After days of rain, show finally settled over the North Country on Christmas afternoon. With little bits of grass poking above the snowy hillsides, I’m reminded of a sort of low-rent English countryside equivalent.
Author: adohertyh
Dinner on Vltava
The holiday season in Bohemia is ideally appreciated from a heated outdoor table on the Vltava River.
Vltava Bird Pattern
Along Prague’s Vltava River, this pattern of one-bird-per-piling appears to be very strict throughout the day. At sunset, however, the pattern reaches its most dramatic. I guess everyone wants a view.
Face of Lampson
Just before the solstice, I most appreciate processing my pictures from spring. The needles and fallen leaves of winter are still on the ground in this image from Lampson Falls, but new life is pushing through.
(Can you spot me on the left side of the picture, at the top of the falls?)
Neighborhood Baseball
This week’s theme on Decaseconds is apparently athletic fields. In the suburban Chicago grid, little park oases like these are a delightful break from the monotony.
Consequences of Cold Wars
We visited Prague more than a year ago, arriving (without perhaps fully considering it) on the thirtieth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Strolling between the shops of Wenceslas Square, my brain worked overtime to connect the place with the images of protests in 1989 and the great changes that had come about in the time since.
Night Fog on the Football Field
St. Lawrence’s athletic fields take on a particularly Scooby Doo glow when fog rolls in.
Night Square I & II
The gradual shift from sodium vapor lamps to white LEDs as the primary light source for public places means that this transitional period produced odd night images with dominant oranges and blues produced from trying to balance the color temperatures.
That color contrast makes every scene look a bit like a movie poster.
Národní Divadlo
The classical architecture of Prague’s National Theater is set apart, in this image, from the smooth lines of modernity around it.
Canal Through Suburbs
Chicagoland’s nearly 2D topography and nineteenth-century population boom conspired to make for a remarkably uniform grid of structures and roads. Even the water that might “go rogue” in another setting is often confined to the grid.
Kafka Statue
There is more than one statue of Franz Kafka in Prague, but this mirrored head with rotating segments (see the motion blur at the jawline) was the most dramatic I visited. At the time, the head was, naturally, the most surreal aspect of the location. In the present, the crowds of people on the night street (also visible in the reflective base) are perhaps more shocking.
Setting Sun at the Farm
Living in the North Country means a very northern feature to the seasons: wild swings in the amount of daylight. Even a month before the solstice, the sun has nearly vanished by 4:00 PM.
“Monument” for V. Tatlin
Part of a series of works by Dan Flavin, featured in the National Gallery Salm Palace in Prague.
Ganglion
Passing this tree on the way home from work each evening, I can’t help but be reminded of the intersections among nerve cells called ganglia.
Inside and Outside
The heights of St. Vitus Cathedral allow for this double-view inside and outside the walls of Prague Castle. I really like finding shots that capture this enormous variation in scale, from individual pedestrians to whole neighborhoods.
Decaseconds 