Philadelphia: Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul

Philadelphia No Responses »
Mar 152013
Philadelphia Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

The crossing dome of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

Looking straight up at the crossing dome of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral is one of the most eminent structures in Philadelphia. Its construction took from 1846 until 1864. Designed in the style of Italian Renaissance, its interior is richly decorated.

The architect was Napoleon LeBrun, a man whose career spanned the entire 2nd half of the Nineteenth Century and included such famous buildings as the Metropolitan Life Tower in Manhattan.

This is one of the many great photo opportunities available on my Philly Photo Safari. Plenty of room is still available for my next one on April 21, 2013 at 1pm. See my photo tours page for more details.

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Ginkgo in Gutter

Maryland, Nature No Responses »
Jan 202013
Ginkgo Leaf with water flowing around it

Real "street" photography!

The remnants of Hurricane Humberto swept way up into the Baltimore area in early September 2006, causing an early fall of gingko leaves.

Here, a still-green ginkgo leaf sits in the gutter along Commerce Street as the heavy rain swirls around it.

Posted by srosenbach at 9:05 pm Tagged with:

Philly Faucet on Fifteenth

Extra Ordinary, Humor No Responses »
Jan 172013

Sienfeldian Photo - photo about nothing

I call this a “Seinfeldian Image.”

That is, it’s a Photo about Nothing*.

Just light, texture, and shadow.

Taken on S. 15th Street in Philly. I liked the way the bright sun set of the texture of the beige stucco wall. It was almost monochrome to begin with, so I just left the color in the faucet, converting the rest of the image to black & white.

* see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQnaRtNMGMI

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Red Buoy In Fog

Maryland No Responses »
Jan 172013
Fells Point Red Buoy in Fog Baltimore Maryland

I never was too clever at naming photos!

Another photo from our foggy-morning Shutterbug Excursions meetup at Fells Point last Sunday.

One kind of image I’ve always been partial to is “a little bit of something in a lot of nothing.” This one is an example of a corollary, “a little bit of color in a lot of non-color.”

You can practice looking for situations like this and thy it out with your own photos… a little bit of something in a lot of nothing… a little bit of color in a lot of no color…. a little bit of one color in a lot of another color.

To paraphrase George Zimmer, you’re going to like the way it looks; I guarantee it.

Posted by srosenbach at 2:45 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Maryland No Responses »
Jan 162013
Fells Point Baltimore Waterfront Kayak reflections

Kayak reflections at Fells Point

Despite the foggy, dull day, we found spots of color. The reflections from these kayaks were surprisingly bright, notwithstanding the total cloud cover.

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"Bad Weather Makes Good Pictures"

Maryland No Responses »
Jan 142013
Old Pier Fells Point Caroline Street Baltimore MD

Cranes belonging to the Domino Sugar Plant loom in the fog beyond the old Caroline Street pier at Fells Point

What with my full-time job and a few weekends a month taken up with leading photo tours for Washington Photo Safari, I don’t get a chance to hook much anymore with the gang at Shutterbug Excursions, a local Meetup.com group. Today was a nice exception, though, as our group met for a photo outing in historic Fells Point.

The weather reports through last night advertised sunny and temperature in the 70′s, but the morning brought thick fog and a disappointingly chilly 45 degrees. The company was warm and sunny, though; I didn’t see any of the old regulars, but I was happy to meet the friendly group that did show up.

Following the advice that his father gave to the young Sam Abell that “bad weather makes good pictures,”  we didn’t let the fog get us down.

 

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2 Park Avenue

New York City No Responses »
Jan 102013
Ely Jaques Kahn's landmark 2 Park Avenue Empire State in background

The warm brick and terra-cotta of 2 Park Avenue contrast with the metallic mooring mast and antenna of the Empire State Building, a few blocks to the west.

The colorful and striking 2 Park Avenue Building, built in 1926-28 on lower Park Avenue, was designed by one of New York’s foremost architects of the first half of the twentieth century, Ely Jacques Kahn.  Constructed when this section of the avenue was just beginning to be developed with modern office towers, 2 Park Avenue represents one of Kahn’s finest essays into Art Deco or Modernistic style architecture.

In the 2 Park Avenue Building, Kahn was able to successfully integrate a new decorative type produced by the application of colorful terra-cotta panels in geometric designs to a tall, commercially successful office/loft structure. 2 Park Avenue was one of the important late 1920s buildings that helped create the visually lively and iconic city of the early 20th century.

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Lower Manhattan: The Helen McAllister

New York City No Responses »
Aug 312012
Tugboat Helen McAllister at South Street Seaport Manhattan NYC

The Helen McAllister, berthed at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan

The South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan is one of several geographically-distributed museums designated by Congress that make up the National Maritime Museum. My favorite boat at South Street is the Helen McAllister, a hard-working, steam-powered tug built in 1900 that was still in service in the 1990′s.

A residual memory of this book is probably why I’m drawn to little old tugboats.

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Red Stairs in Rockport

Massachusetts No Responses »
Aug 292012
Red Stairs Rockport, MA

Red Stairs - Rockport, MA

Back in the days that I used to post on Usefilm.com, one of the photographers that I admired, John Barclay, commented to me, “When you see red, shoot it!”

Not a bad philosophy, actually.

Walking with my wife, daughter, and future son-in-law in the lovely town of Rockport this past weekend, I saw these red steps, nicely sidelighted, just off the main street.

What can I say? All that red screamed out to me, begging to be photographed. I knew there was a good photo there somewhere. I “worked” the stairs to the extent that I could without holding up and annoying my companions, and this was my last, and favorite, of the seven exposures I made.

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Rockport Kayaks

Massachusetts No Responses »
Aug 292012

Different colored kayaks tied up at Rockport MA

Sometimes you have to work hard for a photo, and sometimes you don’t. This was one of those happy cases of the latter variety.

So there we were, having dinner on the open-air 2nd floor of  7th Wave Restaurant in Rockport. We had a beautiful view of the harbor as we waited for our order.

I happened to be sitting right next to the parapet, and as I leaned over to see what was there, I found these rental kayaks tied up for the night. Out came the little Canon S95 from my pocket, and a few snaps later, I had this.

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