The PhotoWalk Returns

It sounds like a dig against New Haven. It’s really a beautiful city with some interesting architectural flourishes. They are not built for photography.

I did the annual PhotoWalk yesterday. Last year Steve Brenner and I went to the Brooklyn Bridge. This year it was the New Haven Green and Yale campus. Bad choice on our part.

It sounds like a dig against New Haven. It’s really a beautiful city with some interesting architectural flourishes. They are not built for photography.

Too much of Yale is hidden behind stately and historic trees (here’s a panorama of a Yale quad). That’s not something wrong with Yale. It just doesn’t lend itself to photography.

One of the photo programs I use breaks out the different photo parameters in a shoot. I used five separate ISO settings and apertures from f/1.4 to f/20, I was searching. Four different lenses were on the camera. None was quite right.

The list of numbers that summarizes the technical elements is all over the place. It’s unfocused. That stands to reason.

The people on the PhotoWalk couldn’t have been nicer. Steve noticed early on nearly. with the exception of one person shooting a Sony, everyone was using Canon or Nikon.

We walked the Yale campus first, than on to the Green. A few of Yale’s buildings were enveloped in scaffolding. Disappointing. On the Green a band was playing to a nice crowd.

I will do another of these next year (hopefully), but only after thinking about what’s there to shoot.

yale-university-archway-hugin-redrawn.jpg

yale university lion statue.jpg

yale universityman's bust statue.jpg

new haven lampost.jpg

The best part of the day was pizza outside in the back at Zinc. This was a white pie with goat cheese, pesto and grilled shrimp.

zinc pizza new haven.jpg

3 thoughts on “The PhotoWalk Returns”

  1. Geoff, unfortunately, Yale is better to photograph in autumn, winter and spring! All for different reasons. Also, a lot of great shots are in inaccessible courtyards or from high perches. Next time, check out the interior of Sterling Library and the Gargoyles and etchings on the law school. Not to nitpick, but the quad is called Old Campus. When Yale moved to New Haven from Old Saybrook, that block was the whole of it. I encourage you to return- it’s like the night sky, the more you look, the more you see.

  2. The photos are great! You’re probably just used to looking at “New Haven”. Now that pizza…I could look at that any time!!!

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