When Photography is a Challenge

© Stuart Pearl 2011 - "While Healing" - Click on Image to Enlarge

Last winter an illness prevented me from doing my usual cold weather photography projects. That is all behind me now and things are back to normal. But at the time it forced me to modify my approach to capturing interesting viewpoints.

I often hike on challenging terrain to get my urban and rural landscape images. Bad weather can easily complicate a photo shoot. And that type of photography was not practical for me this past winter. However I still wanted to pursue my craft. I just had to come up with a less demanding approach to creating unique images. This caused me to look at the world in a different way.


Photos above: Galleria Courtyard, downtown Cleveland over a two month period.

I began studying subjects that were much closer at hand. How could I represent everyday scenes in a more unique way that would set them apart from mundane snapshots?

Most of my time was spent indoors during this period. Windows were my primary view on the world and the zoom lens was my tool for reaching into it. I begain to closely study the shifts in weather and subtle changes in lighting as winter progressed. I chose views that I saw all the time and began carefully planning when they would receive the most interesting light. The weather was always a factor and I spent weeks simply studying these views.

During the day I have a south facing window that looks down E. 9th St. all the way to the steel mills in the Flats. Winter can add its magic touch to this view. The early morning light and very low temperatures will often create dramatic effects with steam vents and smoke stacks.

Looking South on E 9th St. at 8:00 A.M. on Feb. 4.

A similar view shot at 2:25 P.M. on Feb. 14.

E. 9th St. at the Galleria

Federal Building Plaza

On cloudy days the flat and uniform lighting can focus your attention on textures and geometry found in the urban snowscape. Solitary walkers on E. 9th move about these patterns.

The "Grandma Tree" seen from my Front Door

This last image was captured from the comfort of my front hallway. We'd had a sleet storm earlier that day. None of the natural early morning or late afternoon light I prefer was present. But I was intrigued by the illumination of our landscape floods. They provided a wonderful pattern of reflection that contrasted against the night backdrop. I simpy mounted my camera on a tripod, opened the door and took about three dozen shots before I settled on the final exposure and composition.

Butler Museum to Exhibit "Luminaries Watching"

© Stuart Pearl 2011 - "Luminaries Watching" - Click on Image to Enlarge

What makes a good photograph? How does an image create interest? Photographers strive for impact. This is the stopping power that draws a viewer in. Hopefully the picture generates questions and some sense of wonder.

Perhaps the judge for the Butler Museum 75th National Midyear Competition considered these notions when he chose my photo to hang in this year's exhibition. Or maybe he just liked the colors. Either way I was happy to be selected for the 2011 exhibit. It runs from June 28 - August 28.

Successful images are unique in their composition. Sometimes a photographer can take a common everyday view and turn it into a mystery. Or he may crop a mundane scene in a way that displays strange or unfamiliar shapes. This is part of the challenge faced by the photographer who is always honing his craft.

Cleveland is ripe with fascinating imagery. It's just a matter of spotting visual opportunities and combining the right elements of timing, light and composition. Done creatively, the viewer will pause and reflect on what is before him.

I'm a big fan of public art. I believe a city needs these efforts to soften its rough edges and provide counterpoint to the massive concrete structures and asphalt rivers. And Cleveland is fortunate to have a number of these public art gems. I discovered this one last year at Playhouse Square near WVIZ/WCPN Ideastream. It is "Chorus Line Luminaries" by urban designer and public artist Stephen Manka. His sculpture marks the Playhouse Square RTA bus stop.

Last year while doing some volunter photography for Ideastream, Luminaries' flashing lights caught my attention. It made me pause and wonder: "Now that's really interesting... what is it doing? Is their a rythm to the lighting. Now what if I waited for a different sequence of lights and aimed my lens at this angle...."

The Bloomin' Holidays

© Stuart Pearl 2011 - Click on Image to Enlarge

We thought Santa and Mrs. Claus had stopped at this Gatesmills home to do laundry. These bloomers didn't need any starch - it was an extremely cold day. You can see some pretty interesting things when out for a drive on Cleveland's east side.

Twenty miles west wind and snow had created other patterns. Those of you who work in downtown Cleveland may recognize this place when grabbing lunch, but not from this angle. Do you know what it is?

Winter Tracery From the Cleveland Sight Center

Winter Tracery © Stuart Pearl 2011 - (Click on Image to Enlarge)

For years the Cleveland Sight Center has offered a variety of holiday greeting cards based on the works of local artists. These include the talents of Hector Vega, Jay Patel, Viktor Schreckengost and many others. I was fortunate to add my contribution again this year with "Winter Tracery."

Profits from the sale these cards benefit Sight Center projects in our community.

Ingenuity Falls - Festival Views 2010

© Stuart Pearl 2010 - (Click on Images to Enlarge)

A 60' wide curtain of flame seemed to envelope the riverbank. The red torrent poured from grand old steel that had marked the heyday of Cleveland industry. Rock music and crowd sounds drifted from the source of the falls. This was the Detroit Superior Bridge, site of Cleveland's 2010 Ingenuity Festival.

Nautica Queen on the Cuyahoga

I'm always looking for new photo projects in Cleveland. I search for interesting light. It is the type which combines with our everyday skyline shapes and textures in a way that creates unique and interesting perspectives of these commonplace scenes.

I try to celebrate the mundane in ways that are visually unique and memorable. My friend Don Nikolai and I spent last Saturday night walking the length of the Veterans Memorial Bridge as well as the West Bank of the Cuyahoga. It was quite a spectacle. We wanted to check out this year's Ingenuity Festival.

Don Nikolai on the West Bank

Musical sounds, strobing lights and the aroma of food enveloped us we strolled the lower level of the bridge. Sometimes we walked on concrete. Other times a metal grate was the only thing separating us from the river. You could see the water splashing into the Cuyahoga ten stories below.

The old Cleveland Subway system once travelled this lower bridge level, providing transit from Superior Aveneue on the East bank to riders at the W. 25th and W. 9th Street stations. The rails were torn out though in the mid 1950's when the stations were closed.

Ingenuity Fest tried to present something for everybody. A very diverse crowd of visitors seemed to enjoy what was offered. Everything from performance art to gallery hangings, stage production and light shows were available to view. Old utility rooms and power closets were turned into display areas for sculpture and other creative efforts.

Sculpture could even be fabricated from common plastic cups and then artistically illuminated. Moving the festival to the lower level (old Cleveland Subway) of the Detroit Superior bridge was an innovative decision. The venue provided an exhibit stage nearly 3/4 of a mile in length while providing stunning views of the Flats and Cleveland skyline. Combined with the festival waterfall and ongoing light shows, the onlookers were always near some sort of visual treat.

Geared turntable of the Center Street Swing Bridge

Was Ingenuity Festival a success? I don't know how you would quantify that. But Don and I saw thousands of Clevelanders enjoying themselves talking, interacting and transfixed by the creative efforts of a lot of great local talent.

Great Balls of Fair!

© Stuart Pearl 2010 - (Click Images For Better Viewing)

Jeanne and I mark the end of summer by visiting several local festivals. One of our favorites is the Geauga County Fair. It has a great "country feel" and the jaunt out to Burton, Ohio is always a pleasant drive from the city. It's also a great place to graze for dinner, wander the merchant booths, see interesting livestock and just watch family and kids having fun.

This year we saw something new and quite entertaining. Imagine a large shallow pool holding a bunch of clear, floating beach balls, each containing a young, energetic child running in place like a hamster in a wheel. We have no idea what this is called, but the kids were having a riot. Their young parents were enjoying the sight too.

Perhaps Jeanne and I are getting older, but we had other thougts as we watched the happy chaos. "Gee, I wonder how much air those things hold?" The kids were obviously hopped up on cotton candy, Pepsi, icecream and other fair food as they twirled in place. And the balls were sealed with a large zipper to keep the water out. Jeanne told me not to worry.

"That's ok, they probably unzip the kids right before they start getting lethargic and a little blue in the face." My wife always knows when to say the right thing.

Summer's Last Adventure

"Exploring"

© Stuart Pearl 2010 - Click on Images to Enlarge

Boys and creeks seem to go naturally together. I remember as a young boy how streams and ponds drew me like a magnet. Small fish, tadpoles and frogs were wonderful treasures to be stalked and captured.

Perhaps this is the last summer adventure before school starts for these young fellows: exploring the creek. Jeanne and I decided to spend Labor Day hiking around Tinkers Creek and Viaduct Park. While enjoying Bridal Veil Falls we saw these young fellows walking the creekbed in search of surprises.

"Discovering"

Descending the terraced shale they stopped to inspect clear pools of water. Maybe they saw minnows or small crayfish.

"Celebrating"

Eventually they find a bare tree branch, long since stripped of it's bark, adorning the creek as seasonal driftwood. Hoisting their prize in victory they give a yell and proceed down the stream.

Jeann and I took a more sedate route down the gravel path. One of the overlook decks provided a safer view of Bridal Veil Falls. The area also has some enjoyable loop trails and we took advantage of those.

Backyard Fountain

© Stuart Pearl 2010 (Click on Images to Enlarge)

Jeanne and I have always enjoyed water sounds - as long as they aren't created by leaky roofs, faucets, or gutters. Streams and fountains can offer a welcome break from the mowers and leaf blowers of suburbia.

For several years we had considered building a backyard pond. Since I'm pretty handy with home projects Jeanne thought this would be easily within my talents. Enter the "Honey-Do-List."

Our property had a number of issues though. Numerous backyard trees would mean lots of seed pods, debris and leaves in a pond. We quickly decided against that maintenance headache. We'd also have to contend with obnoxious surface roots which would make digging all but impossible in the spot next to our patio.

Visiting local garden centers we came up with the idea of a do-it-yourself fountain. They can be small, require little or no digging and can be placed almost anywhere.

You can take the easy route and buy the ready-made water feature. Lowes and Home Depot have "fountain in a box"for less than $100: take it home, add water, plug it in, and you have instant burbling. But where's the challenge in that?

Jeanne and I tend do home improvement projects from scratch. They always take longer. However, they are much more creative and we get exactly what we want.

The first step in building our fountain was to find two large, glazed flower pots at our local garden center. We also bought a small pump, tubing, about 35lbs of decorative granite rocks, and then began preparing the area for installation.

The flower bed where we intended to build the fountain is plagued by tree roots. A large silver maple provides great shade to our picnic table but constantly raises patio blocks with it's shallow roots. I was concerned that future growth would shift the fountain's base.

To deal with this I dug a four foot diameter hole about 10" deep. This was filled with about 1,000 pounds of gravel. Jeanne and I had gradually worked up to the challenge of pouring so much gravel by having moved eight yards of topsoil into the backyard last month for another project. Still, we hit the Advil pretty hard that night.

Once poured and leveled, the gravel bed was now ready for the other items. I next added a four foot diameter Bluestone pedestal I'd had cut into a circle by my local stone mason. This was made from four squares, each weighing about 50 pounds. I made sure these were level and then Jeanne and I added the two pots.

The second smaller pot was inserted in the larger one, being raised into position with paver bricks.

We then installed a pump, placed decorative rocks, added water, plugged it in........and watched it leak all over the place. This was a problem since my intent was to build a fountain and not a sprinkler system.

To mount the water pump in the base of the large pot, it is necessary to thread the power cord through the pot's drain hole and then seal it. The latter was not done very well with the plumbers puddy I'd been provided.

Several hours later the pots were drained, dried, and ready for more caulking. This time there was no obvious sign of dripping. And that evening we had our first patio dinner by the fountain.

The appearance and sound of our backyard fountain far exceeded our expectations; we were very happy with the results. It blended in perfectly with our landscape and sounded very relaxing.

But within a day, Jeanne noticed the water level was slowly going down..... again. Since I didn't see an obvious leak, I told her it must be due to evaporation and the large thirsty birds in the neighborhood. She didn't buy that story.

We soon noticed the base of the pedestal was always damp. And that's when we realized the flaw in our project. Although we were very careful to select fired and glazed pots, we forgot that these pots are not glazed on the BOTTOM. The clay is hardenned throughout from being fired, but it still retains it's porous nature. Water was slowly seeping out through that bottom area.

Fortunately the craft shops know all about this deficiency. They sell latex spray-on sealers designed exactly for this purpose.

We'll be disassembling the fountain in October to protect it from winter. When it's been thoroughly dried we will make the "modifications." Untill then we continue to enjoy relaxing patio dinners by our fountain. It really is very soothing. And if you feel like building one yourself, drop me an email and I'll tell you what to do........ and what to avoid.

UPDATE: The leak no longer seems so important. Yesterday we discovered a massive algae bloom had exploded in both pots. The combination of bright sunlight and high temperatures had created an excellent growing medium. Jeanne couldn't drive to Home Depot fast enough to buy a pint of algacide. And once we finished with the dinner dishes, we began scrubbing the fountain's rocks. Relaxing indeed.