Archive for August 2023
Heavy and Light
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back to a photo of CSX #916 in the shot above, which was mentioned in a post a couple of days ago. It ended up being the only train I’d get photos of this particular evening, while carousing at a bar nearby its right of way.
After several hours of quaffing beer, it was time to get back home. One settled his tab, and scuttled off to the T light rail to catch a ride back out to Dormont, where HQ is found, nestled amongst the South Hills region of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While waiting for my chariot to arrive, this quartet of motorcycle enthusiasts caught my attention. Pennsylvania doesn’t have a helmet law for bikers, which is bizarre to an ex-New Yorker such as myself, who used to hang around a Manhattan Meat Market bar frequented by Hells Angel and Pagan alike (no ‘colors’ at the bar was the owner’s rule.)
It’s fairly routine to be driving along a PA. highway at 60-70 mph (speed limits are different here) and have some dude on a Harley road bike scream past you, with nothing protecting their head beyond sunglasses and a bandanna. Bold, I tell you. Bold.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally didst the T arrive, whereupon one surmounted the light rail for the ride back home. Luckily, the air conditioning onboard the T was going full blast, an atmospheric modularity sorely needed after having just spent several hours outside in August heat and humidity.
Back tomorrow with something utterly different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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“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.
Used to be, once, long time ago
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned yesterday, a humble narrator was desirous of spending a night out on the town, and used mass transit to get to a bar which occupies a visually interesting location. The area which this particular establishment is found in is feature rich, so one planned in a two hour long scuttle, to exercise both the camera and myself, prior to settling down in front of a pint glass.
There’s lots of natural compositions to be had in this part of Pittsburgh, alongside the Monongahela River. Vehicle and rail bridges, lots of industrial activity… that sort of stuff.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you’re reading this, Our Lady and myself are barricaded in the house back in Dormont. Today is the anniversary of the ‘Pittsburgh Incident’ of 1968. A documentary film about the regional tragedy was made available to the public in October of that year, one which is now in the public domain, and you can watch it at this YouTube link.
This is a solemn night in Pittsburgh, and the tradition here is to board up your windows in remembrance and to stay up all night with a loaded gun on your lap until dawn. The Pittsburgh Incident of 1979, aka the Monroeville Incident, is seldom discussed hereabouts as it started at dawn and led into a fairly lousy day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Brrr. One found a comfortable spot at the brewery’s outside seating and settled in for a few drinks. Conversation with a fellow patron ended up consuming several hours of merrymaking, and many pints of the brewery’s offerings were consumed.
That’s the T light rail passing over the Panhandle Bridge, incidentally. Back tomorrow.
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“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.
Light and heavy
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recreational night out was recently on my agenda, so a quick trip on Pittsburgh’s Light Rail service – dubbed ‘The T’ – carried me to the south side of the Monongahela River and the figurative center zone of the City. I was heading back to a certain brewery located alongside CSX’s (street grade heavy rail) Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks, where I had photographed an absolute parade of trains during a prior visit. The beer is pretty good there, too.
Despite my better judgement, I’ve started reading up on the history of Pittsburgh’s public transit services. Saying that, I absolutely refuse to become historically literate about the thing. No. J’ refuse.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The neighborhood surrounding my destination is the sort of place I feel most comfortable in; industrial, desolate, broken pavement, heavy truck traffic, homeless encampments, etc. This spot has garnered a lot of my interest in recent weeks, as it is fascinating visually.
It’s also a spot where you definitively want to be wearing a hat in the late afternoon, as the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself radiates directly upon you with virtually zero vegetation blocking its influence.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A few people have asked why I don’t find a schedule for trying to catch shots of passing trains like the one above, here in Pittsburgh. First off, there isn’t one – or at least there isn’t one which is publicly available. Secondly, my observation of the situation reveals that what controls the frequency of rail traffic here are the shift changes and industrial needs of the nearby steel mills, which is where the rail traffic is concentrated, and that’s a subject which I have near total ignorance of.
That’s CSX #916. I’m told it’s a ‘ES44AH’ model, built by General Electric, and the engine produces 4,400 HP worth of motive juice. If you wish to be bored to tears reading about all the nuances which this model offers – click here.
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.
Artsy Fartsy at Carrie Furnace
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Finally, after getting soaked for a couple of hours at Pittsburgh’s Carrie Furnace, it stopped raining just after dusk. The other good news was that somebody is staging a play there, with lights and sound and the whole professional theatrical deal. The production had their stage lights on for the rehearsal, so I took advantage of some of the cast light they weren’t using for the shot above.
We were told, explicitly, by the Carrie Furnace people that we couldn’t shoot the stage or actors, nor record any of the score they were playing. Didn’t say anything about their light.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in prior posts, I was participating in a ‘Photo Safari’ at Carrie Furnace in Pittsburgh’s Swissvale section. The ruination of a 20th century steel plant, it was quite dark there. I was using a powerful LED flashlight I carry, to burst light out in the manner of a flash, which allowed me the illumination without the harsh shadows.
The camera was sitting atop a tripod, and longish exposures were indicated by the conditions.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The atmosphere actually got worse after it rained, as a ground fog began lifting out of the soil. It wasn’t terribly ‘visible,’ but you definitely know that you were walking around in a cloud of 95% humidity. While driving home, the fog got pea soup thick. Driving home was… challenging.
The shots in today’s post are from the final hour I was at Carrie, and as previously stated: my intention was on using every single second second that I was on the property in a productive manner.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Carefully picking my way along in the darkness, on rain slicked metal staircases and a muddy field, I worked a generally clockwise path back towards the entranceway as time grew short.
Most of the other photographers, and there were originally about 25 of us, had packed up their gear and left already. Maybe 5-7 of us stayed for the whole interval. To be fair, rain.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A couple of last shots from my way out, which saw me change out the lens I’d been using for most of the day and replace it with one of my ‘night lens’ primes. I found a spot where I could put my bag down for a minute, and securely packed up all the gear.
I was pretty moist by this point, from the driving rain and the subsequent high humidity which triggered a full body shvitz. Wet socks, wet back, and I was still wearing the hard hat which you’re required to install upon yourself when on site. Feh!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The last thing I saw there was the full moon rising in the distance. I will strive to find my way back to Carrie Furnace in the future. Super interesting spot, and a LOT of fun to photograph.
Pittsburgh is just so damn cool, yo.
“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.
Soggy socks at Carrie Furnace
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bands of thunderstorm were blowing through, and it was occasionally raining furiously, at the Carrie Furnace. You do the best you can with the circumstance when you’re behind a camera, so I did. I intended on using every minute I was there productively, so a solid three hours of focus occurred.
A humble narrator has attended enough of these sorts of photographer focused events in the past to know that the areas in today’s posts were where most of the rest of the attendees would go first so I went there last instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a bunch of informal etiquette I follow in these sort of gatherings, including making sure I don’t walk into someone’s shot without first checking if their shutter is open. Not many of my fellow travelers on this outing did the same, which was kind of annoying.
I’d love to get locked in here for an entire night. Sunset to sunrise. All by myself.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Most of the shots in this series are at least a few seconds long, and shot at a fairly low ISO. That made the rain basically disappear. I decided that ‘telling the story’ properly needed at least one shot where the rain was visible, hence… above.
A quick scuttle through the downpours occurred, wherein a set of rain slicked steps were mounted and I proceeded into the main chamber of the furnace.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Western Pennsylvania, once you leave the ‘city’ areas, is extremely dark. I mean, blindly waving your hand in front of your face dark. My old flashlights weren’t cutting it, so another new toy I’ve acquired is the Nightcore T4K. It’s expensive, as flashlights go, but it’s about the size of a BIC lighter and super bright. Also, it recharges via USB-C. The same company also makes a great head light which is very popular with the camping and hiking crowd.
I was using the thing inside the building. It’s got a burst mode which pumps out about 4000 lumens worth of light with a ‘throw’ of at least 60-80 feet. I’d trigger it for half a second to a second, which allowed for a sort of camera flash effect which I could bounce around off the walls and floors while the shutter was open.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Everybody else had moved on from this spot by this point, and I soon found myself all alone up in the furnace for a good long interval. Perfection!
On my way out, somebody told me that they knew where I was from outside, as they’d see a burst of super bright light peeking out of the machinery.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a fascinating section of the site which allows for this sort of view. Luckily, it was starting to get truly dark outside, and as I always say: The night time is the right time.
Back next week with the last post in this series, and a culminating bunch of neato photos.
“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 