Summer Substitute Subjects

Derelict house

Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-300 AF-S VR @ 140mm, ISO 200, 1/30th second at f/11.

With summer temperatures firmly established in Phoenix and the rest of central AZ I’m not doing much photography of birds or of anything else that requires going outside. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the need to be making images!

A couple weeks ago I noticed an old house in serious decline trapped between a popular mall and an expanse of condos. It looked like the house was scheduled for demolition to make room for more condos but the Bush economy collapse caught up with the developers. I made a mental note to see what photographic potential was contained here, so on the past weekend I made a mid morning visit. I was able to park close to the building and check it out from all sides and angles. I’d planned ahead by mounting my 18-70 “kit” lens on my D300 body and a 70-300 VR lens on the D200 body to give wide optical coverage and minimize the time I spent exposed tot he sun and heat. I set both cameras to ISO 200 as I didn’t foresee any moving subjects. I planned on using the Gitzo tripod with REally Right Stuff ball head to deal with slow shutter speeds and make composition more controlled.

I shot more with the D300 and wide angle zoom than I did with the longer lens, but found my compositions stronger with the 70-300. I’ve always liked longer lenses to isolate interesting detail, and macro lenses for the same reason, so I wasn’t surprised by the results.

What struck me immediately about the first image when I opened it on my Mac was the way the shape of the broken glass reminded me of a Raven. I don’t recall thinking that at the time I made the image, but it jumped out at me as soon as I same the thumbnail on my Mac screen.

Here’s a second version showing more of the wood frame with all that wonderful texture.

Derelict house

I like the framing and texture that it adds, but I think it diminishes the raven impression this way.

Derelict house

Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-300 AF-S VR at 300mm, ISO 200, 1/200th second at f/11.

This seems a bit more “formal” than the previous images; I suppose that is due to the larger number of straight lines here and less color. IT is the sort of i subject I would have relished 40 years ago when I started photography and had an active wet darkroom for B&W film and printing. In fact I envisioned converting all the images from this old house to monochrome, but I was surprised that I find all of them more pleasing as color images.

Derelict house

 Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-300 AF-S VR at 300mm, ISO 200, 1/180th second at f/11.

My final “window” shot that I’ve processed from this session.

All of these images fit into a category I’ve labeled as “entropy,” from the “gradual decline into disorder.” I can’t explain my fascination with this theme, but I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do.

Random Subjects at Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Cactus on vertical wall

Before a passion for birds overwhelmed my interests a lot of my photography was concentrated on the mundane sights of daily life. I always looked for strong graphics and interesting objects.

I still try to do some of that when I’m out looking for birds, but my ability to record some things I see is limited by the gear I happen to be carrying at the time.

I found the cactus in the top image interesting in the way it is growing on the side of this rock wall at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It is visible from the main canyon trail where it becomes step switchbacks from Queen Creek up to Ayer Lake. Using my standard bird set-up of 300/2.8 and 2x on a Nikon D200 I composed to emphasize the vertical cracks in the rock wall. ISO 400, 1/1000th second at f/8, tripod.

Drover's Truck Exhibit

The “drover’s shed” on the edge of the “Australian grove” is popular with many visitors to the park, so I finally broke down and took a few frames of the old Dodge Power Wagon that’s part of the display. The bent and rusty truck with the dangling plate fits my long time interest in things undergoing decay – what I’ve labeled here as entropy.

Taken 3/14/2011 (same day as the cactus above) with a Nikon D70 and 70-300 VR lens at 70mm, ISO 400, 1/50th second at f/5.6, hand held.

Lost hat

My final image from this morning at Boyce Thompson Arboretum was this Lost Hat perched on a fence post. Nikno D70, 70-300 VR @ 110mm, ISO 400, 1/100th second @ f.5.6.

It’s not what you think

Mushroom Pair

I know some viewers won’t like this image. In fact one regular viewer here saw this shot many years ago and stated it was my worst photo ever, or something to that effect. But going through my files I find I am still attracted to this image.

This pair of mushrooms was photographed many years ago. somewhere in New Jersey. I’m not sure now exactly where: it could have been at Allaire State Park, or Telegraph Hill park in Holmdel, or maybe even my yard in Freehold.

So, why do I like it? It is an understated shot like a lot of my work, with little color. It relies mostly on strong graphics. It is a “found” object encountered at random, rather than an a controlled subject in an engineered setting. It shows signs of entropy.

But what really appeals to me is the why it can be seen as something other than what it is. It makes me think of gardener’s knees, dirty from kneeling in the wet soil. I have a few other images that can be interpreted as other things, and I might post them later. But probably none that work as well as this one.

So, let me know what you think of this. Is it my worst photo? What does it look like to you?

Rust Rules

Star India Manhole Cover

Since my old shot of the red padlock pleased some readers, here’s another shot from the same time and place – Allaire State Park in central NJ 25-30 years ago. What can I say: I like texture and earthtones, and there’s nothing like a rusted manhole cover to provide both.

Given the age of this image it was obviously another film shot, and my film of the time would have been Kodachrome 64. Mostly likely, I would have shot this with my 55mm macro lens, or my Nikkor 105 if I wanted to work from a bit higher with a narrower angle of view.

A manhole cover is round, and a lot bigger than what’s shown in this image. I liked the texture shown in this tight composition, and that’s where a true macro lens really shines anyway.

I also have some recollections that this cover said Indiana on it, but I shot tight to play up the star symbol in a take on the Star of India. I don’t know if any viewers ever caught on to that, so here’s a chance for any viewer to tell me if it works that way or I was way off the mark.

Red on Red

Red Padlock

With the temperature headed for 115 again today, and already in the mid 90’s at 6:30 this morning, I’m, not planning to do any birding or outdoor photography at the moment. So it seems like a good time to look at older images cluttering my hard drive.

This padlock is an oldie, taken way back in the days of film when I lived in central New Jersey. Without digging through dusty slide files to find a dat stamp on the slide mount I’ll just take a guess and say this was shot in 1980, give or take five years. It was at Allaire State Park (Parkway exit 98, as every NJ resident would refer to the location). At the time there was a train yard, and you could find some interesting subjects if you poked around a bit.

The soft shadows here indicate that it wasn’t a brutally sunny day – more likely a typical dreary day in NJ.  Great light for close-ups where the sky didn’t enter the image.

I’ve always used Nikon gear, so this would have been taken with whatever camera I had at the time (a Nikkormat FTN or EL, or a Nikon FE or FE2 most likely). The lens would have been a 55mm Micro Nikkor. Kodachrome 64 for the film.

This is definitely an example of my long standing interest in decay – what I’ve categorized as my Entropy Series. I’m attracted by the textures and the random wear and tear. I’m glad I took the shot so many years ago, and I still like the composition here.