Endangered Species

So the regular blog is back, which means no more Montauk photographs!  There was a photograph and story in the newspaper about the demolition of a library building attached to "St Paul's School for Boys" in Garden City.  I knew this building was here, and always thought I should go photograph it, but I didn't.  So when I saw the picture of the demolition I went down there the next day and spent an hour wandering around photographing it.  What an amazing structure!  It was built in 1869, and closed in 1991.  The village has been unable to come up with a use for it that was affordable.  The architecture is simply stunning in its attention to detail.  It may not be long for this world, which is a shame.

The End of Montauk

I mean, it's not the end of Montauk.  It's the end of my Montauk postings.  I guess it should be, because it's been nearly two weeks since I have been there.  There is something about this place.  I see photographs everywhere I look!  It really is amazing.  And then there is that amazing light.  Interesting that I could find two week's postings in two days of shooting!  This happens to be a small window in the gallery that I happened to look out of.  At first I was drawn in by the ivy growing on the glass, but then the picture began to be about the sea and the sky and the building outside.

Trying Too Hard

So I wanted to do something different for another picture in the gallery where Phillip's work is.  So I found a vantage point that I liked, and asked if he would walk slowly from one side of the room to the other, while I used a slow shutter speed.  I wanted to have him blurred, for a different feel to the picture.  This is not an original idea.  He showed me some amazing photographs that he had done for an advertising campaign for shoes that involved part of the model being blurred.  I have a weak mind and am easily influenced by others brilliant ideas!  But I am not sure that this photograph works all that well.  It's as if I tried too hard.

In The Gallery

Phillip has a large exhibit in a gallery in Montauk.  So we all went over there to see the photographs.  And of course, all of us Spencers have the photo gene - it is a dominate gene!  So in addition to looking at the images, we went around photographing each other.  I am not sure what Amy is doing here - making a movie, I think.  But I thought the juxtaposition of her iPhone and her face required that I take this picture.  Some photos are like that - they demand to be taken.

Pound Nets

This first picture is of part of a pound net, if my research is correct.  It is made up of poles planted in the shallow water just off a beach, perpendicular to shore, connected with a complex arrangement of nets.  When it is in use, the end of the net is extended to the shore.  Fish swimming parallel to shore run into the net, and turn toward deeper water.  When they get to the end of the straight net, they find themselves in a heart-shaped net, which leads to another smaller round net, and they are caught.  The reason I photographed this arrangement was not for a lesson in fishing, but rather because I thought the silhouette of the shapes of the poles and arrangement of the nets was a really fascinating design.  In short, it was about the design, and the feeling of water and sky.  And, of course, this being the east end, the light is wonderful as well.

Father & Daughter

I was standing out on the breakwater at Ditch Plains, using a long telephoto lens on my camera, and saw this father and daughter heading out together on a surfboard.  They stood out from the usual crowd on their boards because there were two of them.   I kept my eye on them and as they caught a wave, I watched them surf in together all the way to the beach, and then turn around and paddle back out. I saw them make a couple of runs, and you could see the daughter grinning.   It was so cool to watch, and warmed my heart to see them enjoying their time together.  I also loved the daughter's trust in her dad, that he would keep her safe.

Tired of Montauk Photos?

I hope you are not bored with my Montauk photos yet.  I was there for a few days and shot so many interesting photographs, that I could post on the blog for two weeks, and I may do just that.  There are so many photogenic things in Montauk that it is not even funny.  These are surfboards leaning against the drift fence at Ditch Plains, the surfer's beach.  I have never seen so many surfboards in one place!  Of course, it's the deep blue sky that makes this photograph.