Saturday marked a final day of warm weather and sunshine before the cold and dark and rain of November closed in on us. The Hartford skyline was positively glowing.
Tag: Connecticut
I Can See My House From Here
Peak foliage on Trinity College’s campus looks as effulgent as always, but there’s an added perk in being able to see my downtown-Hartford home in the same shot. (It helps that the building is 27 stories tall, I’ll admit…)
Ultimate Lobster Roll
A truly “ultimate” lobster roll needs butter, a crispy, toasted roll, and a truly irrational amount of meat. Check, check, and check.
Leaving Before the Fireworks End
Fireworks displays in metro areas always mean serious traffic, but the line of stopped cars along Bushnell Park has clearly formed before the fireworks display even ended. From this vantage point, there’s luckily more to see than traffic; the magenta luminescence of excited lithium ions paints its colors across the buildings and treetops of downtown Hartford.
Two Views from Hartford in the Summer
As summer has officially concluded, I wanted to look back on some images from my first one in Hartford.
Fireworks set off early on the Fourth of July quickly shrouded the area in smoke.
As the moon moves around the horizon, it aligns with different features in the skyline.
Hartford Gotham
The mixture of mid-twentieth-century architecture, spotlights, lightning, soft focus, and color grading all sum to transform Hartford into Tim Burton’s 1989 vision of Gotham.
Drift Loose
The smoke and the motion in this shot of a drifting 86 at #GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends last month really grab my attention, but it’s the little detail of the hand making the shaka sign out the window that puts this image over the top.
For more pictures from #GRIDLIFE this year, check out this post.
Another Overheated Fall in Clement
The first weeks of school during my senior year at Trinity College, all the way back in 2007, were memorable to me for a lot of reasons; one of those was because it was just unbearably hot for a couple of weeks. Now, having returned to campus as a faculty member, I’ve apparently brought this weather back with me. The mostly-un-air-conditioned Clement Chemistry Building is once again my home—but this time, my office has a window unit.
Big Clouds Behind Travelers Building
Brown concrete, orange late-afternoon light on late-summer clouds, and a general mid-(twentieth-)century vibe.
Living the #GRIDLIFE
Last weekend brought me to the #GRIDLIFE Circuit Legends event at Lime Rock Park. I finally finished processing pictures from the event. Today’s post features some of my favorites from the event, but there’s definitely more to come.
Let’s start with this BMW M3. This was my first time trying longer exposures with moving cars to get serious motion blur. I’m honestly thrilled with how it came out and can’t wait to try more.
#GRIDLIFE was also remarkable for the access available to the pits. Enthusiasts were just roaming around as mechanics got to work on their cars.
That provided opportunities for even kids to get to see the cars up close.
The bucolic nature of Lime Rock added some chill vibes to what would otherwise be a pretty high-adrenaline setting.
Nocones Garage built this race car from a Subaru 360.
The red Honda S2000 in the background wasn’t even part of the team with the two red Subaru BRZs, but they were all kind enough to keep their cars in a line.
I like the array of tools and materials in front of this BMW M4.
While the Acura RSX’s team worked aggressively on their car, the BMW M2 team in the next stall looked on.
I spotted this Toyota Supra by the gates coming into the show.
The owners of that BMW M2 earlier got their beast out onto the track.
Shots like this, with huge amounts of motion blur, are the kinds of dramatic moments that really got me excited to go through with the wasted shots necessary to capture the perfect ones.
This show wasn’t just a chance for me to expand my shooting abilities; I also practiced some new photo-processing techniques. I don’t normally do a ton of color grading, but shots like this one really feel richer with some amped up forest green.
Speaking of forests, this trio was stopped by the gate, too.
From a forest of trees to a forest of people surrounding an FD Mazda RX-7 making its way back to the pits.
I had a chance to look into some pretty nuts engine bays.
A Honda S2000 looks the part out on the track.
Beneath the Boss S14 body kit, this drift monster is still a Nissan 240SX.
As is this less-disguised example. Just look at those sparks!
Watching four cars drift in parallel was really something…
But this shot of bonkers tire smoke from an 86 really got me attention.
Bushnell Tower Watching Fireworks
Flying a drone in downtown Hartford requires some extra permissions, but they’re worth chasing for the opportunity to capture shots like this one: Bushnell Tower, the State Capitol, and a rain-checked fireworks display arrayed above Bushnell Park.
Capitol/Capitals
My first drone flight in Hartford—floating above the trees of Bushnell Park—coincided with Juneteenth. The Connecticut State Capitol (former site of Trinity College) and this vibrant mural are located at the western side of the park.
Bicentennial Fireworks
This weekend, my wife and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary alongside Trinity College‘s bicentennial. Given that we met at college, the symmetry felt impactful. Though the fireworks might not have been intended to be exclusively for us, they felt just a little extra special.
Time Series: Travelers Tower
The move to Hartford has offered me the opportunity to capture this time sequence (like the ones I took in Kentucky and the North Country) with a dramatic view of Travelers Tower over the course of a day. If the image appeals, it’s also available as a dynamic wallpaper for macOS that will change your desktop with the time of day.
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Hartford by Night
Moving to downtown Hartford, Connecticut placed this view just outside my window. I used to look across the city to Travelers Tower (the illuminated building at right) from my dorm room at Trinity College; 15 years later, I realize it shone like a beacon because it was being actively lit from nearby rooftops. Perhaps that’s a good lesson for life: the achievements that stand out don’t do so by accident, but because of conscious effort.
Decaseconds 