Filling Out the Map 1: New York, a photo from New York, Northeast

Photographer's Note

Being a dangerous combination of cartophiliac and completist, it bothers me quite a bit that there are places from which I have photos - good or bad - that I have not posted here. These places are US states or Canadian provinces that I've visited briefly, or that I visited at times when I was not particularly interested in photography, so I don't have a large number of shots from them. In the interest of completion, I'm going through the archives for the next couple of weeks to pull out all of the photos - good and not so good - I have from these empty spots on the map.

Despite the fact that I went to college in New York, lived there for two years, and have visited regularly since, I have a distinct scarcity of decent photos from it. This particular shot is from the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, which I visited for the first and only time a little over a year ago.

Cooperstown, which is a tiny and out of the way town about an hour west of Albany in upstate New York, has been host to the Baseball Hall of Fame since 1939. The story of why it is located here stretches back at least 100 years earlier, to 1839 when a Cooperstown native named Abner Doubleday is reputed to have invented the game, out of the blue. Doubleday - later a hero of the Union in the American Civil War - was almost certainly not the game's inventor, though the exact early history of it is somewhat shrouded by time. However, this claim took off, and in 1939, with the game one of the few positive things happening in the US during the Great Depression, the Hall was dedicated and its first inductees - including some of the game's most legendary figures - were sworn in as members. Today, the Hall of Fame and Museum is a top tourist destination and has made baseball Cooperstown's biggest industry.

krzychu30, JFS, tyro, janjan1897, delpeoples, Sonata11, jlbrthnn, marabu61 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

krzychu30 (8817) 2012-10-09 7:05

Hello Andrew,
grat view.I like the perspective and upward POV you used here.Was a brilliant idea to compose the picture like that.Also the strong color contrast between the blue sky and grey,metallic shades of the facade looks really captivating.
Best regards
Krzysztof

mayjayne (2792) 2012-10-09 7:50

Dear Andrew,

Interesting and well selected POV. Difficult to shoot upwards towards the light, but you have executed this shot very well, and light management is excellent !

TFS,
May

JFS (32077) 2012-10-09 9:17

Creative contre-plongée that made me think...Now, I understand..The reflection is the protagonist together with the superb sky.
See you around!
cheers,
Juan

tyro (13043) 2012-10-09 13:19

Hello Andrew,

Well I find that TE is an addictive drug, so I can fully understand that cartophilia is one too and can fully empathise with you when you wish to fill the entire continent of the Americas with your big yellow blobs. On the upside, I guess that such addictions are safer than those to which many succumb even though they can cause frustrations with our fellow human beings, especially our spouses!

Oh, and another point - many people nowadays believe that the all-American game of baseball was actually invented in Britain - apparently the term was first used here. Anyway, that doesn't matter a whit because Whisky was apparently invented in China, the ancient Greeks ate a meat pudding like Haggis, the Bagpipes were invented in Turkey and Kilts were invented in Holland. Ah well.

Anyway, to your picture. As you say, it might not be the best of your photographs, but it has a fine graphic quality which is very striking. The lighting is good, the exposure perfect and the colours vibrant and strong. And it gives you another yellow blob!

Brilliant!

Kind Regards,

John.

janjan1897 (835) 2012-10-09 13:45

Hello Andrew,
Great composed image with a superb graphical effect using the reflection of the metal frame into the facade. The contrasting colours give it enormous impact. Perfectly detailed with a well controlled light that makes the image very attractive.
Excellent !
Jean

delpeoples (44904) 2012-10-09 20:15

Ciao Andrew

Ahh so you're a map-filler-outer eh? And good for you. You've quite a job on your hands as the USA is so big. But a very interesting and graphical image. I like the symmetry, the perspective and the good colour. You;ve also handled the light quite well, not blowing out the sky and managing to keep the detail of the shaded parts.

Nice work, have a good day
Lisa

jlbrthnn (79773) 2012-10-10 3:23

Hello Andrew,
This is a picture very creative, skillfully made. The graphics are nice and spectacular. the quality is excellent. I hope there's a lot of photos like this one in reserve. bravo
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

mesutilgim (67914) 2012-10-10 12:13

Hello Andrew,
Very nice capture of this glass couppola towarda a perfect cloudy sky.
Perfect crop and perfect effect.
TFS and have a nice evening
MESUT ILGIM

marabu61 (3890) 2012-10-10 13:57

Hello Andrew
I completly understand your urge to fill out your map, I feel quite the same. Actually I dream of having my TE map completly brown, but I know for sure that this will remain a dream.
Your photo isnt' as bad as you make it. It is an interesting POV with some great graphical elements and an interesting sky
have a great time
Daniel

Noel_Byrne (7301) 2012-10-22 10:38

Hi Andrew,
Brilliant point of view here, and the fact that half the frame is bright blue sky works perfectly, and the reflection of the ribs complete the circle perfectly too.. A very eyecatching shot!
Cheers
Noel

MonchoX (42) 2012-10-27 9:21

Andrew, Your idea is very good. It is necessary to have a sharp photographic eye to take a picture like that and be able to see the composition. Just being a little fussy I could say you can make it perfect by doing some PP to eliminate reflections.

jmdias (45776) 2012-12-11 0:38

andrew

very nice the way you used the lines of this structure and even the colors and reflections to create a beautiful compo full of graphic mood.very nice job.

hugs

jorge