Category Archives: Photography

The Peale Center

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in HISTORY, Photography

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The Peale Center, also once Baltimore’s City Hall and Colored School #1 and then a temporary Water Engineer’s office. Then the Municipal Museum and then a vacant…am I missing anything? It has been a lot of things since 1814 and I am really glad it is being restored to a museum. 

View from across the street, at the Municipal Building – where the water engineers are now located. Workers had to move their scaffold out of the way so we could get in.

A walk out back. I think I would have placed this lamp elsewhere instead of in front of the relief.

Another gas lamp.

Back inside to await the history talk. Here is an artist rendition of what the Peale will look like when completed. 

A nice model of the proposed renovations.

Holy H.G. Wells! A freakin’ time machine. Damn, still under construction!

Hum Bug!!

More bugs.

And the real reason for my visit – a talk by Peter Manseau on his book “The Apparitionist”. It was a really good talk. One thing that kind of stuck in my head was when he said, “There are about 50,000 deceased persons on Facebook. Still being visited by family and friends.” It is like a modern day seance in the electronic social media age. People get to see their departed loved ones, just like the photographs taken by 19th century photographers of dead people posing. But Peter’s book goes more into ghost being seen in glass plate images. I can’t wait to read his book…

Ice

07 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by in National Parks, nature, Photography

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Trip this weekend to Salisbury. Nice ice.

Crossed the Bay Bridge heading east and Kathy says that we should stop on the shore and take a photo of the bridge. Go to Hemingway’s parking lot, I get out and say “Aren’t you coming?” No, too cold! And it was very cold with the breeze coming off of the icy bay.

Looking towards the container ships.

Most roads were pretty clear. A couple drifts on 50 between Easton and Cambridge. Then we made it. The Chokey or the woodshed?

The footbridge over the frozen pond.

A favorite meditation bench.

Molly only lasted out here, in her new coat, for just a couple minutes.

Unknown footprints into the pond.

On the way home we drove towards Blackwater Refuge. I say drove towards because we got kind of lost. We did end up at a part of the refuge we had never been to. The roads here were pretty clear also.

 

Black water – black sand…

We saw a few eagles and a couple herons.

And instead of turning towards the park, where the visitor center is, we ended up at Hearns Cove and Wingate Creek.

Boats frozen in place.

Dock in B/W

Nice little post office and name.

 

Willow Grove at Cromwell Valley

09 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by in Hiking, nature, Photography

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Nice day for a walk in the park. Let it snow!

The nature center is decorated, so why not the Little House?

Bells, bows and garland, from us to you.

While Kathy is decorating the door, I enjoy the cold view through the window.

The barn in B/W. Thanks God for the snow! It lets us be grateful for the sunny days.

Mathew Brady Photo Help

08 Friday Dec 2017

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While going through some old books in Kathy’s basement, I came across this card. Can anyone help me identify who this is? 

I cannot read the name on the left, but underneath it appears to say “Major General”. On the right side it may say “3rd Army ? and underneath possibly Army of (the) Potomac. 

Here is the reverse side of the card. I searched as much as I could using key words at different Official Brady sites but came up empty. Thanks.

Thanksgiving Fog

26 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by in Hiking, nature, Photography

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Wonderful weekend with Kathy’s family down the Eastern Shore.

Sunset on the farm.

Gail and John 4-wheeling.

Back again looking for fish.

Time for a hike before deer season starts. Molly trying to flush out some birds.

A hawk surrounded by crows.

Grey barn roof on blue sky.

Reflections on the pond.

Kathy’s reflection.

Reflecting, contemplating…

Winter Robins.

And then the fog rolled in.

Like a loose blanket.

The barn. Soft coating of ice on everything.

The lone tree fighting off the shroud.

Dirt road to the heart of the fog.

It started to retreat from the pines.

Sniper house. New addition to the farm.

Walking through here, the trees’ upper branches, bathed in sunlight, let go a rain storm of melted frost.

Under the tree, a real bird dog.

Fog and steam mixing together.

Thanks given to God for all this.

A Walk In The Woods

14 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Hiking, Photography

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That was actually a pretty good movie, with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. But for us, it wasn’t the misadventures while walking the Appalachian Trail. It was just a peaceful, late afternoon stroll along the Big Gunpowder Falls. 

I always like checking out the bridges. Quite a few bandaids on it and should be rebuilt. This is where Harford Rd. crosses the Falls.

Here we have Molly not wanting to get her feet wet. This is crossing over Jenifer’s Branch. We did that hike once before so we stuck with the Gunpowder on this trip. 

Can’t blame Molly for not wanting to get wet – the water was cold.

Ice in early November.

Even though it was cold, this little guy was reaching for the sun, trying to stay alive.

I don’t think this stuff ever dies.

Daily black and white. Some b/w make the day dreary looking. Our days hiking are always fun. We stay positive. And Kathy has shown me how to be aware of the goodness of the hike (as opposed to my just trudging through, seeing how many cool photos I can take, to post on FaceBook!!)

I now take the time to reflect on what I am seeing – to look across and up in the trees.

Sitting pretty.

Just need to focus on what is around me, on that which is in front of me, on what is important. To be in the moment. Mindful Walking.

Kathy’s gift to the tree. Art in the park.

Our map of the trip. The one thing about AllTrails is, it shows how long you are out there while recording (over 2 hours) but when you save it, it only shows how long you were actually moving. Guess I better check the settings or will probably have to upgrade.

N.Y. Trip

30 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by in Hiking, New York, Photography

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Another day trip to New York. Always a lot of fun and a lot of walking. You cannot beat the Groupon $33 round trip price. Our driver just flies up the highway. Went thru the Holland Tunnel and got off at 8th and 45th. Went to the City Kitchen then headed over to the subway. 

It was a lot cleaner than I thought it would be. Lots of people in N.Y. for some reason.

Looking down at one of the trains.

Our first stop was at the 9/11 memorial. This is some sort of mall?

Inside view.

Bright sunny day with lots of reflections.

More reflections.

Reflecting pool. Hard to believe there once was a building here – full of people.

Kathy left her cellphone at work, so I’m not sure who she is talking to – on a cloaked phone.

The Survivor Tree. Discovered amidst the wreckage of 9/11 – transplanted and cared for, then brought back to be planted here.

An art sculpture from the wreckage at WTC Plaza. 1971 “The Sphere”

Back on the subway and headed to Staten Island Ferry. The subway card did not work after Kathy went thru – a woman held the gate open for me! Niceness in NY!

From outside the ferry terminal you can see the Brooklyn Bridge.

Leaving the terminal and watching a million people standing in line for the ferry, we walked over to Battery Park. Besides being able to see Lady Liberty from there, they have many statues around.

My B&W post of the day.

This was a strange one – called The Immigrants. 

Castle Clinton. Had some nice dioramas inside.

Another statue. This was blocked off and we couldn’t read what it was about.

Korean War Memorial – Got his camos on.

The Seaglass Carousel. 

Leaves are slow to turn up here.

After Battery Park we caught another subway to Chelsea Market. Building on the way.

This place was packed. Halloween stuff going on.

Halloween stuff!Left the market and headed to the High Line.

Another view. This is at 14th Street.

And here is an old time view. Interesting history about this. Plenty of articles on Google.

The High Line was old train tracks above the City, turned into a garden.

Finally some fall colors.

From 14th street we headed south to the end. Kathy got a kick out of me wanting to keep walking. This is at Gansevoort St. From here on, the rails were destroyed.

Besides being a nice hike, you get to see so much on the High Line.

I saw an old time photo of this. Didn’t think one still existed!

Lots of art work around and to be seen from an eye level view.

On the way heading north.

We are almost at the end and we come across this, just before 34th St.

Lots of new construction going on. This is Hudson Yard.

Leave the High Line and head back to the Theater District. Sights on the way.

Ha! Ralph Kramden!

Times Square is always a treat. Guy flipping over tourist.

Nice day and lots of people. We ate at Shake Shack, went to Muji and just hung out until it was time to head home.

Turkey Point at Elk Neck

06 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by in Hiking, nature, Photography

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With Kathy at her sister’s for a week, I figured I’d see if my daughter wanted to go kayaking or hiking. She chose hiking so we went up to North East, Md. to Elk Neck State Park. Nice day for a hike. A little warm then started cooling off with the clouds moving in. I haven’t done this hike for about 5 years. Always nice to revisit places. This was a two part hike:

First we stopped at the lighthouse lot and walked the paths. Round trip here was about 2-1/2 miles.

A few of these signs scattered about.

With good reason. My daughter, Jules, has an app on her phone that measures distance. She said this cliff was 72′ up. This view is looking N.W. towards Havre De Grace. The head of the Chesapeake Bay. 

Nice path. The fields on both sides have grown over some since the last time.

Not sure what this was.

Jules staying away from the hawk viewing sign. Multiple wasp nest on this thing. We did see a couple eagles while roaming around.

Finally made it to the lighthouse. Five years ago I was able to go inside. Not today.

We followed the light house trail down to the bottom. Another area seriously grown over. Use to be able to follow this trail south to an area just under the light house and look up the cliff.

So we headed the other way. So nice and peaceful listening to the water lap against the rocks. I could sit here for hours.

A little beach up ahead.

Driftwood and seashells. 

Back up top.

No pee-call here! This spot-o-pot had a lot of stink bugs in it. Most fell off the roof, onto the toilet, when I opened the door. 

Onto the next leg of our hike – Rogues Harbor and the Beaver Pond. This was a short hike. When we got to the upper left there was a detour around a ravine. I’ve done this hike before and it takes quite a while. We could see enough from our vantage point on this side. The trail does go all the way around the pond.

First stop though was at the marina bathrooms. Looking east across the Elk River.

Buttonwood Beach RV Resort. From this view it looks like sardine villa. From Google Earth, they are well spaced and looks like a nice place to set up an RV (or trailer home)

Unknown ruins.

Swim? I don’t think I would put my kayak in here!

If I did, it would take a while to rinse it off! Beaver Pond.

Lots of trail markers and maps at each entrance.

Beaver House. 

It won’t be long before these invasive phragmites take over the whole pond. 

Little cutie. There were a group of these right here. Good eyesight for as small as they are. And they could jump about 3 feet. 

No bridges to burn on this trip…

Lake Ashburton 1908-1910

04 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Baltimore, engineering, Photography, water history

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More files, more documenting. More work. As stated before, I am trying to get my archive files in some sort of order so that at a later date, it will be easier for people to find things. (Not that I really think anyone will go through this stuff once I’m gone, but I can retire with a clear conscience that yes, I did my job).

What has made this job difficult, yet interesting, is that various people have had numerous boxes of archives scattered throughout the City. A lot were mislabelled. These photos came from a box of glass plate negatives marked as ‘Loch Raven’ Bringing it all together in some sort of order is challenging. Chaos:

It is hard to believe that out of this construction chaos there will be built a reservoir so that the citizens of Baltimore will be able to enjoy drinking water. These are the pipes from the lake to the gate house (foundation in background).

Many years ago when I started this project, I had no clue about glass plate negatives, positive photos, restoration, etc. When I held the above GPN up to the light I thought it was a bad one – the white shown coming from the pneumatic jack hammers is black on the negative. I thought it was ruined until I processed it. Duh.

This one I have yet had a chance to restore. What I found interesting here is the suitcase in the upper right corner. Not only is this GPN broken, some of the image has peeled off.

Another interesting one from 1908 shows a church in the background. The writing on the sleeve said: Epiphany College in background.

Before building the lake the engineers had to move and raise the sewer/storm water manholes.

The photographer did a good job catching this dynamite blast at the right time.

This broken jigsaw puzzle plate I did restore.

 

Always a Favorite

25 Monday Sep 2017

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With a lot that needs taking care of this week, we were still able to find the time to go kayaking. We decided on somewhere close. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We have been to Dundee creek many times and each time we take a different path.

Today’s trip kept us mostly along the shoreline, checking out the hidden coves. A little over 3 miles and two hours on the water. Beautiful.

The water was really calm and smooth – like butter. This is the first small cove heading north from the launch area.

Moving on, Kathy stops to look at a couple Isis. The one on the post, all the way near shore, did not move for quite a while. We could not get close enough to them for a good photo shot.

Moving on to the next little cove. I don’t believe a lot of people venture into here. Lots of spider webs.

Not only spiders but tree obstacles as well. But worth the silence and seclusion once inside.

A whatchamacallit hanging from an abandoned dock.

The one cove, upper left had these invasive guys growing. Kathy said her goldfish love eating these things.

My sun-goddess oblivious to the paddle boarders. We went early and it was getting really hot out by 11am.

Decided to go over to the osprey nest. I guess these guys moved on to Argentina? I did wave to the Marshy Point Osprey Cam.

The Marshy Point Nature Center, which is a very nice place, is just beyond the woods.

Another great day to be kayaking.