Posts Tagged ‘Pittsburgh’
Ole Faithful
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A serious state of ‘faklempt’ had set in during the second half of a ‘longish’ walk, detailed in last week’s postings, and in order to satiate this lack of internal humidity your humble narrator decided to quaff a strictly medicinal pint of lager, attained at Pittsburgh’s Sly Fox Brewery.
Your humble narrator settled down at an outdoor table, which is directly neighbored by CSX’s Pittsburgh Subdivision track. One grew giddy when the alarm bells of the trackage’s signal arms began to chime. Train horns were activated, the rumbling and the rhythmic sounds of the locomotive were felt as well as heard. Choo-Choo.
CSX #4723 then appeared, heading westwards. ‘Hey Now.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The locomotive itself seems to be one of the variants of the EMD SD70 model, or so I’m told.
It’s funny, the people here in Pittsburgh are so used to seeing this sort of thing they find my enthusiasm about the matter somewhat curious. It was the same way back in NYC, where people were so used to seeing tugboats moving about the harbor they barely noticed them, and certainly didn’t comment about it. Since I used to be the guy who took pictures of subway trains coming and going while commuting… Sorry, but – to me – locomotives passing by within twenty to thirty feet of the lens, while I’m having a beer – is pure awesome sauce.
It’s the little things I love, which admittedly are sometimes quite gigantic.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the train passed, a concrete truck which had been trapped by the signals crossed over the tracks. Couldn’t resist.
This walk felt particularly good. The ankle performed well and there was little in the way of pain, but alternately it was a bit stiff, so I returned the glass to the bar and limped away back to HQ.
Back tomorrow with something different.
“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.
Nebby, me
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In Pittsburghese, ‘nebby’ means ‘nosey,’ as in ‘I’ve got a nosey neighbor.’ In ‘New Yorkese’ – yenta.
Your humble narrator is intrinsically nebby, as I’m always watching and photographing somebody or something while they are doing things. On a recent walk down the face of Mount Washington, using the PJ McArdle roadway route, a quick detour along the path found nebby me standing on the Liberty Bridge, clicking the camera’s shutter button as a series of ‘T’ light rail train sets moved back and forth over the Panhandle Bridge spanning the Monongahela River. ‘What?’ my mother would ask, ‘you think this is normal? Why are you like this? I didn’t raise you this way…’ Yeah, I admit it, it’s an odd way to spend your time.
Boy, that’s an exposition heavy statement above, ain’t it?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The next phase of my walk would involve negotiating a problematic series of pedestrian obstacles, including a decaying set of city steps which then feed into a dark and always muddy walkway. It was at the muddy walkway where the fellow I’ve been mentioning for a the last couple of days – whom I’m pretty sure was turning into a zombie – dwelt. I’m not kidding – his extremities were blackened, his eyes blood red, and his skin mottled. The smell…
At the end of what I now call ‘the zombie’s mud covered walkway’ (I’m talking six inches of wet slop, btw.) was where I’d encounter one of the top ten worst pedestrian experiences I’ve ever found – this is Athens level BS. Seriously, click here and then put Google maps into street view mode to see what I’m talking about. For at least the next six months or so, there’s also T light rail traffic included at this intersection too. Wow.
All hazards were surmounted; mud, zombie, bad crossing at dangerous intersection but soon I felt began to feel a bit ‘faklempt.’ Nevertheless, I was on the second half of the PJ McArdle roadway and was back on my inexorable path down towards the ground, at an angle, again.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
When I got to this little bridge along the path, I shed the camera bag for a few minutes and hung it on a fence using the stout caribinier that’s always installed on its pull strap. Train tracks were below me, and since I hadn’t seen any Norfolk Southern traffic during this entire walk, I felt like the odds were quite in my favor regarding the appearance of a train. I fired up the radio scanner and my hopes were confirmed. Something was heading my way. ‘Hey Now’ shouted your humble narrator.
Lucky me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the ticket. I find myself saying ‘hey now’ when a train appears in front of my lens these days. Like an exclaim it out loud sort of thing – ‘HEY NOW.’
Don’t ask me why, you can’t be expected to explain this sort of thing.
Given that I’ve barely mentioned the bum ankle for the last couple of couple of posts, I should mention it was performing admirably on this outing. No ‘clicking’ or weird cramped ‘tightness’ and whereas you can’t help but be overly aware of the joint. The thing mainly played ball with my aspirations this time around. Felt like it was finally back on the team, after all this time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This walk wouldn’t end when I got back to flat ground, as I still had about another hour’s worth of steam to spend. I also planned on grabbing a pint of beer at the end of the scuttle, at that brewery by the CSX Pittsburgh Subdivision tracks which I frequent. I mentioned that I was faklempt, no?
People keep asking me if I’m back…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Last shot for this week, and post, was of a bunch of kids playing ball on an athletic field in the South Side Flats section.
Next week – a bit of Choo Choo – and then…
Something different, 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.
Descending again
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Descending from the prominence of Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington, via the PJ McArdle roadway, is where we left off yesterday and that’s what the shot above illustrates.
This roadway is cantilevered out from the face of the landform, and leads down to the flood plane level of the Monongahela River’s southern shore. The area which it makes its landing in is called either the South Side Flats or simply ‘south side.’
There’s a shot along this route that I’d really like to capture a decent iteration of for the archives, which is the Monongahela Incline riding on its funicular trackway over the road.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Like a lot of ‘shots I want,’ the practice is to haunt the location and get versions of the composition during different times of the day and weather conditions over time. There’ll be dozens of iterations, usually, until I get whatever the heck it is within the brain box that I’m going for.
All of the scouting I’ve been up to for the last couple of years is now moving into actual photography time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This is the sort of thing I’m going for, although I should have used a different lens to try and get some more blurry drop off and ‘depth of field.’ I shot this one with a zoom lens at f8, and the focal was dialed all the way out, which ‘flattens’ things too much.
A lens swap occurred prior to the next group of shots, as an 85mm f2 prime lens was affixed to the camera.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 85mm was set to f2.8, but I still didn’t get the blur and drop off in background focus – bokeh, as it’s called – that I was hoping for. As mentioned, this is a shot I’m going to work until I get it right. I dig it.
The 24-240mm zoom lens is an omnivore and ‘walk around’ lens, allowing me quick focus across a large range, but it operates best with a narrow aperture like f8. The narrow aperture also restricts it to daytime usage, sans tripod.
The prime lenses are restricted to a fixed objective size, but offer larger apertures (f1.8 and up) that allow me to get a bit artsy fartsy and capture images in dark or shadowed locations.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I swapped the zoom lens back onto the camera, performed a quick inventory of the camera bag to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, and thereupon one continued with his scuttling.
Your humble narrator was literally the only pedestrian along this route, except for the fellow at the bottom of the hill (mentioned yesterday) whom I’m pretty sure was well into the process of becoming a zombie.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the way, this scene caught my eye. Goes to show that no matter how much effort mankind puts into something, nature always ends up winning out. Comforting, no?
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.
…rise and look around you…
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One last ‘portrait shot’ of Pittsburgh’s Downtown was gathered, and your humble narrator packed the tripod back up into its assigned spot on my camera bag and got moving. A couple of overly ambitious trail routes leading away from this location had been considered for my walk, but I’m not 100% on the ankle front yet and discretion is the better part of valor.
Best to stick to paved surfaces for now, and take advantage of the sloping nature of one of these roads to exercise and stretch the tendons and discrete musculature surrounding the ankle and heel of my left foot.
Forward, ever forward…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I ended up chatting with the guy in the shot above, who was smoking a cigarette while drinking a coffee. His name was Gus and he’s lived up here for more than twenty years, according to our conversation. Nice guy.
I’m told by friends that my habit of talking to strangers is weird.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Closer to the incline, you start seeing signs of life (other than Gus). Right about here is where another random conversation with strangers occurred, as a young mom with a Canon Rebel spotted my camera and started asking questions about lenses, technique, and such.
After a quick and salubrious exchange, I was back on my way.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, it was ‘leg day,’ and the shot above offer some suggestion as to why I chose this particular route up and down Grandview Avenue. The buildings on the left enjoy uninterrupted views of the Three Rivers/Downtown area. There’s a few restaurants and cocktail bars ‘with a view’ sprinkled in along this route, but it’s mostly residential in this stretch.
The bum ankle was performing as expected, I’d mention. A bit of discomfort, but I’m not getting the weird sensation of tightness in my heel anymore.
Stretch and strengthen, don’t ‘protect’ the ankle, push on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I desperately wanted to walk the entire length of Grandview Avenue and access a different and quite well wooded pathway along natural surfaces, one which snakes down the face of Mount Washington, but again – have to reign in my ambitions until I’m ready to surmount real physical challenges again.
Can’t wait for that actually. That’s a problem I’m trying to keep in check.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The pathway I’d use to get back down to the flood plane level along the Monongahela River would be the PJ McArdle roadway, which has been mentioned here and trod upon many times. Along the way, I encountered an apparently unhoused fellow whom I think might have taken a step over towards Zombie. The bad smell, a blackened discoloration at the ends of his limbs, milky white eyes… it all said zombie.
There’s a history of this sort of thing happening in Pittsburgh, just look at the Pittsburgh incident of 1968, and also the one that was centered around nearby Monroeville in 1978.
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.
on a clear day…
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A walk down Pittsburgh’s Grandview Avenue was recently undertaken, and whereas I wasn’t specifically intending to do any ‘portrait shots’ of Pittsburgh when leaving HQ… how can you just ignore the set up from way up here?
That’s downtown Pittsburgh pictured above, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, where their admixture creates the Ohio River. Commanding views all around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This one looks westwards along the Ohio, and catches a CSX freight train leaving the frame at center left. The tracks at far left that are set further up the hill are Norfolk Southern’s, and that highway looking primary arterial roadway is called West Carson Street. This is the southern bank of the Ohio River, as a note.
The tripod got set up for these, given that I was dialed all the way out on the zoom lens. I plan on finding some walking pathways through that shot above this summer. The West Carson corridor offers sidewalks, but it’s a high speed road and walking along it could best be described as ‘no bueno.’ The speed limit is 35 mph, but it’s fairly common for people to do 70 or 80 along this lightly policed stretch of road.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This shot looks across the river at the Ohio’s northern bank, with I-279 rammed through an industrial zone. A subsequent walk, which will be detailed in future postings, was recently undertaken in this zone. As is often stated, I remain fascinated by parabolas, and sweeping curves of high speed roads and their ramps.
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 