mattblaze

joined 2 years ago
[–] mattblaze@federate.social 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Captured with the Rodenstock 70mm/5.6 HR-Digiron-W (@ f/6.3) lens. Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50), Cambo WRS-5005 Camera (shifted vertically -22mm, pushing the limits of the lens). 16x9 crop.

This fire escape stairwell, retrofitted onto the back of Georgetown's Healy Hall, reminded me a bit of a Piet Mondrian painting. Hard afternoon shadows added to the abstract view.

 

Fire Escape, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 2025.

All the pixels, no need to escape from fire, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/54481107849/

#photography

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Here, as elsewhere, infrastructure is heroic.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The scale of these wind farms is beyond what we're equipped to process in day-to-day human experience. They conquer the landscape in ways we can't fully comprehend even when they're in front of us. In a sense, they're abstract sculptures of themselves, mostly visible in fleeting glances from interstate highways or airplane windows.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 day ago (6 children)

This was captured near the Tesla substation (no relation to the car company) near Altamont Pass with a DSLR and a 400mm lens, compressing the turbines in a way that made them resemble a histogram.

There's a lot of power being generated in those hills. There was an audible hum in the air and vibrations could be felt in the ground. In some spots, the camera rebooted from induced currents.

Infrastructure like this is easy to ignore, but has an accidental beauty that I think is worth examining.

 

Wind Turbines, near Tracy, CA, 2010.

All the pixels, none of the wattage, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4491948497

#photography

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago

@chris@montereybay.social So as bad as it is with having to wait until the last minute to go downstairs, it would be much worse if they had people wait there.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@chris Right. Most of the platforms are too narrow to allow people to safely wait there, especially if a train is also discharging passengers. So they generally have to wait until people are off the train before sending people down (and the platforms each serve two tracks, making this even worse).

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Adding the Moynihan Hall was a welcome improvement to Penn Station, but didn't address the main problem, which is insufficient capacity for the number of trains that run through it. There aren't enough tracks, the platforms are too narrow, and the tunnels entering and leaving the station have too limited capacity. These more fundamental constraints will be much harder to solve, because the underground area around the station is already heavily crowded.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Moynihan Hall occupies part of what had been New York's main post office building, a block west of the original Penn Station. It was situated over the tracks, with access to platforms, to facilitate Railway Post Office mail delivery, which was common into the 1970's. After the post office moved its sorting operations elsewhere, it was relatively straightforward to repurpose it as an extension of the adjacent railroad station, which is why it only took the better part of 50 years.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Many of the design elements of the new hall pay deliberate homage to the original, befittingly grand, Penn Station, including especially the prominently exposed steel beams.

There are no seats in the main hall, though there are smaller ticketed waiting areas to the side, as well as a substantial food court. The lack of a "big board" is deliberate, to discourage crowding in any particular area (there is instead a collection of smaller train status monitors spread throughout the hall).

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Captured with the Rodenstock 23mm/5.6 HR-Digaron lens and the Phase One IQ4-150 XT camera. The 23mm Digaron is a sharp wide lens, but doesn't really have a large enough image circle to support extensive movements (which weren't required here). Captured from the balcony on the south side of the station.

The Moynihan Train Hall is a recently-opened annex (repurposed from the Post Office) to the otherwise dungeon-like remnants of the old Penn Station, buried under Madison Square Garden since 1963.

 

Moynihan Train Hall, Pennsylvania Station, NYC, 2021.

All the pixels, before rush hour, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51205135362

#photography

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago

This capture made extensive use of view camera tilt movements. The depth of field is quite shallow here, so the lens was tilted forward to keep the stems and leaves in focus from the front to the back.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Captured with a Sinar P camera. a 240mm/5.6 APO Symmar lens, and a BetterLight scanning digital back.

This is a minimalist studio still life, so it's all about lighting and geometry.

Illuminated by a single hard light placed at the left of the frame, yielding well defined shadows. The background was a white sweep table, creating the illusion of an infinite background. The fruit looks evenly spaced, but actually the rear one had to be much farther back than the center one to create that effect.

 

Three Persimmons, 2008.

All the pixels, none of the flavor, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/2207576183

#photography

 

Track 13 - Watch Your Step, Grand Central Terminal, NYC, 2013.

All the pixels, no fare collected, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/10101066135/

#photography

 

Ravenswood Generating Station ("Big Allis"), Queens, NYC, 2024.

All the pixels, none of the air pollution, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53732990785/

#photography

 

Rotary Converter, IRT Subway, Substation 13, Midtown Manhattan, NYC, 2017.

All the pixels, none of the voltage, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/32992380451

#photography

 

Tanner Creek, OR, 2011.

All the pixels, none of the nature, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/5892599507/

#photography

 

31-41 Union Square West, NYC 2024.

All the pixels, each famous for fifteen minutes, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53731622110/

#photography

 

Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh, 2023.

All the pixels, none of the learning, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/52977939495

#photography

 

2AM, Adams-Morgan, Washington, DC, 2023.

All the pixels, none of the street life, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/52991590112

#photography

 

Pescadero, CA, 2014.

All the pixels, each made of a grain of sand, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/14832380095

#photography

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