Eerie

Pennhurst   Asylum,  Spring City, Pennsylvania

On Sunday, I spent part of Father's Day photographing an urbex location in Pennsylvania at a photography workshop put on by Denise Ippolito. The location was Pennhurst Asylum in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania. The Asylum was built in 1908 and was designed "for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic". A commission was established that "found" almost 4,000 "qualified" patients from insane asylums, prisons and reformatories. Unfortunately, some of those found included those with defective sight and/or hearing, imperfect speech, paralysis, epilepsy and blindness, deformities of any kind and offensive habits. It is hard to believe that this was the thinking as little as a hundred years ago.

The history of the Asylum has been quite horrible. In 1968, conditions at Pennhurst were exposed in a five-part television news report entitled "Suffer the Little Children". In 1983, nine employees were indicted on charges ranging from slapping and beating patients (including some in wheelchairs) to arranging for patients to assault each other. A suit was filed that resulted in the Asylum being closed in 1987.

We were able to visit only two of the over 12 buildings on the site. It was quite an eerie feeling walking around the buildings where all of these things happened. This is one of the hallways in the Devon building. 

Waiting for the Ferry

Chester,   Connecticut

Sometimes a Sunday drive can result in an unexpected moment. On a frigid day in February, we took a ride out toward Essex, CT and the surrounding area. We drove down this one road which dead-ended at the Connecticut River. It turns out that was the ferry terminal that crosses the river to the Gillette Castle on the other side. The light and reflections were absolutely perfect. The sign said that the ferry would reopen in May. I guess we had a long wait.

 

Desert Boat Ride

​Lake Powell, Page, Arizona

What do you do to keep cool when you are in the desert?  How about taking a 2-hour boat ride to a National Monument. You can't do that in every desert you visit but you sure can when you visit Page, Arizona. The ride in question travels along man-made Lake Powell and ends at Rainbow Bridge National Monument.  Along the way, you see some of the most amazing rock formations like this one. The scenery never stops and when you leave the lake to get to Rainbow Bridge, you enter a very small canyon where the boat barely fits through (you can literally reach out and touch the walls).  After visiting the monument, you can look forward to seeing the scenery once again. 

Olympic Communications

​Montjuïc Communications Tower, Barcelona, Spain

I have never attended the Olympics while the games were actually played, but I have been to several of the Olympic locations where they have been held. I am always amazed how much investment is made into building the infrastructure of a city for games that last for only a few weeks. It seems each city tries to outdo the prior ones with memorable architecture and structures and that is why I like visiting these locations.

On our trip to Barcelona, the site of the 1992 Summer Games, we made it a point to visit the Olympic complex.  It is a really cool place.  One of the iconic structures that was built in preparation for the games was this Communications Tower that was built to televise the events. The tower was designed to look like an athlete holding an Olympic Flame.  It also acts as a sundial, which uses the square below to indicate the hour. 

Pemaquid Dawn

Pemaquid   Point Lighthouse,Bristol, Maine

I have posted quite a number of shots of my favorite lighthouse in Maine, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.  It is such an iconic light that it is easy getting up before dawn to get shots of it.  Every time I visit there, I try to come up with a different view of the light so as not to repeat what you have already seen. 

This composition was taken just after the sun rose on this beautiful August morning. Using the fence as my leading line, I wanted to take the viewer's eye toward the light and the sunlit fence and then onto the sun.  I've not seen this composition before and I hope it delivers a different point of view.

Brickwork

Higgs   Beach, Key West, Florida

I am a believer that some photographers see primarily in color while others see in black and white. Of course, some bridge both color and black and white.  I have known for a long time that I am more of a color photographer. It's not like I don't like B&W photos, in fact, I really love the look of them. My problem is that when I am photographing a scene, I don't see the B&W possibilities, only the color possibilities. 

With this image of an old building on Higgs beach in Key West, I processed it in color but there seemed something off about it. I just couldn't get the color right or at least the way I wanted it. I liked the composition so I tried to play around with a B&W version. I ended up with this sepia toned image that I actually like a lot (even though it is not in color). 

Grand Vista

Grand   Canyon National Park, Arizona

One of the main requirements to be a successful landscape photographer is to shoot during the golden hours, either at sunrise and sunset. In fact, many magazines will not even consider photos that were taken during other times, no matter how good they are. 

Even when not publishing, there are certain places that the only way to get a good picture is to shoot during the golden hours. The Grand Canyon is one of those places. Photos shot during those times add depth and definition to the beauty of the canyon.  Any other time, photographs are flat with little or no definition because the sun is higher in the sky thus casting very shallow shadows. This shot from Yavapai Point was taken just before sunset.

 

Old Monaco Alleyway

Monte Carlo, Monaco

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If you haven’t visited Monte Carlo before, you probably have a pre-conceived idea of what it looks like. I know I did. My thoughts were based on watching movies, reading books, and watching the Monaco Gran Prix on television. When I visited Monte Carlo, many of these ideas were reinforced. But there is a side of the city that I was unprepared for: Old Monaco.

Pre-modern buildings and small alleyways are the norm in this section of the city. Walking down the streets and alleys, I felt transported to the past. Walking around Old Monaco, I could almost hear the people hawking their wares and the bustle of everyday life a hundred years ago. This particular alley is pretty typical of what you see in Old Monaco. Very different from the rest of the city.

Approaching Dusk

Goat Island, Newport, Rhode Island

One of the best times to visit Newport, Rhode Island, is during weekdays in October. The kids are in school, the weather is still warm and, depending on the fall, the leaves may be starting to turn. Newport is a great New England getaway.

We usually stay on or near Goat Island when we visit Newport. It is in town near shops and restaurants and overlooks Narragansett Bay where ships and boats of all kinds pass by. It is a great place to sit and relax. This particular October evening, the sun was starting to set and we were the only ones around. I really liked the look of the lines of this porch and decided it would look great framing the bay with the Claiborne Pell Bridge in the background.

Early Morning Solitude

​McKinley Lodge, Alaska

One of the challenges of being a photographer is getting up early, sometimes well before dawn, to get the shot you have in your mind. This is especially true when shooting landscapes when the light is at its best. It is also true when trying to shoot the insides of a building without having people getting in the way of your shot or simply ignoring you even when you just need about 4 seconds to shoot.

When I stayed in the McKinley Lodge in Alaska, I knew the second I walked in that I wanted to shoot the inside lounge. The lounge is quite rustic, as you would expect, with great windows that look at the highest mountain in North America, Mount McKinley in Denali National Park. The stream of people parading through the lounge was constant from early morning to well after midnight. I knew that, in order to get the shot I wanted, a pre-dawn shoot was required. So on the last morning of our stay, I wandered down to the lounge at 5am. I had the lounge mostly to myself, although a couple of early risers were sitting on the sofa reading. 

12:37 PM

​Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York

There is quite a difference being in Grand Central Terminal as a photographer rather than a commuter. I have been both. As a business commuter, the terminal is a blur. Some days you are trying to make that business meeting after a 2-hour commute to the city. Other days (or even the same day), you are just trying to get home after a long day. Photographing in Grand Central is quite different. You take time to soak in the atmosphere and identify possible subjects as people rush by. You study the intricate details of this grand building to see what it is you want to capture. Everywhere you look seems to be a photo opportunity.

Towards the end of my shooting session, I was ready to pack it in and realized that I hadn’t captured one of the most iconic subjects in the terminal, the famous 4-faceted clock. The clock sits on top of the information booth on the main concourse. The clock was made in Waterbury, CT and is made of brass and has faces made of opal. It is estimated to be worth somewhere in the range of $10 – $20 million. The clock has been featured in many movies and I am glad I didn’t forget to capture it.

A New Day Begins

​Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Lake Louise is a mountain lake in Banff National Park. Its blue-green water is set against the stark backdrop of Victoria Glacier and the Rockies. The lake is in the small hamlet of Lake Louise about a half hour north of the town of Banff. The lake is one of the most beloved and photographed scenes in the Canadian Rockies.

On one end of the lake lies the Chateau Lake Louise, a resort hotel. I have always wanted to stay in the hotel but it is quite pricey. The last time I visited Banff, I decided to break open the piggy bank and stay there. The advantage of staying there is the ability to roll out of bed before dawn and, in a quick short minutes, be looking at this scene. There were only a couple of people up at this hour, mostly other photographers. The light was phenomenal and the reflections of the mountains contrasted well with the bright red boats. The moment I shot this, I knew I had a winner.

On Fire

​Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

My day in Kotor, Montenegro, was one of those magical days that every photographer wishes for. Fantastic location with towering mountains, small quaint towns, an island church and a long winding bay. ​Great fog as we were entering the bay, great weather after the fog burned off and to finish the day off, sailing back to the Adriatic Sea looking at this scene. Not bad for a port that we never heard of and was probably of least interest to us prior to our cruise. It now is on the list of "must visit again".

Genoa Rooftops

​Genoa, Italy

My grandparents on my mother's side immigrated from a small town in Italy. I never knew my grandparents but I  always wanted to visit the country where they came from. When we were deciding on which Mediterranean cruise to take, my only requirement was that we pick the one with the most ports in Italy.

Our first stop on the cruise was Portofino, a beautiful fishing village in Northern Italy and we elected to take a tour of Genoa from there. The weather was quite awful with rain off and on all day. The tour took us throughout the city and one of the stops was outside the Palazzo Rosso, a historical palace that is now an art gallery. The location looked over this view of the rooftops of the city. Even through the raindrops, the architecture shines through. 

Southern Garden

​Heyward-Washington House, Charleston, South Carolina

I have always wanted to visit Charleston, South Carolina and we have planned to visit numerous times over the past ten years, but every time we began planning, something would come up and we had to cancel. This year, we finally got our wish. What a charming little city.  I have travelled extensively to other southern cities but none are as quaint as Charleston. From their horse-drawn carriages to the old architecture and plantations, you feel transported to a different time.

One of the unexpected treats that we discovered walking down the streets were the alleyways that gave us a peek into the beautiful gardens that lie behind the houses. Many of them gave just a glimpse. We decided to take a tour of the ​Heyward-Washington House where George Washington stayed on a visit to Charleston. This is the garden right behind the house and is typical of Charleston gardens.

Bow Lake Beauty

​Icefields Parkway, Bannf National Park, Alberta

I have posted numerous images in the past from Banff National Park and the famed Icefields Parkway. Many people who have commented on these images have wondered how long of a hike it was to reach these beautiful mountain lakes. They are very surprised when I tell them that many of them are just a few hundred steps off of the highway. They are some of the most accessible (and some of the most beautiful) lakes that I have ever been to. That is why I recommend the Icefield Parkway to anyone who wants to visit the Rockies. Just imagine 140 miles of glacier and mountain-fed lakes along with majestic mountains on either side of the road. This image of Bow Lake is just one example of what will be right outside your car.

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Let Freedom Ring

American Cemetery, Normandy, France

This being Memorial Day, I want to thank all of our armed forces for being on watch to protect our way of life. The sacrifices that these men and women make to defend democracy make them heroes.​

I especially want to thank my father who fought in World War II flying over Europe in the Army Air Force. He never talked about his experiences in the war other than he was a gunner. If you were still with us, I would give you a hug and say "Thanks". ​

This image is from the American Cemetery in Normandy, France, site of D-Day. It is a place for reflection of the ultimate sacrifice of our Armed Forces and every American who travels to France should visit.

Cliff Walk Sunrise

​Newport, Rhode Island

A popular destination to visit in New England is Newport, Rhode Island. Newport has plenty to do and see from shopping to sailing. For those who like to tour mansions of yesteryear, it is a mecca. There are eleven mansions that lie on Bellevue Avenue and it's surrounding streets. They were built by the super rich industrialists and financiers of the day during the Gilded Age as summer destinations. These summer "cottages" are quite opulent with the biggest mansion having 70 rooms. Most of the mansions overlook the waters of Easton Bay.

While I enjoy visiting the mansions, one of my favorite things to do is to walk along Cliff Walk, especially before dawn to photograph the sunrise. Cliff Walk is a 3.5-mile public access walkway that lies in between the Newport mansions and the bay. This particular October morning was crisp and clear and the golden colors just before sunrise were spectacular. I noticed the silhouette of this tree along the path and thought it would give great contrast to the bright yellow colors of the rising sun.

Amsterdam Stroll

Amsterdam, Netherlands

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For an American travelling through Europe, it is quite inspiring to visit and learn about the rich history of each destination. I think that the different architectures of each European city contribute to a feel and sense of its history. US cities don’t have quite the same architectural differences of Europe and sometimes feel “cookie-cutter” to me.

I am always excited to visit places and am often surprised that they look very different than I envisioned them. Such was the case with Amsterdam this past September. Strolling the streets, I saw many buildings that were constructed in the Renaissance architectural style with the Dutch influence of gabled facades. This image captures the classic look of this Dutch Renaissance style.

Free Fall

​Multnomah Falls, Corbett, Oregon

One of arguably the best and tallest waterfalls in Oregon was the destination for Greg and me last month during our cross-country drive to Portland. Multnomah Falls, along the Columbia River, is probably the most photographed waterfalls in the northwest. The falls drop in two-section steps, with the upper falls dropping 542 feet and the lower falls dropping 69 feet. The falls are fed year-round by underground springs from Larch Mountain. A hiking trail leading from the parking lot to the Benson Footbridge allows visitors to cross above the lower falls. The trail continues beyond the falls and ultimately to the top of the upper falls, where hikers get a panoramic view of the Columbia River Gorge.

Normally the falls are packed with visitors and the footbridge is crowded with people. The day I shot this image, it was quite rainy and only the adventurous (or photographers with an early morning flight the next morning) were out.