Photolearningism

A TALE OF FRIENDS My name is Jon. If you can accept the premise that I'm a flower, then I congratulate you on your imaginative prowess. If not, perhaps you should consider what a flower would feel.  Today I feel alone and lost. I am a beauty, created for love, without eyes to witness my design and carry my memory. The question, "Do I matter?" is consuming; deafening even.  I feel as though even if I had means and the will to move, it would be of no consequence. The world would move about without notice that I could take in the good land. I fear I do not matter.  "You could try talking to me. My name is Way." "Way? Have you always been there? I was given the name Jon." "Yes, Jon. I was here long before you sought the far side, reaching for the road." "Mine is a fine view of the babbling creek, who tells such fine stories. You should hear her speak, Jon. Oh the joy!" "That is well and good, Way...

MUDDY FOOTPRINTS This is a "promo" post, trying to build some excitement over a new kind of post coming. I have a shiny new idea for sharing new photos, using a format I haven't seen before. While I will continue to practice photography as an art and post images in a manner simliar to steps leading to this place, I'm looking for ways to expand the scope of an image. I'm going to try something brand new and a departure from normal photo albums.  STEPPING INTO THE PIXALS I realize this all sounds terribly vague - rest assured, this is on purpose. I don't want to give away too much without giving everyone the "first time" experience to see how this goes over. At a high level, the goal is to help viewers do more than see pretty pictures - I'd like viewers to "experience" and "immerse" into the world shown.  PLEASE CHECK BACK TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS! For the moment, please visit my Flickr feed to see my journies and adventures thus far...

A DAY THAT STARTED YESTERDAY I can count the number of hours I slept last night with just a couple fingers. Development work on a website kept me going until the unrecognizable hours of the morning, and shortly after, it was time to get going to day-job work. It wasn't a bad day, but I worked hard and needed to find a place to quell my now-oversensative nerves. WHERE THE QUIET IS I went for a run on the Ridgefield Rail Trail, which has a way of getting me off on the right foot (Yes that was a joke and you may excersize your immune system with laughter). I smacked my foot soles for a few miles back and forth and felt like I still had the steam to go a little further, so I did. Latelly, I've been noticing my stamina has been growing, and I was thinking about slowly increasing distance to conquer at least a half maration some day.  CREEKS THAT SPEAK I had to make a stop at the East Fishkill library. While there, I decided to take another walk along the creek and ...

THE WALK After work today, I spent the evening lingering in Ridgefield, CT. It's a relatively small town, one that you could fully cross on foot in the course of an afternoon, if so determined. There is a park I'd been eyeing, on the way through to work, that I thought could be interesting to explore. Being that parking was something of a challenge near the park, I opted to keep my car at work, just a block or two away. The way by shoed feet was nothing short of adrenalizing (You may recall my previous descriptions of local roads in earlier posts). After patiently waiting at several road crossings (I didn't dare challenge cars for a piece of the road otherwise - seriously, how silly of me to try something as crazy as crossing the road!), I did safely arrive at my intended destination. THE PARK I ventured into an unnamed park that hugs Ridgefield Creek with a refreshing affection. A well maintained path gave me a steady direction and I gladly accepted its advice, sto...

THE WELCOMING FIELD I had taken note of some impressive farmland in Langrangeville and hoped to grab a few shots today. Apart from the proximity of youngliings stamping the gas of their obnoxiously loud Mustangs, it began as a pleasant experience. I found a safe gravel inset to park my car and up the road I walked, looking for vantage points and keeping an eye skyward, as to escape rain, should it rear its ugly head. THE TRAP After capturing a few places to my satisfaction, I came upon a dirt road leading into the field. As is my practice, I checked for "no trespassing" signs, of which none declared themselves. Deeming the road safe for exploration, I began to press in. First, a deer took me by surprise, leaping from the shrubbery with great speed and disappeared into some trees. A short distance further, an unsettling buzzing noise tickled my ears. To  my great dismay, a cloud of large, black insects had gathered behind me and looked to be in pursuit. I hazar...

I realize that it's been several weeks since my last post. Truth be told, the only reason I get to post today is because I'm sitting in my favorite pizza shop, enjoying my "Dad's Night Out". I haven't been out much of the last several weekends, on account of my new baby boy arriving. That makes today very special, because I took some time this evening to find some new places to photograph. I made plans right after work to take in the "Ridgefield Landscape" a bit. Before art, I really wanted to run and stretch out, after a full day of work. My boss (who is a fellow runner) recommended a rail trail within a mile of where we work. Many of the town roads (and back roads) are dangerously narrow, and basically put you in the optimal position to play chicken with very aggressive townies in their BMWs. I took my boss's advice and pressed on to the rail trail. I covered close to four miles and felt great! After cooling off just a bit, I made stops...

After taking historical pursuits for a bit, I found myself missing landscapes, and really wanted to find a location with some space. There's a good spot along Route 376 that I'd been telling myself would be a good place to shoot. Today was the day! I'd shot in a marsh before, but never gone this deep into one. I was glad to have my boots and knock-around jeans. The water never accumulated more than three inches, but made some shots a little "juicier" than others. It took me a a bit to find the kind of angles I was looking for, as there some houses off the in the distance on one side, but I did manage to pull a full frames that made me proud to take home. One of the stops was Emmadine Pond, which I'd never visited before and a quick search didn't reveal much regarding the name (or reason there for). Regardless, it was a nice place to visit and walk. I'd reccommend it for anyone looking for a quiet morning or afternoon retreat. For th...

I've continued to research the Livingston family, as they have a long, intricate history within the US. Unfortunately, outside of Locust Grove and the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, it seems that a good bit of driving would be necessary to visit any remaining locations pertaining to the "Lords of the Livingston Manor", as they were so deemed when settling here in America. Some day, I'll venture further out (The next closest location I could visit is Clermont in Germantown, NY), but for now, I'm doing my best to keep trips within twenty minutes, to ensure my adventures don't get in the way of seeing my family. Almost a Hospital I changed venues and decided upon Vassar College this morning. I researched the school history to get my bearings and began to learn of Matthew Vassar, a self-taught gentleman who made a fortune as a brewer. I learned that as he advanced in years, he wished to leave a legacy behind. He never married, and had no heirs to leave his fortun...

I returned to the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery today, focused on searching for former Chief Justice Smith Thompson's residence. To learn the known background, please refer to my previous post ( Life Around the Livingstons ). Same as last weekend, I found a parking space around the mausoleum and worked my way across the grounds, searching for clues (I even pulled up the Google satellite view on my iPhone to locate streams). Oddly, nothing obvious appeared. Undeterred, I pressed on through snow and ice until I reached a corner, right up against the railway system and the Hudson River. I continued forward, surmising that I should stumble on it, as the cemetery is largely elevated, indicating that a stream would have to cross under the train tracks into the Hudson. Before too long, the sound of running water became clear, and I found a very likely candidate for the Thompson residence. Interestingly, it appears that it is still an occupied home, on cemetery grounds (Smoke was puffing for...

Next to the Farm My previous adventure covered the history of Locust Grove ( Once a Farm ), and I was curious to explore just how far back the story stemmed. Even before the sale of the Livingston farm into plots, another partial owner comes into play by the name of Smith Thompson (1768-1843), who had purchased 133 acres from the Mitchell family, who later married into the Livingstons (Hence, "Livingston Farm" as it is remembered). Smith was a Associate Justice, Chief Justice (Under President Monroe), and husband of Sarah Livingston (Of the same Livingston Farm). His land eventually became part of the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, after his passing (Ref -  http://www.henrylivingston.com/bios/smiththompson.htm ). Based on this, my new quest has begun! Smith Thompson I visited the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery today, despite the rain, in the hopes of beginning to search for any remains of his estate. I know that he was buried on the same land, which would indicate tha...

The Elusive Trail I've been alluding to the Dutchess Rail Trail again and again, hoping to dig into what it was. It's oddly a subject minimally documented, and almost avoided. A bit of research revealed that the trail is also referred to as the Hudson Valley Rail Trail (HVRT), with intentions of local government and groups to continually expand it's length in the years to come. A very brief history is provided on the HVRT web site, noting that at least part of the current trail was in fact, a railroad line for a time. It fell out of use in the 1970's, due to a fire on a the Poughkeepsie Bridge (Ref -  http://hudsonvalleyrailtrail.net/about.php ). As I like to do, I cross checked the information and came upon a Wikipedia article, corroborating this information, but also adding some interesting details, which I haven't been able to to locate elsewhere. Here's a quote (Ref -  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Valley_Rail_Trail ): "The Hudson Valley Rail ...

The Missing Blog Post To recap for the last two weeks, my previous adventure covered a different direction on the Dutchess Rail Trail, at the Lake Walton Road access point. I meant to dig into what the trail was once upon a time, to confirm if it really was a "rail" road or if the name is simply a "pet" name of sorts. There are hints that something predated the trail as we know it, being that there are low hanging, retired power or com lines a long the stretch of it. I hoped to find out more and make a post much sooner than this week, and... well, life took me out of reach of making that post last Saturday. As a cop-out, please accept the following mysterious image as evidence of my desire for hunting the histories of the trail. My apologies for letting you down last week! In case you missed the photos from this adventure, please see the related Flickr album -  https://www.flickr.com/photos/129003675@N04/sets/72157648621526894/ Once a Farm Moving forward...

I missed my usual adventuring this past Saturday, as I had to be at work all day (8am to 9pm) on a time-sensitive, critical piece of our 18 month project. Sunday I felt out of my head, like none of my faculties could handle anything more interesting than feeding myself (Plus, my eyes kept forcing themselves closed, prompting me to sleep here and there). So today, my job is closed down for Presidents' Day and I took the opportunity to take just a few photos and keep active. My apologies for anyone who came expecting a post on Saturday! General safety counsel suggested minimizing exposure to the elements to fifteen minutes at a clip today, given the extreme cold temperatures with wind chill (-10 F for our area). Understanding this limitation and further noting that most things I normally like to explore are buried under three feet of total snow accumulation, I opted for another stroll around home. There was a lot of interesting contrast of stark objects with a clear, blu...

I went adventuring this morning with the intention of exploring some local attractions. One, was the Brinckerhoff house, belonging to Colonel John Brinckerhoff (1703 - 1785, Soldier in the Revolutionary War - Ref -  http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2231878-the-patricians-colonel-john-brinckerhoff-1703---1785---revolutionary ). The link includes a modern picture of the home, which is still in good order and actually a residence (Hence, why I have no picture). I was fascinated to learn that George Washington was a frequent guest and close friend of John Brinckerhoff. Knowing that these men well trod upon the same ground which I traversed really connects me to them in a meaningful way. There's more history to uncover connected to this, which I believe stretches over into my present investigations. I'll be doing some other digging in the future. Not to be deterred by the inability to photograph today's initial pursuit, I took to a backup location off Lake Walton Roa...

The learning continues! For some things, I've tried shooting the same image under different settings to get a sense of how much exposure is utilized (which affects how fast the picture is snapped). Also, the Auto white-balance seems a just a hair off, so I've taken to manually setting it as I go. The results do come out better that way. I really wanted to try something new today and continue to challenge myself. While I enjoy photographing inanimate objects that don't move even if I ask them to, I wanted to try capturing some people, so I enlisted the help of my kids. It's a little tricky photographing children who appear to be jumping through space and time against the laws of physics, but I manged to sneak in a few snaps and learned some new things along the way. For anyone who is missing the historical journey, please don't worry! Provided the weather isn't trying to freeze my camera, I'll be "back in the field" next weekend. Today just ...

I'm taking some time to dig in and understand how to capture images on this new camera of mine. I've never had to factor in settings, such as exposure limit and ISO (These are full auto on the iPhone). I feel like I'm beginning to gain an understanding, but I'm not ready to go back to my usual adventures just, as I want to be well versed in taking good shots with this thing. So today, I took a quick walk around my neighborhood to give myself a few challenges and push myself to begin experimenting with natural light and how much to let in through the lens. I do feel like I'm gaining ground, but have a bit more road to walk before feeling comfortable. That's that for the moment. I'll probably take one more week to get aquainted, then I'll find something to get back into location shooting - I do miss it! Thank you for continuing to check in and enjoy this journey with me! See the rest of the adventure today at my Flickr feed -  https://www...