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.

Night grew close; we were only there for about 45 minutes of an autumn’s dusk night. Chris was once again disappointed that all the nozzles to the fire hoses had been snatched, probably sold off to whomever. I do intend on spending more time in this location before it is too late. A flashlight would help next time.

See a panorama of the hospital boat. I’m not sure if it does the thing justice; it kind of looks like a dirty toy.

Calmly bobbing in the D&H Canal, anchored to the shore of a city that once used to be the capital of New York State, the Floating Hospital, slowly but surely, is dismantled piece by piece. Alongside the massive 104-foot, 4-deck boat is a scrap yard where the structure has begun to meet its inevitable fate. Nearly all of the boat has been wiped clean of its accessories – no meds, no desks, no beds, nada.

The structure was constructed in 1972, a much younger year than we believed based on the design of the surplus of kitschy chairs strewn about. It was decommissioned in 1999 only arriving in Kingston several months ago.

Quartets of chairs everywhere. Tempted, we were, to appropriate.

I created a panoramic of the control room featured above. Check it out here. I think I like it better, but once again, I must express my dismay for the limitations of this lovely theme. Grumble, grumble. It’s a love/hate relationship.

More to come.

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?