Cliffhanger Run Tomorrow

http://www.cliffhangerrun.com/

This Budds For You

Judge Azariah Budd (1824-1890) Made Northeast his home and, on his death, gave back to the community donating 21 acres of his property to the city for a park to bear his name. The only stipulation was that the City was to give give his surviving wife a stipend of $3,000 per year until she passed away. Naturally some contested the legality of the city doing so... but a judge ruled it was legal. Below this shot of the park is an entry detailing the transaction.

Budd is well maintained by Parks and Rec and has cleanups by the Indian Mound Neighborhood Association a few times a year... it has been staying remarkably clean lately.


Walkers use the paths morning and evening for exercise.... it's particularly nice with the fall colors.


In Northeast in many of the street corners (including the one Hyper lives on) are tiles giving the cross street name. Parks has been successful in duplicating the look when sections of the sidewalks have to be redone. Hypers street says "Lakota Avenue"... which was its name until the mid-thirties when the City Council changed it to Sunrise Drive.
There are two playgrounds, one is shown above, and a swimming pool, below. A soccer field, ball diamond, basketball court and several shelter houses.

Above... the Budd House still stands on the south side of the park on Budd Park Esplanade... when I was growing up there were remains of a barn on Hardesty Avenue just a block away from the house....
It's still a single-family residence and is being restored....







There is a massive oak that could date from the Budd years in the yard on the east side.... massive tree.




We are lucky over here to have such great parks.... and thanks to the Judge for his donation :)

Firsts in Photography (Maybe)

Firsts in any field are important and usually treasured and photography is no exception. Occasionally, when talking to a group, I will ask if anyone knows roughly when the first photograph was taken. The answers vary widely generally according to age. Adults know that there are photographs from the Civil War and thus the process must pre-date 1861. Younger folks tend to not think in that way and will say anything from 1940 to the 50s. The truth is below... Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce took the image below from the window of his upper-story workroom at his Saint-Loup-de-Varennes country house. It shows the the outbuildings, courtyard, trees and landscape as seen from the window. The year was 1826.Shot above is enhanced... original is shown in the two shots below. Talk about archival quality.

Exposure time was eight hours on a polished pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea (a kind of asphalt). After the exposure the plate was removed and the latent image was rendered visible by washing it with a mixture of oil of lavender and white petroleum which dissolved away the parts of the bitumen which had not been hardened by light. The photograph which Niepce called a "Heliograph" is now in the collection of the University of Texas at Austin.

Below.... the first photograph of a person? Due to the very long exposures involved in making the early photographs, there exist almost no early pictures with people in them. The image below of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris was a ten-minute exposure of the street scene in April or May of 1838. Although there was probably much traffic both pedestrian and vehicular on the Boulevard the length of the exposure meant that anything moving would not be recorded. The exception is the man standing on the corner apparently getting his boots shined.... he stood still long enough to become a part of pictorial history.
The above image is a a Daguerrotype a metal plate coated with silver halide that, after exposure, was placed over a lightly heated cup of mercury which revealed the latent image.

The process was developed by Louis Daguerre together with Niepce creator of the first image above. The process was patented in 1839. Is this the first photograph of a living person? It certainly is for now. I can just imagine trying to photograph a two year old with a ten-minute exposure. Thank the Lord for digital.

Blue, Gold and Wispy White

On a mission to walk 2.5 miles everyday this week.... intend to lose weight or die in the attempt. Deep blue skies and fast moving clouds ruled the day. Bottom pix are of Corinthian Hall again... which has roses that seem to bloom forever. All Nikon D3 and 70-200mm zoom f5.6 to 22 ASA 400 shot at minus one third stop.









Don't know whether the above saucer was taking off or landing........

Last Vestiges of Summer

Finally got out of the house for something other than work today. Walked Cliff Drive. I'm afraid bare trees are imminent.


Above private residence, below Corinthian Hall which is currently being decorated with Scarecrows for the auction Friday night... 6-9:30pm on the Museum grounds. Sunday is Halloween in Old Northeast.... 5-8pm.


All shots taken with the Nikon D3 and 24-70 zoom. Aperture priority between f5.6 and f11 at ASA 200.