210. Flagpole - June 25-July 1, 2017
Paul-
This is probably my favorite building in Lincoln and it has the added benefit of having a flagpole jutting up from its cloud shattering 6th…maybe 7th floor. (Interestingly, in the twenty-plus years I have lived here, I have never seen a flag flying from it.) The building—clad in limestone I assume was quarried not far from here—was construction in the 1880's and shows glimpses of Romanesque and Queen Anne influences, and obviously sports beautiful cornices and scrolling along the top.
The initial set of shots I took were from an open air vantage point on the 6th floor of an adjacent building. On my way home the day I shot that first grouping, I saw a street level perspective I liked better and took several more shots. And a block away from I was presented with a view I liked even better. Click, click, click...
The second image is the one I debated on submitting, but didn’t. I love shooting architecture—inspiring and otherwise—and it was this last picture of the last sequence that really resonated with me: It showcased the structure so well and still captured the neglected flagpole. Critics (if any) of this picture claiming I added the theme as an afterthought and was primarily interested in the thousands tons of limestone immediately below it have a valid point, and I will not contest it. But, in my anemic and very last-minute defense, I’d like to think a WPOTM theme need not be the dominant element in an image to still work.
Half masthead on the details: (4:40PM) Nikon D5200; 18-15mm lens; Auto WB; ISO 1000; 1/000 sec. at f/20; 55mm focal length; -1/3 EV; matrix metered. The camera was hand-held.
This is probably my favorite building in Lincoln and it has the added benefit of having a flagpole jutting up from its cloud shattering 6th…maybe 7th floor. (Interestingly, in the twenty-plus years I have lived here, I have never seen a flag flying from it.) The building—clad in limestone I assume was quarried not far from here—was construction in the 1880's and shows glimpses of Romanesque and Queen Anne influences, and obviously sports beautiful cornices and scrolling along the top.
The initial set of shots I took were from an open air vantage point on the 6th floor of an adjacent building. On my way home the day I shot that first grouping, I saw a street level perspective I liked better and took several more shots. And a block away from I was presented with a view I liked even better. Click, click, click...
The second image is the one I debated on submitting, but didn’t. I love shooting architecture—inspiring and otherwise—and it was this last picture of the last sequence that really resonated with me: It showcased the structure so well and still captured the neglected flagpole. Critics (if any) of this picture claiming I added the theme as an afterthought and was primarily interested in the thousands tons of limestone immediately below it have a valid point, and I will not contest it. But, in my anemic and very last-minute defense, I’d like to think a WPOTM theme need not be the dominant element in an image to still work.
Half masthead on the details: (4:40PM) Nikon D5200; 18-15mm lens; Auto WB; ISO 1000; 1/000 sec. at f/20; 55mm focal length; -1/3 EV; matrix metered. The camera was hand-held.
Jerry-
I've been finding what appears to be flagpoles in Colombia but they are all missing the flags. You have to hold on dearly to your stuff around here! The photo attached was taken from the window of a Renault Sandero, passing a local police station. No shots were fired other than this snapshot. The Sony a6300 16-50 was at 16mm, exposure f9 @ 1/2500, ISO 3200.
I've been finding what appears to be flagpoles in Colombia but they are all missing the flags. You have to hold on dearly to your stuff around here! The photo attached was taken from the window of a Renault Sandero, passing a local police station. No shots were fired other than this snapshot. The Sony a6300 16-50 was at 16mm, exposure f9 @ 1/2500, ISO 3200.
Don-
I took this picture across the Animas river at Veterans Park in Farmington,
New Mexico. I liked that the flags did not furl or unfurl so the poles were the
object of the photograph. Lens was a 24-70mm with focal set at 70 mm.
Exposure was 1/400 sec; f5.6; ISO (auto) 180; aperture priority; pattern metering.
I took this picture across the Animas river at Veterans Park in Farmington,
New Mexico. I liked that the flags did not furl or unfurl so the poles were the
object of the photograph. Lens was a 24-70mm with focal set at 70 mm.
Exposure was 1/400 sec; f5.6; ISO (auto) 180; aperture priority; pattern metering.
Byron-
Osseo has an impressive array of monuments to residents that gave their lives while in the military. The main flagpole is centered behind the main monument, as you would expect. Although there are a number of flags in a half circle around the monuments I decided to concentrate on the American flag. The trick for me is photographing the flag while the wind is blowing. I seem to have a super power that stops the wind when I go outside. I've experienced this power when I tried to use a kite that I received as a retirement present. Several other times when I was testing wind blocking material for microphones. I can look out the window and see the wind blowing leaves on the trees. I step out to test whatever I'm testing that day and the wind will be dead calm. I can wait a minute or two and go back inside. As soon as I get in the house I look out the window and the wind is back. I grab my test subjects and go outside to find it dead calm again. This happened earlier this week while trying to take this photo. When I arrived at the park the wind was blowing the flag nicely. I grabbed my photo bag and took my position only to discover the wind died. It remain non-existent for the next 15 minutes. I decided to come back the next day. Fortunately, the wind would would come and go. At its peak it had just enough force to move the flag.
ISO 100, 18mm, f5.6, 1/500 sec, white balance set to daylight.
Osseo has an impressive array of monuments to residents that gave their lives while in the military. The main flagpole is centered behind the main monument, as you would expect. Although there are a number of flags in a half circle around the monuments I decided to concentrate on the American flag. The trick for me is photographing the flag while the wind is blowing. I seem to have a super power that stops the wind when I go outside. I've experienced this power when I tried to use a kite that I received as a retirement present. Several other times when I was testing wind blocking material for microphones. I can look out the window and see the wind blowing leaves on the trees. I step out to test whatever I'm testing that day and the wind will be dead calm. I can wait a minute or two and go back inside. As soon as I get in the house I look out the window and the wind is back. I grab my test subjects and go outside to find it dead calm again. This happened earlier this week while trying to take this photo. When I arrived at the park the wind was blowing the flag nicely. I grabbed my photo bag and took my position only to discover the wind died. It remain non-existent for the next 15 minutes. I decided to come back the next day. Fortunately, the wind would would come and go. At its peak it had just enough force to move the flag.
ISO 100, 18mm, f5.6, 1/500 sec, white balance set to daylight.
Darin-
Flag poles can be steel. Flag poles can be aluminum. Flag poles can be wood. I chose a flag pole of wood... Really super tiny wood. Just the perfect size to plant in a quadruple cheese burger! 'MERICA!
Flag poles can be steel. Flag poles can be aluminum. Flag poles can be wood. I chose a flag pole of wood... Really super tiny wood. Just the perfect size to plant in a quadruple cheese burger! 'MERICA!
Kevin
Hmm, what to do with “Flagpole” as a theme? Darin might climb a flagpole and use the perspective to shoot the landscape below. Or he could probably figure out how to ride his bike to the top of the flagpole, as gravity itself doesn’t seem to matter to him.
But I had to take a slightly more traditional approach, photographing a flagpole that was flying a flag. But what flag? An American flag, easy during the July 4th weekend? Or perhaps a Minnesota flag? Heck no, a pirate flag!
To explain, during my last few years at Best Buy I had a framed Steve Jobs (Apple co-founder and CEO) quote hanging on the wall of my office. "It’s better to be a pirate than to join the navy.” Jobs used that line in reference to the attitudes that the tiny (at the time) Apple Macintosh team needed, creating something that was truly new, not simply rehashing existing technology into each slightly better generation.
I used that quote often with the incredible team I was lucky enough to work with. I even hung a pirate flag on the wall outside that same office. Many people outside of my team misunderstood it of course, thinking that I was being rebellious or anti-corporate. Oh well.
So a pirate flag was definitely what I wanted to photograph, hanging from a rough, wooden flagpole. Does this mark a spot where treasure is buried? Or where pirates are buried? Honestly I’m not certain.
To make this happen properly require holding a fan right next to the flag to create a strong breeze, and placing the flagpole in a vise to hold it steady. Of course I loved the idea of shooting with heavy rain and lighting in the background, but had to settle for cloudy ominous skies. I added a vignette and that was it!
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 75mm, ISO 800, f/11 at 1/320th of a second.
Hmm, what to do with “Flagpole” as a theme? Darin might climb a flagpole and use the perspective to shoot the landscape below. Or he could probably figure out how to ride his bike to the top of the flagpole, as gravity itself doesn’t seem to matter to him.
But I had to take a slightly more traditional approach, photographing a flagpole that was flying a flag. But what flag? An American flag, easy during the July 4th weekend? Or perhaps a Minnesota flag? Heck no, a pirate flag!
To explain, during my last few years at Best Buy I had a framed Steve Jobs (Apple co-founder and CEO) quote hanging on the wall of my office. "It’s better to be a pirate than to join the navy.” Jobs used that line in reference to the attitudes that the tiny (at the time) Apple Macintosh team needed, creating something that was truly new, not simply rehashing existing technology into each slightly better generation.
I used that quote often with the incredible team I was lucky enough to work with. I even hung a pirate flag on the wall outside that same office. Many people outside of my team misunderstood it of course, thinking that I was being rebellious or anti-corporate. Oh well.
So a pirate flag was definitely what I wanted to photograph, hanging from a rough, wooden flagpole. Does this mark a spot where treasure is buried? Or where pirates are buried? Honestly I’m not certain.
To make this happen properly require holding a fan right next to the flag to create a strong breeze, and placing the flagpole in a vise to hold it steady. Of course I loved the idea of shooting with heavy rain and lighting in the background, but had to settle for cloudy ominous skies. I added a vignette and that was it!
Nikon D4s, mounted on a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 tripod with a Acratech GP ballhead, 70-200mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens set to 75mm, ISO 800, f/11 at 1/320th of a second.