I recently finished a book for the Hayashida family of Bainbridge Island, Washington, about their old family farmhouse on High School Road NE. The house will continue with new owners, who have renovated it. Some members of the Hayashida clan … Read More
Here I am using a 19th Century technology with my 21st Century digital camera: the dark cloth. When I do careful adjustments to my digital camera, while using a tilt-shift lens for perspective correction, I put on my close-up glasses … Read More
The photo guidelines for proposing buildings for the National Register of Historic Places have been updated. They provide more specific information on submitting digital images, and say that electronic applications should be uploaded at the Cultural Resources Submittal Portal (CRSP). … Read More
The original Tyee High School in SeaTac, part of the Highline School District, is being replaced with a new building. I am part of the team put together by BOLA Architecture + Planning to document the old building. Our documentation … Read More
I’m selling a friend’s Explorer 8×10 view camera, by R H Phillips. It is designed to be lightweight, and fold into a compact package. But still, compared to the 4×5 inch camera I’m used to, everything is big. The film … Read More
I usually work on location, but recently I have been given the temporary use of a space in a UDistrict building that will soon be demolished to make way for a 21 story apartment building. It’s been great to spread … Read More
My photos of Crane 30 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard have been approved for public distribution by the Navy. These 4×5 negatives are intended for the Historic American Engineering Record at the Library of Congress. Dating from 1933, it … Read More
The documentation of the Wayne Apartments in Belltown, Seattle has been completed by BOLA Architecture & Planning. My large format negatives are going with a detailed report by David Peterson and copies of historic plans to the Historic American … Read More
The Wayne apartments started out as three row houses sometime around 1890, but were converted to apartments in 1893. In 1911 they were raised up about 15 feet, so that brick walled commercial spaces could be constructed underneath them. They … Read More
Four years ago, the Seattle City Council changed the zoning in the University District to encourage greater density around the new Light Rail Station, which has just opened. The zoning change greatly increased the value of property in the U … Read More
Here’s a good example of old style balloon framing. Click on the image for a better view. Note that the vertical studs go all the way from the foundation to the rafters. The floor joists are attached to the continuous … Read More
Let me know if you need help putting out any fires!
The combination of COVID-19 precautions and forest fire smoke really limited my photo projects earlier in September, but now things are looking better. Local architectural documentation projects are now possible, especially outdoor work and empty buildings. I am not doing … Read More
I’m continuing my “Small Data” project. For this group, the trail camera was strapped to our back porch, pointed at the top of our fence. The middle view has been included in the 23rd Juried Show at the Photographic Center … Read More
This duplex was one of the Junior Officer’s Quarters built just before WWII at the Sitka Naval Operating Base on Japonski Island, Sitka, Alaska. After the war, the military transferred the base to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1954, … Read More
Seattle folks had a rare chance to view the city carefully from the Highway 99 Viaduct during the farewell party on Saturday, Feb. 2. (The Viaduct is now being torn down.) We used to zoom past in our cars, but … Read More
The most boring book on my photo book shelf has taken on new meaning with the current uproar about the “The Wall”. I got this book years ago because it is a great repeat photo project: the interval between the … Read More
I had the fun opportunity to do some careful interior photographs for a new “Airbnb” that is available on the north shore of Lake Union in Seattle. The unit is nicely furnished with mid century modern designs, and the styling … Read More
My big project of the summer was helping Janet Matheson AIA with a historic district nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. This is for Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was built as the Alaska 67 Exposition in … Read More
My photographs of the Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) in Texas are now available from the Library of Congress, as part of the Historic American Building Survey. I was honored to be the photographer in 2016 to supplement … Read More
I recently received word that I have work in Fairbanks, Alaska, helping with the documentation of Pioneer Park for the National Register of Historic Places. I am happy to be working again for Janet Matheson, AIA. She first hired me and … Read More
In the early 1990’s, there were two water towers on Japonski Island in Sitka, Alaska. I documented the tower that was just northeast of the hospital for Dr. Colt Denfeld at the Army Corps of Engineers. The water tower was … Read More
Here’s the wonderful webcomic xkcd, created by Randall Munroe, showing why having libraries store photographic negatives is not such an outmoded idea. This is from 2017.
This is a personal project of mine. People talk a lot about “big data” these days, but I am more interested in “small data” that I generate myself and arrange. I often experiment with repeat photographs from my immediate surroundings. … Read More
I’m always pleased to document historic buildings that are going to be stabilized and restored, rather than demolished. Working in 2009 for BOLA Architecture and Planning, I did the top “before” photograph of two fancy automobile showrooms in Seattle that … Read More
While finishing up my documentation of the Alamo for the Historic American Buildings Survey, I had the chance to correspond with Mary McPartland, PhD, the Collections Manager of the Heritage Documentation Programs of the National Park Service. She is the … Read More
In May of 2016, I spent 6 days photographing the Mission San Antonio de Valero (The Alamo) for the State of Texas. My 4×5 film negatives and proof prints will be submitted to the Library of Congress Historic American Building … Read More
The Online Catalog of the Library of Congress now lists the documentation for this 1910 Union Pacific Railroad Bridge that was near Sunnyside, Washington in the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). I did the view camera photography for this project … Read More
HABS/HAER documentation projects still need to be photographed with large format film, but the National Park Service has made a step towards digital methods. (The formal name of this method of documentation is Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic … Read More
The Library of Congress has included my photo documentation of Boeing Plant 2 in the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The photography is located under “HAER WA 189”. This huge building, which was between Boeing Field and the Duwamish River, … Read More
Here are two photos of the same building, the old Federal Reserve Bank in Seattle, taken from almost the same place. The top photo, by Greg Gilbert of the Seattle Times, was taken from a point a little bit closer … Read More