ISO 1600

Monadnock Down

Nick Suydam — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:21:19 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time. This was taken on the same night as the previous two night views here on the blog. What you see here are two views of the historic Monadnock Building. This is the southern half of the building, designed by Holabird & Roche and is an early example of steel frame construction. I could attempt to explain more about the building, but just follow that link above, or go here to the Wikipedias. Now on to the photos:

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n/p: Booker T & The MGs

Above the South Loop

Nick Suydam — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:21:44 +0000

From the same vantage point as last night’s photo, this is turned looking slightly more easterly. The skyline from here varies so much, from the old buildings in the foreground, such as the Manhattan building which was built in 1889, to the 62 stories of One Museum Park, completed in 2008, with its blue top rising in the background.

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Down at the MCC

Nick Suydam — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:54:43 +0000

Lately I’ve attempted to resume my mission of exploring all of Chicago’s parking garages. Not only do I love me some concrete and asphalt, but they tend to provide some elevation and sometimes a unique view of the city. Such was the case with this garage I visited on the south side of the Loop, across from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. This strange triangular building is a federal penitentiary, housing many white collar inmates, both male and female. You can learn more about this place through this link.

I know I’ve been posting old photos lately, but stay tuned, this is just the beginning of a whole hopper full of new images.

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Roadside Indiana and Other Assorted Goodies

Nick Suydam — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:42:58 +0000

Boring days of photography, where nothing goes the right way, can often lead to taking photos of random stuff. This includes old compact discs randomly discarded along highways in Indiana. This actually seemed extra appropriate to be found in Indiana.

Anyway, a few more things to pass along before I conclude. You may have noticed a few more categories over there on the right side. That means new things are on the way, something I’ve been working on for a few weeks, and which should start to show up on the blog in the next week or so.

And, lastly, in reading Strobist (which everyone interested in photography should be doing religiously), I found an extra special tip on a little Photoshop trick. His High Pass Post Production technique is an excellent way to quickly punch up a photo, and as with anything, a little bit goes a long way. I’ve been experimenting with it this past week, and it does wonders. You shall see the results in a few photos early next week. Until then…

The Home of Twister

Nick Suydam — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:10:42 +0000

The second day of spring in 2007 (read: prime tornado season), found me wandering across the plains of Oklahoma (read: Tornado Alley) on my way back from California and Arizona. Somewhere on the arrow-straight and pancake-flat Oklahoma Highway 11 between Alva and Medford, OK, I noticed a sign to a tourist attraction. I actually had to do a U-turn on the highway to go back and make sure I had seen it correctly. I had in fact seen it right, it pointed motorists north along Highway 11A five miles to the small town of Wakita, OK, where they had what was billed as the “Twister: The Movie Museum”. This I had to see.

Now if you’ve seen the movie Twister, you may remember the horrible special effects, plot and general poor acting. But you may also remember that the town that is obliterated in the movie is in fact called Wakita, OK. Apparently not only was this small town of 360 people the namesake town for the disaster movie, but they also filmed a majority of the scenes around the area. And they made a museum for it. I didn’t get a chance to go inside of the museum, but I did look in the windows. They have several of the props from the movie, and even offer “Twister Walking Tours”. I think Helen Hunt is the docent at the museum, it would explain where her career went. Everything in the town is named “Twister-something”, as you can see in this photo. And you can also see that the skies were growing ever ominous as I explored the town’s main street, so I figured it was time to get back on the road, lest I be an extra in the real-life version of the movie….

You can also find out more about the Twister: The Movie Museum on their website at:

http://www.twistercountry.com/

Be sure to stop by if you’re ever in the area.

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Life in the Dead Mountains

Nick Suydam — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:52:47 +0000

During the day, the Mojave Desert is a harsh, unforgiving landscape. But, in the minutes after sunset, the Mojave takes on a completely different look; different hues and shades of colors appear and rapidly fade into the twilight. Sounds carry for quite a ways out there too. Especially the sound of thousands of horsepower lifting a couple thousand tons of commerce out of the Colorado River valley, in the shadow of the Dead Mountains.

After a quick crew change in Needles, just about 10 miles to the east, a hotshot westbound BNSF Z train is attacking the foot of Goffs Hill, snaking around the ‘new’ line at Ibis, CA. Trailing the power, stretched out across the great expanse of desert, is a mile or so of piggybacked truck trailers, due into the ramp in a few hours with hot loads of freight for the Los Angeles basin. The peaks of the Dead Mountains in the distance are looming in the twilight, the last red in the sky remaining to highlight their jagged edges. The color in the sky will have vanished before the last car on the train passes me, disappearing into the darkness of the desert on its way to LA.

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Land For Sale

Nick Suydam — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:00:25 +0000

Somewhere along historic old Route 66, near Bagdad, CA, is this excellent parcel of land for sale. It’s situated just south of the main highway and very near to the BNSF mainline, providing excellent transportation options. Also, just out the backdoor of your potential new home would be the Twentynine Palms Marine Corp Air Ground Combat Center, providing hours of entertainment for the kids. Not to mention it’s located in the Amboy School District, with it’s small class sizes and high teacher to student ratio. Plus, the climate here, in the middle of the Mojave Desert is warm and sunny year round! What will it take to put you into this land today? See your local Century 21 agent right away!

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On the Panhandle Plains

Nick Suydam — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:20:06 +0000

You’ll have to forgive me for bringing up yet another old photo (this, like yesterdays, is from my Cali road trip in 2007), but I’ve been revisiting a lot of these to print out and put up on my walls. And, this is one of my favorites. I think the vertical version of this shot won an award or something. Anyway…out along the Texas Panhandle, making my way towards Amarillo and trying to stay out of the way of the Texas-sized thunderstorms brewing all around on this first day of spring, I managed to run into quite a few trains along US 60. This is somewhere between Hereford and Canyon, TX. I noticed a headlight sneaking up behind me on the ever-so-flat plains, and pulled off the road to photo this BNSF Z train hustling its time sensitive load of trailers toward Chicago.

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We Have Live Music…

Nick Suydam — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:37:22 +0000

…or at least we used to. Probably back in the days before I-40 came plowing across the high desert to the north of town, when travelers used to take US 60 into Albuquerque, this may have been a bustling town and entertainment district. But today (well, ok, this was 2007), this little block of Vaughn, NM has fallen into disrepair. There isn’t much in town today except for the billowy drifting clouds and the occasional tumbling tumbleweed.

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Waking Hampshire

Nick Suydam — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:10:41 +0000

I’ve had the lid on this photo for quite some time, and I’m not sure why. To be honest, I guess I forgot about it. It’s easy to forget a time when you stood in the middle of a towns main street on a ladder for over an hour, apparently. Anyway, this is what downtown Hampshire, IL looks like at 1am on a warm and still summer evening. There isn’t much auto traffic (thankfully, as I’ve mentioned the ladder in the road). There also isn’t much rail traffic, despite the appearance of the IC&E 6430 West, rolling across the State Street grade crossing at 10mph. One of the neat features of downtown Hampshire is over there on the left, the old Mobil gas station complete with 1950s signage. On to the photo:

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