I just like the textures, especially around the door. The skim lighting worked well here.
Not Sure Where it Is
29 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in old buildings, Small Town, Travel, Uncategorized
Category Archives: Travel
Aubrey, Texas
27 Monday Mar 2017
Tags
corrugated building, decay, Digital Photography, grain elevators, hasselblad digital, international harvester, north texas, old sofa, old truck, portraits, rural, rural texas, Small Town, small town in north texas, texas
My wife and I recently took a short Sunday afternoon excursion looking at the countryside and small towns just north of the DFW Metroplex. I think I’m trying to find the unspoiled village where chain restaurants and retailers have yet to bury their roots to leech out more wealth from the locals.
In Aubrey there was, of course, Main St. which had Mom’s Restaurant and other quaint establishments. The folks there did seem friendly enough and I kept hearing the theme song to Andy Griffith running through my head.
However, Main St. wasn’t that interesting to me. It was too dressed up for the tourists, too clean. We did notice not too far from this center of commerce some interesting, genuine, old, perishing parts of the town that appealed to us photographically.
Truck is from 1953 and is in better shape than I am.
This wasn’t too far from the truck.
The grain elevators gave some nice shadows.
Altogether, a nice visit. We hope to see more of them!
Oh, PS
A Chip off of This Old Block?
04 Wednesday Jan 2017
Posted in "photography", Photographers, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
abstract photography, architextural photography, candid photography, chicago, patterns in photography, photographer, photographer in chicago, photography in chicago, urban landscape, urban photography
My son is a PhD student in film studies at the University of Chicago. He’s been in that city for quite a while now and has found many chances to capture some great images on his smartphones, mostly. He sees patterns in quite ordinary scenes and makes the viewer aware of them forcibly. There are dramatic pictures of the lake and other places in the city and on the university campus.
I’ll say that my own contribution was minimal. As a child he saw me with a camera probably more often than he would have liked to, especially as it was often trained on him. In reality, I find myself learning from him how to see photographically. My theory is that in his area of particular research into the development of spatial expression in video gaming he has developed an acute sense of what it is to see strongly, to narrow down the confusing array of visual input that surrounds him in that complex city into powerfully succinct statements of what he sees and feels.
The website he has just inaugurated is here:
http://www.chriscarloyphotography.com
I hope you will visit. There are many places there worth a pause or two.
A Slow Approach
23 Thursday Jun 2016
Posted in "photography", Film Cameras, film photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
"photography", 4 x 5 film photography, analog, black and white film photography, black and white photography, film photography, large format, large format photography, sinar camera, view camera
One day in late winter Christy and I were taking a drive to Washington on the Brazos to try to see the remains of the old Baylor campus.
We passed this old shed and came back to consider taking a film photo with the Sinar F 4 x 5″ camera we brought along just in case any subject seemed to justify the ordeal of using it. It is a real pleasure, actually, to have to force yourself to work in an orderly, methodical, careful manner with this camera.
Digital scenario: Step out of car (maybe), take off lens cap, turn on camera, compose, shoot, check LCD and maybe histogram, post process.
View camera scenario: Definitely get out of car. Determine where to place tripod. Assemble camera onto tripod piece by piece. Open shutter on lens. Go under focusing cloth and compose your photograph. Make any necessary adjustments (rise, fall, shift, tilt) you might want to control the image. Use the loupe on the ground glass to get fine focus. Close the shutter on the lens. Attach your green filter to lighten the foliage and darken the sky. Use your 1 degree light meter to measure the shadow area where you want some detail. Use the number you get reading this area. Make your exposure to be 3 stops below this to place your shadow where you want it. However, open up a couple of stops to compensate for the light lost due to the use of your green filter. Move one ring on the lens to set your aperture. Move the other to set the shutter speed. Cock the shutter. Attach cable release. Place film holder in back of camera under ground glass. Remove the dark slide. Make your exposure. Replace the dark slide. Remove film holder. Disassemble the camera and repack. Develop film at home in trays. Seriously, just as I got back into playing vinyl records for the tactile, direct, analog experience, but won’t toss out my iPod, so I will continue to work with film as long as it is around. Given the resurgent interest among, especially, young people rebelling against digital, it may be around for a while. Check out youtube on the subject. Still, there are just some things digital cameras and editing software can achieve that cannot be done with film. Even Ansel Adams anticipated the day that digital would come along. Also search yt for an interview with him on that topic. So, I’ll keep using my digital with great joy, but will also appreciate the approach that film forces upon me.
Deferred Maintenance in Texas
04 Wednesday May 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, Real Estate, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
abandoned, abandoned buildings, decay, decaying buildings, old buildings, texas, vintage car, west texas
These photos are digital all the way, shot on a trip or two across Texas. This is why I really don’t go out with my camera where I currently sojourn in Houston: Everything is too CLEAN! Hardly a molecule of ferric oxide or a fleck of peeling paint or a bare board to be seen.
I like to imagine how it was when all these things were new and in good repair. How did their owners feel? When did neglect begin and why? Maybe these hard-living people didn’t care about the aesthetics of their structures and vehicles as much as simply how they served to help them survive over a few years of life. If the possessions succumbed to decay, so what? Plenty of this to see in Texas…except HOUSTON!! (Unless you’re talking about the roadways, then that’s another matter.)
Old home somewhere in west Texas. Not too long ago judging by the fact they had television…oh, wait, that WAS a long time ago!
Corner fillin’ station somewhere in Texas. Surely there was a market inside as well.
When was the last meal served? Somewhere in west Texas.
In west Texas.
In west Texas.
Outlaw bars…Either Talpa or Valera
The F. D. I. WHAT?
Old farmhouse not far from Rowena, Texas.
In Rowena, Texas.
In Rowena, Texas.
One Morning on the Beach
19 Tuesday Apr 2016
Posted in Digital Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
birds, dawn, dead shark, galveston, galveston island, galveston texas, gulf of mexico, morning, ocean, shark, sunrise, wildlife
We got up early in Houston to make the 40 something mile drive to East Beach on Galveston Island. My goal was really to catch some waves with camera on a tripod to get the dreamy blur effect. However, as soon as the sun was rising, I couldn’t use the shutter speeds needed for the blur. I got these:
The Houston Ship Channel is here and I got this of a ship on the horizon:
There was a shark on the beach that, apparently, his friend buried in the sand and then swam off and forgot to extract him:
This could be his friend, a hammerhead supine nearby. Maybe he died from the exertion of burying this shark:
While you would think other animals would be in mourning, these guys weren’t at all upset:
Laughing gulls!
The camera was a Nikon D7100 with dirty sensor and a Nikon 16 – 85 zoom (using split graduated ND filter) except for the gulls which were captured the next day with same body and Sigma 150 – 600 Sports version of that lens.
Galveston, Oh, Galveston
19 Tuesday Apr 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, Film Cameras, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
"photography", black and white, brazos bend state park, Digital Photography, film photography, galveston texas
Some shots taken with iPhone and Fuji 645 camera on 120 film.
These were with iPhone. We found back alleys more interesting than the fronts of the buildings, mostly shops, of course.
Front of a church in Galveston.
This was actually not in Galveston. It was at Brazos Bend State Park a week earlier. Just didn’t have roll of film developed yet at that posting, so I’ll just put it here if it’s OK.
Spanish moss on tree, also at Brazos Bend SP. I’ll beseech your indulgence for posting it here due to same reason as stated above. I look forward to actually printing these on silver paper or maybe even give it a shot on platinum/palladium.
Brazos Bend State Park
10 Sunday Apr 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, nature, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
brazos bend state park, Digital Photography, sigma 150-600 for nikon, super telephoto zoom lens, texas, texas wildlife, wildlife
This is a great state park in Texas just about 30 minutes south of Houston. It features alligators and a nice variety of bird life.
Camera was a Nikon D7100 and the lens a Sigma 150- 600, effectively with the crop a 225 – 900. It is a large lens, of course, and it is even suggested that a monopod is the minimum support requirement. However, use a high enough ISO and shutter speed and that impediment to quick response to wildlife subjects (the monopod) can be fairly well avoided.
The shallow depth of field of a super telephoto allowed me to give sharp focus to the end of the snout and its reflection while making a pleasant blur in the other areas.
While the alligator looks sluggish, it’s said that they can dart out of the water fairly quickly to seize its victim (or camera-wielding tormentor). I wouldn’t have done this with a 50mm lens! He or she seems somewhat perturbed.
Now on the nicer side, a gallinule calmly graces the ripples with its vibrant beak looking like a corn candy.
Here is a group of gallinules in the fen.
The American bittern stalks its unwary fare.
Maw and Paw blue-winged teal rest on the lounge log.
I did shoot some black and white with a Fuji GA something or other 6 x 4.5 film camera, but here is a quickie digital rendition.
The ibis prepares to pounce.
The lazy gator a log mounts.
Gallinule walks the branch.
Double crested cormorant.
Gallinule and cormorant.
Great blue heron surveys his or her domain.
Ibis shows off for the gallinules. They are common, after all.
A herd of ibis feeds.
Ibis herd, another view.
Three ibises.
Common grebe.
More gallinule action.
Common egret I.
Common egret II.
Common egret three, frazzled.
The Sigma 150-600 is a reasonable solution to the common wildlife photographer who’d like to “get out there” a little further!
Deep Ellum
06 Wednesday Apr 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Last week I was pleased to take a long bicycle ride with my wife from Dallas White Rock Lake (marathon fame) to Deep Ellum in downtown Dallas. “Ellum” is a quaint pronunciation of Elm, as in Street. This place has a lot of eateries, clubs, bars, performing artist venues, wall art adorning the buildings (Neiman Marcus version of graffiti if you will) and believe me, I wouldn’t be caught dead there at night.
First, for some iPhone pictures on the way to DE along the SF Trail. (SF means “Santa Fe.”)
This was on the way to DE, as stated. I don’t know what it means, so if it’s objectionable, I apologize. Just pretend it’s the 23rd Psalm or something.
This was on way to DE also. Again, I’m not sure what the author meant, but I liked the hoop that looks like someone did a major slam dunk on it, the textures and the shadows here. Well done, iPhone.
I forget what they call this place, but here’s a sign.
Here’s an interesting piece of artwork outside a piano-themed establishment. There are several of them in different poses.
These are probably some well-known DE performers.
Again, think 23rd Psalm….
I tried to be abstract.
This is a bonus picture. It’s actually in Houston, but it seems to fit the theme here.
I hope you liked my pictures I took in Deep Ellum. Thank you for looking today.
Film Flam
18 Friday Mar 2016
Posted in "photography", Film Cameras, film photography, Travel
Tags
Hello, me. It’s been a while since I wrote to you. This past weekend I spent in Chicago. I made the mistake of renting an SUV to drive through its parked car clogged streets. Believe me, those mirrors were pulled in!
In any case, I took along only my lowly Nikon F2A film camera and the lowly 5omm f1.4 lens with Ilford Delta 400 ISO hiding inside it. I used to use this camera many Venus’s ago it the days when I was young and alive. Now it’s a pleasant throwback to those halcyon days of yoredom.
Speaking of yoredom, I’ll go ahead and write to myself. I AM yored at the moment, so that’s the only reason I’m here.
Whilst in Chicago I was privileged to look at some photos of some really good photographers, such as Alfred Stieglitz. He had some really dark stuff posted on the museum’s refrigerator door, I mean, as in what we in the days of absolute standards of good and evil would call egregiously underexposed prints. However, they MUST be good, because they’re in a smancy-fancy museum in a smancy-fancy city like Chicago.
This darkness in the platinum/palladium prints, in the carbon prints, in the tintypes, in the gum bichromates, inspired me to produce some really bad images myself from my negatives. So, I shot the film, got it hand-checked by the friendly agents that work for whatever those three letters are, and put it in some D76 back home. My efforts at imitating the masters:
Pretty bad, huh? But if I had the right connections, I’d be really famous, wouldn’t I? But I’m just me, and it doesn’t matter because no one sees these anyway, right, me? Yeah, right.
Now for my more normal stuff, such as I would see without all the big time PS’ing:
That’s all, folks.
