Posts Tagged ‘Pickman’
impious amulets
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 15th found me taking a walk with an artist from Brooklyn, a fellow named Monte Antrim, who has been bitten by the Newtown Creek bug in recent years. I offered to take him on a “seeing tour” and introduce a few of the less obvious points of view for his consideration.
We started off in Long Island City, and ended our excursion at a bar in Bushwick – long after sunset.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Personally, it was kind of a “snap shot” day for me. I didn’t want to get busy with the camera in the normal sense, and was mainly in tour guide mode for most of the walk.
From LIC, we headed eastwards along the Queens side, through Blissville and then into Maspeth.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When we got to Maspeth, the sound of FDNY sirens were echoing down from the Kosciuszcko Bridge, and there was a plume of smoke rising out of Greenpoint.
I speculated at the time that it was probably a truck or car fire, but as it turns out a furniture manufacturer on Van Dam had suffered a two alarm fire.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Over at Maspeth Creek, these feathered dicks were loitering on the sidewalk. Newtown Creek and its tributaries are overrun these days by Canada Geese. So much so that I’ve learned to speak a little goose.
NAAAAAG.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the Maspeth Avenue Plank Road, even more of these dicks were encountered, including a bunch of youngsters.
NAAAAAAG.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
We crossed Newtown Creek into Brooklyn at the Grand Street Bridge, just as the burning thermonuclear eye of God itself descended behind New Jersey.
My trick left foot was singing opera for the second half of this walk, I must say. Ow.
“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.
nebulous shadow
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
June 14th found a humble narrator in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section for a Newtown Creek Alliance board meeting. What happens at this sort of meeting is that the group’s Executive Director discusses their ongoing management of the organization’s various projects, the financial state of the entity, and then makes the board members aware of any issues they’ve encountered. The board members then weigh in on whatever the issue is, offer guidance or material help, and we vote on “this” or discuss “that.” The meeting took place in the evening, and we were at HQ at 520 Kingsland Avenue in Brooklyn for sunset and moonrise.
I snuck away a couple of times to wave the camera around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This was coincidentally one of the nights where a so called “supermoon” was meant to occur, which is an astronomical anomaly wherein the position of the moon relative to the horizon creates an optical lensing effect that makes the moon seem larger and brighter than it typically is. Next one is in July, I think.
There’s the so called “Strawberry Supermoon” rising over the fabulous Newtown Creek, from the Kingsland Wildflower Roof at 520 Kingsland Avenue.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Once the meeting ended, and since I was already in the neighborhood, a humble narrator got busy down on the industrial streets surrounding Newtown Creek. The guy who couldn’t help but stand in the middle of my shot was Donnie, a security guard for a recycling company owned by a guy named Mike, and Donnie was desperately waiting for his “Doordash” dinner delivery.
What can I tell you, I talk to strangers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
At the end of what would be North Henry Street is a small barge slip, called “Unnamed Canal” by the Coast Guard, and I was lucky enough to be there when the Crystal Cutler tug was towing a fuel barge eastwards on Newtown Creek. If you click through to the high res version of the shot at Flickr, you’ll see the silhouette of the Captain in the wheelhouse, who may or may not have been named Bruce Cutler.
I’m very pleased with myself, regarding the shot above.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
On my way back to Queens, I decided to get a bit “artsy fartsy” with the sewer plant views. This is one of the shots where I captured three distinct images with different focus points – at distinct moments in the rotating “red, white, blue” colors that the DEP projects onto the stainless steel digester eggs. I’m pleased with myself about this shot too.
After this one, I switched the rig back into handheld mode and started scuttling back towards Queens.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
While crossing Newtown Creek via the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, I noticed the MTA’s “Bus of the Dead” rolling up on me, no doubt heading to Calvary Cemetery with its spectral riders. Wonder if they’ve got a fare evasion problem on this line? Wonder if the Mayor can send out a group of ghost cops if they do.
Back tomorrow with more…
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
The Newtown Pentacle 