We took a trip to Asheville, NC last month and I only recently got around to the photos (at least the ones that don’t have to be developed first). These are from a long walk we took in West Asheville, where there are a lot of places to drink and a bunch of murals to admire.
You can do a lot with a roll of Ektar and some good light. Taken around town on various days in February.
“In 2016, over 34 million passengers entered this station, making it the fourth-busiest station of the New York City Subway.”
A little information about the station, courtesy of Amtrak:
Completed in 1908, the station inspires visitors with its exquisitely detailed neoclassical architecture even though its bones are modern concrete and steel. The front of the station, on Columbus Circle, presents travelers with a soaring vaulted entryway and heroic statuary on its 600-foot length. The 96-foot high Main Hall coffered ceiling shines brilliantly with gold leaf and reflects natural light entering from the large Diocletian windows.
The former Main Concourse, now the heart of the station, lifts its barrel-vaulted glass and coffered plaster ceiling 45 feet above the main floor and stretches 760 feet long. It was once said to be the largest single room in the world. When the building first opened, it also featured a private, secure waiting room for the president and his visitors, as well as a public dining room whose walls were covered in murals modeled after those recently excavated at the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
There are other ways to photograph this place and I am going to find them.
From a 2014 article on the town:
For the first half of the 20th century, Pamplin City was considered a center of commerce.
It had a thriving Main Street, was home to the largest clay pipe manufacturer in the country and located at the intersection of two major rail lines — bringing in salesmen who would relax on the Park Hotel’s porch after a day of selling their goods as they waited for the next train.
Now, the 10 brick buildings lining the street sit vacant or are used for storage. Trains don’t stop at the old depot across the street and visitors no longer recline on the porch talking and sipping bourbon.
I took these photos last month, during a drive around central Virginia. I have a few on film too, but they’re still waiting to be developed.
"Pamplin Pipe Factory"
Main Street.
Hardware store and grocery.
A closer look at the hardware store.
Seen in my neighborhood.
Camera: Leica M Typ 240 | Lens: Jupiter 8 50mm f/2.0.
I recently picked up an ultra wide-angle lens for my Leica M setup, and went over to the University to try it out, photographing some familiar areas. Other than the modest vignetting, the lens is pretty good—sharp across the frame at the apertures you’d be using.
As for the photos themselves, they’re fine. Like any well-trafficked monument, photographing the Rotunda is hard. There just isn’t that much to “say” about the structure anymore. But I keep trying, and I’ll likely keep trying.
Camera: Leica M Typ 240 | Lens: Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0.
Seen near Lynchburg, Virginia.
Camera: Leica M Typ 240 | Lens: Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f/2.8.
A very small, and very old, town that we passed through on the way to Charleston over the holidays. On the way back we stopped and I took a couple pictures. Wikipedia says that “Society Hill was originally settled in the 18th century by a colony of Baptists, who named the community after their ‘St. David's Society’“
Camera: Leica M Typ 240 | Lens: Zeiss C Biogon 28mm f/2.8.
I’m always on the Downtown Mall for one reason or another, and since I always have my camera, it’s frequently an opportunity for photography. Here are some black and white shots, all digital, all edited in Lightroom. I’m a big fan of the last three, which have nice shadows and geometry.
Camera: Leica M Typ 240. Assorted Lenses.
M-Hexanon 50mm f/2.0
Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f/2.0
M-Hexanon 50mm f/2.0
Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f/2.8
Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f/2.8