Archive for July 2023
Sliding along on the water
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Doors Open Pittsburgh outfit offered a narrated boat tour of the Allegheny River recently, and I bought myself a ticket. There were originally two boat tours on order for the day, but the other one got cancelled due to mechanical issues with the vessel. The cancelled one was meant to leave the dock at 8 am, with the boat that I actually got to ride on which these photos were captured from leaving dock in the afternoon. There’s three rivers in Pittsburgh, famously – the Monongahela and Allegheny flow into each other and form the Ohio.
If you like to split hairs, and let’s face it – I do – there’s five rivers. The three mentioned above, plus the Youghiogheny over in McKeesport (different government/community than Pittsburgh – sort of a NYC/Newark thing – but water doesn’t respect political boundaries) and there’s a subterranean river which acts as an aquifer that the local governmental water people mention a lot. I don’t know what to call that one, so let’s just go with ‘Styx.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For this outing, I adapted one of my older lenses onto the mirrorless canon camera I’m using these days. A Sigma 18-300 ‘all in one’ zoom, which is a ‘crop sensor’ lens designed specifically for the sort of DSLR I used to use. It’s a ‘full frame’ camera, the mirrorless one I use now, whereas my older camera was a ‘crop sensor.’ The mirrorless unit allows me to use its onboard settings to allow it to act like a crop sensor and I have a hardware adapter which handles mounting one model’s lenses on the other. Whew.
This isn’t an ideal workflow situation for me, but I’ve got piles of great lenses which I haven’t used in a while that I miss. Just last night, I pulled an old favorite out of the bag – my Sigma 18-35 f1.8, and was testing how it behaved on the mirrorless camera body.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Canon, in their infinite wisdom and greed, have decided not to allow third party lens into the mirrorless ‘RF Mount’ ecosystem at this point. This is really annoying, and whereas the lenses they’ve released for the RF mount are truly amazing, most of them cost what you’d pay for an OK used car. The lens I was using on this outing is one of my old ‘go-to’s’ from NYC when I’d have to be prepared for a variety of circumstance.
Saying that, it’s a ‘daylight’ lens, and fairly crappy for handheld use once the sun starts going down. I’m feeling the hankering for doing some night time work again, after all of this sunlit world stuff – as a note. It’s been a while.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Wound up
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Crossing the Monongahela River, one headed back in the direction of the T Light Rail which had provided a humble narrator with transport from the suburban HQ in Dormont over to the titular center of Pittsburgh.
I was on the Hot Metal Bridge during this particular interval.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Said span is pictured above, and the one in the distance in the first shot is called the Birmingham Bridge. For more, click here.
Rather than sticking to the waterfront as is my habit, this time around I decided to walk down one of the ‘main drags’ in the neighborhood immediately found nearby. This commercial ‘high street’ is called East Carson St., and there’s an abundance of eating and drinking establishments found along it. Apparently this area is irresistible to the younger cohort of Pittsburgh, the sort which enjoys a tipple on a Saturday night, and the corridor often makes the news with tales of mischief and drunken mayhem. For you New Yorkers – think Avenue A between St. Mark’s and Houston.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I grabbed an actually exceptional slice of Pizza on East Carson Street, which I happened across on my way back to the T. I quaffed the thing, and then continued on back to the station.
Back next week with more from Pittsburgh.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Nice parabolas, baby
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I really, really miss wearing head phones and listening to audio books on these long walks. I broke that habit, long held, during COVID and since. The streets got lonely, and since all things evil are born from loneliness, bad things were more likely to occur. Caution became a part of my tools. I need to hear the signaling slap of a sneaker upon the pavement, and can’t intentionally occlude or filter out the auditory environment anymore. Everything got weird during COVID, and it’s stayed that way, even here in Pittsburgh.
Instead, I now philosophize during these intervals. The ‘take pictures’ side of me is actively at work, and quite busy doing stuff, but there’s a whole different layer buzzing away behind the eyes and between the ears while I’m clicking the buttons on the camera. It’s where phraseology like ‘all things evil are born from loneliness’ comes from.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On this particular walk, what I was engaging in was mostly ‘background worrying.’ In this case, it was a website design impasse I found myself at, but there you go. I was mentally working out different solutions to a design problem, which I’d attempt upon getting back home again and sitting in front of The Device. I also wondered about the best way to chop onions, and considered the current gas mileage statistics of my Mobile Oppression Platform parked back in the driveway at HQ. It was quite humid out, and I was ‘sweating bullets.’
This was also one of the outings where I was intentionally traveling light – one zoom lens, two primes, one camera. No tripods, filters, nothing. Just me and the camera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While considering the musical impact of the 1960’s animated children’s cartoon Underdog’s theme song has had on Popular Music, and then entertaining myself along the way with fanciful imaginings about starting a religious cult, realization that the ‘turnaround point’ I’d been walking towards was arrived at.
One last look back at the Eliza Trail, and then over the Monongahela River didst I scuttle.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Shlepping on
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After having ridden Pittsburgh’s light rail service, dubbed ‘The T,’ into the City from Dormont, I hung around one of the stations and got another shot of their rolling stock. I haven’t had to have this conversation here yet, but it’s a certainty that I’m going to end up having to explain myself to a cop at some point in the future.
I can just feel that one coming. Wonder what I’ll end up saying in response when asked ‘why are you taking pictures of…’ by Pittsburgh law enforcement. As a note, Cops usually have zero sense of humor when on duty, don’t find the citizenry or our quirky behavior cute, and as far as my interest in photographically documenting the rolling stock of interurban transportation services for posterity’s sake goes…
I did have an odd conversation with a small town Cop when I first got to Pittsburgh. It was in Clairton, and the officer was more or less the sort of guy you’d expect to be wearing a badge in a steel town – defensive lineman body type and sporting a spectacular mustache. I asked for a moment of his time, and indicated that since I was new to Pittsburgh and was wondering what the local rules might be, regarding me taking shots of a steel mill. Sometimes, if you hand a Cop your business card and introduce yourself, it heads off future trouble as you’ve just landed your self into a cop category called ‘harmless.’ Never hurts to be friendly and proactive, I always say.
The Cop whom I asked about what’s kosher or not in his jurisdiction filled me in on rules regarding trespassing at the plant, and then went off on a tangent about my First Amendment Rights to creative expression and that as long as I didn’t violate any of the aforementioned rules regarding trespass – what I was doing with the camera would not be and could not be any of his business. This was a pretty evolved point of view, constitutional law wise, for a small town Cop. Kudos.
Did you know that it used to be illegal to take a photo of or on, and that there are Port Authority Police snipers permanently stationed upon, the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River? Homeland security, Bro.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After leaving the T system at the First Avenue Station, I walked past the City of Pittsburgh’s jail, and then onto the Eliza Furnace Trail. This one moves along a corridor which carries multiple high speed roads, although the path itself is entirely separated from traffic. That separate quality is sometimes quite illusory. There’s one long section where you’re moving along, and on the other side of nothing but a chain link hurricane type fence and less than 20-30 feet away are semi tractor trailers moving at 80 or 90 mph on the highway. At that speed a loaded truck and trailer would punch through a foot of brick wall like it was cardboard. Do the math, mass x speed = a squished narrator, amirite?
Personally, I’m continually amazed at the ‘need for speed’ displayed by the automotive proletariat here in Pittsburgh. Comfort zone for when I’m driving involves maintaining a highway following distance (1 car length per every ten miles of forward velocity, under ideal circumstance), obeisance towards speed limits (70 mph is plenty fast by me), and a general generosity displayed towards other drivers who need to enter or exit lanes. These habits of mine seem to enrage the average Pittsburgh driver, who has seemingly never learned how to safely merge lanes or drive in close traffic at speed.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My plan for the rest of the walk involved getting about another mile away from where this spot was taken, to a pedestrian bridge pathway over the river. Along the way, there were several interesting tableaux on offer, and one could not stop himself from recording them.
Back tomorrow with more.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Heading into town
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was time for my weekly ‘long walk,’ the sort which sees me scuttling along for 15-20,000 steps over several hours. I don’t wear a Fitbit or anything like that to keep track of my walks, rather I just check the iPhone health app and see what it says after I return to HQ. It’s not a terribly accurate count, but some sort of metric is better than nothing at all, and it really doesn’t matter all that much in the end anyway.
Pictured is a street in the town I’m living in, Dormont. The car Mobile Oppression Platform was left at home this time around, and a humble narrator was heading for the Pittsburgh light rail service known as “The T.” It’s a bit of a drag, I’d mention, getting ‘up’ to the tracks, as I live way down at the bottom of that hill pictured above. There’s a less severe hill to walk up which gets you to the high ground ridge line which the T tracks are on, but that’s Pittsburgh for ya. Also, the point of this exercise is actually ‘exercise,’ so… scuttle, scuttle, scuttle.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Service on the T is fairly frequent, more so during the ‘rush’ periods as you’d imagine, but you’re seldom waiting more than 20-25 minutes for your ride. This one is coming from Pittsburgh, whereas I was waiting on one that’s going ‘to.’ One weird thing about their setup here revolves around fare collection. You pay when you board the Pittsburgh bound service, and pay when you’re exiting for the away from Pittsburgh route. Apparently, there’s a zone system built into the operation, but Dormont is far enough from the center that you pay full fare anyway. Once you’re in the actual center of town, the service runs free between Station Square and the North Side terminal stops.
As a note, the sky in Pittsburgh was positively boiling and cascading about on this particular day. I have been putting a bit of effort into finding the right photographic exposure settings for capturing the dynamism of these Pittsburgh sky in recent months.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The climate is very different here than the one I’ve always known back in NYC. It could be 90 degrees with an 80 percent dew point at 3 in the afternoon, but 8 hours later it’s 60 degrees with a 30 percent dew point. The clouds positively boil over sometimes, after churning about, and when they finish dumping out moisture for an hour you’ll suddenly get glorious blue skies, golden light, and cotton ball cloud formations. An hour later and the sky is black with thunderstorms. Also, there’s actual forest cover laced into the City, meaning that the ‘urban heat island effect’ doesn’t seem to be as big a factor here as it was ‘back in the old neighborhood.’
At any rate, my carriage had arrived, and it was time to get onboard and head into the City of Pittsburgh. Here’s a bit of trivia – when you see blue street signs with white/knock out lettering, you’re in Pittsburgh – as in ‘The City of…’
Back tomorrow, lords and ladies.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 