The photographs in this album were taken on a summer 2014 family trip to Puerto Rico, a US territory in the Caribbean. Based in San Juan, we walked around the historic and colorful Old San Juan and visited the Colonial Spanish fortresses Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal. We also embarked on…
The Range of Light
At 14,505 feet, Mt. Whitney is the tallest mountain in the Sierra Nevada Range and in the United States outside of Alaska. After two nights camping at the Whitney Portal campgrounds, I attempted to summit Whitney in one day, hiking the “Mountaineer’s Route” on a day permit. Although one too many misidentified landmarks and wrong turns put the summit…
Hiker’s Dessert
A short drive from Bishop, California lies an 11,700 ft mountain topped with a distinctive summit cone of brown scree. The aptly named Chocolate Peak is surrounded by a system of small lakes and proved to be a scenic acclimatization hike in the John Muir Wilderness. Chocolate Peak, CA
The Devil’s Own Geology
These curious basalt prisms, hexagonal in cross-section and up to hundreds of feet tall, have long evoked demonic comparisons. Located within the Ansel Adams Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest, the Devil’s Postpile National Monument is home to these strange geometrical columnar formations as well as Rainbow Falls, a 100 foot waterfall. Devil’s Postpile National Monument “I am sure…
John Muir Wilderness
Outside of Bishop, CA, in the John Muir Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest, lies a placid alpine lake. Ruby Lake sits at over 11,000 feet and is the perfect destination for a high altitude acclimatization hike. Ruby Lake, CA “One day’s exposure to mountains is better than cartloads of books. See how willingly Nature…
Tufaceous Limnology
Located between Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border is an ancient saline lake, named after the county in which it lies. Mono Lake, which was formed about three-quarters of a million years ago, has no outlets to the ocean. Consequently, the lake has a lot of salt build-up and is very alkaline. This has…
Ghost Town
During a recent trip to the Sierra Nevada of Eastern California, I visited the abandoned ghost town of Bodie. Located near the Nevada border, Bodie was once a thriving gold mining town with a population of about 10,000. Now a state park, you can walk around the remaining buildings and peek in windows, peering into the past to…
What do you see in them thar hills?
In the Owens Valley, between the city of Lone Pine, CA, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains lies a curious geographical formation. Weathered rocks reminiscent of shapes ranging from a T-rex to a Mobius strip make up a strange and unique landscape. The site of numerous feature films, Alabama Hills are the subject of a local…
Arid Jordan
El-Hemmeh is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic archaeological site in Jordan. I have spent two field seasons excavating at el-Hemmeh and, back in the lab, analyzing objects of personal ornamentation. I wrote my master’s thesis at MIT on the production of stone beads at the site, which dates to around 10,000 years ago. It’s located in the Wadi el-Hasa, on…
What is HDR?
High dynamic range imaging is a digital photographic technique whereby pictures shot of the same subject using different settings are digitally combined. This results in the formation of an image representing a greater portion of the range of light and color intensities than a normal photograph, more fully capturing the experience of actually viewing a…
Pastoral and Alpine Idylls
We spent a weekend in Vermont last month, hiking to the summit of Killington Peak, the second highest mountain in the state, driving by bucolic pastures, staying at Bailey’s Mills, a lovely bed and breakfast, and enjoying fall in New England. Southern Vermont
#7: Kodak Brownie Hawkeye
This Kodak Brownie Hawkeye likes to contemplate life while looking out of a window on a rainy day. He also enjoys playing hide-and-go-seek, and going on long strolls. His body is of dark, chiseled and durable Bakelite, topped with a plastic handle. He boasts a waist-level and oversized brilliant viewfinder, and was originally sold for…
#6: Kodak Brownie Bullet
The Brownie Bullet is a tiny point-and-shoot composed of a solid bakelite body and a metal front plate. It is simply constructed and quite minimal: the size of the body is essentially the size of the 127 film that would fit inside. The front and back halves of the camera are locked together on…
Hiking… Aloha for the Soul
This month, I traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii to attend the annual conference of the Society for American Archaeology. While on Oahu, I hiked from my hotel in Waikiki to the summit of Diamond Head crater, then walked the entire circumference of the volcano. I also visited Waimea Valley, and walked to Waimea Falls. Oahu The title…
#5: Beacon Two-Twenty Five
This camera is sturdy and regal, in an armchair kind of way. Manufactured by Whitehouse Products and branded Beacon, it’s accessorized with a massive flash adapter synchronized for 20 millisecond lag flash bulbs. The lens pops out of the body, unlocking the shutter to allow a photo to be taken but simultaneously blocking out a…
#4: Ansco Shur Shot
This Ansco Shur Shot (Ansco merged with Agfa in 1928) is a remarkably uncomplicated box camera. The front panel is pin-striped metal while the other five faces are constructed in cardboard masked by stippled black leather. It takes rectangular photos; brilliant viewfinders both on the top and side allow for the composition of portrait…
Ansco Roll 1
120 B&W Kodak 400TX Film 03/23/12: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Flemish Façades
The photographs in this album are of building façades in the Flemish cities of Brussels, Leuven, and Ghent. In May of 2012 I attended the 39th International Symposium on Archaeometry at the University of Leuven in Leuven, Belgium. I spent one day in the capital city of Brussels taking in the Grote Markt, or Grand…
Camera Profiles #4-13: Preview
Back in January, I made the spontaneous and seemingly rash purchase of a group of ten vintage cameras from Fab.com, an addictive, design-focused daily flash sale website. I bought them from Trampoline Vintage, purveyor of “rare and one-of-a-kind pieces.” The cameras represent four different brands, although half are members of Kodak’s Brownie series: Very good for…
#3: Keystone Everflash 10
Manufacturer: Berkey Keystone Model: Everflash 10 Type: Point-and-shoot Dates of Production: 1970s Place of Production: White Plains, NY Lens: Keytar Color Corrected, 40mm, F8 Focal Range: Fixed-focus Film: 126 Flash: Built-in Battery type: 2x AA Other Features: Simple viewfinder, manual film advance knob, flash ready indicator, indoor/outdoor switch 126 film, you elude me…