Posts Tagged ‘Brooklyn’
cemented hillocks
Today is World Food Day, on this hungry planet.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As promised, here’s a few shots gathered on Friday the 13th at the Atlas Obscura “Into the Veil” event at Greenwood Cemetery. A friend I was showing them to on Friday asked me what the “night into day” technique I employed to capture these images entails other than long exposure times, and I tried to explain the exacting series of steps and settings which are employed, but by then he had fallen asleep. It’s complicated.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In a couple of instances, I hung a work light of the front of my tripod. The shot above is a fair representation of what was within the range of human vision. The moon was occluded on Friday by heavy cloud cover and atmospheric humidity was quite high, which is ruinous for this sort of shooting due to the scattering and consumption of light by airborne moisture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The same setup, this time employing the whole checklist of “night into day” techniques which I’ve been working on. The difficult part of this, and why I’m stifled with the result, involves the sky – which isn’t blown out.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
LED lighting continues to grow in popularity, but it provides a bugbear of problems for digital photography. LED lights are actually strobing hundreds of times a minute, and throwing out weird wavelengths of saturated color light which the camera sensor struggles to interpret. Notice the difference between the automotive brake light generated red streak on the hill and the unnaturally garish reds of the LED architectural light on the Steinway Chapel at Greenwood.
Just have to figure out how to conquer that one, as I don’t think LED’s are going away anytime soon.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
thunder crazed
It’s National Yorkshire Pudding Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Tonight, one will finally get to do something purely by choice rather than circumstance or obligation, as I’m attending Atlas Obscura’s “Into the Veil” event at Greenwoord Cemetery. Well… my plan doesn’t exactly revolve around “attending” so much as being in the Cemetery while the Atlas event is going on. A humble narrator is going to figure out where the crowds are headed and then me, the camera, and my trusty tripod are going off in an entirely different direction to do some long exposure night shots of the type contained in today’s post. I will consider tonight a great success if I do not have to talk to anyone.
It’s been a while since I was able to just “take pictures.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last year, I made the mistake of going with a group to this thing. The herd dynamic found us wandering about in broad and aimless circles punctuated by sudden panicked urgency, as one person after the other suddenly announced that they needed to urinate. No one seemed to be able to coordinate their lavatorial schedules with the rest of the group, so it was fairly rare to get a ten minute interval of shooting in before we had to run off in the direction of a porta potty.
I’m like a camel in this regard, and when out “in the field,” carefully monitor the amount of liquids one consumes so as to not necessitate biological crises. Others in my group last year were convinced that they were visiting a Kuwaiti desert and required constant hydration, which resulted in excessive urination, as Greenwood is in… y’know… Brooklyn.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My photographic plan for tonight revolves around long exposures and my unpatented “night into day” techniques. “Night into Day,” as I call it, involves exposures in the half minute to minute range accompanied by the usage of extremely narrow apertures, a tripod, and shutter release – for the curious. All the shots in today’s post were accomplished using this sort of procedure, for example the shot above was invisible to the human eye and was just a vast expanse of darkness, and my hope is that tonight I can capture a few memorable shots at Greenwood.
I’ll show you what I got next week, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
Upcoming Tours and events
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
fouled iteration
It’s National Noodle Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A humble narrator is not what you might describe as a “morning person.” Despite my predeliction for being awake during the “hour of the wolf” and the “witching hour,” however, duties and obligation have seen me waking up before the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself presents itself in the eastern sky for the last couple of weeks.
An interval of confusion, and sudden onset of weakness and physiological discohesion, occurs periodically and causes me to fall into unconsciousness. One then wildly hallucinates for several hours – which I think you people call “dreaming sleep” – and this has been occurring earlier and earlier in the evening of late. One classifies this as “no good.” I’ve always opined that my ancestors were the ones who sat at the mouth of the cave with a spear whilst the rest of the tribe slept, at the ready to fight off nocturnal bears or opportunistic giant serpents. The only time I enjoy seeing the oculus of God itself rising is when I’ve been up all night.
Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One was working late one recent night here at HQ in Astoria, despite having seen the entire solar cycle play out, when a change in atmospherics occurred and a blanket of fog rolled through the ancient village. Couldn’t resist setting up my old Canon G10 on its magnetic tripod and cracking out a few shots – just to capture the utter creepiness of the night.
As a note, this was proper fog, not a precipitating mist. The latter is ruinous to try and capture, as it’s actually “grounded rain” rather than the fine mist typical of the former. On nights such as this, the stout Croatians of Astoria bind their windows shut tightly, proclaiming that the fog might carry some miasmic disease or mysterious things that swim through the air. Strigoi, they call them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over in Greenpoint, on one of the early morning outings which I’ve been forced to endure, this evidentiary shot was captured showing that the Queens Cobbler serial killer is still amongst us and continuing their deviltry. Someday, we will all know the truth of the Cobbler, if he or she doesn’t get us first and leave behind a single shoe, meant to serve as a taunt for the Golden Shield Detectives of the NYPD to analyze and puzzle over.
Who can guess, all there is, that happens in the darkest corners of the Newtown Pentacle at night?
I will say it again – BAH!
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
flowing ichor
It’s National Vodka Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the moment, one is not even sure what day it is, due to multitudinous “things I have to do” which have played out over the last two weeks. A lot of these have involved leaving the house before the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself has risen and arriving back at Newtown Pentacle HQ after it has occluded itself behind New Jersey. It is impossible for me to focus on or make “small talk” at the moment, as a tidal force swirls behind my eyes and between my ears.
In short, I’m pooped.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Tomorrow, hopefully, I’ll have another set of Koscisuzcko Bridge shots ready for you which I captured yesterday before having to utterly change gear and put on a suit to go to a fancy pants gala dinner over in the city. Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen was a speaker, and in pursuance of not heckling her, I went outside instead and chatted with a lovely fellow who had spent 28 years in the NYPD who was sharing some of his war stories with me.
I really cannot stand listening to any member of the De Blasio executive team blowing their own horns.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I think that’s a Monarch Butterfly in the shot above. It’s kind of a pretty shot, I think, which is made interesting by the fact that the flowering plants the butterfly is inspecting are growing at a sewer plant in Greenpoint, and that the water forming the background of the shot is Newtown Creek.
Never know what you’re going to see along my beloved creek, so it’s best to always carry a camera whe you’re there, otherwise no one will believe what you tell them without some sort of photographic backup.
Upcoming Tours and events
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
sounds heard
It’s apparently National Soft Taco Day, in these United States.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unusual is a Sunday evening post at your Newtown Pentacle, but I wanted to get that piece of Kosciuszcko Bridge demolition video live – asap. Above is a panorama image of the scene as witnessed from about .6 of a mile eastwards of the span at the Maspeth Avenue Plank Road just as the smoke began to clear. I’ve been a busy bee for the last 48 hours, developing shots of the event. I also had to conduct a Newtown Creek tour for a class from the University of Toronto in the afternoon, which was a combination of a walking tour and a boat tour (via the North Brooklyn Boat Club).
The shots in today’s post were captured in the late afternoon of Sunday, October 1st from the waters of the fabulous Newtown Creek, and it’s the scene you’ll observe in DUKBO – Down Under the Kosciuszcko Bridge Onramp.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
North Brooklyn Boat Club is based alongside the Pulaski Bridge (which about 1.5 miles west of the Kosciuszcko Bridge) in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section. The NBBC has two large canoes which can make bringing small groups of people out onto Newtown Creek possible. After a brief instruction about safety and how to handle the crafts, we all donned life vests and turned the marine radio’s switch to “on” and got onboard.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The scene in DUKBO is otherworldly, with the highway having settled into neat slabs along the still extant concrete piers of the 1939 Kosciuszcko Bridge.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the Brooklyn side.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The steel piers are still standing, and will no doubt be disassembled via conventional demolition techniques.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking westwards, along the bulkheads of the National Grid properties at Greenpoint’s border with Bushwick (or East Williamsburg if you must).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Queens side, in the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This closeup is looking northwards, along the Blissville section of Long Island City’s border with Maspeth, towards Sunnyside. For reference, this used to be the NYPD tow yard.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As early as Sunday afternoon, there were already wielders with torches (and other labor going on as well) cutting into the rubble. This giant piece of steel truss, as far as I could discern from my vantage, was laying across the Lower Montauk Tracks of the LIRR.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I imagine getting the right of way clear as quickly as possible is a major priority.
As a note, the students from the University of Toronto we were guiding around had seemingly lost the ability to speak at this point and had become lost in the terrible majesties of the lugubrious Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you’re reading this, I’m heading over to the Newtown Creek to go see what’s going on, and I’ll update you as things progress at the Kosciuszcko Bridge site at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
Upcoming Tours and event
Exploring Long Island City, from Luxury Waterfront to Abandoned Factories Walking Tour,
with NY Adventure Club – Saturday, October 7th, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Long Island City is a tale of two cities; one filled with glittering water-front skyscrapers and manicured parks, and the other, a highly active ground transportation & distribution zone vital to the New York economy — which will prevail? With Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman – details here.
The Hidden Harbors Of Staten Island Boat Tour,
with Working Harbor Committee – Sunday, October 15th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
A very cool boat tour that visits two of the maritime industrial waterways of New York Harbor which adjoin Staten Island and Bayonne in New Jersey – The Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. There will be lots of tugboats, cargo docks, and you’ll get to see multiple bridges from the water – including the brand new Goethals Bridge. I’ll be on the mike, narrating with WHC board member Gordon Cooper – details here.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
The Newtown Pentacle 