Category: Architecture

Day 25 – Window Garden Paris

WindowGardenWell, I was wrong about Charles De Gualle. Had to be the most efficient customs experience ever. Then I was met by Road Scholar and whisked away in a van to the hotel. Of course, our rooms ere not ready and I was too tired to do much. But met one of my fellow travelers and eventually was too hungry not to go to lunch. After getting in to the room I took a two hour nap then went for a walk around our Opera District neighborhood with the Sweet50.  I was wishing I had stuck to the Trio 28 as I really could have used a wide angle for many of the shots I wanted to take. I liked this little window garden that was just across the street from the hotel and I am much too tired to invest much time in this. Tomorrow we just have a quick bus tour of the city then move on to Bayeaux.

 

Day 24 – Airport Blues

DFW

After getting up at 3am to get to the airport I landed in Dallas with 6 hours to kill before my flight to Paris. I had lunch, or brunch or something then set out with the Trio28 on the M100 for a little “street” photography at DFW. My flight to Paris wasn’t even listed yet so I explored Terminal A from stem to stern before finally getting on the Skylink train to Terminal D. This image was captured in the skylink terminal. I liked the sillouettes and the reflections and the sharp center surrounded by blur that is so classic Lensbaby.

So it’s noon on the West Coast, 2pm here and I still have two and a half hours to kill before boarding for Paris starts. Just scored a nice neck pillow for what I hope will be a blissfully unconscious flight. Not sure what tomorrow will hold but you may be seeing images of Charles De Gualle airport as I wait for my Road Scholar colleagues to gather.

Day 21 – Levi’s

Levis

So my guidelines for this project are that I have to post an image that was captured within the 100 days, not necessarily on the day it is posted. Ideally it should be processed on the day posted. Today was a busy day and I decided to go back to the Jacksonville images to see what came up. I photograph this sign almost every time I go to Jacksonville, sometimes more successfully than others. Sometimes with cars or trucks parked in front of it. Sometimes with the lamp post included, sometimes not.  I buzzed by this image the first time through but then I decided to work on it and see what I could come up with. I added saturation and clarity, pumped up the saturation in the blues and greens to help the image int the circle come out more, cropped and adjusted the perspective. Then I took it into Topaz studio looking for a little more vintage look. This was captured, by the way with the Edge 35. The focus has a slight diagonal going from Copper Riveted to the CO’s. But, as you can see it goes off into blur at the top and bottom which is just what the Edge is supposed to do.

 

Day 6 – Yaquina Head Light

YaquinaHeadLight

I seem to be on a vertical kick lately. Well, a lot of images were made today and I even got a few good ones. My efforts with lensbaby lenses fell a little short however. The light was awfully flat today with typical summer overcast skies at the coast. And the animals I was trying to photograph at the aquarium were moving around a little too much for the manual focus requirements of lensbaby.

This image of Yaquina Head Lighthouse was captured with the Burnside lens mounted on the Canon EOS R. Burnside is designed for street photography at 35 mm but the wide angle is also suitable for lighthouses. In the right conditions Burnside will give a swirly effect in the bokah. It also has a switch on the side that allows you to add more or less vignetting. Burnside is my newest lensbaby and I still need to work with it to master it’s full range of possibilities.

For some reason they have painted the top of the lighthouse black. I remember when it was red like other Oregon lighthouses. But with the flat light there wasn’t much color in the image so I opted to go full on monochrome in Nik Silver Efex Pro. I selected the Yellowed preset but added some structure and contrast.  I also touched up some 20th century features like wires running down the side of the lighthouse using the spot healing brush. I also took out a few tourists who did not add to the story I wanted to tell.

Day 81 – Old Barn

Barnw

Old Barn

There’s an old barn
not far from our house
that’s nearing the end of its days.
Its boards are scoured and scored
its roof sags
and there are yawning holes in its sides.

When it was raised
the neat lines of its frame
stood firm against the sky
and it was clad in clean young boards and paint.

Once workmen, with their laughter, came storing hay,
children played in its loft
and young people experimented there with love.

Once cows and horses sheltered between its walls,
and gave birth there to their young,
mice scurried along its beams,
swallows and owls nested under its eaves
and cats came to prowl and prey.

Now the barn is an empty husk
and the fields from which it gathered its hay
have reverted to scraggly woods and scrub.

-Richard Greene

Well, it looks like this murky weather is hear to stay. I’m planning an escape but my calendar doesn’t clear up until late next week. Still, it looks like they will be having nice weather outside the valley which will continue to be plagued by fog. And I have some new poetry books coming so lots to look forward to. This old barn was from yesterday’s excursion. I discovered it on a backroad not far from my house last winter. I often turn to barns when there are no flowers or birds or leaves to photograph. This one took a few trips through software to give it a more grungy, painterly look. And to add some interest to the flat white sky.

Day 43 – Rescue Barn

Barnsidew

Weathered

Weathered and worn
But oh so proudly
The old barn preened in the summer
Mid-day sun

He had seen her earlier,
Noticed her shape, angles
On the drive to his desk and cube

But now she shown
The aged wood, elephant skin
Or maybe the skin of a Burmese elder
Lit at the edge of the cut field

Tawny, creosote, browns in varied hues
Tingled his fancy, his synapses
Starkness of the vertical and horizontal lines
Breaking the field and forests
Softer edges

Ready for a picture or two
To catch the eye, the imagination
Of the traveler of the byway
Proud in its skin
In the light

 – Raymond A. Foss

One of the many awesome places we visited in Vermont was a farm where they rescue, among other things, old barns. This was just one of the many very cool barns on the property. I am almost done editing images from New England so I felt like since that is where most of my energy went today it was appropriate to dip into those files for today’s post. I reviewed a number of poems about old barns but most of them seemed so negative. I liked this one because it spoke of the majesty of the old barn rather than decadence as I hope my photo does too.

Day 31 – Study in Red

StudyinRedw

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

-William Carlos Williams

I feel like I have been neglecting my digital artistry and didn’t feel too inspired to do straight photography today. So, I found this image while working with photos from Portland, Maine that cried out to be even redder and grungier than it was. The poem is not a perfect fit but I think it is better than my image and let’s just say we are celebrating one of the awesome colors of autumn today.

Day 28 – Barn

Barn2w

Let Evening Come

Let the light of late afternoon 
shine through chinks in the barn, moving   
up the bales as the sun moves down. 
Let the cricket take up chafing   
as a woman takes up her needles   
and her yarn. Let evening come. 
Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned   
in long grass. Let the stars appear 
and the moon disclose her silver horn. 
Let the fox go back to its sandy den.   
Let the wind die down. Let the shed   
go black inside. Let evening come. 
To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop   
in the oats, to air in the lung   
let evening come. 
Let it come, as it will, and don’t   
be afraid. God does not leave us   
comfortless, so let evening come. 

 

-Jane Kenyon

 

Normally, I go out and collect photos and then try to find a poem to fit the one I choose. This afternoon I had the poem in mind and thought of the barn down the street. I wasn’t too happy with the sky so I blended in one also taken this evening but from a different angle.  Then a few textures and now it kind a fits what I had envisioned though still not quite as poignant and image as Jane creates with her words.

Day 22 – Weathervane

WeatherVane

“You who travel with the wind, what weather vane shall direct your course?”

-Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

This is probably not the best image I made today but my New England adventure is winding down and one of the things I have enjoyed photographing is weather vanes. This one has some character and some fall color so I thought it would be a good one to share.

Day 21 – Church Steeple

Church_Steeple

Vermont

Twisting roads through green speckled hills
Red barns that dot a summer long gone
Skiers seeking perennial winter thrills
In woodlands deep and silently strong

From here to Newhart and Frost they go
To a spirit of Yankee grace and solitude
Where people in tone pleasantly speak
And show God their eternal gratitude

It is a long road that I’ve often taken
When my mind must gain peace from want
And leave my troubles behind forsaken
As I cross that brook into green Vermont 

-C.A. Morrow

Today we drove south from Burlington to the small town of Grafton via route 100. I vowed to come back to Vermont on my own to photograph the barns and the covered bridges and the church steeples. Maybe I will start spending my summers in Vermont.