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#1
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
In the summer of 2000, I had some extra money, so I decided to visit all 50
US State Capitols. I doubt I am the first to do this, but I had fun. My aspiration is to visit the world's capitols next. Visit http://crt.doce.lsu.edu/sherman Some of the photographs are a little strange. I don't think anything controversial, though I personally would much rather photograph something controversial. My favorite is "North Dakota House" because I used to live in Pierre and would sometimes take this back road to Bismarck. This was an old shack along the way. That was more than 25 years ago. A fan of "The Sopranos" might recognize the building in "The Meadowlands" photograph. One of the photographs is entitled "Writer." I took this at the University of Wisconsin. If anyone knows who she is, please let me know. Well they are posted here for the first time because I've been too lazy to find a publisher. |
#2
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
Sfj wrote:
In the summer of 2000, I had some extra money, so I decided to visit all 50 US State Capitols. I doubt I am the first to do this, but I had fun. My aspiration is to visit the world's capitols next. Visit http://crt.doce.lsu.edu/sherman Some of the photographs are a little strange. I don't think anything controversial, though I personally would much rather photograph something controversial. My favorite is "North Dakota House" because I used to live in Pierre and would sometimes take this back road to Bismarck. This was an old shack along the way. That was more than 25 years ago. A fan of "The Sopranos" might recognize the building in "The Meadowlands" photograph. One of the photographs is entitled "Writer." I took this at the University of Wisconsin. If anyone knows who she is, please let me know. Well they are posted here for the first time because I've been too lazy to find a publisher. Your North Carolina Shack isn't. Looks like an old store. But since all you have are thumbnails, it's kind of hard to tell. I live in Raleigh, NC. Your image of the State Capitol there is really, really flat. It needs a lot more contrast, and is a little too high key. A yellow filter might have helped to give the sky more definition & separation. As it is, the roof of the Capitol fades right into the sky with no discernable boundary. The statue should be black, with the pedestal a darker gray than the portico behind it. Your highlights are completely blown out, losing the detail along the cornice. |
#3
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
Your North Carolina Shack isn't. Looks like an old store.
But since all you have are thumbnails, it's kind of hard to tell. I live in Raleigh, NC. Your image of the State Capitol there is really, really flat. It needs a lot more contrast, and is a little too high key. A yellow filter might have helped to give the sky more definition & separation. As it is, the roof of the Capitol fades right into the sky with no discernable boundary. The statue should be black, with the pedestal a darker gray than the portico behind it. Your highlights are completely blown out, losing the detail along the cornice. Thank you for the feedback. You may be right, the shack could have been a store, but it was an abandoned store. As for the photos, I agree they are pretty rough. Many people love to photograph their capitols and are pretty good at it. They live there so they have the luxury of waiting for the right weather, the right time, etc. I was just passing through and I don't pretend to be a great technical photographer. I went on this trip in the spur of the moment. I used an old Nikon F and a light meter that my friend gave me. I had a good Normal lens but I haven't played much with filters. I bought the film as I went and since I never stayed anywhere more than a day, I couldn't even do any developing until I finished the trip two months later. Really I was pretty lucky that all the film didn't get ruined. I'm just glad I got the right building. My first stop was in Florida. I went up to this nice old building and read all the literature and studied all the pictures. Then I went out back after spending several hours and saw this huge building. I was horrified. I was in the "OLD" state capitol. I was eager and patient at the beginning of the trip. But by the end, after eating nothing but Ramen noodles and sleeping in the van all the time, I was pretty grumpy. North Carolina is a pretty state, though. Thanks for your input. Hope to visit again someday. |
#4
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
I needed to move my directory. Please use the following link instead of the
first one that I gave in this group. Visit http://crt.doce.lsu/edu/sc/sherman The old link will disappear in a few days. Sorry about the confusion. Thanks. |
#5
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
Sfj wrote:
Your North Carolina Shack isn't. Looks like an old store. But since all you have are thumbnails, it's kind of hard to tell. I live in Raleigh, NC. Your image of the State Capitol there is really, really flat. It needs a lot more contrast, and is a little too high key. A yellow filter might have helped to give the sky more definition & separation. As it is, the roof of the Capitol fades right into the sky with no discernable boundary. The statue should be black, with the pedestal a darker gray than the portico behind it. Your highlights are completely blown out, losing the detail along the cornice. Thank you for the feedback. You may be right, the shack could have been a store, but it was an abandoned store. As for the photos, I agree they are pretty rough. Many people love to photograph their capitols and are pretty good at it. They live there so they have the luxury of waiting for the right weather, the right time, etc. I was just passing through and I don't pretend to be a great technical photographer. I went on this trip in the spur of the moment. I used an old Nikon F and a light meter that my friend gave me. I had a good Normal lens but I haven't played much with filters. I bought the film as I went and since I never stayed anywhere more than a day, I couldn't even do any developing until I finished the trip two months later. Really I was pretty lucky that all the film didn't get ruined. I'm just glad I got the right building. My first stop was in Florida. I went up to this nice old building and read all the literature and studied all the pictures. Then I went out back after spending several hours and saw this huge building. I was horrified. I was in the "OLD" state capitol. I was eager and patient at the beginning of the trip. But by the end, after eating nothing but Ramen noodles and sleeping in the van all the time, I was pretty grumpy. North Carolina is a pretty state, though. Thanks for your input. Hope to visit again someday. Interesting about Florida. The State Capital in NC moved around for a few years before Raleigh was built. The capital was especially mobile during the American Revolution when the colonial legislature had to move several times to escape the redcoats. Taking a page from the Constitutional Convention's decision to make a new city in DC for the nation's capital, the NC legislature decided to make a new city for the state's capital, and named it Raleigh in honor of Sir Walter Raleigh who organized the first English attempt to colonize the "new world". That colony failed. The settlers disappeared, becoming the "Lost Colony". But that's a story for another time. The building you photographed is the second capitol building. There is however no old Capitol to photograph, since it originally stood on the same site. The first building burned in 1834 IIRC, and the Capitol was reconstructed using the original architectural plan. The present Capitol opened in 1840. There is now a seperate building to house the state's legislature. The old legislative chambers in the Capitol building are kept for historical purposes, but when the legislature out-grew the capitol in the late 1950s they commissioned their own building. Designed by Edward Durrell Stone, it opened in 1963. The Governor of NC has an official office in the Capitol building, but I think his working offices are located elsewhere. |
#6
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
Really interesting series! I'm amazed at how the capitol buildings all
look practically identical, particularly to my European eye, with dome and triangular-roofed porticoe with columns. Presumably many of these would have been built at more or less the same time in history, and that was the appropriate style at that moment. I like the way you've presented the series, without captions - it enhances this feeling of anonymity I get. But what I then really want to know is which states are the odd ones out? The solid square tower, the gothic mansion, the modern building behind the palm trees? Who are these people? What's special about them? Is it rebellion? I think I like them, compared to the boring suits that work in the other buildings. Very interesting - thanks. Phil (btw - don't take facile criticisms of your image "quality" to heart. this is the art group after all. i think your pedestal's a perfectly decent gray, i mean, jeez! i hate it when boards get so stuck in techno-pedantics they completely miss the story being told. some of these people are probably too dull to go around sleeping in a van, eating ramen and taking pictures of all the capitol buildings in the country). |
#7
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
"hey.philip" wrote in message oups.com... Really interesting series! I'm amazed at how the capitol buildings all look practically identical, particularly to my European eye, with dome and triangular-roofed porticoe with columns. Presumably many of these would have been built at more or less the same time in history, and that was the appropriate style at that moment. I like the way you've presented the series, without captions - it enhances this feeling of anonymity I get. But what I then really want to know is which states are the odd ones out? The solid square tower, the gothic mansion, the modern building behind the palm trees? Who are these people? What's special about them? Is it rebellion? I think I like them, compared to the boring suits that work in the other buildings. Very interesting - thanks. Phil (btw - don't take facile criticisms of your image "quality" to heart. this is the art group after all. i think your pedestal's a perfectly decent gray, i mean, jeez! i hate it when boards get so stuck in techno-pedantics they completely miss the story being told. some of these people are probably too dull to go around sleeping in a van, eating ramen and taking pictures of all the capitol buildings in the country). Phil, Thank you for your interest. I'd like to know where in Europe you are from? I'm happy to answer any questions here. You were wondering why I didn't put captions for each buildings. I did this because I feel most people in their state know what their capitol building looks like. There is some order to the series, though. They are in order chronologically that I visited them. If you start in Florida (the first one) and wind your way around the United States you can retrace my trip. The gothic mansion might be Albany, New York. As for the palm trees...Honolulu, Hawaii most likely. The US is a young country compared to Europe. Our history goes back a little more than 200 years compared the 500 and 1000 year old histories in Europe. So these buildings are all less than 200 years old (some on the East Coast might be a little older). I am not an expert on each building. I was hoping to generate discussion from the individuals who know their state better than I do, such as the gentleman from North Carolina. I think domes are quite common for government capitol buildings but I am not an architect so I can't tell you why the domes are so popular. I think many of the buildings reflect the personalities of the people in the state. For instance, North Dakota has a small population and they are very practical people. That capitol doesn't have a dome and is not as fancy as some others. Santa Fe, New Mexico is an adobe building and that style of architecture is very common in the South West. As you noticed, Hawaii is the newest state and the building is very modern. I welcome any criticism, good or bad. I don't mind technical advice as well as comments from anyone who just likes or dislikes something. I am not posting to any other news group or cross posting so I hope people will feel comfortable commenting here. Thank You Phil, if you have specific questions, tell me the row and column of the picture you are interested in and I'll try to answer. |
#8
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Some scenery, oddities, and the state capitols
Albany is right-hand side, 9th down.
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