Posts Tagged ‘Downtown Pittsburgh’
get off my lawn
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I haven’t had a bagel in a little over 4 months, which is a realization that has just set in. Other existential horror which I can offer today involved a pulled muscle in my left calf, an injury which occurred just yesterday when I was running up a hill to get into position to photograph a passing train. Neither of these conditions explain why I’m showing you archive shots today. What can I tell you? A daily schedule is hard to maintain, even after all these years of doing so.
The good news is that the Pittsburgh analogue of “Open House NY” has announced a bevy of tour opportunities which I greedily ordered tickets for at the beginning of the week, and so has the “Rivers of Steel” outfit at the Carrie Blast Furnace. I’ve got boat tours to attend!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve been working on learning a few things the last few weeks, notably trying to perfect the capture of time lapse footage. It’s so boring shooting this sort of thing that I’ve decided to start bringing my old camera out with me when I’m capturing time lapse images just to have something to do while the 2-3 hour long process plays out on the “good” camera. The problem isn’t capturing the sequence, instead it’s about perfecting the formula by which the images can smoothly transition from day to night without looking like a scene from Blade Runner.
I’m currently getting close. I’ve got the process more or less figured out in terms of the technical and “in camera” stuff. So far, what I’ve doped out through trial and error involves setting several menus to “auto” which is anathema to me normally. A recent moment of realization involved restricting the auto ISO settings to a narrower range than the one I use normally. Once I can reliably produce smooth video time lapses, then I can start getting “creative” with them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another major distraction I’m dealing with involves a new desktop setup back here at HQ. Wiring it up correctly is a bit of trial and error thing these days, since equipment manufacturers seem to no longer host actual manuals or support documents on their sites. It’s a real pickle, and my desk is currently a mass of loose wires leading to and from other boxes of wires and circuit boards which aren’t doing what I want them to do. This is annoying.
Back tomorrow with something fresh, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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Pittsburgh, 3 ways
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As opined yesterday, a humble narrator fell victim to biology over the weekend when a stomach bug announced its residency within. Labyrinthine gut notwithstanding, one normally enjoys a quite predictable schedule – alimentary speaking – so an interruption of the normal procedure for nutrient processing was quite a surprise. Coupled with a mild fever which brought waves of sweaty overheating followed by goose bumps and shivering chills, I’d be reluctant to recommend the experience to you, lords and ladies.
Due to being laid low, and my temporary residence in front of the porcelain pulpit in the bathroom, the normal schedule went down the drain along with everything else I was capable of expressing. Hence, archive shots greet you again today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The castellation adorned skyscraper is the PPG Tower, which seems to be the de facto center of the City, here in Pittsburgh. PPG Place is the complex which the tower, a 40 story building designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, is found in. The PPG Industries outfit (1883 founded Pittsburgh Plate Glass) has its hands in several industrial sectors which include coatings, house paints, and glazes as well as the manufacture of architectural, automotive, and optical glass. If your eyeglasses use ‘Transitions’ lenses which darken into sunglasses when you walk out into sunlight, you’re a customer.
This shot is from one of the multi story parking lots found in the center of the City of Pittsburgh, which I’ve learned offer interesting points of view.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
PPG is one of the major corporate players here in Pittsburgh, as I’m finding out. On a “behind the lens” note, it’s also one of the set pieces in a shot which says “Pittsburgh.” Back in NYC, that role was played by Empire State and Chrysler buildings with newcomer One World Trade in terms of visually setting a “place.” The East River bridges also performed that function.
Back tomorrow with something new. I’m feeling back to about 80% today. Nothing survives in me for long, as my inner workings are incredibly toxic. Back in January, just after getting here, Covid appeared within and I managed to annihilate that microbial scourge in about 72 hours. Often, it feels as if my white blood cells respond to how angry I am about feeling sick, and the more pissed off I get about it the quicker that they go to work. Probably just hormones, but don’t mess with my personal mythologies – I’m special.
I credit my super charged immune system to the years spent along that ribbon of municipal neglect known as the sewage charged Newtown Creek.
“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.
Bridge to Nowhere
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Fort Duquesne Bridge was completed in 1963, but didn’t open for traffic till 1969. The reason for the delay seems to revolve around PennDOT not having secured the real estate that would be required for its off ramps on the north side of the Allegheny River prior to the start of construction. There’s a famous story about a college student who intentionally jumped a station wagon off the open end of the bridge in 1964. Pittsburghers of the time, and some you’ll encounter today, refer to this as the “Bridge to Nowhere.”
Me? I had recently walked the nearby and larger Fort Pitt Bridge, and since Fort Duquesne enjoys a particular prominence due to association with its larger neighbor I thereby figured I’d make an afternoon out of it. This structure looks a great deal like Fort Pitt, and shares its engineering problem solving theory with it – it’s a double decked bowstring arch bridge just like Fort Pitt is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Fort Duquesne feeds into the north western side of the city of Pittsburgh, and allows high speed road traffic (I-279 and PA Route 65) to head north along the Ohio River coast towards wealthy and long established suburbs like Sewickley, or the rapidly growing subdivisions of Cranberry Township.
Speaking from the NYC transplant perspective for a moment; I looked at both of those places before moving out here. Sewickley was too rich for my blood, and reminded me of several wealthy coastal communities in Connecticut and Jersey which I could never afford and which would annoy me daily as a proud child of the working class. Think Westport. Cranberry was cool if you’re worried about school districts, have a young family, and are investing for the long term. Think Melville or Amityville, not Huntington – and sure as hell not Dix Hills – on Long Island. Northern part of Westchester County kind of vibe.
Given that Our Lady and myself are new to the Pittsburgh area, we decided that isolating into such an suburban existence when we’re newly arrived from the concrete devastations and dense urbanity of Home Sweet Hell (NYC) would be a mistake. We chose to land ourselves, thereby, in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and specifically the Borough of Dormont. There’s public transit for when we don’t want to drive here, and there’s still an urban vibe. Cranberry was “car culture” designed, which is fine, but it’s not what we were looking for. Saying that, if you want to buy something, anything, there’s probably somebody in Cranberry Township you’d want to do business with and their shop will have ample free parking available. There’s also likely going to be a Denny’s nearby. Thriving, it is.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Having driven over this bridge quite a few times now, it was surprising how short a walk this was. Fort Duquesne Bridge is only 430 feet long, not including the approaches, which is half the size of the South Tenth Street Bridge over the Monongahela River discussed last week.
I’ve spent my entire life in a place so unnatural and altered that the term “terra forming” applies, so there’s are many places in Pittsburgh that I just don’t understand. The crazy terrain constantly strikes me. I have a neighbor whose back yard slopes away from the road at something like 25 degrees. His front door is half a story lower than the road. His back door sits at something like 2 stories down.
Have these people never owned a level? Hear of soil grading? Creating a flat surface for the housing slab to be poured on? Filled in the Hudson River to build luxury condos? Proposed extending Manhattan to join with Governor’s Island using landfill in an estuary? Jeez.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The path off of the Fort Duquesne Bridge comes down to earth at Point State Park, which was my turnaround point. One negotiated a brisk scuttle back to the Allegheny River coastline, this time on the south side of the river and along Pittsburgh’s ‘Golden Triangle’ downtown area. A parting shot of the bridge was required, nested in its web of on and off ramps.
Y’know, I’ve been calling it the “Pretty City of Pittsburgh” since coming here in the late 1990’s – back when I was writing and drawing comic books – to promote a series I was doing at a comics convention. In more recent years, all of my experiences in Downtown Pittsburgh have been during the Covid period. Thereby, I haven’t seen much of the hustle and bustle here, except around Court Houses and whenever the Cops or Fire Dept. are getting busy with something. It’s popping down here when there’s a Steelers game, I’ll tell’s ya.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
By this point, one was preoccupied with wonderings about when the next opportunity to demonstrate my robust renal health would present itself, and I was on the lookout for a bathroom while scuttling back towards the safely ensconced Mobile Oppression Platform back at the municipal parking lot with the cool views.
Along the way, I kept on shooting. People I passed by were jogging and bike riding, and others were smoking crack or speed. There are a lot of very skinny people found downtown with sunken eyes, skeletal nasal superstructures, and hollow cheeks in this part of the country. That opioid thing ain’t no joke. It seems that the teeth go first.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’m happy to report that the Greyhound Bus Station’s lavatory was cleaner than you’d imagine, and after blowing ballast I negotiated my way back to the Mobile Oppression Platform at the municipal lot with the great views and I was soon driving home. Parking cost me $5, which was an ‘all day’ price.
Tomorrow, something different, at your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
Someday, when the stars are right…
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A recent afternoon walk began with finding the point of view above, which includes an active railroad bridge that carries both Norfolk Southern freight and Amtrak passenger services to and fro. This was from a parking lot, which is seeming confirmation of a theory I’ve been developing about while scouting, which hypothesizes that ‘for pay’ day parking in Pittsburgh is pretty affordable and that the multi story municipal parking lots around the city offer commanding views of the municipal surroundings. Trust me on this, the easiest sort of walking tour you can conduct is one that’s got an aerial perspective. “This, that, and the other thing, Teddy Roosevelt.”
I got to chat with a Security Guard right after shooting this one. Nice enough bloke, but he hit me with the usual security guy speech. This time around, it was something about people in the neighboring apartment building complaining about people taking photos. He then asked if I was parked in the lot. It was all cool after I offered to show him my parking stub and pointed out the ‘MOP’ or Mobile Oppression Platform (my Toyota) parked neatly in a spot nearby. Paying customer, me. We actually talked about rail and that bridge afterwards for a minute, whereupon he said he was getting off work in a half hour anyway, so whatever. He literally said “so, whatever.”
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My goal for the day was at the titular extant of the Allegheny River at the Fort Duquesne Bridge, once known as the ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ I’d recently walked over the nearby Fort Pitt Bridge (here and here) so why not pay a visit to its neighbor on a nice sunny day?
One scuttled along on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, after securing the MOP back at that photogenic 7 story tall Municpal Parking Lot. That’s the Convention Center jutting into the shot, and there was a weekend event underway that drew a lot of families into town. Something with animatronic dinosaurs. It drew a real crowd.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This particular day was the first sunny one in a while, and one was quite enjoying the radiate stare of the burning thermonuclear eye of god itself, unveiled. The light of judgement was pretty good, too.
For my plans to walk over the bridge to play out, I’d need to get over to the north shore of the Allegheny River, but I was on the south side of it. Luckily, it’s a ‘pick your crossing’ kind of thing in this section. An unusual abundance of bridges are found in this section of Pittsburgh.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
My intention for the day was defined by the particular kit I left the house with. Two zoom lenses, one of which stayed in my bag the whole time, are all that I carried with me. No camera support and not one bell nor a whistle. Just some weirdo with a camera, scuttling along the waterfront.
That’s the Rachel Carson Bridge pictured above, one of the so called ‘Three Sister’ bridges over the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. Rachel Carson was a Pittsburgh native and the author of the seminal book “Silent Spring” which is what kicked off the American environmental movement, in the modern age at least.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One came to ground on the north side of the Allegheny nearby the HQ campus of the aluminum company Alcoa, and it’s doppelgänger partner Arconic. The waterfront was pretty well populated, but I managed to get one of my patented ‘zombie apocalypse depopulated City’ shots here anyway.
If you don’t like the weather in Pittsburgh, just wait 20 minutes and it’ll change. The sky grew tumescent with clouds, but it was still quite bright and fulsome out, so a humble narrator continued scuttling along.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Having grown up in NYC’s Brooklyn, where you pronounce things as they’re spelled, I have had to install a mental check around the word “Duquesne.” It’s supposed to be pronounced frencher style – Doo Kane. My instinct is Doo Kess Knee.
They have a curious relationship with the French language hereabouts. Certain words, like Duquesne, are spoken frencher style. There’s a community nearby called “Versailles” but it’s “Ver Sales” rather than “Ver sigh.” Wilkes Barre is pronounced as “Wilks Berry.” Pittsburgh sits right at the edge of what was once the French Empire in the Ohio Valley and battles of the French and Indian War actually were fought in this part of the country.
Back next week for a walk over the Fort Duquesne Bridge, at this, your Newtown Pentacle.
“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.
Fort Pitt Bridge, part 2
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described yesterday, one required a bit of exercise and thereby the Fort Pitt Bridge’s extremely icy pedestrian walkway beckoned. It was literally below freezing out, but a humble narrator was wrapped up tight in winter garb, including a brand new winter coat. A conscious decision was made to travel a bit lighter than usual, with just two lenses and no tripods or other extraneous gear to slow me down. As it turns out, I only needed the one lens (24-105mm).
After crossing over the Monongahela River, the walkway is set onto an elliptical path which eventually brings one back to the sidewalk nearby Pittsburgh’s famous Duquesne Incline.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Alluding to Tolkien – one lens to rule them all – is what I’ve been missing on the Canon RF mount since I upgraded from my old rig, which was a Canon 7D. The Canon R6 I’m using these days is in all ways a superior digital appliance to the former camera, but there are few if any third party lenses available for it. On the 7D, which is a “crop sensor” model, I almost always had a Sigma 18-300mm zoom lens attached to it for general “photowalk” usage. That lens, and several others in my kit, are designed specifically for the crop sensor and not the full frame chip inside of the R6. This sort of “all in one” range suggests that it would be a crappy lens, but I liked it for its versatility and once you got to know the thing and where and when it failed, it was actually pretty reliable. I find myself using the 24-105 a lot here in Pittsburgh.
Saying that, I’m not unhappy with what I’m getting from the 24-105mm – I mean, it’s a Canon L series lens with a red band and everything – but I miss the option of going from ultra wide to telephoto with just a twist of the lens barrel. Supposedly Canon isn’t licensing the RF mount to anyone right now. That’s a shame, since there’s some pretty amazing glass out there from Sigma and others in the Nikon and Sony mount spaces.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Fort Pitt Tunnel that the vehicle traffic is hurtling into. Right around this spot is where I ended up conversing with some bloke about the news of the day and we both landed on how cold it was. There wasn’t too much in the way of pedestrian or bike traffic on this particular afternoon, but it was – after all – January in Pittsburgh.
It has been fairly difficult to get out for my every other day walks for the last couple of weeks due to the January factor. Rain, snow, snow showers, rain, polar vortex, rain…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When time and opportunity present, though, I get my butt moving! The plan for the rest of the afternoon involved scuttling down the Monongahela River shoreline towards the Station Square “T” light rail stop. This pathway leads into a connection with the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which is another one of the many (fantastic) rail-to-trail pathways that snake around the city. A couple of weeks ago, the Great Allegheny Passage’s trail in Homestead was discussed – part 1, part 2, part 3.
Just the other day, I was walking down the other side of the Monongahela River, on the golden triangle/city side. You’ll see those shots next week, but that’s where the waterfront trail’s path goes nowhere near the water and you’re separated from it by a massive highway and several waterfront industrial and commercial parcels. I was ecstatic about this, of course, since I got to walk around and photograph the footings of bridges and highways. I’ll show you all that next week, I think.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We are just about done with the moving process at this point. Furniture is in the house, I’ve now got a Pennsylvania Driver’s License, and have learned about seasonally available regional baked goods. Ever had a Pączki? One is looking forward to spring, exuberantly. The moving process consumed my entire autumn and winter. Y’know, you’d think moving from one state to another would be simple, huh?
The last major process we have to handle involves transferring my car registration and plates over to Pennsylvania ones. When that’s done, major combat operations will have concluded and I will realize the peace dividend of having fewer “have-to’s” listed in my column on a white board somewhere.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I kept on hoping for a train to roll through, which would have really made the shot above sing. As continually repeated – I’m scouting right now. Figuring out where the shots are, how I get there, what time of day would be best – all that. So far, I haven’t had very much luck as far as timing goes when it comes to freight rail traffic. I’m no train spotter, or railfan as it were, but damn… I wish there had been a CSX train set rolling through for this one.
Tomorrow, a few more shots from my walk along the Monongahela River here in the Paris of Appalachia.
“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 