Three Vermont Landscapes

Enjoy | Delight in Life

Jumping in a lake made by a dam on the West River in Townsend, Vermont cooled my friends and me on a hot August afternoon.

Swimming demarcation buoys, the dam and the beautifully curved hills fit snugly.

I put my plastic film camera in a ziploc bag to shoot partially submerged.

And what trip to an American beach would be complete without a football?

Don't a miss a meal at the nearby Dam Diner.

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Professional BW400CN, C-41 Process Black & White Negative Film ISO 400, film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

Three New York Short Takes

Create | Bring into Being

Memorial Service

Leaving Church of the Heavenly Rest.

Famous Artists

I reckon Warhol would approve of these shrink-wrapped soup cans.

Railings and Brownstones

The blue is downright Hockneyesque, if I do say so myself.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, ISO 200-800. Railings and Brownstones is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in for Photoshop. ©2010 John Nordell

Living in Japan, Baseball and The Promise of America

Enjoy | Delight in Life

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

I spent 1980-81 teaching English in Japan.  While there, I read Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again.  (Click any image to enlarge).

Take Me Out with the Crowd

His vivid descriptions of life in America glowed neon bright in my small tatami-matted room.

The packed stands of the stadium, the bleachers sweltering with their unshaded hordes, the faultless velvet of the diamond, unlike the clay-baked outfields down in Georgia.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

I recently watched the Triple A Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Red Sox lose to the Durham Bulls.

I Don't Care if I Never Come Back

After the game, families lined up...

Let Me Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

...to run the bases.

The above quote from You Can't Go Home Again, published in 1934, is from the chapter The Promise of America, which ends with this sentence:

So, then, to everyman his chance - to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity - to every man the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him - this, seeker, is the promise of America.

Jack Norworth wrote Take Me Out To The Ballgame in 1908.

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Gold Max 800 Speed 24 Exposure 35mm Film (4 Pack), film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

An Overnight in the Catskills

Create | Bring Into Being

There is something deeply appealing about old homes, especially summer ones.

Rustic Elegance

Pretense is shed.  

Latching

Stories embed themselves in the woodwork.

Country Porch No.2

You could weave a rich tapestry with just one anecdote from each visitor.

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, ISO range 200-400.  Country Porch No.2 is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in for Photoshop. ©2010 John Nordell

Times Square Through an Archeologist's Lens

Look | Sensory Inspiration

At function for a mutual friend I reconnected with Christopher Ratte, a high school classmate.  The archeologist and I exited the Harvard Club on 44rd street in Midtown Manhattan and were struck by the light.

Looking West No.2

Chatting and strolling, we headed uptown through Times Square.

Bright Lights

Later in the evening, I returned to photograph the tourist epicenter.

Red, Orange and Yellow

Thanks to Mark Rothko for his work with painting scale and color theory.  Between advertisements, I caught a blip of "blank" screen.

Top Down Living

Thanks to the sausage griller for smoke to shoot through.

Hailing a cab at 42nd Street and Broadway on a midsummer's night is a labor worthy of Hercules.

Taxi!

The woman's expression of grim determination broke briefly as she rebuffed a humorous come-on from a pedicab driver.

Times Square for me was about light, people watching, and wondering (a la singer Peggy Lee) "is that all there is?"

Classical Study

The following day, I saw Christopher Ratte again and asked him about viewing Times Square through an archeologist's lens.  His reply went something like this:

I noticed the grid of streets, the parks, the relationship with rivers.  The circulation system.  The grid in New York was based on maximizing the profits for real estate developers on the sales of lots.  The grids in ancient Greece were based on everyone getting the same sized lot. (Updated 8/4/10)

Two days later, he left to lead an expedition in Georgia (country).

Tech Tips: Nikon D700, 24-70mm, ISO range 500-2500.  Bright Lights is an in-camera multiple exposure.  ©2010 John Nordell

I Didn't Know if I was Shooting Black & White or Color Film!

Create | Bring Into Being

I carry both black & white and color film.  One day, with my eyes shut, I reached into my camera bag, felt around, extracted a random roll, loaded my camera and began taking pictures without knowledge of the film type.

Vermont Welcome Center

A week later, with a few minutes to spare before meeting friends in Brattleboro, Vermont, I stopped at the Guilford Welcome Center off Interstate 91. 

Museum Piece

Signs promoting the Center's WiFi capacity interested me as did the display of old horse drawn farm equipment on the grounds.

WiFi and Wildlife

The map is of wildlife road crossings in the state.  I need a reality check here.  Please help me.  In my mind, the promise of Vermont is the unspoiled outdoors, wildlife, nature and a lack of technology, or at most, tractors clattering.  Heading into Vermont for a visit, would your heart thrill to know that the welcome center had WiFi, or would you wonder: "What's wrong with this picture?"

Looking East

A beautiful perennial garden graced the grounds.  A flock of dragonflies hovered nearby as I photographed.  Birds tweeted.

Looking West

The view from the other side of the flower bed.

The garden centered on a sundial.  At one edge was a solar panel powered informational kiosk. 

Time Did Not Always Tick Past

Back on the Interstate, I thought about this shooting without knowing film type.  Trying to define the basic, fundamental elements of an engaging picture, irrespective of black & white or color toning, six traits spontaneously emerged from my consciousness.  Line.  Form.  Content.  Light.  Mood.  Emotion.

What qualities would you add to this list?

If you shoot film, I suggest you try this random roll selection process. 

Tech Tips: Ansco Pix Panorama camera, no settings to set, Kodak Professional BW400CN, C-41 Process Black & White Negative Film ISO 400, film processed and scanned at Walgreens.

A Walk in the Park Heart of New York City

Enjoy | Delight in Life

Who's on First?

Silhouetted, a small subject can have impact. 

Reference Point

Wonder if the squirrel lives in this nest (dark shape, upper center).  I noticed this tree because of my photographer friend Benjamin Swett who wrote and photographed the Great Trees of New York City: A Guide.

Tree, Bark and Sky

I like layering exposures.

Christo Was Here

How about the the bag wrap of this trash barrel!  Distinctive and durable.  The other day I watched a parks worker weed whack around plantings.  He had the deft and delicate touch of an artist.

Tech Tips:  Nikon D700, 24-70 mm, ISO 250.  Tree, Bark and Sky is an in-camera multiple exposure treated with Topaz Adjust, a plug-in for Photoshop. ©2010 John Nordell