Burning steel wool makes for some really cool effects. With St. Lawrence University Photo Club, we experimented with illusions of depth and movement over the course of the exposure.
Category: Canton
Ram on Bridge
There’s fundamental power in the laminated wood structure of this through-arch bridge (which I’ve photographed before), and I love the way it’s enhanced by the imposing pickup truck and the dramatic sky.
Flying Over St. Lawrence I
This image, taken from the air over Campus Security and with the restored steeple of St. Lawrence University in the background, might not be quite up to my normal quality standards. I find it more interesting for another reason: it’s the first (good) picture I’ve captured with a quadcopter drone. I have to admit, the potential of the technology for landscape photographers is pretty exciting. Now if I can just get a drone to carry something as heavy as my DSLR…
Flooded Magic Island
When the water level rises in Stone Valley, the landscape gets odd, and impossible islands form where there were once minor changes in the landscape.
The water rushes through ferns and tree-roots and creates barriers in the landscape that redefine hiking for the day.
Strange Times at the Field
Sunset after an aggressive summer thunderstorm is a strange place of pinks and blues.
Movie Bridge
On this through-arch bridge going into Canton from the Adirondacks, I used the Brenizer Method to make a super-wide, narrow-depth-of-field image that brings to mind some slightly sinister movie scene.
Non-non-Euclidean
This image from inside Herring-Cole Hall at St. Lawrence University reminds me of the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey: All bright white surfaces and traditional motifs, but with a shape, geometry, and brightness that doesn’t seem quite of this Earth.
Small Mushroom and Stones
Backing up from grand views of public spaces in modern, urban settings, I present some photographs of small yet appealing shapes from a recent hike. I like the way these stones have carved pillars beneath them where erosion was prevented.
The living things make their own little shapes in Stone Valley, too. The moss hasn’t grown as much in the shadow of the mushroom.
Self-Portrait VI
I occasionally play with self-portraiture, but I almost always shoot with natural light. I was inspired by this shot to try some super-stark and very dramatic lighting. I’m quite happy with the way the point-source LED lighting from my cell phone created the tiny sparkle to my eye. If I were a more poetic person, I’d say something about the glint of an idea forming.
Canton USA
My American town always reminds me of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” and I think his comment about the play also applies to life in the North Country: “[It] should be performed without sentimentality or ponderousness–simply, dryly, and sincerely.”
Full River
Water levels in the Raquette River through Stone Valley (site of some excellent rocks) were quite high, leading to normally dry areas (like this one) overflowing with impromptu waterfalls. Surfaces and water levels in various areas didn’t want to match up, and made for a feeling like the whole river had been “assembled” out of order.
North Country Wetlands
Early spring is a great time to be in the North Country—all of the nature, none of the mosquitoes. The latter half of that equation has shifted as we enter July.
He Has an Idea
A lightbulb can be more than just a cliché for having an idea.
North Country Truck I
The North Country has some serious truck-lovers, and that solid sense of Northeastern populism, to boot. The bumper stickers on this particular Ford certainly embrace the North-Country-ish identity.
Redox Steeple
The new steeple on Gunnison Memorial Chapel is installed (remember when it arrived?) and beginning to react with the atmosphere around it. This chemistry, in which copper metal transfers electrons to non-metal atoms from the air to become an ion, is called “reduction-oxidation” chemistry—abbreviated “redox.” Seeing this reaction happen on such a large scale, and produce such an awesome array of colors, is a treat.
Decaseconds 