Fort Pickens - Comments please

[Ed Richards]

I have been shooting coastal defense forts when I get a chance. I have added a page on Fort Pickens, which is on West Pensacola Beach. Comments are welcome. I will be adding pages for other forts as I accumulate images.

http://www.epr-art.com/galleries/b5-Fort-Pickens/



Please post your own forts here as well.

[papah]

Wonderful! Your gallery reminds me of some of the cathedral photographs of Fredrick Evans.

I have a gallery from Ft. Casey, in Washington State, called "Theatre of Fear", not shot in large format, but using a soft-focus lens:

http://hemingway.cs.washington.edu/p...tent/025-Fear/

[cdholden]

Ed,
If you should find yourself in Key West, pay a visit to Ft Zachary Taylor. If you have a day to spare, do the day trip to Ft Jefferson (Dry Tortugas National Park). If the weather and lighting is in your favor, it's a day to remember... and a good dose of Civil War era history.

Chris

[Donald Miller]

Very nice Ed...I like the body of work that Bruce has as well.

[Ed Richards]

Very nice Bruce! You could have passed those off as exotic alt process old camera stuff.:-)

Chris - I have seen Ft. Zachary Taylor but only had time for a couple of shots. I did not have time to get to Ft. Jefferson, but really want to. It is supposed to be the jewel of the coastal forts. QT has a wonderful color picture of it in Rangefinder.

[cdholden]

I've got some shots that managed to turn out ok the day I went. After coming home, I found my Bessa had a tear in the bellows. I got a few 35mm slides from outside, but most of the inner perimeter and views from the top were ruined. We're doing a family trip to Miami later in the year. I'm hoping to get a day or two away to recover/avenge my last photo accident.
Chris
p.s. It isn't just QT's slide. The water really is that beautiful if the weather and wind are calm.
They also allow snorkeling for those who aren't engulfed in putting their vision to film.

[darr]

Great project Ed!

I shot Fort Pickens many years ago and found it to be an interesting pile of bricks and water. Your work is much better than what I took away from the fort!

Another Florida fort you need to shoot is Fort Clinch. Fort Clinch is located in Fernandina Beach, near Jacksonville. It is very accessible and one of the most well-preserved 19th century forts. Although no battles were fought there, it was garrisoned during both the Civil and Spanish-American wars. When I was there in 12/2008, it was during the week and there was no one there except maintenance workers painting the buildings and the gift shop cashier. I talked with a maintenance fella while I was "tripod shooting," and he said that it is normally that quiet during the week. I had my Nikon (my dog was in Jax for surgery and I was just passing time), so I'll bet your LF would fit wonderfully on the grounds and the park workers would enjoy seeing it. Definitely a place I want to go back to.





Fort Jefferson I visited a few years ago too. It is not that accessible IMO, as you need to go by boat via key West and when I was there, it was crowed with tourists and overnight campers. I lived at the time in Redland FL (West Homestead area) and I went on a Friday. The grounds were interesting because of the history and location, but I would think you need special permission to use a tripod. The fort is under water in places and you can snorkel up to its walls which I did and found to be so cool! Overall as a tourist attraction and history marvel, it was worth the trip, but for me, my ALPA or Nikon would work and I would leave my LF gear for a quieter place. Just my 2 cents!

Darr

[bbuszard]

These are all very nice, Ed. I've taken a couple of trips to the fort nearest me in Newport News, which is fort Monroe (of civil war fame; very important in the Peninsula Campaign). I've only shot 35mm there, though. You have me thinking I need to get out there with the big box.

One aspect of fort Pickens that fort Monroe shares is the long series of barrel vaults. They remind me of Roman architecture.

[Ed Richards]

Darr,

Nice shots and great tips. I will check out Fort Clinch. You give me pause about Fort Jefferson. Perhaps QT can tell us about tripod permissions. I have been experimenting with my D700 in the forts. It is much faster, but still takes a tripod - at least for the interior work. I will find out a lot more before I venture to Jefferson.

bbuszard,

The forts really reward LF. You are right about the barrel vaults and the Roman architecture. I had not thought about that. What really surprised me is that there is a arch on the bottom of each passage as well as the top. This strengthens the wall against cannon shot.

[cdholden]

Forts Jefferson and Zachary Taylor were both tripod friendly when I was there in late 2004.

Chris