View camera on the High Line

While strolling the High Line in New York City a few weeks ago, we came across a young lady photographing with a 4 x 5 view camera. I assume she was trying to capture the light and shadow on the building on the right.

 

It was great to watch the young lady using the view camera, it reminded me of when I had the chance to use one in high school. As a person who likes old cameras this was a real treat.

Light and shadow

The windows of the old restored New England sheep barn where we stayed recently has old glass panes which distort the light. Your eyes do not see it but the shadows show the distortion.

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There is an old basket and sieve on the wall, the shadows on them and on the wall caught my eye.

The hurricane lamp was very old, you cannot see the imperfections looking at the glass but they do show up when it casts a shadow.

Desolation

The dictionary defines desolation as "empty, bare, uninhabited, deserted, alone and solitary"; these are all words that you could use to describe Wadi Rum. You could also describe it as peaceful, tranquil, serene and a great place for contemplation.

Natural bridges, Wadi Rum

There are some rock climbing areas in Wadi Rum, the closest we got to these were two natural bridges.

Camel ride at sunrise

We hired four camels and a driver to have subjects for our desert photos. The camels showed up at 06:30 and we were ready to go by 07:00.

Camels don’t walk very fast but if you take a photo of them and then want to get back in front of them and set up for the next shot, they seem to be moving very fast.

Setting out in the morning

Wadi Rum has great rock formations

Dunes were an appropriate background

One of our group leading the camels

On a ridge

Headed back to camp

Yes, they are easy to ride.

Godan the camel

While in Wadi Rum Anita and I had the opportunity to ride camels. Anita was very lucky: she rode Godan, the youngest camel. Godan is about two years old and looked and felt like a very large soft toy.

The only problem with Godan was that he wanted to stop at every bush for breakfast. Anita was unable to get him going again after he stopped. The camel driver finally tied Godan to the camel ahead of him.

Godan with Anita aboard.

Camels are made for walking in the sand.

Godan was very easy to photograph.

You can see the hills reflecting in  his eye.

He was always happy.

He was very easy to ride.

Jerash, Jordan: Roman column city

I have always admired Roman architecture, but when Anita and I visited Jerash in northern Jordan, I developed a deeper understanding of how important columns were to Roman architecture.


The city has two main streets  lined with columns; the longer of the two leads into the Oval Plaza, which is defined by columns.

The Oval Plaza

Typical capstone

The two main streets

Columns in front of the temple of Artemis

Petra Sandstone

Petra was carved by the Nabataeans because it was easier to carve sandstone than to build with it. In my view it also gave a very nice interior finish to the caves.

Take a look at some of the sandstone in Petra.

Smoking in Jordan

In the USA smoking is banned in most restaurants; in Jordan it’s on the menu, yes, many menus have a page listing the flavors of shesha you can order. Shesha is the tobacco that is smoked in a Hooka pipe (water pipe). I was quite surprised to see it so prevalent in Jordan.

I had dinner and watched people having a great time at Haret Jdoudna restaurant in Madaba, there were several people smoking.

Pipes ready to go

Glowing embers are placed on top of the foil which is on top of the tobacco. 

Smokers enjoying their pipes

Crossing the road

In Jordan as in Morocco, old ways meet new; I saw an example of this while driving near Madaba. As I drove along a wide busy highway I saw a goat herder bring his charges up to the edge of the road and order them to stop. They obeyed like a line of school children waiting to cross the road. As the flock waited for an opening in traffic, one of the goats stepped onto the shoulder, just like boys in a school clas. The shepherd threw a rock at it and the animal hopped back up on the curb.

It was a very busy road and I did not have the patience to wait for a break in traffic to observe and photograph the goats actually crossing the road.

What a difference a day makes

What a difference a day made in Madaba, Jordan.
The photos on the left were taken one day and the ones on the right hand, the next. A sandstorm had blown in from the Saudi Arabian desert.

Basel at night

The other night with a full moon I went out to take a few photos of Basel, Switzerland.
Basel Munster

Bridges over the Rhine

Les Trois Rois hotel