I doubt I’ll get out this fall color season to take many photos, so here is one I took in the past at Babcock State Park in WV.
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Lunatic Asylum
I couldn’t come up with a clever title for this post for a number of reasons, which we won’t get into tonight.
Anyway, I took this photo recently at the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston West Virginia. Unfortunately, they have the place all cleaned up. It wasn’t grungy enough for me. I wanted it in the state it was in when the Lunatic Asylum closed. They’ve got it all “safe”, clean and “pretty”. I think the real beauty would have been in the “dirty, stuff left behind” condition. If that makes sense…..
I made the best of it and captured some cool photos. This was on one of the upper floors. Something about this hallway caught my eye. Standing there, I could imagine all the patients (prisoners) being locked up in these little rooms. Some of the “treatments” and “therapies” they used over the decades was rough to put it mildly. When this facility was operational, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
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Babcock State Park
I feel like I missed fall this year. I don’t know if it was because of my work schedule, travel schedule or if I just blinked and missed it. Regardless, I missed it. Thankfully, we had nice weather this weekend.
Anyway, here is a fall photo I took, not this fall, down at Babcock State Park in West Virginia. It’s an amazing spot.
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National Road
MJ and I went over to Wheeling West Virginia a couple of months ago to explore the area. It isn’t very far from us, but I never go over there. All my focus is on our local area and Pittsburgh. I think that was the 2nd time I’ve been to Wheeling in the 8 years we’ve lived in Pennsylvania. Anyway, this is the Wheeling Suspension Bridge which is part of the original National Road.
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Grist Mill
Today’s picture is of the Grist Mill in Babcock State Park in West Virginia. We planned this perfectly to capture the fall color change at this spot and of course, it didn’t work out. As you can see, the color was changing, but we missed the peak fall foliage color.
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Rusty Junk
A few weeks ago, MJ and I piled in the car for one last sunny (and warm) drive before winter sets in. We went south to Cheat Lake, West Virginia to explore an area we’ve never visited. Cheat Lake is a beautiful man made lake just east of Morgantown. We went for a hike in Cheat Lake Park along the lake to the dam.
This beautiful trail had the lake on one side and a very large hill (mini mountain) on the other side of it. Well as we walked, MJ and I noticed all this junk way up the side of the hill above the trail. So on the way back, I decided to climb up to see what it was and photograph it. That sounds easy enough, but that climb wasn’t easy. Climbing down was even harder. Why this junk is on the side of the hill in the middle of nowhere….. I couldn’t tell you. My guess is some West Virginian wanted to get ride of it and decided pushing it over the hill would be easier then taking it to the junk yard….
At least it made for an interesting photo.
Great Falls National Park
This is a small site within the National Park Service situated in Virginia about 20 minutes from downtown Washington D.C. It is approximately 800 acres on the Potomac River with this wonderful waterfall called the Great Falls of the Potomac River.
My co-worker, Darleen, told me about this location just prior to my Washington D.C. trip. I am so glad she did, what an amazing location. When you are standing here looking at this waterfall and the surrounding park, it is hard to believe it is so close to the city. Just awesome!!
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Walkin' The Line
I had more time to kill by myself again this weekend, so I
filled it with some photography. Last weekend I toured the Eastern State Penitentiary in
Philadelphia. This weekend, I
toured the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville WV. This retired, gothic style prison
operated from 1876 to 1995. This
prison had a number of deadly riots and escapes through the years. At its peak it held around 2,300 men,
which like many prisons was more then it was designed to hold. That meant three men to a 5-foot by 7-foot
cell. One guy had to sleep on the
floor. A 1986 ruling by the
State’s Supreme Court sealed the fate of the prison when the court ruled the
small cells were cruel and unusual punishment.
This picture was taken in the maximum-security area of the prison for the most dangerous prisoners. Notice the steel cell doors are even covered with mesh to prevent the prisoners from throwing options and/or assaulting the guards from within their cells. Only a small slot was open to pass food trays inside to the convicts. These men saw less then 30 minutes of daylight per day. But compared to the “Hole”, these cells were like living in luxury.
Maximum Security Area - To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.
Death Came In Many Ways
Although from what I learned, the size of the cells was the least of the prisoners concerns. They had no heat in winter and no air conditioning in the summer. The food was so contaminated with rats and cockroaches that inmates rioted in 1986.
This 5' x 7' cell belonged to Red, who was stabbed over 30 times within this space. Prior to his murder here, he was known as the worst prisoner within the facility.
There were 94 men legally executed by hanging and electrocution. In the early years, legal execution was done by hanging and the public could buy a ticket to watch. This was big business/money for the prison. Electrocution was added in 1951 and was used until the State outlawed execution entirely in 1965. Paul Glenn who was an inmate himself built old Sparky, the nickname of the electric chair. Many of the prisoners didn’t like the fact that he built the chair, so the State was forced to transfer him to another prison.
If that wasn’t bad enough, murder within the facility was an on going problem with an estimated 1,000 lives lost within the walls. It was known as a “cons prison”, which meant that they had control and power of the facility. Gang violence was common in the later years, along with torture and murder by guards in the early years. It was weird standing in a number of the spots where the tour guide would describe a violent murder or murders that took place in that specific location as if it was nothing. I wouldn’t call it spooky…more like a sense of being uncomfortable. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the tour guides all believe the place is haunted and have all experienced super natural events. It was as if you could feel the pain, evil, and torture that seeped out of the place. It wasn’t as interesting as Eastern State Penitentiary from an architectural perspective, but it felt more evil.
"Old Sparky"
Blackwater Falls State Park
MJ and I had nothing planned today and it was a sunny, but a
bit cool. I mentioned to her in
the past that I wanted to go to Blackwater Falls State Park in WV. So this morning she suggested we pile
in the car and go check it out. We
did some last minute packing (camera, maps, hiking boots, etc…) and away we
went. It took us a little over two
hours to get there and we spent most of the day in the state park. It doesn’t sounds like much, but we
hiked about 6 miles in some very rough territory (some would call it
mountainous). We climbed all over
the ravines, valleys, rivers, and trails.
All so I could take a few more photos. Imagine that!!!.
Additional Note:
Today is my Uncle Jim’s birthday. I hope he had a great day.
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NCAA College Football Bowl Season
With the regular college football season behind us, all that’s left are the Bowl games. I still wish we had a playoff system versus the current system, which leaves us wondering each year who is really the best team in football. Regardless of which team you cheer for, follow, or hate; I hope you have a good Bowl Season (otherwise know as the holiday season). Here is a picture of University of Pittsburgh’s quarterback Tino Suneri. Tino is a senior (hometown – Pittsburgh) and has led Pitt as the starting quarterback for the last three years.
In the 2012 regular season, he threw for 3,103 yards, 66.5% completion rate, 19 TDs, 2 INTs, and a quarterback rating of 154.9. Pitt didn’t have the success they expected this season and they started off rough (2012 record of 6-6), but they finished strong enough to make it into the BBVA Compass Bowl against Ole Miss on January 5th.
I took this picture on September 15, 2012 (Pitt vs. Virginia Tech) with a Nikon D800, Aperture Priority 4.8f, 550mm (400mm 2.8f lens with 1.4x tele-extender) and 1/8000 of a second exposure.
P.S. Part 2 of Common HDR Photography Questions will be posted soon.
QB Tino Suneri