Past it's Prime - August 31-September 6, 2014
Byron-
I shot this photo last Tuesday. It was, ironically, the first day of school for most schools in Minnesota. This photo shows a school located NorthWest of Delano, MN. It is obviously past its prime. I walked around the school shooting it from various angles. The creepiest part is the fact that the back door has been removed. It is wide open to any one or anything that might want to be indoors. Lets just say if there are people in there they are not holding a Bible study or a MENSA mtg.
I shot this photo last Tuesday. It was, ironically, the first day of school for most schools in Minnesota. This photo shows a school located NorthWest of Delano, MN. It is obviously past its prime. I walked around the school shooting it from various angles. The creepiest part is the fact that the back door has been removed. It is wide open to any one or anything that might want to be indoors. Lets just say if there are people in there they are not holding a Bible study or a MENSA mtg.
Deron-
In its prime, Historic Route 66 was the envy of the nation. Unfortunately, the Mother Road is now sadly reduced to an afterthought as travelers choose the super highways to get to their destinations between Santa Monica, California and Chicago, Illinois
In its prime, Historic Route 66 was the envy of the nation. Unfortunately, the Mother Road is now sadly reduced to an afterthought as travelers choose the super highways to get to their destinations between Santa Monica, California and Chicago, Illinois
Paul-
Time can be harsh on the dreams of children. As it passes things pass with it. Actually, more than things. Our memories. Our aspirations. Our fantasies. Who didn’t want to ride in a caboose when they were little? Well, sure, the locomotive had the cache and the clout. But the caboose at the end had the mystery. Who got to sit in those things? What did they do all day as the train when trundling down the tracks? The caboose I photographed here really isn’t past its prime because it has been coddled and cared for by local railroad enthusiast. In fact it’s open to the public during the day. You can go in and purchase train paraphernalia. Really. But the track the caboose sits upon dead ends for a reason. The car may still be in its prime, but a newer era where brakemen are no longer needed has snubbed it. It and most of its kind. For good.
And a new generation of children, if they saw such a thing trailing the end of a long west-bound train, would wonder why on earth it was there.
Our story so far… It was Benny Nardo’s one chance to two-step around previously lousy luck because three was the charm against the no-good four flusher Tony Gibowski, a former 5-card Monte player at the Six-Corners Bar. With a 7-Up in his hand—no booze tonight in this revenge match—and hoping his rival would find himself behind the eight ball for once and for all, Benny had dressed to the nines and dropped a ten-spot to buy into the game early. By 11, the betting was getting hot and not even the Twelve Apostles could have a piece of the action. Gibowski looked like he had gone 13 rounds with Sonny Liston, for Nardo could do no wrong. A fortnight ago the world was against him, but with Aces over Jacks the $15 ante was going to pay off like a king’s ransom. Putting down his cards on Gibowski’s call, Nardo blushed like a 16-yerar old as if to say “how embarrassingly easy was it to take your worthless ass to the cleaners.” The room fell silent, the only sounds where the groaning of the overhead fan and the incessant whine of the 17-year cicadas outside the bar. Herschel (“Hershey”) Barre, whose tab for Gibowski was longer than a call girl’s backstory, couldn’t resist the justice in the moment and snapped off a picture or two of the scene with his Olympus E-500 and a 14-45mm zoom lens (shot at 16mm); 1/250 sec. at f9; and ISO 100.
Time can be harsh on the dreams of children. As it passes things pass with it. Actually, more than things. Our memories. Our aspirations. Our fantasies. Who didn’t want to ride in a caboose when they were little? Well, sure, the locomotive had the cache and the clout. But the caboose at the end had the mystery. Who got to sit in those things? What did they do all day as the train when trundling down the tracks? The caboose I photographed here really isn’t past its prime because it has been coddled and cared for by local railroad enthusiast. In fact it’s open to the public during the day. You can go in and purchase train paraphernalia. Really. But the track the caboose sits upon dead ends for a reason. The car may still be in its prime, but a newer era where brakemen are no longer needed has snubbed it. It and most of its kind. For good.
And a new generation of children, if they saw such a thing trailing the end of a long west-bound train, would wonder why on earth it was there.
Our story so far… It was Benny Nardo’s one chance to two-step around previously lousy luck because three was the charm against the no-good four flusher Tony Gibowski, a former 5-card Monte player at the Six-Corners Bar. With a 7-Up in his hand—no booze tonight in this revenge match—and hoping his rival would find himself behind the eight ball for once and for all, Benny had dressed to the nines and dropped a ten-spot to buy into the game early. By 11, the betting was getting hot and not even the Twelve Apostles could have a piece of the action. Gibowski looked like he had gone 13 rounds with Sonny Liston, for Nardo could do no wrong. A fortnight ago the world was against him, but with Aces over Jacks the $15 ante was going to pay off like a king’s ransom. Putting down his cards on Gibowski’s call, Nardo blushed like a 16-yerar old as if to say “how embarrassingly easy was it to take your worthless ass to the cleaners.” The room fell silent, the only sounds where the groaning of the overhead fan and the incessant whine of the 17-year cicadas outside the bar. Herschel (“Hershey”) Barre, whose tab for Gibowski was longer than a call girl’s backstory, couldn’t resist the justice in the moment and snapped off a picture or two of the scene with his Olympus E-500 and a 14-45mm zoom lens (shot at 16mm); 1/250 sec. at f9; and ISO 100.
Jerry-
Here's a leaf well past it's prime, found while walking the dog.
D5200, 1/200 at f16 iso 100, 16-85mm at 85, with a + 4 close up lens, SB710 flash on a sc17 cord, held to light mostly the white wall. desk light with 60 watt bulb aimed at the leaf.
Here's a leaf well past it's prime, found while walking the dog.
D5200, 1/200 at f16 iso 100, 16-85mm at 85, with a + 4 close up lens, SB710 flash on a sc17 cord, held to light mostly the white wall. desk light with 60 watt bulb aimed at the leaf.
Kevin-
As I started to wonder about how to photographically capture a photo that said "past it’s prime" I quickly realized that the entire practice of photography - the way that all of us understood it and practiced it in our youth - is past it’s prime. Form analog to digital, from film to files and from chemicals to software it has changed completely. But I still have some mostly worthless things around from the develop film and making prints days. so I dragged those to the studio. This was just a single Nikon SB-910 flash unit, with an orange filter over it, aimed down from high on a light stand, to simulate a safelight. And my original 40-year old Gralab timer still works! Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 85mm f/1.4 lens. ISO 1250, f/8 at 6 seconds. The flash was set to manual, at 1/128th power and fired at the end of the exposure (rear curtain sync) so that the glow of the second hand moving would come before, rather than after the flash “froze” the hands on the Gralab.
As I started to wonder about how to photographically capture a photo that said "past it’s prime" I quickly realized that the entire practice of photography - the way that all of us understood it and practiced it in our youth - is past it’s prime. Form analog to digital, from film to files and from chemicals to software it has changed completely. But I still have some mostly worthless things around from the develop film and making prints days. so I dragged those to the studio. This was just a single Nikon SB-910 flash unit, with an orange filter over it, aimed down from high on a light stand, to simulate a safelight. And my original 40-year old Gralab timer still works! Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. 85mm f/1.4 lens. ISO 1250, f/8 at 6 seconds. The flash was set to manual, at 1/128th power and fired at the end of the exposure (rear curtain sync) so that the glow of the second hand moving would come before, rather than after the flash “froze” the hands on the Gralab.