Miscellaneous thoughts and observations (interesting to me, and usually photographed)
Things
‘Virginia Square’
The area of Virginia Avenue, Fountain Square, and Siam Square.
Enjoyed a beautiful spring day with family (and of course, the camera).
Shot below is from a corner just north of Siam Square. Siam Square is a great Thai restaurant in Fountain Square along Virginia Avenue, just SE of downtown Indianapolis.
I like the simple perfection of this doorway, sort of oriental or ‘shaker oval box like’
There is a great little ‘reuse’ shop on Virginia Ave; also just north of Fountain Square. Full of ‘stuff’ for sale salvaged from demolition projects. This was unstaged, just some odd bottles in front of an old beveled edge mirror but could imagine it in an old apothecary shop.
Another shot inside the ‘reuse’ shop. Some cool shadows and lots of salvaged ‘stuff’ hanging around…
Chrome
“old chrome” must be better than chrome today. I have 10 year old cars with rusting chrome bumpers but in Clay Center, Kansas this old rusting Plymouth (1941?) still has gleaming rust-free chrome. Somewhere in downtown Clay Center, around the corner from the awesome Clay Center Zoo sits this beautiful piece of vehicular art. Had to stop.
And here’s the incredible chrome on the back…
$4.3 Million Photograph
And I thought $1M was a lot for a photo… A photo of the Rhine river sold for $4.3M (Rhine II, 1999) This is beyond my understanding… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8883330/Photograph-by-Andreas-Gursky-breaks-auction-record.html
Here’s a link to a list of the ten most expensive photographs: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8883801/The-ten-most-expensive-photographs.html
Bee’s Knees
According to Wiki, the origin or meaning of “Bee’s Knees” is sketchy but I heard that phrase often growing up. Anyway, here’s a photo of some bee’s knees…
Going back through some old photos and came across this one. It has a bit of a story so thought I’d share it.
On my birthday a few years ago and I was playing with a new birthday present; a Micro-Nikkor 105mm VR lens. We made a trip to Brown County State Park and I was trying to find something to shoot (and being amazed by the ‘thinness’ of the macro depth of field). I’m down on my hands and knees shooting a little wild flower when along comes this bee. Surprised, of course I started shooting like crazy and most shots went wildly errant. This one was salvageable and received more comments than most on flickr.
It may be my best example of ‘even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut’ shot because it was so totally unexpected. I would never have ‘tried’ to create this photo. I am allergic to bees and have been know to jump off of ladders in reaction to bee encounters. Just looking at this photo still gives me chills and a sense of wonder that I didn’t just chuck the camera and run…
Pediatric Iron Lung: Indiana Medical History Museum
A Pediatric Iron Lung Machine: and some story behind the photo.
Rotary and other groups were once allowed to borrow this historical piece but it was getting beat up so the museum started saying no to loan requests. However, they did give permission to photograph if IMHM could have a copy of the photo. I was not allowed to touch the equipment so had to do the best I could with it’s existing position and lighting. I was disappointed with what I was getting until I tried placing a flash underneath. At first that didn’t work either because it was too ‘directional’ depending on where it was ‘aimed’. More in desperation than intent I took a white plastic grocery bag (I had brought a black backdrop cloth in it) scrunched it up and and wrapped it around the flash. I took this photo from a step ladder so I could get a shot down into the machine. An interesting note: the floor is red because this is located in the original “Autopsy Room”. “Back-in-the-day” they had painted the floor blood red so it didn’t look so messy with all the blood around…
I took this Photo at IMHM for friend involved in Indianapolis Sunrise Rotary Club. A 30×40 mounted blowup was on display at 2nd floor Atheneum ArtSpace beginning for First Friday for one month during an “End Polio Now” exhibit. This photo (and others) were given to IMHM but I can not find anywhere on their website. So it was published and used by Rotary Club but it doesn’t seem to have gone any further than that. Below is some other info about IMHM-it’s a cool place to visit; kind of creepy, but cool.
The Indiana Medical History Museum is located in the Old Pathology Building on the grounds of the former Central State Hospital on the near westside of Indianapolis. The museum represents the beginning of scientific psychiatry and modern medicine while the building itself is the oldest surviving pathology facility in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum maintains a collection of scientific artifacts from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in a completely authentic setting. Constructed in 1895 and augurated in 1896, the nineteen-room Pathological Department Building, as it was then called, is equipped with three clinical laboratories, a photography lab, teaching amphitheatre, autopsy room, and library.
Wunderbar, Camera Replaced
The Nikon D80 is dead, enter the D7000 replacement. Camera insurance worked out Great, highly recommended! Wish I had added the lens to the policy too…
It is INCREDIBLE how much technical improvement has been made in 4 years. From D80 to D90 to D7000. I found a blog with lots of interesting Nikon history of the different models. The numbering doesn’t make sense to me but take a look at NikonAndye’s blog (see links), it sort of helps to see them in sequence.
I chose a D7000 factory refurbished model to offset additional cost of a portrait/battery grip. Camera had only 180 clicks on the shutter and looks brand new. Couldn’t have been used much. Looking forward to using it this weekend.
Bummer, Broken Camera
Waiting to see how camera insurance works out. Being far less than graceful, I slipped and fell on some wet pavement; the camera went flying and the lens parted company with the body… sending the 105mm 2.8 VR lens back to Nikon for repair. The D80 camera isn’t worth the repairs it would take (if it could be repaired at all). Hoping a replacement gets worked out quickly. Feels sort of awkward not having a camera. I had taken just shy of 50,000 shots (49,700ish) with the camera and it’s shutter is ‘test rated’ at 50,000 cycles so maybe it was a blessing just-in-time?
50,000 shots in 50 months = 1,000/month avg
50,000 shots in 210 weeks = 238/week avg
I was curious how that compares to other photo nuts? I found a poll at Digital Photography School (interestingly it had about 50,000 respondents). Based on that poll, I would be somewhat ‘above the average’ meaning about 75% of people polled took fewer photos per week and 25% took more. That makes me feel a little better that I’m not completely obsessed, just 25% more obsessed than the ‘average’ photo nut.
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-many-photos-do-we-take-each-week-poll
Logo 2
Or is this one better?
Logo 1
Logo graphics – I really like this but I’m very curious what others think? Please comment your initial impressions, either good or bad. I am really interested in your “blink”. Thanks!
“Capture Indy” Photo 4
4 of 7; Also in “Landmarks” category. Closeup of the brass door knob at the Indianapolis State Capital building. Taken with 105 mm micro nikkor lens.
“Capture Indy” Photo 5
5 of 7; In “Sports & Recreation” category. 33 Hot air balloons in the track infield for 100 year anniversary celebration prior to Indy 500. This was published as a tiny little photo on page 80 of the book. The trick here was to get the exposure right, the timing of the burners firing together, and nobody walking in front you all at once. Backlit brightly colored fabric and big flames; that’s always going to make an interesting image… 50mm, f/2.0, 200 iso.
DADart Photography 