SKI&STAY

Harlem, New York

Southeast Station

Southeast, New York

It was interesting to see the variety in dress for people who'll be arriving at Grand Central around 5:38 PM.

ROCK CENTER

New York, New York

PS 450 happy hour, 4-8

New York, New York

STANDPIPE

New York, New York

More things seen on my morning and evening walks between 30th and 92nd streets on the East Side last weekend.

Meanwhile, over at Kickstarter the action has slowed to a crawl but the occasional sponsor still comes in and the project is now funded at 120%. Thanks to everyone, but please anyone who wants to be a part of it come on in. All additional funds raised will go directly into moving the project into post-production.

Sleepy's

New York, New York

KS Project: Over the Top in 17 Hours!

Bath, New York

But keep those cards and letters coming!

Well, I've always thought there was an audience for my "American Drive-in Theater" project, but I am a bit overwhelmed to have met the goal for travel expenses at something like 17 hours into the first day of the Kickstarter project. I hope people stay interested because with additional funding I'll be able to add a loop down to Florida and the Carolinas. Then, of course, begin to make exhibition prints and design the book version of the project.

The American Drive-in Theater (Kickstarter project)

The Warner, Franklin, West Virginia

A Kickstarter Campaign launched this morning to raise funds to back an enormous road trip to finish shooting my "American Drive-in Theater" project. You can link over to the Kickstarter page here.

There's a video and a text about the fund raising project. Please take a couple minutes to look it over and also spread the word to everyone you think might be interested.

A Good TA Knows How To Run

New York, New York

In the "Introduction to Platinum" workshop I teach every few months at CAP, we begin by shooting ten 4x5 negatives of subjects I ask the students to choose from what's available to see from the fifth floor roof of the building on 30th street and the beautiful daylight studio taking shape on the third floor. This is to start the process at the beginning and show how to plan the approach to the pictures so that we'll end up with good platinum/palladium prints. Then I demonstrate how to tray-develop the negatives in PMK pyro. It's amazing how much everyone learns by watching me develop film in total darkness. The resulting negatives are ideal for Pt/Pd, but also print well in silver and are scanner-friendly, so pretty much cover the gamut of what you might want to do to come up with a print. In the weird world of New York's time sense, the day runs from 10AM to 6PM, so when the film is hung up to dry it's about 2:15 and time for lunch break.

After lunch, I demonstrate how to coat a sheet of paper with sensitizer to make a palladium print, and begin to work with our new negatives. Then the participants begin to try coating for themselves. Saturday, by the time we got to that phase, the lab had gotten incredibly dry--about 28% Rh, which makes it just about impossible to make the process work, at least in the way I choose to do it. We struggled through and made a silk purse out of the sow's ear by showing how to cope with less than ideal lab conditions for the process.

When we were putting everything away a little after six, Lindsey, my teaching assistant, and I left a full jug of water going in the steamer, filled the sinks with a two-inch layer of water, and did what we could to raise the humidity overnight. We decided to meet at 9:00 on Sunday to have a full hour to restart the steamer, run hot water into the sinks, etc, etc, to try to get the room up to the 55% humidity level that's a good starting point for the process. Lindsey has to deal with public transit to get in from Brooklyn (while I just had to walk from my crash pad on 92nd street) and so I was standing across the street and a little west of the CAP entrance when I saw an elfin figure racing for the entrance at 9:07...

By the time we got the Sunday session going, we had nearly ideal lab conditions of 71° and 55% humidity, and it held steady right through the day so the participants produced a prodigious number of prints, learning from the mistakes and getting a feel for the process. Bonnie and Charlotte, our two interns, were kept busy with support work, Bonnie doing a great job keeping track of six participants' prints moving properly through the wet processing steps.

A hectic weekend but with some good results I think for the participants, and on the side a lot of shooting for me on those walks between 30th and 92nd streets.

Tall Buildings, Evening Light

New York, New York

Fun House Mirror, Metro-North

Westchester County, New York

On the train ride to NYC for last weekend's workshop. And no, my head really isn't only four inches wide.

FATHER MOTHER

Woodbury, Connecticut

Red and Orange

Waterbury, Connecticut

Early Spring

Woodbury, Connecticut

This is not what Tina's daffodils normally look like on the twenty-third of March.

I'll be down in New York this weekend, leaving this afternoon, to teach a platinum/palladium workshop at the Center for Alternate Processes. I won't be online till I get back Sunday night, but I've scheduled a new morning post for both days. Since I get to spend hours each evening and morning doing photo walkabout around the city I should have lots of interesting material to post starting Monday.

Two Squat Fireplugs

Naugatuck, Connecticut

In late winter light, on 3/6/12.

New Milford, Connecticut

MOUNTAIN GROWN VIRGINIA APPLES

Naugatuck, Connecticut

City Tree, with Shadows

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Fence and Grafitti

Union City, Connecticut

Back of a Sign

New Milford, Connecticut

It Doesn't Look Like Winter Light Anymore

Woodbury, Connecticut

Building Self Esteem With Character Traits

New Milford, Connecticut

Budding Branches

Woodbury, Connecticut

From a walk around town this afternoon. There is no way that trees should be budding out into bloom around here on March 19! Unheard of: it was 78°F.

Under the Railroad Bridge

Naugatuck, Connecticut

J*J*J

Woodbury, Connecticut

WRONG WAY

Naugatuck, Connecticut

It's mostly about the way that wispy tail of a cloud is approaching conjunction with the highway streetlight.

MURDERED & MISSING

Waterbury, Connecticut

Small posters with this picture and basic message have been in shop windows and stapled to phone polls all over the Naugatuck River valley literally for years. Now billboards are showing up. I have trouble making sense of "murdered & missing," but that's probably just because I was an English major. If "missing" applies, how does one know murder is the reason?

detail

Technical point. Don't blame the softness of the detail (100% if you click on the picture) on the superb Lumix 20mm lens—the billboard, not just the snapshot, but the type, is very soft even from a "normal viewing distance" of 500 yards or so.

Clearly there's been a tragedy here, but I wonder if this is really a route to either justice or closure.

Two Shadows

New Milford, Connecticut

New Milford, Connecticut

Also, two very different kinds of painting of walls.

Underpass

Union City, Connecticut

Arrow

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Clock Tower

Waterbury, Connecticut

Tree Shadows

Woodbury, Connecticut

Naugatuck, Connecticut

CAT'S PAW

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Balloons

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

The stairs lead to a restored movie theater that's been split into a multiplex. I suspect the balloons mark a birthday party at the movies.

A Little Bit of Snow

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Street Legal

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Not doing a whole lot of business.

Two From Pittsfield

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

SLEEPY'S

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Why do advertisers like bad puns?

More Fire Suppression Equipment

Torrington, Connecticut

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

THE LOTTERY

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

IDEAL FOR BANK

North Canaan, Connecticut

Ornament

Woodbury, Connecticut

This is an ornamental spout, part of a granite fountain on the grounds of the town hall. No water this time of year of course, though the temperature hit a ridiculous high over 70° F today. Maybe I'll do a companion piece in the summer when the water is running.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

New Milford, Connecticut

Don't know about the quality of the baked goods, but the sign is certainly in questionable taste.