Those of you who have been following this blog for a little bit may recall that last year I posted a similar series, focusing on the chimneys at Elmont.  Well, I enjoyed photographing the remains of the old houses so much that I went back up there again this year multiple times.  Those chimneys serve as interesting remnants of the past – another day and time.  As I commented last year, I really like the scenes of these ruins because it illustrates nature taking back areas that we humans once tried to develop.

Admittedly, I went shooting around the chimneys this year a little late.  The fall colors were early this year, and my timing was off.  Luckily one beech tree was still showing off by the time I made it up there, and when combined with the dying foliage around it, it made for a very colorful scene.  This was literally the only spot that had any color left!  After mentioning the tree to my friend Tom, he ended up going up there and shooting the area as well, and came back with a scene where he’d managed to find a spot that three of the chimneys lined up.  After further investigation though, we realized that his image actually contained five chimneys!  I went back to look at it and shoot it for myself, only to realize that if you play with it some, you can get six chimneys to line up in a single shot.  That image is just below in the Alternative Perspectives.  Can you spot all six (hint, one is hiding just behind and to the left of another).  The odd coloring of that image, by the way, is not sepia tone.  What you’re seeing there is desaturated infrared in its natural coloring.

Speaking of infrared, the last image in the Alternative Perspectives section is another IR image.  Typically when I shoot IR, I’m thinking black and white.  Sometimes though, as illustrated here, the coloring looks really interesting in the natural infrared spectrum.  In this case, the light reflecting off that metal flange looked copper.  I liked the look so much I stayed and played around with the scene until I found a composition I really liked.

More next week!

–Dan Thompson