the lawn chairs for hours absorbing in the beauty of the fall.