HDR Photography
On National Connecticut Day (apparently a Real Thing since 2017), I wanted to show these three views from around our state capital. They’re united by a strategy of processing the images darker in exposure than I might normally, producing deep, dark tones and highlights safe from being blown out.
Beyond Hartford’s Town Hall in the foreground are city landmarks like the State capitol, Bushnell Tower, and Travelers Tower. The sunset is not an official Hartford landmark but it should be a skymark.
I.M. Pei’s Bushnell Tower is a palette for late-spring sunsets and clear skies in downtown Hartford.
Don’t make me get up early, but if I’m awake anyway… Give me a good sunrise.
Calder’s “Stegosaurus” is an enormous color outlier in the neutral snow color scheme of downtown Hartford.
The elegant State Capitol of Connecticut is on a hill above downtown Hartford—the same hill once occupied by the school that would become Trinity College.
The roof replacement at 1 Gold St. required a crane to reach above the 27th floor and deliver materials, and its emplacement closed Gold St. itself for a month. With all of that scale and drama, I guess I thought that the crane would be… taller? (Of course, it’s not in its “active” configuration in this shot.)
After a nighttime poster session, crowds of chemists issued forth from the San Diego Convention Center and across the tracks to the Gaslamp Quarter.
Calder’s “Stegosaurus” peaks out from the trees between the Wadsworth Atheneum and Hartford City Hall.
Legend has it that the southern face of Bushnell Tower is nearly windowless because it was meant to closely face a mirror twin of the building (never constructed); now it remains a mysterious facade that adds character to the historic structure.
We’ve now long passed the one-year anniversary of my move to Hartford, Connecticut. The benefit of occupying the same post downtown for all of that time is being present for those singular perfect nights with incredible post-storm skies.
Though it may be a semi-intended consequence of Manhattan’s zoning rules regarding floor space, setbacks, and public space, public art in downtown Manhattan is still refreshing. Jean Dubuffet’s Groupe de Quatres Arbres and its curving lines fits so nicely against the linear structure of the building behind it that I’m naturally drawn in.
Given the catastrophic cost of real estate at the southern end of Manhattan, a look at the use of rooftop space reveals a sharp contrast: roofs are either lush garden spaces or barren mechanical utility areas. I had expected to see more “in between” spaces among the penthouses—casually or informally used rooftops. I guess nothing spends more than a few hours on a New York rooftop without a reason to be there.
I caught John Wick Chapter 3 in theaters this weekend; that movie’s take on New York City inspired me to finish processing my RAWs from my October 2018 trip to photograph its downtown skyline. Perhaps that sense of a hidden world lurking around every corner is captured in the details along the shore.
The density of Manhattan’s skyline makes me appreciate the political will required to preserve public open spaces in urban areas. A visit to Liberty State Park makes for a delightful break from the “concrete jungle”.
Decaseconds 