Author Archive
extinguishing all
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 8th, and I was attending a performance of something… avant gardé… I guess. I’m not really sure how to describe a “soundscape” performance, but there I was at the sewer plant in Greenpoint.
Before things got started, I walked over to Newtown Creek to pop out a sunset shot because “why not”?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s Che Chen in the yellow shirt, who was the soundscape artist. His team had microphones and speakers set up, and the event drew quite a crowd. Even Our Lady of the Pentacle was there. It went right over my head, but the crowd was digging the hell out of this.
We actually snuck away early and walked over to a bar on Greenpoint’s Manhattan Avenue to grab a drink, and get dinner.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 9th saw me in the company of My Pal Val. Several years ago, I was invited by the NYC Parks Dept. to be part of a group of photographers who would get to spend some time at Fresh Kills. At the time, none of the park had opened to the public yet. I’ve been subsequently asked to come back but was never able to make my schedule work. Given that I’m planning on departing the City at the end of the year… when the invite arrived, I said yes, and managed to get Val on the guest list too.
Val picked me up in Astoria, and we headed off to… Staten Island.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We actually got there far earlier than we needed to, with the intention of finding some “catch as catch can” shooting opportunities along the way. …Staten Island… is fairly photogenic at its edges. Upland (with a few very notable exceptions), it’s pretty much suburban sprawl – highways, housing developments, and shopping malls – but …Staten Island… has a very interesting waterfront.
Particularly so on its eastern (Verrazano/Narrows), western (Arthur Kill), and northern (Kill Van Kull) coasts. The south coast of …Staten Island… is basically a salt marsh and then a beach.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking south along the narrows towards the bridge, those ships belong to the Sandy Hooks Pilots. They escort large vessels into New York Harbor. The horizon buildings behind the ships are in Brooklyn, and found along the Belt Parkway.
We picked our way along the waterfront, heading towards Skelson’s Office.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a spot at the end of Bard Avenue which my dearly departed pal John Skelson used to shoot tugboats passing by on the Kill Van Kull from. Several times we called him out, while passing by on a Hidden Harbor tour with the Working Harbor Committee, and the spot became known as “Skelson’s Office” for all the time that he spent here.
Time began to grow short, and My Pal Val and I decided that it would wise to grab a meal. We shortly found a diner, where I had a fine cheeseburger, and then we continued on our journey to the edge of the known world – Fresh Kills.
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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.
disturbed by
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 3rd, as mentioned yesterday, found me at the Hell Gate section of the East River nearby Astoria Park and the Triborough Bridge. After hanging around the joint for about 90 minutes during what turned out to be a light show of a sunset, I packed away my zoom lenses and tripod and converted the camera over to handheld mode and attached my “night kit” lenses.
This was one of my short walks, as I call them, but ultimately I was out and about on my feet for about five hours and had walked about six miles by the time I got back to HQ.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
You can have and use all the kit you can carry, and after an hour and half of futzing around with tripod and filters and fancy shooting techniques, my favorite shot of the effort are the two in today’s post – handheld and high ISO.
What are you gonna do?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 5th saw me hanging around HQ waiting for it to get dark and for a delivery to arrive. While I was waiting, a pack of birds descended on the forever puddle found on my next door neighbor’s roof. Next to this stagnant waterbody is my outdoor porch area, here in Astoria, so I outfitted the camera with a telephoto lens and got busy waiting for a bird to fly onto one of my wires.
Every time I try to say what kind of a bird a bird is, I get it wrong, so I just make up names for them myself. Accordingly – that’s a Peruvian Pepper Hen drying its feathers. It’s call sounded like this – GRAKKLE – which should let you know that I actually do know what kind of bird this bird is, but am smart enough not to venture any analysis of speciation.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My back was sore, and my feet hurt, but I still wanted to get out and do “something.” Drinking at a bar just isn’t exciting to me anymore, in fact it’s become kind of a sad thing these days. Most of the “Astoria Commentariat” at my “local” really doubled down on the substance abuse thing during the pandemic, and shooting the shit with folks in downward spirals is just depressing. Hope they can catch themselves.
I decided thereby, that it would be a “ride the trains” night. Only $2.75.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The N was caught in Astoria, which carried me to the Queensboro Plaza IRT station, and the most photogenic of NYC’s subways – the 7. I hung around on the platform for the arrival and departure of several train sets, and struck up conversation with a young guy who was a bit of a railfan. “I could stand here and watch this all night,” he told me.
For me, that wasn’t the case.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I shot a few frames of the 7’s entering the station, and then hopped on an express which took me to Woodside. I waved the camera around a bit at a few other stops, mainly the ones along Queens Boulevard. Then I debarked from the system at 40th Lowery Street and walked back to HQ in Astoria, whereupon I downloaded the captured images and began the processing/developing process.
To recap – I showed up. I did the work. I went home.
“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.
fumbling in
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 3rd saw a humble narrator drawn to Astoria Park by the annual Astoria Carnival. My initial intention was to buy a ticket and ride the Ferris Wheel pictured above in pursuance of capturing an uncommon view of the “zone,” but the high price of the ride coupled with the presence of smudged plexiglass on the cars made me reconsider.
Also, the carnival was positively mobbed with teenagers. I decided discretion wasn’t the better part of valor, and headed down to the waterfront along Shore Boulevard instead.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was an overcast and kind of humid day, which usually makes for decent sunsets, so my toes were pointed down at Hells Gate.
Really, that’s what this section of the East River is called.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One set up for landscape shots, with tripod and all the other gear deployed. The last time I was down here, I missed a few shots which just sort of “happened” when the camera was configured thusly, and when preparing for this evening’s activities I had a plan in place for the eventuality reemerging.
You can save a set of camera settings, assigning them to a camera dial position which Canon calls “creative settings.” There’s three of these dial positions available. I had set one up in advance for the circumstance of “I’m set up for long and slow exposure and a tugboat shows up.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Thereby, when a tug actually did show up, I was ready for it. It isn’t anything obtuse, these settings, unlike the one I’m noodling for creating time lapses. The latter is something I’m still figuring out, which is why you haven’t seen any of that stuff yet.
Time lapse photography involves taking hundreds of shots at timed intervals and then lining them all up as an animated image. It’s different than video, as it’s a series of stills. This allows me to do what I do during the “developing” of the RAW format image files captured in camera. “Shoot for the edit” is the best advice I can give – other than “show up, do the work, go back home and finish the work.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The “showing up” thing is a big deal for me. Keyboard Warriors abound in the modern world. They’re generally bitchers or moaners, like to describe the way the world used to be or the way it should be, and you don’t normally see them in person until somebody is handing out trophies or the press is there.
Sweat equity is what I’m built around respecting. Show up. Do the work. Go home.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Turns out I was right about the atmospheric conditions producing a pretty spectacular sunset. Speaking of “shoot for the edit,” the shot above is actually three shots. The foreground one received a shallow depth of field and the focal point is right in the middle of Triborough’s reflection. The second shot is focused on the bridge’s Randall’s Island pierage, and the third on the Manhattan shoreline and sky. I changed up the exposure settings for all three as well, and then married them together using an extrapolation of the “focus stacking” technique.
Shoot for the edit.
“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.
dreaded reality
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sometimes, it rains.
After a late afternoon and early evening of threatening weather, with a humble narrator carefully choosing his path to offer shelter from the ominous skies, the amount of energy flowing about in the heavens caused a Götterdämmerung of a storm to pop. Water began cascading down, and I ducked under the off ramps of the Queensboro Bridge found at Dutch Kills Street for a few minutes until the initial torrent passed through.
You gotta know your zone, I always say.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once the initial flush of storm had crackled through, I deployed the umbrella again and began quick stepping to a subway stop at Queens Plaza which would allow me to get back to Astoria with a minimum of fuss.
Saying that, water was flying around horizontally, and upon returning to HQ, I had to turf out all my gear from the bags and hang them off of a hook for an entire day to allow them to dry out. The gear on the interior of the bags was fine.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I made it, just in time as it turned out, to the intended stop.
Lots of people were running about, and I discovered that about 60% of the population in LIC doesn’t check the weather before they leave for the day. This was obvious, because of the fact that only about 40% of passerby were outfitted with umbrellas or other rain gear. Of course, the population of people who have recently moved into Queens Plaza’s new luxury condos display a gait that indicates that walking is a fairly novel experience for them, as opposed to stationary cycling on their Pelotons.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It took about 5 minutes for the R to arrive “downstairs” at the Queens Plaza IND station, and I boarded a train.
What? You people don’t wear masks on the subway anymore?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Back in Astoria and the sky had really opened up.
I’ve worked out a system for carrying my umbrella that involves jamming it in amongst the straps of the two bags I use for my camera gear. I’m able to thereby able to not have to commit an entire hand to carrying and managing it, which allows me to keep on shooting.
I’d normally toss a shot like the one above, with the umbrella in frame, but there’s something I really like about it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had to fjord a couple of street rivers on my way back to HQ.
You’re not imagining it, by the way. Storms in NYC are quite different than they used to be and our average rainfall is actually a lot higher than it used to be. It’s disguised by the official numbers, which describe “precipitation” rather than rain or snow. NYC doesn’t get multiple yards of snow anymore, which melts slowly, instead it gets drenching rains and powerful thunderstorms which flood the streets.
“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.
frequent fumbling
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After exiting the Court Square subway stop in Long Island City and crossing Jackson Avenue, the Manhattan bound 7 train runs on an elevated truss bridge which follows Davis Street. Davis Street is where the Neptune Water Meter company used to be found, which is the factory building that became 5ptz – the graffiti and street art gallery. These days, there are tower apartments sitting on the site, and their owners call them 5ptz. Grrr.
Davis Street is where Batman’s parents were murdered by gunman Joe Chill in at least two cinematic iterations of the crime, and I think Highlander once had a sword fight there too. These days, there ain’t too much to see on Davis, other than the soundproofed walls of luxury condominium towers. Soul? None.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m Facebook friends with a lot of people I’ve never met in “meatspace.” One of them is an artist who carries his sketchbook to a lot of the same places that I bring the camera. Monte Antrim. Look him up, great stuff. Anyway, Monte had posted a drawing of a derelict car he found at the end of Davis Street which intrigued me, and since I was in the neighborhood…
Why not?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is a very, very late model car and something I can tell you for certain is that it was dumped here in the last couple of years. That’s odd. How certain am I? Very. I have been haunting this area for 15 years.
I’m told it used to be a Mercedes.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I whipped out the tripod for this series of shots, as my desire was to reduce the distraction offered the water’s texture. The tripod allowed me to do a longish exposure, and the wind driven ripples were thereby smoothed out into a mirror finish.
There’s another condo building that’s opening down at the end of Davis Street, found under the screaming steel wheels of the Subway. The looks I was getting from them… on a street once renowned – globally – for attracting artists… Maybe if I had set myself up to do some investment banking it would have seemed normal to them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A sign adorning the new building promised studio apartments starting at “just $660,500” were available for immediate occupancy. This is what their frontage looks like.
It’s a scam, you’ve been had. You been took. There’s a state superfund site on the other side of that railyard fence and there’s a federal superfund site 3/4 of a mile away. You’re living on top of what used to be a chemical factory. Every ten minutes a subway train goes past your window generating 100+ decibels of ear damage. The elevated tracks are dripping with dielectric oils and PCB’s. You’ve got the off ramps of the Queensboro Bridge a quarter mile away, and traffic is always heavy, as is auto exhaust. If you’ve got that kind of money, you could be living in a house rather than a noisy and polluted box. It’s also not a good investment, no matter what the broker told you. You’ll be lucky to get your original capital back when you sell.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sigh… what’s the point anymore.
The good news is that I continued to not get wet as the rain began to really come down. My umbrella was deployed and I continued scuttling towards Queens Plaza and the subway ride back to Astoria.
“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 