Another image from around 1970. This image may or may not be from the same day (or month, or even year) as yesterday’s post, but it is a luggage cart from the same location.

Looking at this image, I can see that I got a lot right. The repeating shape of the window and the end of the luggage cart, the leading lines, the dynamic balance, and the wonderful textures.

Forty years later — I would have spent much more time in this location and found many other opportunities. Even in this one image, I can see other compositions that would have worked.

I am not currently offering these images of my early work for sale — as I see what sizes I can print and still maintain a quality image, I will make some of these available in a very limited edition. For now though, you can get an idea of what I was doing 40 years ago.

Things are finally getting back to normal. Finally all dry. Lots of things sent to the trash. But still disorganized — nothing is where it used to be — but that’s even improving. We’ve completed three shows since my last post, and have added a lot of new 8×8 canvas squares. I’ll be adding those to my website over the next few weeks.

The Silver Lining —

I found some of my slides from 1965 through 1985. The ones that date before 1970 all pretty much blank, the dyes are long gone. But the ones from 1970 and later are still visible. There is a lot of color shift and a lot of dust that is embedded into the emulsion. In the early 70’s I was processing and mounting my own slide film, so some of the dates are just estimates.

I am not currently offering these for sale — as I see what sizes I can print and still maintain a quality image, I will make some of these available in a very limited edition. For now though, you can get an idea of what I was doing 40 years ago (if I could find some of my old B&W negatives, that would really be interesting).

The first one shown here is from the Railroad Station in West Kingston, RI.

Rhode Island had a record rainfall of 15 inches in March, with 9 inches of that falling in 2 days. The biggest problem was the Pawtuxet River which crested at 21 feet above normal, which is 12 feet above flood stage. The river closest to us, the Woonasquatuket, crested at 4 feet above flood level — so no problems there. We did, however, have a lot of ground water. There was so much water flowing in to our sump, that the pump could not keep up. So over three days while the pump ran 24 hours a day, the water kept rising (and there were no sump pumps to be had anywhere). The water has slowed down to the point that the pump is starting to make some headway — but it still hasn’t stopped running since Monday.

Statewide, some roads are still closed. We are still in a boil water mode for private wells. And because not all sewage treatment plants are up and running yet, people are being asked to avoid flushing their toilets.

Even though we escaped the major damage from flooding rivers, we still have a major clean-up. We have to consider all ground water entering the house as black water. We have no idea where it came from, or what chemicals, bacteria, or ??? is in it. So everything that can absorb water has to be removed and trashed. Then we have to sterilize and dry. Today we removed all of the carpeting and most of the wood flooring. Most of the boxes and papers went yesterday.

Today is also the first day I can get to my main computer without having to stand in water — I’ll be back on my regular schedule as soon as possible.

I’ve included links here to two local radio stations that have images of the flooded areas. For those who aren’t familiar with the area, some of the rivers, lakes and waterfalls in these photos are actually roads, walls, and golf courses. The first few photos from WHJJ are from the interior of The Warwick Mall, which is currently estimated to be re-opening in about 2-4 months.

WPRO slide show

WHJJ slides

Thanks to all our friends, old and new, who stopped by to visit us in Chantilly this past weekend — we had a great time. We managed to get the van loaded and we were on the road just before the heavy rain set in. The rain never really let up all the way home, and it’s still raining this morning.

Today’s Photograph of the Day is a companion piece to E1034 posted on March 1, 2010.

This was one of those mornings that when I get to my destination, the sky is a solid black overcast that gradually changes through shades of gray and ends up as a solid white overcast. So when I don’t have what I came for — in this case a sunrise view of the Watch Hill Light — I can either head back home, or I try to find something unexpected to photograph. It’s time to see what’s there. Instead of looking out toward the lighthouse, I looked down at my feet and saw all of these wonderful patterns the waves were making as they washed over the rocks. Had the sunrise been what I had been expecting, I might have missed this opportunity and focused completely on the lighthouse.

If you have ever hiked toDoyles River Falls in Shenandaoh National Park, you have probably noticed that it has two levels. The first level drops into a pool which then has several rivulets that cascade down from there. Normally there is so much water that it is difficult and dangerous to cross the river and climb to get a view of the pool. This year with all of the snow melt and the ground saturated with water, it would be particularly difficult. When I photographed this view the area was in a bit of drought, so it was pretty easy to make my way over for this view of the upper tier.

Having photographed some incredible sunrises at Great Falls in Virginia, we decided to do something different and head to Maryland for a sunset at Great Falls. When we finally got there we were greeted with an overcast sky, so we decided to take the trail out to the overlook. I did find some interesting compositions along the way, but sunset just wasn’t happening that day.

We stayed a bit longer than we had intended and had to walk back in the dark. When we reached the tow path, I decided to make one more exposure. For this shot I went to full manual mode. It was so dark that auto-focus wasn’t going to work, so I had to go to manual focus, otherwise the lens would just keep hunting for focus. I ended up making a 30 second exposure.

There was not even a hint of a breeze on this night. If there had been any kind of air movement, the leaves would have been blurred, and the photograph would not have worked. You can see the regular patterns that the water makes as it travels over various obstructions. And, if you look carefully enough, you can see just tiniest bit of movement in the thin vine on the left.

We were staying at a hotel on Virginia Beach, and even though it looked like sunrise was going be a little flat on this morning, we went down to the beach anyway. We always try to arrive at our destination at least 45 minutes before sunrise so we’ll be there for civil sunrise– that’s when the rich brilliant of sunrise are happening. The sky was a nice deep orange, but there were just a few small clouds, so not a very dramatic sunrise. As we walked down the beach, I saw from a distance that the lights above and below the 14th Street Pier were coloring the water. I fired off one shot from where I was so I would at least have one view, then moved as fast as I could down the beach to get a closer view. As you can see from today’s Photograph of the Day, I made it time to capture the orange sky and pier lights coloring and reflecting the water below them.

Back to landscape panoramas today. This is a pretty amazing sunrise on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. I’m prety sure that this was at Tunnel Overlook, what really caught my eye here was the silhouettes of the trees against the yellows of the sunrise, the heavy clouds added a lot dram to the composition.

Don’t forget that we’ll be at the Dulles Expo Center this weekend with Craftmens Classics.

A box of toothpicks. Pretty easy this time.