Reveling in their last days of a high school career, Valley Regional students set sail for their Senior Reception aboard the Mystique, a Lady Katharine Cruise ship. The casually-attired event featured an evening of fine dining, dancing and charming scenery along the Connecticut River.

East Rock stands at a staggering 366 feet and features a gargantuan 112-foot pillar known as the “Soldiers and Sailors Monument.” Atop on a clear day, one could see for miles supposedly stretching as far as four or five surrounding states. I have yet to bear witness.

The weather-beaten copper obelisk commemorates New Haven history by paying homage to courageous residents whose lives perished during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Civil War. Attached are some older images taken of the monument up close.

This factory is a re-purposed building now housing marinas, restaurants and a variety of cultural things. Naturally, I was always drawn to its dilapidated state. I have probably passed this factory more than a hundred times over the years (either didn’t have my camera or was in a rush or, quite frankly, something inexcusable). The only time I regret was this past Valentine’s Day – there was the most amazing sunset with its colors, clouds and glory. I hope to see another night like that.

Experienced a brief conundrum deciding between black & white and color; it’s nice to go back to black & white once and a while.

Strange mornin’. Woke up and the roof was half-near gone. Dun know whut happened, dun really remember nothin. In fact, the whole damn building was ’bout to implode. I wasn’t worried er nothing. It was weird ’cause I was very calm.

What goes up, must come down. Or that’s what physics tells us. It was really scary when you could see a couple a floors underneath your feet.

The eclectic dining room looked like it may have been designed by children. The central columns had varying patterns from argyle to geometric to damasks. There was a rather large upright piano caught in the rubble once the floor caved in. At this point, it was nothing more than a rodent’s wonderland.

Getting around this four-story building, you secretly needed a death wish. There’s a good reason it was leveled in the coming years. The main staircase had collapsed, the roof exhibited a double scallop, the floors were giving into one another, the wiring was exposed, and the Earth was fusing with the exoskeleton. The only entryway was through the stone-walled cavern of a kitchen, meandering amongst the broken hallways and walkways, eventually finding yourself at the fire escape doomed for failure sooner than later.

There was so much going on at this place. Nothing, and I mean nothing, had been taken away. Whatever was removed was taken by those curious and courageous enough to walk its corridors, which wasn’t recommended. I’ve got some nice color shots of the Kisor Road hotel/motel that I’ll be posting in the next couple of entries. I’ll try to uncover some more info about its 20-century identity.

Kingston is a cool city because you kind of feel like you’re traveling back in time. It’s rundown, and sure that’s sad, but it makes for good pictures.

Ahh, what a delightful weekend in Kingston it was. Chris and I bottled our first batch of beer – a porter – that is roughly 1-2 weeks away to being delicious (the anxiety is unbearable). As if that wasn’t enough, down the road from his apartment is a giant, decommissioned hospital boat appropriately dubbed “The Floating Hospital.” Images of that excursion to come throughout the week.

This image was shot from the stern of the floating hospital. The rail bridge is located just after the mouth of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. It was ideated by a couple of industry workers, the Wurtz brothers, during the mid-nineteenth century as a means of transporting goods from Pennsylvania, to New York and Canada. I’ve been unable to figure out what the name of the actual bridge, or what interest those smoke stacks might have once served; however, what I can tell you that the horn on that freight train in the morning is chilling.

This is my first attempt at creating a High Dynamic Range image. I’ve never tried it out before, but would like to expound upon it in the coming weeks, especially after seeing some amazing results sifting through all of your blogs. I’m running into some difficulty with other images I took of the boat; I’m just not obtaining the balance I’m envisioning. I’m currently using Photoshop CS4 to create my HDR’s, which feels a bit limited. I’ve read a couple of online tutorials, but would be open to hearing anything you think might help a newb. I’ma keep at it!

Any recommendations on a superb Mac program?

Our last full day of traveling was spent in Venice. Not gonna lie, I was dead exhausted at this point – roughly 100 miles in 15 days later is a bit more than my usual activity level due to the desk job – that I was slightly apathetic to photo-taking. Not complaining, I promise! Anyhow, I was thoroughly entertained from across the canal that no matter where you are in the world, Chinatown is always with you. And somehow Russia is involved…

By the way, thanks to everyone who has been following and/or commenting on my blog for the past several weeks. Constructive criticism is always appreciated and welcomed! I wholeheartedly intend to use this creative outlet to grow as an artist and enhance my skills as a photographer. So the moral of this story is, if you’re reading this, you rule.

Nearby the neighborhood of West Queen West stood this very angular skyscraper. It seems pretty irregular in design – to take a steel tower and make it look like a bunch of zany building blocks in the sky – but much of Toronto’s architecture is very creative. That was just one of the many reasons I fell head-over-heels for the city. Every time I look at this, I wish that it would move its creases and crevices.

Surrepitiously, I capture a stranger walking through the free streets of Palatino. One must pay to access the ancient grounds that was home to civilizations since 1,000 B.C.

‘Twas one beautiful eve the night we spent around the Colosseum. For now, I can only revisit in my dreams…

]]> http://www.photodivebar.com/2009/10/21/the-colosseum-desaturated/feed/ 2