Changing Seasons: Spring in New York

LL Bean Buck, October 2008.

I procrastinated. The winter slowly meandered towards spring, but was constantly set back a few rainy days. Just as I grew accustomed to evening walks through Central Park, back to back days of biblical rain checked my seasonal optimism.

Paul Smith Canvas Sneaker, January 2009.

So, I waited and pondered which shoe to use.

Common Projects sneaker, April 2009.

Scroll through the photos quickly. It looks like a stop motion film, with all of the shoes skewed towards the left.

Van's Authentic, August 2009.

I still have these things stuffed in a closet. They smell like the plague.

Ralph Lauren Wingtip, October 2009.

In the past, my selection has been traditional, with some of my favorites being a Buck, a Brogue and a Danner boot. However, since leaving Maine and moving to New York, my taste has changed. Partially due to my days spent surrounded by the "American Heritage" aesthetic, recently I have started appreciating more pragmatic, purpose-driven items.

Danner Mountain Light II, December 2009

British Walker Buck, April 2010.

Instead of carrying around my camera and laptop in a vintage backpack, I bought a GoRuck Gr1 (partially in my preparation for the GoRuck Challenge in Boston). I also opted for a technical down jacket over a wool coat on my Saturday morning walks.

LL Bean Boot, October 2010.

You won't see me in Crocs or zip off nylon shorts anytime soon.

LL Bean Signature Work Boot, January 2o11.

But instead of hunting eBay for vintage Omega, I have been poking around looking at contemporary Sinn's and Luminox's.

Nike SFB May 2011.

Finally, spring stayed around long enough for me to grab my camera and my Nike SFB chucka and head to Central Park. As the sun set, I sat reflecting the evolution of my taste over the last three years and pondering where it would be in the next three. Setting the ISO and aperture to 1600 and 4.5, respectively, I threw my shoe in the air the way I have for the last 10 seasons.

Here are some more links,

Changing Seasons (Picasa),

Changing Seasons (ART).

The-Burning-House.com

A few weeks ago, I posted a photo of the things I would take if my house were burning and asked the question, What would you take? Since then I have reached out to friends and acquaintances asking them each to submit a photo and list of items. The results and enthusiasm for the concept have been amazing.

To showcase these photos and facilitate the creation of others, I started a website called The Burning House, the-burning-house.com. The site is simple but has the necessary features: big images and a submit function.

Here are two examples of submissions from friends:

Name: Bethany Marcial
Location: New York City
Occupation: Musician
Website: http://www.daughtersofgoodmen.com/

List:

• Martin Guitar (this is one is special because my dad bought it for me on bleeker street years ago when I first moved here - most kids' parents were buying them textbooks..this meant much more)
• Vintage LL Bean wool hat
• Hard Drive of all my photos
• Vintage Wrangler Jeans
• Necklace of collected charms I always wear including a gold chair and anchor, the state of michigan, two pistols, and three vintage sterling knives
• My grandmother's id bracelet from the 30's
• A coffee stained, dog eared, underlined copy of G.K. Chesterton's "Whats Wrong With the World"
• Turquoise Squash Blossom Necklace
• A knife and a tit like crustacean from you (housed usually in my exclusive treefort treasure box)
• Minolta Maxxum 5 camera I bought when I was 16, un-fancy but never takes a bad picture
• Vintage Blue Stripe Blouse
• Worn to death Lace Up Frye Boots I've had nearly 10 years now

and:

Name: Tim Robison

Age: 26

Location: North Carolina

Occupation: Creative Digital Director University of North Carolina at Greensborough

Website: http://thatsjustitphoto.com/

List:

• My Grandfather's Camera
• My favorite shoes. So comfortable.
• My Moleskin notebook. Full of many sketches, ideas, and dates.
• My favorite shirt.
• A piece of driftwood I found and love.
• My laptop. My iMac would be too hard to carry.
• Two full hard drives with years worth of work and photos.
• My most used kitchen pans. Al Glad Ltd2 fry pan. Le Creuset dutch oven
• My keys. They open and start a lot of things.
• My pencil bag. Full of my best pens and pencils.
• My phone.

It is one part interview, one part OCD photography and one part philosophy of ownership.

For more photos and lists, head over to The Burning House, subscribe to the RSS and most importantly, submit a post. I hope you like it, I'm pretty excited.

Thanks to Bryan Bowie for designing the logo and Jermaine for building the Tumblr.

Here are some more links,
The-Burning-House.com,
Submit a Post (The Burning House),
The Burning House (Picasa),
The Burning House (ART).

The Faster They Go

The more busy I get, the faster the months go by. I started taking photos to capture moments around me. Here are some of my favorites from the last month.

David Coggin's most treasured possessions for The Burning House.

Tim walking back from the beach in Nicaragua.

Financial District sunrise with John Tinseth.

Dirt roads on BLM land in northern New Mexico.

A photo from Coggins' and my visit to Miller's Oath for a piece for A Continuous Lean.

Cris in Nicaragua.

Lunch in Rivas, Nicaragua.

Bass escaping the rain.

Sunset in Nicaragua.

Durango, Colorado.

Not much happens in Alexandria, Minnesota.

A rainy Saturday in the West Village.

Mud outside Durango.

A lot can happen in a month.

Here are some more links,
Miller's Crossing (Picasa),
Nicaragua Dos (Picasa),
Sage (Picasa).

Sage

Thunder clapped in the distance as a storm rolled across the high planes near the New Mexico/Colorado border. Similar to the smell of a Christmas tree or an ex-girlfriend's perfume, the smell of wet sage cutting through the air conjured up memories of my time spent throughout the west.

Wasting no time, I walked along the sandstone outcropping towards the protection of a nearby overhang. The wall of gray mist marched forward catching up to us, just as we made it under the overhang.

Sage and red.

This cabin reminded me of my favorite short story, The Call of the Wild. Highway 550 between Durango and Silverton.

An abandoned trading post.

From the protection of the small cave, the storm pounded the desert, punctuated by an occasional clap of the thunder and flash of light. We watched, biding our time to dash back to the truck.

Bass watching the storm.

Sage and obsidian.

Spring mud.

Bone dry.

As quickly as the storm had come, it passed. We left the protection of the overhang and headed towards the truck. Lingering behind, I stopped by aome sagebrush. Pulling off two of longest the shoots, I shoved them in my pocket as a reminder of the high country and this late April storm.

Here are some more links,
Sage (Picasa).