Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

For years I’ve seen pictures of a building of very unique architecture. I had no idea where it was.
Yesterday I was looking through a magazine about Boston and was shocked to find a picture of the very building I’ve always wanted to see and photograph. It is the MIT’s Stata Center, a research facility on the MIT Campus in Cambridge. I drove over there yesterday morning and worked it over for a little while. The resulting images are an exercise in using different lenses, angles and software applications to evoke different moods. I hope you enjoy them. The images are all HDR images with and without Topaz filters applied. Some are very straight, some off the wall.

Same building, many different looks and feels. One of the truly wonderful things about photography is the opportunity to express your moods and approaches to many subjects.
Thanks Lord for the chance to work and play at the same time.

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: D700, 35-70 AF f 2.8, 70-300 AFS VR. Tripod, HDR (5 shots – one stop apart)
Topaz filters, Color Pop, Psychedelic, Vibrance, exposure correction, smooth.

Are they the best in America? Well they are one of the three best I’ve ever found! These bad boys got my coveted 4.7 pickles award. Only Hut’s in Austin, Texas and Pappa’s Burgers in Houston have made it that high up the scale. So how did I come across this delightful hole in the wall. Hey don’t take that wrong, all great burger places, o.k. most, are small, very “interesting” little places.
I wanted to have dinner with a wonderful friend and great shooter I know in Boston. Ian Dicker was a share holder in GAPW (Great American Photography Weekends), actually he still is, I’m the one that left.

When Ian asked what I would like to eat tonight I gave him the assignment of finding what was suppose to be the most killer burger in Boston. Well it was actually in Cambridge virtually across the street from Harvard. But even an arch conservative like me would venture into the second most liberal place in America for a great burger. I was rewarded with not only a truly perfect burger, but on the wall right next to my table was a poster of Ronald Reagan in a Chesterfield magazine ad, Circa 1950’s. Works for me……

What made it so great?, well first the company was exceptional. Ian Dicker is one of God’s great gifts to me during the early days of the GAPW. We have become really close friends and I love going out to shoot images with him, and he is an exceptional shooter too. Next Bartley’s did it right. Real hand pressed hamburger meat (that means enough fat to make it taste right), cooked the way you ask for it, I like mine medium and it was, hallelujah….. Cooked on a flat steel grill that was not “over” cleaned, I’ll bet somewhere on there is 1960’s grease! Perfectly toasted, buttered bun and really good fries and onion rings. First class all the way.

The college atmosphere only made it better and then Ian and I walked down to Harvard Square to take in the sites and catch a cab back to the hotel. I think I’ve mention that I’m blessed, with great friends, a wonderful family, a job that is an adventure everyday and God’s love.

the pilgrim

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”

*Photo Note: All images D700 and 35-70 AF f 2.8 (My 24-70 AFS f2.8 is in for repair).
Most images at ISO 1,600 and 3,200.

Dateline, Boston, O:Dark Thirty……. Dramatic enough? Actually just another city with a big airport. Last night I went to the annual camera club judging for picture of the year in Boston.
The competition was the 300 best images of the year in various categories. The method of judging was unique. A guest judge looked at all 300 images and then on a second showing said “in” or “out” for each image. That removed half of the images. It took about 10 additional showings with more ins and outs, to get down to the winning image.

What I found interesting is that the images ran all the way from pretty poor to absolutely incredible. There were easily a dozen images that could have won and would have deserved it.
As a photographer of forty years of experience, I’ve come to like certain things and not care for others. That doesn’t mean much except I know what I like, and what I don’t like. My wife used to say that if I were a burglar I would arrested on my first break, in sitting in someone’s bedroom floor looking at their shoe box of prints. I love to see other people’s work, it opens my eyes to a new way of seeing the world, often a way I don’t see the world now. This is a good thing. Learning how to adjust your vision is critical to being a good photographer.

Learning how to adjust your vision is also critical to being a better person. It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing you already have most of this life figured out. I could easily say, “hey I’m sixty four years old, I know how I feel about things.” It’s not that easy though. God is showing me, everyday, how much I have to learn and how much my attitudes and prejudices need to be adjusted. Growth is when we learn, and then change. I closer walk with the Lord will result in growth. If you had no room for growth, you would be perfect. Fat chance of that, with me.

Romans 5:11 (New Living Translation)
11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
I would rather have a “relationship” with God, than be perfect. If I have a relationship with Him then He will call me a friend. What more could I want than that!

the pilgrim

*Photo note: View from my hotel room early this morning, D700, 35-70 AF D f 2.8.

It was just about this time one year ago that the Pilgrim’s Chronicles came to life. I was at the Reno Pylon Racing School with Scott Diussa and Bill Pekala and I was reading Scott Diussa’s great blog, www.scottdiussa.com . I mentioned that I thought it was great and I sure could love to do a blog, but didn’t even know what a blog was! Well, a year later you may think I never did find out…. Scott was kind enough to show me some of the ropes and it has been a lot of fun and one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. I never dreamed that it would be an almost everyday affair.
Soon after I started the blog I felt a real calling to share my faith. Thankfully a number of you have come along for the ride, and many have shared that what God has to share, here, has been a blessing or, at least, thought provoking. It has been for me too.

At some point we all must decide how we will try to use our lives to benefit others. Honestly, I never dreamed that this would be one of the major things God would have me to do. Through out my life I’ve come up with lot of grand plans. After a little while I realize that simply waiting on Him makes a lot more sense. Before the blog blew up a little more than month ago, we’d had over 50,000
hits. Since we started back we are back up to 2,600. Numbers don’t mean a thing, people’s lives do. Jesus didn’t give his life so I could get hits on a blog. No, He gave His life so that we could
all have the life He intended for us to have.

Thanks for the past year, I pray that the coming year will be a time for us to all grow, learn, be inspired as we draw closer to Him.

From Boston,

the pilgrim

P.S. Scott is spending five weeks in South Africa for the major Soccer tournament in June and July.
Pray for his safety and success while he’s away from his family.