Fire Hydrants

Last Sunday in Baltimore there was a large water main break. On Monday I had to walk to the library so I thought I'd walk by the affected area to see what it was all about. This is one of the hydrants the workmen opened, probably to clear silt out of the lines. This prompted me to look up the history of fire hydrants.

There is no clear inventor of the fire hydrant. For the most part, before they were invented people kept large vessels filled with water around. Cisterns were common in America even after hydrants had been around for 60 years or so. Firemen were helped by the introduction of municipal water supplies, which were simply buried wooden pipes. When they needed water, the firemen would dig up the street and punch a hole in the water main. Then they could pump out what they needed. After it was finished they sealed the hole with a "fire plug". This changed a bit when a large part of London was destroyed in an 1666 fire. The city added pre-drilled holes and plugs for easier access, and this led to the eventual development of hydrants. In America the hydrants we know of today were developed in the early 1800s. With innovations made just before the Civil War, hydrants of the 1860s looked very much like they do today.


Sources:

A Brief History of the Hydrant

The Fire Hydrant by Curt Wohleber

Mount Vernon

I took this photo on a stormy afternoon where I could take advantage of the dark sky behind the church. That didn't quite happen, but I do like the angle I got while trying to crop out cars.

To the right is the Peabody Conservatory. Construction on this building started in 1859. It was built in 2 parts-a recital hall that was completed in 1866 and a library that was finished in 1878. The concert hall looks much like it did in the 19th century and seats about 600 people. I was in this concert hall a few years back. During the book fair there was a free recital so I went in to both see the hall and to enjoy the music.

Like the Peabody but I have been inside the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, and the tall spire in the background of this photo is part of it. The building is made of six kinds of stone, including green serpentine, gray stone and sandstone. It was completed on November 12, 1872. I taught art for the YMCA and one summer our camp landed in the basement of this church. (The kind people hosted us after our original site fell through.) There are several small rooms in the basements that made great classrooms and it was very comfortable teaching there. One room even had a pretty fireplace in it. Upstairs, the organist would practice on certain days and some kids were impressed and thought of the organist as more like the Phantom of the Opera. According to the church's web site the music is made by a M.P. Moller organ that consists of 3,287 pipes! The pews in the church are made of American Walnut and can accommodate about 900 people. Every time I walk by the basement windows now I think of all the little kids from that summer.

Howard Street Bridge

I took this photo as made a hasty exit from work one afternoon. Like on so many days I realized that I had not taken a photo so I looked at something I saw every day and tried to figure out an interesting way to photograph it. Close-ups are always good. In this they cropped out the street people and the dirty roadway. Plus, I love to photograph objects against the blue sky, particularly if there are a few clouds around to give things variety.

The Howard Street Bridge is a metal arch bridge, a type which were mostly manufactured in the years after the Civil War. During this time there were many advances in steel and iron work, which made these bridges more common. There was a bit of a surge in these bridges in Baltimore City during the late 1800s as the city was expanding over the Jones Falls River. The Howard Street bridge was built between 1937-1939 so motorists could easily be transported over the rail yards below. The bridge linked Howard Street with Oak Street, thus renaming the northern street as North Howard Street. The bridge opened in 1939 and was refurbished in 1981. A couple of years ago it was repainted.

Resources:

Metal Arch bridges in Maryland

Bridges Around Baltimore

Street Name Changes in Baltimore

Cathedral Street

I like taking pictures out the window of cars. I only do this as a passenger as it affords me the luxury of looking. Composition can be mostly guesswork but I try to anticipate what is coming up and then snap at what seems like a good moment. This time, I believe the car was stopped at a traffic light. The windshield was dirty but I actually liked that because I think it adds another layer to the photo. It makes it look less flat. Also, it gives it a little bit of urban grittiness that befits the subject.

This photo shows no distinct landmarks on Cathedral Street, but the street itself was named for the Baltimore Basilica that is across the street from the Enoch Pratt Library.

Fireworks

I am the first person that will tell you that I don't know a lot of technical things about photography. I am certainly willing to learn, but as I go through daily life I take pictures by instinct. About a year ago I started Project 365 and posted everything on my private blog. But, to take things a lot further I want to use this blog to select a few from each week and write a little about what I did or what the photos make me think about.

In general, my only goals for Project 365 are to keep doing it and to document my daily life. I have several cameras, none of which are very fancy or pricey. My best camera is a Kodak EasyShare DX6340 3.1 megapixel, which I bought 5 or 6 years ago. It does not have as many bells and whistles as the newer ones but it has a good lens and the macro and action settings are much better than any other cameras I have. I usually take this along on car trips or in any situation where I know I am going to take lots of photos. My everyday camera is a little blue Kodak EasyShare M753, 7.0 megapixel. This is very small and I keep it in my pocket at all times. Some of the settings aren't that great, but it does what I want it to do in that it takes decent photos. In the rare instance that I don't have either camera with me I have a Nokia cell phone with about 3 megapixles. I don't know if it has any settings, but it works in a pinch.

Normally I won't get into which pictures I took with which camera, I just feel I ought to explain now for people who'd like to know. I feel that composition, lighting and other elements of design make good photos. I believe you can take great photos with any camera, as long as you pay attention to what you are doing. Digital cameras are great for this because you can take time to compose a decent shot before you take it.

Yet, though I just went on about composition, this selection from the first week of this year was really happenstance.

My first photo expedition of the year was to go down to the Inner Harbor near where I live (Baltimore). The fireworks were canceled on New Years Eve due to high winds so they were rescheduled for early in the evening on New Year's Day. I took many, many crappy shots during the 30 minutes or so of the fireworks show. It was very cold and I think that affected my camera because there was an unusual delay between when I pressed the button and when it actually registered. I ended up with many pictures of the ground because I took the camera away before it was finished. This photo above, at least, worked. I literally just pointed and shot, which resulted in this. Sometimes I just have to trust my gut because in some situations I can't stand there looking at things because the moment moves along too quickly. Making logical guesses about where things might appear in the picture is works at times, and if not, at least I have a better idea of how to refine things. This is part of how I use my instinct over mechanics.