Posts Tagged ‘Oakland’
Heinz Chapel
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was hanging out with a friend while on a recent walk, and we were trying out one of my ‘clever plans.’ As mentioned in the past, one of the things that’s been driving me batty is the fact that there’s large sections of the Pittsburgh Metro which you basically have to drive to. This negates the point of, and puts a delimiter on, how far a walk can range as you eventually have to get back to the car. Solution?
We tried out an ‘I park my car at the end of the walk, whereupon you pick me up and we drive to the beginning point of the walk whereupon we park your car, then walk all the way back to my car whereupon I then drive you back to your car’ scheme. It worked out pretty well, this, but it was absolutely pouring during the interval we were walking. Whatcha gonna do? Best laid plans, amirite?
When it’s raining like this, part of the photowalk deal is finding interesting places that you can step into and wave the camera around, which is how we ended up inside the Heinz Chapel, in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section, which found on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh (or ‘PITT’ as it’s colloquially referred to hereabouts).
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Heinz Chapel itself is pretty lovely, but we had less than a half hour inside available to us, as the staff were about to start a private tour of the place for some group. We were allowed us to briefly photograph the joint, but were in a bit of hurry due to the tour’s starting time looming.
Officially, it’s the Heinz Memorial Chapel, which opened for business in 1938, and its founding and construction were funded by Pittsburgh’s own Heinz family – as in the 57 varieties, ketchup, and baked beans Heinz’s.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’d love to get in here sometime with a proper tripod and do some photographic studies of the interior space, but since we had a deadline I used my ‘platypod,’ and a 16mm wide angle lens was affixed to the camera. The platypod gizmo is an easy to carry camera accessory, and one which is almost always found in whatever camera kit bag that I’m carrying on any given day.
I’ve got two bag setups, if you’re curious. One’s a ‘sling bag’ and the other is a knapsack. Both get an insert packing cube sort of thing which is customizable. I’ve got two of those which are set up in slightly different fashions. The Knapsack is great and voluminous, but the form/function of the bag gets in my way when I anticipate changing lenses frequently, as I was planing on doing this particular afternoon.
The sling bag is a lot better for that sort of thing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The problem with the platypod is that it’s essentially a table top camera support, meaning that you’ve got to find a surface for it to rest on – as opposed to a traditional tripod which is freestanding. Saying that, the platypod is brilliant when you’re in a natural setting.
The four ‘feet’ of the thing are connected to its central plate by quarter inch 20 turn screw holes (which is pretty standard for camera ‘stuff’). There’s a set of spikes which come with the thing which you can press into soil or whatever to anchor the camera plate down to the planet, but I made a set of ‘feet’ for it which use silicone furniture casters so as to not scratch or damage finished surfaces, nor mar the paint on the hood of my car when I set it up for that sort of circumstance.
It’s also pretty compact, which permits the capture of odd angles like ‘worm’s eye’ views, with the camera sitting just above ground level.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was dark within the Heinz Chapel, which called for the sort of camera support described above, but I could have gotten away with handheld/high ISO shots if I wanted to – as in the shot above (f4, ISO 3200, 1/60th of a second). My preference, however, for shots like these is a narrow aperture of f8, ISO at 100, and set whatever the exposure time to whatever it’s required to be. Higher ISO equates to noisier images, and I like the smoothness of lower sensitivity.
I’d really like to spend a bit of time in here at some point, and get all ‘tricksy’ with the shots, using exposure and focus blending. One exposure for the stained glass, another for the walls, etc., combine them all in my digital darkroom. That sort of thing, all artsy fartsy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Heinz people told us it was time to split, as their private tour was about to begin.
One last handheld shot, and then we stepped back outside into the rainy day. Being the kind of nerd I am, I had to inform my companion of the fact that it wasn’t actually raining, rather we were experiencing a precipitous mist. Didn’t change the fact that it was pouring rain, but it was an opportunity for me to start a sentence with ‘Actually…’ and seem intelligent by offering trivia, and that is something I cannot resist.
Look at me – I’m smart, not dumb, like people say.
As you’ll see tomorrow, we were lucky enough after stepping out into the precipitous mist to have another fairly epic public space to visit, and seek cover from the rain. Back tomorrow.
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Heinz Chapel
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the Heinz Memorial Chapel pictured above, which offers 57 varieties of interdenominational religious services and…
Actually, it’s a ‘sacred space’ dedicated to and built by the Heinz family of Pittsburgh. The Heinz Chapel opened in 1938, at a ceremony led by the son of Henry John Heinz, founder of the H.J. Heinz Company.
Now simply branded as ‘Heinz,’ the company are the purveyors of various preserved vegetables and condiments, which includes their category defining Tomato Ketchup. The scion died in 1919, and his three children carried on with his desire to memorialize their grandmother Anna Margaretha Heinz after he passed on.
The Heinz family is still quite prominent in Pittsburgh, through their philanthropic Heinz Endowments fund, and for serving in the endless sea of Politics. If there was a Batman here, he’d secretly be a Heinz, rather than a Wayne.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It was rather late in the day when I arrived at the Heinz Chapel, which unfortunately severely limited my time there to a ‘run and gun’ sort of visit. They roll up the sidewalks in Pittsburgh pretty early, I should mention. This was about 4 in the afternoon.
Luckily, the person who was serving as the attendant allowed me usage of the lavatory, which had become something of an urgent need, and I then had just a literal minute to grab a shot of the chapel itself before she would be turning off the lights and locking the doors.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I said about St. Paul cathedral – wow.
This is a spot which I’m definitely going to revisit soon, as I’d love to capture some of the abundant detail within the chapel from behind the lens.
Back tomorrow with something different, at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
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St. Paul RC Cathedral
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
St. Paul Cathedral’s construction, here in Pittsburgh, was completed in 1906. The cathedral was designed by the architectural team of Egan and Prindeville, in the Gothic Revival Style and its design was inspired by Germany’s Cologne Cathedral. It’s the seat of the Pittsburgh Diocese, administered by its resident Bishop – the Most Rev. David A. Zubic, and St. Paul Cathedral is the mother church of all of the Catholic parishes in the Greater Pittsburgh area.
The top of its spires are 247 feet high, its internal chapel seats 2,600 people, and it’s one of the anchors of the Schenley Farms historic district. It’s quite a church building.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One strode up to the place, whose main entrance doors were open. As is my habit, when passing by the holy water thingamabob – after entering the chapel section within – I stuck a fingertip into the consecrated fluid, and since nothing adverse occurred one continued on. The people who run this place dress like wizards, so you gotta check.
A student was practicing their art on the pipe organ within, which lent a certain atmosphere to the entry. After my eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight without…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Wow. Just, wow.
There were a couple of attendants preparing the place for an upcoming mass, and an academic instructor was talking on a two way radio and offering critique to that student organist from down in one of the pews, but other than them – I was there by myself in this ‘sacred space.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I affixed a wide angle lens to my camera, and secured that device onto the small platypod mount which I always carry on these sorts of adventures. I set the camera up for longish exposures, of 5-6 seconds, and got busy.
What do you Goyem call this location – is it a pulpit, or an altar, or what? I once referred to a similar ritual focus spot found at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC’s Soho as a stage – to a Monsignor – which won me a ‘tsk, tsk’ from the prelate.
I confess my ignorance when it occurs, something which I consider as being one of my better traits – a ray of light amongst all the horrible habits and negativity which causes everybody to hate me, eventually.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back towards the entrance, you can see the pipe organ setup in the center of the shot. The original Pipe Organ at St. Paul was donated by Andrew Carnegie, but that unit was replaced in 1962.
As mentioned, a student organist was practicing their craft, and being instructed via radio from the pews. Devotional music was thereby bouncing around off of the walls and it was quite a lovely experience.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the attendants informed me that they needed to begin preparing the Cathedral for a scheduled ceremony, and gave me a deadline as far as how long I could continue shooting. The fellow was actually quite gracious, pointing out several small details for my consideration.
This is definitively a location I’m going to return to, here in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section. I will also say it again – WOW!
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.
Monumental Pittsburgh
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in earlier posts, a particular walking path was recently followed in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section which was landmarks based, and topical in nature – rather than granular. This was a ‘short walk’ for me, just a couple of hours in length, and it was more about developing a geospatial knowledge of this zone, which is an area I’d mainly driven through in the past to individual destinations like the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, or the Rodef Shalom and Poale Zedek Synagogues.
That’s the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, dedicated to honoring all branches of these United States’ Military Veterans. It was completed in 1910, and designed by architect Henry Hornbostel.
Hornbostel, of course, is the fellow who dressed the Manhattan Bridge, back in NYC, in its Beaux-Arts finery. He also designed the nearby Rodef Shalom synagogue here in Pittsburgh, mentioned above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Charles Klauder, on the other hand, was the architect of the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh (aka PITT) campus, a 42 story tower building called the Cathedral of Learning.
One was heading for two particular churches, other than Bellefield Presbyterian which was mentioned yesterday, on my landmarks list. The Cathedral of Learning was a just ‘on my way’ sort of thing. My understanding of the place is that are sections of the tower that are public, but most of the space inside is used for PITT’s classroom instruction purposes.
As a note, one great thing about Oakland is that it’s the flattest section of Pittsburgh I’ve so far encountered, and is thereby ‘easy walking.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Where I was heading to next, and the subject of tomorrow’s post, is the St. Paul Cathedral. That’s the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Future exploration in Oakland, as a side note, will definitely occur during the winter months. Lots and lots of monumental architecture here. Giant buildings built in Greek and Roman styles abound. I’m concocting a grid based search pattern for future walks in the area.
Back tomorrow, with more, 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.
Bellefield Presbyterian, Oakland
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Since moving to Pittsburgh a year ago, a humble narrator has gone out of his way to avoid exploration of dense urban spaces, for obvious reasons. My peregrinations have been mainly focused on learning the ‘lay of the land,’ familiarizing myself with ‘what’s on the other side of that hill,’ and learning how the polyglot of the Pittsburgh metro area fits together. A lovely early November afternoon found me violating this allergy to density, and scuttling about for a few hours in the Oakland section of the Steel City.
This is the heart of Pittsburgh’s Academia – PITT and Carnegie Mellon’s campuses collide with those of smaller colleges and universities in and around Oakland, and there are several medical and cultural institutions which are based in this zone. Museums, parks, musical outfits, all that. There seems to be a Church hereabouts for every facet of religion that you can name, as well, and one of those religious institutions which drew my eye is called the Bellefield Presbyterian Church, pictured above.
There’s an excellent history and concise description of the congregation on offer from Pittsburgh’s National Public Radio station (90.5 FM WESA), which you can access here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The door was locked, but a bit of signage welcomed visitors to ring a doorbell for entry, which I did, and the church’s attendant buzzed me in. As always, I operate in the same manner as a Vampire, and need to be welcomed in to do my thing. She offered a bit of access to the main chapel room, after I sang my usual song of being a wandering photographer and history aficionado.
She offered to fire up the church’s lighting, but I declined the offer. I really liked the look of the place in shadow, and that also helped with photo exposure in terms of getting some detail in the stained glass.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A bit of subsequent research on the church revealed that this church has recently split off from the larger Presbyterian organization, seemingly over a variety of ‘culture war’ issues, a situation described in this report from ‘The Layman.’
The Bellefield organization’s official website offers another narrative history about the congregation, and describes their mission – 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 