Mystery in the rain.
This image was taken on a rainy day in downtown Albany, NY during a college visit with my son.
I used my UWA lens correction profile to remove distortion from the ultrawide lens in the iPhone 11 Pro. Cars were parked in the roadway and the sidewalk was narrow, dictating the use of the ultrawide optic. Rain? Not a problem with the iPhone’s waterproof design.
Here’s the uncorrected image:
Pizzeria – straight out of camera.
Re-purposed.
Diverse.
‘Re-purposed’ is hardly the most elegant of English words, but this building in old Albany, the NY state capital, has indeed suffered this fate.
Back in the day it served as home to a diverse collection of businesses, as the fascinating signage indicates.
iPhone 11 Pro, verticals corrected in Photoshop.
Even better second time around.
We previously toured Union College in May, 2017 and loved its compact and high quality feel. Since then my son Winston has interviewed with the school and decided to visit it for a second tour, which we took yesterday. This time we were guided by a sophomore student.
Union College clearly reinvests its ample cash flow in facilities and there’s not a tired building to be found. The new Science Center, a $100 million capital investment, opened in late 2018 and will be completed come the fall of 2020. It is magnificent, as you should expect for that sort of money.
Our tour, conducted by the enthusiastic Sophia Anderson, commences.
Fall colors frame a unified architectural style.
Inide the Philip R. Beuth ’54 atrium which bridges common areas and the library.
These students are studying the Microscopic Characteristics of Catalytic Aerogels.
That’s fire retardants in English.
The new Science Center cost $100 million and is almost finished. A wonder to behold.
Bad leg spotted in one of the many student common areas.
The F. W. Olin Center, funded by the arms manufacturer’s foundation.
Two symmetrical wings flank a central circular rotunda, which rises through
the three above-grade floors of the building. Science is studied here.
“Formulating strong theses”. One of the mandatory classes – the other is on
how to conduct professional research – at Union College. English as she is wrote.
The Henle Dance Pavilion, one of two Theater facilities.
Part of the 8 acres of formal garden is visible.
The color of the architecture is conformed throughout the many campus buildings.
The Minerva concept sees freshmen grouped into dorms with
discretionary funding to do their own thing.
This was a great experience complemented by an excellent tour guide.
We dined at Johnny’s Italian Restaurant in nearby Schenectady, a short walk away, expecting the Sopranos to enter at any moment.
iPhone 11 Pro snaps.
Computational photography at its best.
Nikon just reintroduced its Noct Nikkor which boasts an aperture of f/0.95 and is about the size of a Mack truck. At $8,000 the price is comparably huge. Leica has long had its f/0.95 Noctilux at a scant $11,000+. Neither could have done a good job, fully open, of this snap, taken last night in near darkness at The Olde English Pub in Albany:
Winston contemplates the annual cod harvest.
You see, the depth of field of those gargantuan optics is less than the distance from my son’s eyes to the tip of his nose, at f/0.95. And if you do not use these lenses fully open, why use them at all? Further, everything but the eyes would be blurred, and I really wanted that Union Jack to be clearly discernible. Third, both are manual focus and while the Nikon’s finder comes with a focus confirmation light, the Leica’s rangefinder can barely do its job at f/1.4. F/0.95? Be prepared to work that focus collar and take multiple snaps. Finally, dynamic range would be shot, the highlights hopelessly burned out.
Then again, the iPhone used to take this snap has 8.5 billion transistors in its CPU to do all the magic, which includes taking 9 images in Night Mode, picking the best bits and doing all sorts of things I will never understand to deliver broad dynamic range. The Leica and Nikon? 8.5 billion fewer transistors.
The recorded exposure? 1/4 second at f/1.8, ISO 800. The result? Stunningly sharp, with a quick pass through Focos to add a touch of background blur. The blur lens of choice? Why, none other than the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar which came with my Leica M3 in 1971.
The result? A picture of a young man on top of his game, with straight As at mid-semester in his Senior year at prep scool, and looking forward to four years at college.
My beer? Served 10F too cold. What else would you expect of a former colony?
A bucolic setting.
For an alphabetical index of the New England College series of pieces, click here.
Home to some 2,600 students on 850 acres, and a ten minute walk from the lovely town of Saratoga Springs a few miles north of Albany, NY, Skidmore College started life as an all girls’ school. The school went co-ed in the 1970s and we were lucky to visit it on a crisp New York autumn day. The lovely campus, replete with trees and perfect buildings, is one we have long wanted to visit for its mix of setting and academic quality.
Capital for the gardens is abundant.
We visited on a Saturday, so it was busy. This is the Admissions Building.
The tour begins.
The Dana Science center.
At work in the chemistry lab in the Dana.
Autumn is here.
Our irrepressible tour guide, Charlotte, had vocal projection which needed no megaphone.
The science center has rotating displays of chemical molecules.
This is Prozac ….
Bikes are useful for visiting nearby Saratoga Springs.
The Dining Hall is simply the finest we have seen. Lots of cuisines, freshly prepared and a vital part of student life.
One of the many chefs in the magnificent food center.
Jonathan Seliger’s ‘Politeness Counts’, 2004 at the Tang Museum.
George Rickey’s mobile ‘Double L Excentric (sic) Gyratory VII’, 1994.
The volleyball courts in the Williamson Sports Center.
With the sole exception of a dorm building, all are limited to a couple of storeys.
The Zankel Performing Arts Center hosts many performances throughout the year.
Everything here is in perfect condition, the dorms are spacious and modern, the food center is beyond compare and the academics are first class. The nearby town of Saratoga Springs, famous as the oldest site for professional horse racing in the US, is within walking distance, and while home to only 25,000 residents is sophisticated, beautiful and safe. Dining (and coffee!) choices are abundant.
Alumni include director Jason Reitman and Grace Mirabella of Vogue.
Snapped on the iPhone 11 Pro.