inspired photography with just enough perspective
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I was out one night before winter hit. This is the fence around the old state house in downtown Hartford. The “new” statehouse is still pretty old and about five times as big and, has no fence. Don’t ask me why, I just report it.
This is from a series of night photos I shot hand held in downtown Hartford CT. The camera I used is the Sony A7s, which I believe has the highest ISO rating in the world. Basically that means that it’s extremely sensitive so that it can see things in the dark. Certainly I could have taken these with another camera, but I would have needed to use a tripod. That’s not such a bad thing, but I love the idea of walking around with just a camera at night and doing street photography. I guess you could say it opens up a whole new world in terms of shooting scenes at night. In any case, I’m going to a lot more of this in the months to come.
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This is the pond at Fisher Meadow in Avon Connecticut. I walked around this one morning to capture the still waters one winter morning. To get this perspective I placed my camera inches from the water since stillness is what I was trying to capture. In any case, I just returned from Arizona which has quite a lot of arid dry land and few, if any, ponds to speak of. I decided to post this picture to restore a sense of landscape equilibrium and a little water to my thirsty eyes. 😉
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Downtown Hartford, CT at night reminds me of some midwest cities. Basically they roll the streets up at 5pm. So when I came downtown a couple of weeks ago it was good and bad. Good because I just about had the whole downtown core to myself, bad in that there were slim pickins as far as any activity goes. Nonetheless, I made the best of it had a pretty good time wandering about.
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It’s time for a few Christmas lights, which are everywhere. As I squint my eyes the lights of the trees blend with those of the building behind. I have to scratch that abstract itch every now and again. Now I feel much better, and I hope you do too.
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On a chilly evening a few weeks ago I stood here in front of the statehouse in Hartford Connecticut. I think because of the cold the entire property was deserted which afforded me an opportunity to walk around it at will with my tripod. Only later when I processed this did I notice the flags at half mast. The ornate dome and outer walls reminded me of buildings I’ve seen in Germany. In any case, despite the lack of any anyone around I’m guessing the guards watched me on security cameras as I walked around the building. They probably figured I was harmless and it was just too cold for them to do anything about it.
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I stopped at an “open space” along the Farmington River near Hartford. Looking at a local map it seems there are a lot of these open spaces which are not quite parks yet they to seem act as buffers between the natural landscape and the development. I found this area on one of that last remaining days of autumn and was mesmerized by the deep, swift, quite flow of the river. It impressed me with a feeling of understated power. No waterfalls, no rapids, just deep dark flowing water along this secluded bank.
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Noticed this pond on the side of the road on my way to the Hartford airport the other day. The thing I like about New England is that things are, well, …quaint. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, quite the contrary. Hills and valleys and winding roads, everything just kind of blends in with the countryside. It’s a subtle kind of beauty that contrast from my home state of Florida, we’re kind of in-your-face beaches and open space, Connecticut has a different kind of passive beauty, revealing itself behind each turn of the road.
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The sign said trail to tower. It was cold, snow on the ground and I just arrived from Florida a couple hours earlier. But all the native New Englanders were out in their shorts and running shoes so I couldn’t turn back, wouldn’t look good for Florida. I figured once I got to the top of the mountain there would be a cell tower and I could pull out my iPhone and check the temperature, as though I needed a reminder. Little did I know that a mile and a half up the trail was a Bavarian fortress with spectacular views of the valley and city of Hartford below. Chalk one up for dumb luck.
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This is the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch near the capitol building in Hartford Connecticut. I took this a few nights ago in the twenty degree chill and so not too many people were out. However, as I set up for this shot someone starting walking towards me while singing quite loud. I sized up my situation but had nothing to worry about as the gentleman simply inquired about my photography. Turns out there was a concert, opera I think, just up the way and he was just walking home reveling in the moment. I, on the other hand quickly finished and made a hasty retreat to the warmth of my car.
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