Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Windows

At Digital Photography School this week, the assignment is "Windows".

I thought I might have to go to Portsmouth, NH, US to find interesting windows, but a quick jaunt to Exeter revealed tons of interesting windows.

Which picture is your favorite, and why?





For a square, straight-laced building, the Exeter Town Hall has some interesting small windows.



Mills needed many windows since the daylight was used to light the interior of the mill. Of course, it makes apartments in restored mills bright and sunny.

One of my Canadian friends say he thinks Americans fly many more flags than Canadians. I can see two in this picture (both in front of town buildings), so perhaps he's right.



Bulk grain for sale in the window at Blue Moon Market.

Even back windows on houses and sheds can be interesting.



My favorite is the cupola....because I just love cupolas. I have a second and third favorite too - the gold mill building because I love the building, and the flag out the town hall window because it captures a feeling of the town of Exeter.

That last paragraph reveals a lot about my inability to edit down and actually pick a favorite. I think that's why I often tend to weave a series of items, rather than just one item.

14 comments:

Theresa said...

Oh easy, the buildings over the water. I love everything about the picture. The colors, the reflection, the texture of the stone foundations, the symmetry in the windows and the cobbled together look of the buildings and roof lines.

Life Looms Large said...

I love that gold building too!! (Is that the one you're talking about?)

I tried to find out something about its history - I think it is a very early building for Exeter. That site is right where the water falls (and where the river changes from being tidal to being all freshwater above the falls). I imagine that when there were first European settlers in Exeter, this would have been the area where they would have built a saw mill and a grist mill.

I do know that the stone wall collapsed a few years ago and had to be repaired. I think it was the section to the right under the middle building. (The repaired stone looks more regular to me....but I'm just guessing about where the repair was made.)

Sue

Alice said...

For me too it is the gold building. Color and the water. I can see that mill in England. Exeter,UK has lots of old buildings too, some Tudor.

You better watch out, someone is going to want to buy your pictures and then you will have a business.....

Delighted Hands said...

The mill pic....it has enough detail; leaf in foreground, vertical chimney and the reflection just repeats all that looks good! Nice job.

skiingweaver said...

Awesome photos! :) I actually think I like the second one best... I like the different angles in the photo, the colors of the paint vs. the stained glass inserts, the diagonal line along the bottom of the stained glass, the play of light and shadow... :)

Also wanted to say sorry for being such a space cadet this morning!! My brain was completely wrapped up in setting up the projector/the lecture, and I just completely didn't register that it was you. I'm sorry!

bspinner said...

Great pictures!!! I especially like the one show the two flags. I love the picture of the mill with the reflection of the water.

Anonymous said...

Exeter is such a pretty town - and you found some awesome windows! I love the mill picture - the mill buildings have so much history - I always wonder if the people who live there now ever hear, when things are really quiet and still, any echoes of the factories that came before the residences.

Sara said...

Like all the window photos - but, my favorite is the Blue Moon Market window...it just speaks to me...

Theresa said...

Yes, the old gold mill buildings. They are wonderful.
Wouldn't it be fun to live in a rambling old place like that right on the water?

Leigh said...

It's a tough choice between numbers 1 and 2. I like the horizontal stripe effect of the first photo, plus it's a unique combination of colors, aqua, gray, gold, reddish/mauve, gray, and blue. I would be interested in trying to develop those colors into a weaving.

I like number two because of the composition. It's the angles and arrangement of the squares and rectangles. The colors are pleasing as well, especially the siding and door. The eye is drawn to the stain glass & door, and these are just off center enough to be interesting; an asymmetrical presentation of a symmetrical subject.

Life Looms Large said...

It's really interesting to me to hear what you guys like and don't like in the photos. It's nice to learn more about all of you, and to hear other perspectives on these photos. I'm surprised how much my photo editing session had to do with what I liked and didn't like. I had some near misses with a few of the photos, which made me dis-satisfied with some of them....even though what I ended up posting was fine too.

So thank you all for taking the time to comment!

Sue

Life Looms Large said...

Alice,

Thanks so much for your huge compliment about some one some day paying me for a photograph. That would be very cool - but I definitely blog for love not money!!

Delighted Hands - Thanks for appreciating the mill picture! I wish I had the top of the smokestack in the photo also....I need to be better about checking around the edges of my viewfinder when I'm in the field so that I don't keep chopping off things that are important!

Sue

Life Looms Large said...

Skiing Weaver - Glad I've got another appreciator of the stained glass transom window!! That door is tucked away on the main street of shops in Exeter. I've walked past it hundreds of times and never noticed it until this assignment. Plus it looks like they've done a bit of weird construction. I need to go back and check it out in person!

No worries about Wednesday!! I could see that you were busy - and it was a morning where lots of things in the workshops weren't going smoothly. You did a great job on the workshop! So much to think about!!

BSpinner, I'm glad some one else appreciates the flag photo. That was the first one I took in Exeter - the view out that window was very striking to me.

Colleen, It is interesting to think about the mill workers who came before us. I lived in a restored mill in Dover for a year when I first moved to NH. Too bad I wasn't a weaver back then. I would have appreciated it so much more!

Sue

Life Looms Large said...

Sara, The Blue Moon Market must be asking you to visit Exeter and stop by!! (Or maybe it's that whole healthy eating thing!)

Theresa....my entire blog isn't devoted to inspiring you to move back to New England, but it would definitely be more fun for me if you did!!!

Leigh, I like the way you've described how you see the photos - and how they might translate into weaving especially. I seldom see weaving in other art forms....but it's always interesting to me when some one can!

Sue