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Captured with the Phase One IQ4-150 digital back, Rodenstock 90mm/5.6 HR-Digaron lens (@ f/6.3) and about 10mm of vertical shift to maintain geometry.
Almost five years ago, a group of insurrectionist losers sacked this building in an attempt to overthrow the US Government and prevent the transfer of power to a newly elected president. They got frighteningly close to succeeding.
This photo was made about six months later; some of the physical damage from the attack remains visible here.
US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, 2021.
All the pixels, each spending most of its time fundraising, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51221569646
Next up on the CDC website: "The germ theory of disease is just a theory. There are no recent controlled studies to support sterilizing surgical instruments; this superstitious practice costs hospitals, taxpayers and insurance providers millions of dollars in needless expenses."
Until 1984, the Santa Fe Railroad moved freight cars across the San Francisco Bay by barge. Railroad cars were decoupled from trains and loaded onto special "carfloat" barges, which were pulled across the bay by a small fleet of tug boats, to be re-attached to trains at the other end. The service ended when a fire destroyed the Point Richmond pier (the East Bay terminal for the operation), and that was that.
A handful of rail carfloat operations continue in the US, most notably in NY Harbor.
Captured with a small mirrorless camera and 50mm lens on a lightweight tripod.
I normally prefer lower contrast, but the ruined industrial subject worked reasonably well with a high contrast approach here. This is mostly a study in lines and shapes.
Ruins of Santa Fe Carfloat Pier, Port Richmond, CA, 2011.
All the pixels, slightly used, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/5485081030/
I have mixed feelings about these cold war relics. On the one hand, they're artifacts of what was perhaps humanity's most dangerous folly to date, locking the world in a deadly game where the stakes only went up with each round. This doesn't seem like something to commemorate or celebrate.
On the other hand, these objects, many now destroyed or decayed, serve as visible evidence of just how close to oblivion we are willing to go. And looked at from the right angle, they have stories to tell.
It's unclear if the SAGE system would have actually been effective in tracking incoming bombers, which presumably would have employed radar jammers and other countermeasures. Fortunately, we never found out.
The huge rotating antenna (not shown) was removed shortly after the site's decommissioning in 1980, but the building, a prominent local landmark visible from downtown San Jose, has been preserved.
From 1958 through 1980, this incongruous four story (82 foot) monolith was the centerpiece of the "Almaden Air Force Station", a long-range radar site that was part of NORAD's SAGE early warning system. The blast-hardened concrete building served as the platform for an FPS-24 radar system, a massive 120 foot wide reflector that emitted a 5 megawatt VHF pulse, continuously rotating at 5 RPM.
Notoriously, the powerful radar signal disrupted TV and radio reception throughout the San Jose area.
This is a stitched imaged made from two shifted side-by-side captures with the Rodenstock 70mm/5.6 HR-Digaron-W lens and a Phase One IQ4-150 digital back (@ ISO 50) on a Cambo WRS 1250 camera, shifted left/right +/- 15mm, producing a 230MP final image.
AN/FPS-24 Radar Tower, Mt. Umunhum, Los Gatos, CA, 2024.
All the pixels, but no incoming enemy attack, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53796724938/
Hallway, NYC, 2014.
All the pixels, no brokers' fee, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/13337114073
Now it’s turned inland, heading in the general direction of DC, which reinforces my suspicion that this is an exercise.
I wonder if this is related to the (rescheduled) Falcon Virgo exercise that’s about to start.
Hmm. RQ4 Global Hawk just declared an emergency off the Delmarva peninsula.
This is unusual, given that the RQ4 is a drone…
Alhambra (Muir) Viaduct, Martinez, CA, 2010.
All the pixels, none of the vertigo at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4685718995/
I think I figured out why I have such a visceral reaction to these unannounced flyovers: residual post-9/11 PTSD.
For several weeks after 9/11, fighter jets patrolled around and over NYC. I think it was supposed to make everyone feel safer, but it had the opposite effect (on me at least). As the air shook and the noise suddenly increased, you involuntarily ducked and then looked around for signs of explosions and rubble. Little moments of terror to punctuate the day.
Normally they warn about these flyovers on the DC alert system, but I saw nothing about this one. A surprise, I guess.
Fighter jet flyby over the WH and up 16th street, rattled the windows just now. Presumably related to trying to impress the visiting Saudi prince.
Queensborough (59th Street) Bridge, NYC, 2019.
All the pixels, no congestion charges, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/48418025131