Snow Enhances Lights
Left school so late that it was dark. Drove a circuitous route home to check out the lights in Morningside. The house I have photographed the past two years didn’t have a single light. Thinking about the possible reasons for no lights this year but maybe they just moved. This house up the street looked lovely in the snow with the greens and ribbons on the white fence.
Looks more like New England than Pittsburgh to me.
Keeping the Darkness at Bay
No one seems worried about the electric bills! The days are growing shorter and the light displays increasing.
East Liberty off Negley Avenue.
Between the Neon Beer Signs on Carson Street
South Side. There is a house sandwiched between storefronts and bars on Carson. Here is how it looked Friday night. In this view you can’t see the Jockey lawn ornament by the life-size Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Making the season bright!
“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out”
We watched A Christmas Story (1983) over Thanksgiving.
Friday night I walked by this window on Carson St after listening to Don Hollowood and the King Cobras at Excuses. Saw the display and thought anyone who has seen this holiday movie would enjoy the picture. Found out it was shot in Cleveland. When I was in high school I used to listen to Jean Shepherd on the radio. I never knew anyone whose tongue stuck on a frozen flagpole.
Ralphie in the pink bunny suit sits under the fishnet leg lamp, Red Ryder on the right.
3 Sources of Light on the South Side
Streetlights, headlights, moon. Bedford Square. A stripe of cloud by the moon. Always practicing my night photography. Trying to avoid excessive graininess. Enjoying the time off from work to restore.
Seems like another era when I look at this shot.
Mt. Washington Tower and the Full Moon
On Shiloh Street there is a 350 foot tower. Here is a piece of it and the full moon from the impromptu Tuesday night shoot.
Just last year I was on the hunt for Inflatable Turkeys. To me this is much more dramatic.
Guess this will be the Thanksgiving post. Handheld, RB, no tripod. Propped camera on the side of a telephone pole.
Reminds me of a Cape Canaveral image.
Full Moon Over Pittsburgh
Not Light Up Night tonight. My friend Ray called. Said there was a huge orange moon on the horizon but by the time I threw on my jeans, wool sweater, hat and scarf, drove up to Mt. Washington, the moon had risen and appeared off white. Clear, cold and windy, met two couples from Minneapolis on their way to the Macy’s Parade in NYC. Ray told them how to drive off the mountain to Fathead’s or Primanti’s on Carson Street. The city lights looked brighter to me than Friday night. It was an impromptu shooting session but a lot of fun. Posting the Radio Tower on Shiloh Street tomorrow.
The temperature dropped that twenty degrees they said it would....brrrrr. A clear night.
Age of Aquarius
Went to a surprise 40th birthday party Saturday night. Half chocolate/half vanilla. Potomac Bakery made the cake. The icing edge was smiley face yellow. Her husband and sister pulled it off and I hope he takes my friend the birthday girl to the new restaurant Andora she thought she was going to try. I figured it out- I was a freshman in college when Erin was born! If you want to see what was happening in the world on her birthday, check out the Nov 16, 1970 issue of TIME.
Love the challenge of available light photography.
Light Up Night Pittsburgh
From the the sidewalk by the Monongahela Incline. Not the usual view. Drove up Sycamore Street after the Madwomen in the Attic Poetry Reading/ Party at WYEP on the South Side. Easy to park as it was after 10 PM. I missed the fireworks. Walked up and down Grandview and took a series of shots of Light Up Night, wishing I had taken the tripod and cable release.
Find the American flag.
Night Light- Two Houses
Driving back from Murrysville I saw the lights on the porch at Clayton, the home of Henry Clay Frick. Evergreen swags dangling from the portico. Drove around the block to come back and use the driver’s side window as my makeshift tripod. Lots of photos in the dark lately, it’s dark so early! Wednesday night Steve and I ate dinner a Grant Avenue Bar & Grill and when I pulled down the alley I saw the Candy Cane/ Snowflake house. Scroll down to see the Millvale House.
Decorated for the upcoming Holiday tours.
First Christmas House spotted in Millvale.
Heinz Field Night Game
On the way home from McCafferty’s Sunday Pot Roast Dinner and family Christmas card photos I thought, I’ll swing by the field, listen to the crowd roar. Not a car on the streets surrounding the stadium. Time to get home to bed to get ready for the week. And tomorrow night’s screening. Game not going so well as I am scheduling to post. But I like the scene.
View from Gate A
Ghost Bicycles, Halloween House and a Full Moon
Steve drove me home from the Poetry Reading at Borders. Drove around the block so I could shoot the Halloween House and the FULL moon. Got out of the car and it wasn’t looking like much. Then the traffic started to arrive. And the lights of the passing cars added some interest. But when the 25 bicycles sped by with their lights on I shot as fast as I could. Not intending an animation initially but I thought it made the series worthy of publication.
CMU Campus Lights and Shadows at Night
Waiting for Steve to pick me up in the turnaround, I saw the pattern on the concrete. I had just viewed Waiting for Superman. I was in a good discussion group after the film. You can read an editorial piece by Tony Norman from the Post-Gazette my friend V told me about. Lots to think about. There wasn’t much in it that was hopeful or positive, especially when it comes to public education. In fact , it was downright depressing to me.There are a ton of reviews at Rotten Tomatoes if you want to see the splats, too…. But getting back to the patterns of light and shadow on the sidewalk while I was waiting for Steve….
Looked like a good target for a spaceship landing.
Pittburgh from the Air at Night
Taken Sunday 10-10-10 Through the airplane window, flying fast. One quick shot. Can you find any recognizable landmarks? Wish I could have a “do-over”- try again.
Prepare for landing.
Quad Cities Halloween House
Mary and I ate dinner along the Mississipi River at the Boat House in Davenport. Char grilled catfish filets. Our hotel overlooks the river in Bettendorf. A huge riverboat transformed into a casino.We’re in Iowa to celebrate our first cousin’s daughter’s wedding tomorrow. Driving along River Road we saw this home decked out for Halloween. The photo doesn’t capture it sufficiently. I couldn’t have answered what the Quad Cities were before today.Moline IL East Moline IL Rock Island IL and Davenport IA
Large carved pumpkins lit the stairs.
Club Café Southside
Christopher Jones will be returning to the Club Café, 12 Street, this Saturday, October 9, from 7-9 PM with a four-piece band of excellent Western PA musicians–Jim Spears on bass, Mark Weakland on drums and Max Schang on guitar. Peter King, will open for him @7. (peterkingmusic.com).
A couple of Christopher’s songs from his CD Heartland Variations are on the soon-to-be-released DVD I’ve finished, Michael Wurster: City Books Session.(Thank you Christopher) And there will be a re-release of Christopher’s 1978 Transatlantic recording No More Range to Roam available Saturday night. Admission is $10 @ the door.
Took this shot the night of Peter King's CD Release Party.
Spider Traps Stink Bug
Not sure if your part of the world is infested with these undesirable STINK BUGS but they are trying to get in every window and crack around here. I looked at what I thought was a giant spider and he is good sized, hanging in a web out on the columns on the porch, but there he was grabbing onto one of those armor plated stink bugs. When the kids were small we’d read a book from the library called Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham. Tonight’s shot- they were both outside. I left them alone. But a stinkbug seems like a poor choice for a meal.
Another one for the Nature scrapbook. I like the shadow from the porch light.
Train Along the Mon
Steve drove over Rankin Bridge and you know how I love red lights? Easier to shoot as a passenger. This is narrow cause I cut out the bridge rails. I love to hear the train’s whistle along the Allegheny River at night. This train was at a standstill. I wondered what was in the cars.
Not much light left- we were headed to West Mifflin.
Remembering Joyce Brengarth Singh,Ph.D -”Farmgirl at heart.”
Professor, Social Worker, Psychotherapist, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Friend. Joyce grew up on a honey bee farm in Boonville Missouri. These jars of honey were photographed at night in Croatia and are posted as a tribute and celebration of her life. Photographed in the town on Cres on Cres Island when I visited Matthew two summers ago. Joyce and her husband Bunt (Dr. Singh as well) were loving parents to both Mark and Matthew during their high school years and beyond. Thank you. Click here for newspaper article about Joyce’s life. After Monday’s funeral, her husband and sons, Prem and Davinder, will accompany her to her final rest in a family plot in Missouri. Mass of Christian Burial is Monday(today) at 10AM St Bede’s. Newspaper article is from Sunday.
Pollinators are so important. Jars of honey to remember Joyce B Singh.
Learning To Shoot Star Trails
Here is the photograph AFTER the second round of advice on how to shoot the stars. And their trails as the earth moves. I was able to hold down the shutter for 260 seconds @ f4 stop and 400 ISO.If you look at the yoga studio you can see that there was very little camera shake, even though I traveled without my cable release or tripod. Next time I will be better prepared. My photography colleague sent me an amazing link if you want to see amazing star trails. Click this link. I am back in Pittsburgh but wanted to post one more Okanogan photograph.
Saw three shooting stars but these star trails fascinate me. Next time!!!!
Constellation Captured in Okanogan
Big Dipper Over David's House in Okanogan WA
- Aperture: ƒ/2.8
- Shutter Speed: 79.0s
- Image Date: 8/9/10 2:00:00
- no tripod, no cable release, propped on a chair with my finger holding the shutter in bulb setting, releasing as motionlessly as possible
Y.M.C.A. on the Patio Dancing
Village People played by the DJ got people dancing on the patio
DJ & Dancing Through the Decades at the Confratute
You can't see the white platform shoes but they rounded out the look.
Patio Party at Confratute, UCONN
Cathedral of Learning Festival of Lights
From the Archives Oct 2008. Pre-blog era. Artist Lucette de Rugy created Artlumiere. See how she transforms the University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning into a a shining tower of lights and patterns. It was stunning. Always practicing night photography. Capturing available light.
Some car headlights give a clue as to how long the shutter was open.
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