I have finished looking through the Willard photographs, and you can view them here, if you wish.

This photograph is from the Projection Room.  The names of the movies “playing” were written on the walls.

Just a little over 8 months ago I read about a project that to me, is a photographer’s dream.  Named The Willard Suitcases, it is an ongoing project by photographer Jon Crispin, who is photographing the contents of suitcases left behind by patients of The Willard Insane Asylum.  Located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, the asylum opened in 1869 and was closed in 1995.  During the time it was operational, 50,000 patients called it home.  Six thousand died there.  Of those, 5,776 now rest in graves marked with only a number and a stick topped by a red flag.  Their names are unknown.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tour Willard.  I cannot adequately describe the state of disrepair many of the building are in, and more than that, how it felt to be inside of some of the buildings, so I will let the photographs speak for themselves.  Once I’ve looked through all of them, I will put them in one place here, as opposed to separate posts.  Then you can decide if you want to see them.  They are not “feel-good” photographs.

I did however, find one thing very striking, and that was the fact that in the midst of so much neglect and decay, some of the windows still had curtains hanging, each of them “styled” in a different way.

At least for now, with the exception of the black and white conversion of one of the tunnels shown here, and some cropping, I have decided to leave the photographs unedited.

A timeline of Willard’s existence can be found here.

Some of Jon Crispin’s work with the Willard Suitcases can be found here.

Texture by Evelyn Flint

…and headlong into final exams, but the countdown is on and in just about a week it will be over.  I am definitely looking forward to it.

If you’re a Photoshop user, then you are probably aware of the announcement from Adobe this week that the Creative Suite software will no longer be available on CD or for download.  As a matter of fact, there will be no new upgrades to Photoshop CS6.  In the very near future, all use for new versions will be by subscription only.  Now if you already have a version of Photoshop, you’ll still be able to use it, but you won’t be able to upgrade as you have in the past.  The new version of Photoshop (which has some wonderful new features) will be called Photoshop CC (as in Creative Cloud).  It has upset a lot of people, to say the least.  Since I use Photoshop almost daily, I will be using Photoshop CC when the change takes place, but I’m really not sure how I feel about Adobe’s decision, and the “out of the blue” way it was done.  If you care to share, I’d love to hear what you think.

Have a great rest of the week, and I’ll see you next week when my summer begins!

The magnolias have finally begun blooming, and of course I am thrilled.  They are really beautiful this year. Unfortunately, along with some nicer weather has come a lot of wind.  Not exactly ideal conditions for magnolia photographs, but I am getting some in between gusts.

Now, we need to talk here.  PLEASE do not be apologetic if you have a question for me.  I had several emails last week asking about the first photograph here, and what I did/how I did it.  Almost every one of them, started something like, “If it’s okay to ask…,” or “I’m sorry for asking, but…”  Please know that I welcome your questions, and will do my very best to answer them.  If I don’t have an answer, I will say so, but never feel bad/hesitant about asking.  I truly feel that part of the beauty of being here, is to learn from one another.

So, about that photo.  Yes, the background was a texture, but not used in the way you might think.  In other words, the texture was not added in Photoshop.  Recently, I’ve taken some of my favorite textures, printed them, and then used them as a background when I take the photograph.  That is how it was done.  Yes, you do have to carry them around with you, but I don’t find it much of an inconvenience.  I am really liking some of the looks I’ve been getting by doing it this way, and there is far less time spent editing.

About this photograph:  I have been playing with composites again lately, and this is one of them.  Both photographs were too sharp for my liking, and neither of them stood well on its own, yet I loved the color and exposure in both, so I really wanted to try to do something with them, and this is the result.

Depending on how things go, it may be a bit quiet post-wise here over the next couple of weeks, as I write and give final exams, and get ready for the end of the semester, but I’ll still be visiting you in between all of the busyness.

Have a great weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

If anyone knows the name of this flower,

I would love to know.

All I can tell you,

is that it’s a very hairy little thing.

Update:  Thank you so much, Jen for identifying this as a Pasque Flower.

Regardless of the fact that it is still so cold here,

or the fact that we had a dusting of snow overnight,

Mother Nature knows it’s time.

Have a great beginning to your week!

Boston, Massachusetts

Early in the season,

Early in the morning,

So peaceful.