Beneath the Machine

Man, so many pictures! I just returned from a trip down the Columbia River and the coast to the Redwoods. And boy were there photo opportunities! But those will wait, because here are two items that I took today:

Now that's something you don't see everyday, unless you happen to be under a steam locomotive while its boiler is being washed out. This is the Jupiter at Golden Spike National Historic Site. I stopped by to learn the art of firing (on the 119), and in the downtime peeked under the pit.

And one more, the air hoses connecting the tender to the locomotive. Steam locomotives in themselves are, in my opinion, works of art. But more on that later... if I'm not alone here (hint, hint).

Regards,

Josh

Flight of Birds

I must be the only one awake around here, so here's a little something.

An experiment in Photoshop blend modes, this started out with five layers, the first three each with a single brush: first, the clouds in black on a blue-to-white gradient; second, the sun in yellow; third, the birds (an excellent brush by HJR Designs). Then a lens flare on a black fill layer, set the blend mode to multiply, and voila! This was the result.

In case you're interested, it's also been uploaded to DeviantArt, along with a few other of my recent projects. Link here: http://fav.me/d4yzhjj

Regards,

Josh

Iron Stars

May is National Historic Preservation Month, and as such Ogden City initiated a "Historic Property Scavenger Hunt". The idea is to take a pamphlet with small detail photographs and match them to the proper building within the Crossroads of the West National Historic District.

Being a history guru, I naturally jumped on the chance to explore this historic portion of Ogden, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the old Browning Brothers gun workshop was not only still standing, but was being restored!

But that wasn't what I was really interested in. Around the back was an exposed portion of the building next door, which exhibited some really neat texture. And I saw stars!

No I didn't get hit on the head, although the condition of some of the masonry in that area could very well have caused that to happen. What these are are staybolt washers - the bolts run through the wall and attach either to the wall opposite or to some sort of support post or beam inside. Its purpose is, naturally, to keep the wall from bulging outwards.

It is really too bad that washers like these aren't made any more. What was once a common architectural feature is now a thing of the past, to be found only on structures such as these.

Enjoy,

Josh