A PICTURE EACH DAY WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2008 Fellows Gear Shaper Company I suddenly realized that I have been coming to Springfield, Vermont to the telescope maker's convention for 20 years! And I have driven by this factory twice a day for the three days I have been here each year. FINALLY, when I was leaving the conference on Sunday, I stopped to photograph this factory. I have seen it when it was a going business, but it went into bankruptcy back in 2002. Springfield is located in the center of the "Precision Valley" region, which was the home of the Vermont machine tool industry, where a new era of precision manufacturing first began. I love the architecture and the settings of the buildings and factories in these New England towns. Fellows Gear Shaper company began here in 1897 and was originally powered with the water from the Black River, in the foreground. I spent about an hour photographing all around here, and I will be showing you more photographs as time goes on. The sky was particularly nice on this day - it was raining and I got wet, but the rain made for some really nice photos. Stay tuned. POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 10:15 PM 0 COMMENTS SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2013 Black River Waterfall I continued my exploration of the Black River. That is the river that runs through Springfield, Vermont, and it is the river that powered so many businesses in the years past. This view is from a bridge which crosses the river, and I am looking down about 30 feet to the rocks and the water. I thought it was interesting how the waterfall split apart and then recombined. The photograph is so blue because I shot it after the sun had set, and the scene was illuminated by only the blue sky. POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 9:50 PM 2 COMMENTS THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013 Like an English Mill Town I have been coming to Springfield, VT for 25 years now. I haven't explored the town very much, but I did this year. I did a lot of walking around, looking for old factory buildings. This town was known as "Precision Valley" because of all the machine tool companies that once existed here. So I walked around and photographed. As I was heading back up the hill to my car, I saw this scene, that reminded me of photographs I had seen by an English photographer, of old mill towns in the UK. While composing a photograph, suddenly a car came down hill with its lights on, and I realized I had the shot! I love the mood of this, and decided to convert it to black & white. POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 9:56 PM 0 COMMENTS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2013 The Whale and the Waterfall I spent some time photographing some of the old factories in Springfield. Apparently water power was used in the old days for power, and in fact, there is apparently a small electric generating plant downriver that still operates. I think that this waterfall is part of the water power arrangement. Anyhow, I was prowling around at the end of the day, and saw this rock that appeared to be to be some kind of large fish swimming upstream. OK, so I have a vivid imagination. I mean, it does have two eyes... POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 10:18 PM 0 COMMENTS FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2013 After Edward Hopper After dinner the other night, the sun was still up, so I drove to downtown Springfield, VT to look for photographs. There are some old factories that are there - more on this another day - and then I saw the late afternoon sun on these two homes on Main Street. They caught my eye right away because of the light on them, and it felt as if the lighting was similar to that in so many paintings by Edward Hopper. It's funny, there was no question about composition with this image. Sometimes I look around for 15 minutes and try different things, but not for this photo. It felt right just like this. POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 8:13 PM 0 COMMENTS SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2011 The Pilgrimage to Mecca The pilgrimage to Mecca is a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in a lifetime. This is a different pilgrimage to a different "Mecca." Adam and Jessica, as budding amateur telescope makers, made their first pilgrimage this weekend to the birthplace of amateur telescope making in America. The Stellafane Convention began in the 1920's, in Springfield, Vermont. Some people have come here as teenagers, and are still attending 40 years later. I first came here in 1989, and this was my 23rd convention in a row. This is Adam and Jess' first convention, and they brought Jess' commercially made telescope. Next year they are planning to return with their first home-made telescope. I can't wait to see that! POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 8:09 PM 0 COMMENTS WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011 The Secret Talk about nonstop! From LAX to JFK to Springfield Vermont, in the space of 24 hours! I am now at the Stellafane Convention for amateur telescope makers, after a quick turnaround in Sea Cliff and a 5 hour drive! I saw these clouds around sunset and only had a minute or two to compose this image. Or should I say, to select this much of the image from the surroundings. The secret? I was in a shopping center, and if I lowered the camera about 5 degrees you would see a sign that said "Radio Shack!" And you thought I was in the woods somewhere! They are beautiful clouds, though. POSTED BY KEN SPENCER AT 7:58 PM 2 COMMENTS SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008 The Black River This is the Black River in Springfield, Vermont. Today I took a billion photographs! No Joke. You will be seeing some of them in the next couple of weeks. I have photographs from the convention, of an old factory, and of the landscape. I stopped to photograph the factory today which is located on the Black River, and while looking around, saw this photograph. I love the complexity of it, with the foreground flowers, the river, and the reflections of the sky. It's a really interesting balance of all the different elements.
Wonderful Photography. Thank you.
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