NORTHVILLE CONNECTICUT – Back to Connecticut at last. No hurricane. No blizzard. No problems. A rare relief.
I had a chance to explore a de-commissioned church that I’ve seen many times from a distance in gentle, late afternoon light. This is two exposures with my Alpa Max, stitched in Photoshop. Whatever information there may have been about this structure appears to be lost, at least on the web.
On this day last year: Citicorp Center at night.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – It finally stopped snowing around noon. We got a devastating 21 inches of wet, heavy snow. Most of the trees still had all of their leaves so the snow collected on them, breaking or uprooting trees in absolutely record number. Power, telephone and cable and internet are out over most of the state. This is been called the most damaging storm in Connecticut’s history. We have a backup generator for occasions like this (we loose power several times each winter; without power the heating system doesn’t work; if the house gets below freezing there is massive damage to the plumbing). Anyway, I took my Alpa (with the 35mm Schneider) out after the storm cleared. Here’s what it looked like – a typical January scene on October 30.
These images exploit the amazing dynamic range of the Phase One IQ 180 back.
It’s me again, this time at 6:03 on February 14, 1999. As I’ve said quite a few times now this is one of a series of hourly self-portraits shot with an Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I went out hunting for late fall landscape today, mostly in the garden. I used my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux, which if you follow these posts closely you will have noted is my most used camera/lens combination by far. But I also found a new tool, a new iPhone 4S. The camera is surprisingly good. Dynamic range is only so-so – highlights tend to get blown, and prints are marred by jpeg weirdness (white fringes is the like) but this thing is surprisingly usable and always at hand. It’s quite serviceable for web resolution.
First the Leica and then some iPhones.
The iPhones, with a little help with post-processing in Lightroom.
Finally, what post would be complete without a self-portrait from the 24 hour series. If you think that you’re getting tired of these, image how I felt sitting for them and pushing the cable release, then processing the film, etc. Part of what I’m doing with these ix exploring repetition and the passage of time. Anyway 11:05 PM on February 13, 1999 with an Arca Swiss view camera.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – I got a bit confused writing the posts for October 9 and today. Today’s pictures were originally published as October 9 – probably because I forgot that I was in Warren (rather than New York) today, which is Columbus Day. (I typical write these posts about a week after the fact.) Columbus Day really isn’t a national holiday, but what the hell, I’m an adopted Italian so so it’s a good excuse not to go to the office. Anyway, here are two pictures from a walk around our Warren property, taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens (I’ve stated elsewhere that this is my best friend ever, lens-wise.) Back lit ornamental grasses, and a Balinese Garuda.
On this day one year ago: Waterfall, New Preston.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Twelve or so years ago I did a series of projects where i set a camera up on a tripod and took an image each hour over a 24-hour period. I generally used a 4×5 view camera, but also an 8×19 view camera and a 35mm (generally my Leica M7). I typically shot images that were set up to mimic a well known piece of art, “appropriating” the organization and subject matter. For example I did a 24 hour series at our pool in Connecticut and a Balinese statue after Jennifer Bartlett’s study of her pool in Italy. (See Jennifer Bartlett pool for example.) I stopped doing the 24 hour sequences after I went digital. The fact that you can put a digital camera on a tripod and set it to take a picture every hour made it too easy and took the life out of these projects;
Enter the Alpa and the Phase One IQ 180 back. The aesthetic is similar to 4×5 or 8×10 and it’s entirely manual – you really can’t automate taking a 24 hour sequence. So I decided to give a 24-hour project a try. No reference to any only other works of art – just a shot of a tree line at our place in Connecticut. I shot 24 images, one each hour from late afternoon October 8 through late afternoon October 9. I’m please with the results and have resolved a couple of technical issues, so I’m starting work on a serious series, again borrowing from a well-known work. Here’s the image from 5:57 PM (local time). My self-imposed rule is that all images need to be taken within 10 minutes plus or minus the hour. Precision (i.e. exactly on the hour) really isn’t possible because of the vagaries of cat napping and so on. I’m pleased with the results so I’m searching for a project with a fine arts referent. By the way, I’ve also included an image of the Alpa set up to capture the tree line.
On this day one year ago: Seagrams.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Well here we are, 9/11 ten years on. We decided to ride this out in Connecticut. Our son was on the street outside of his office two blocks from the WTC when the first plane hit and was one of those running to escape the dust cloud as the first tower collapsed. We’re all lucky that he got through it alive and unhurt. We watched the ceremonies on television. The whole thing was done with great dignity, a relief given the circus atmosphere that has surrounded some aspects of 9/11. Photography tasted stale so I discharged my obligation to take a picture by shooting a hallway in our house with m Alpa TC. Four images focus stacked.
On this day one year ago: Ornamental grasses.
KENT CONNECTICUT – We visited our friend Greg, the owner of R T Facts, an antiques store in Kent that specializes in industrial and architectural stuff. We’ve been looking for a large fire pot for our terrace – these are now the vogue in these parts – you bundle up and light a roaring fire, extending the season for using the terrace a month or two. We found a large steel pot that was used in a steel mill in India. Here’s the inside shot with my Alpa TC and 35mm Schneider XL lens.
More from RT Facts:
On this day one year ago: Wake at the Colony.
