Sunday, June 6, 2010

British Cars

Rainy rainy day today but gorgeous cars. I went to the British Car Rally at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, MA. Actually, seeing that they are British, it is rather appropriate that it was raining. Even with the weather, there were lots of cars, and people were in high spirits. I was actually surprised with the turn-out and the lack of reaction to the weather. Going by the stereotype of people babying their antique cars (keeping them safe in garages and only letting them out on warm, clear days in the summer - heaven forbid if they get wet or dirty!), I assumed they would be adverse to taking them out when there was the slimmest chance of rain. Not these people - everyone was hanging, talking car, and checking out all the new arrivals.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Feed Me!


I loved this job - a massive pair of shears on a Volvo excavator. They were demo-ing two large steel tanks, and although it almost looked it the way the shears tore through these things, these were not like big aluminum cans you could just crumple. This steel was up to six inches thick in places. Coolest thing to watch ever. The shears cut through the steel literally like butter, and the operator was super talented. He would cut off massive sheets of steel, and then fold them up in neat rolls. You can see the stack of them behind the body of the excavator. So, besides for just drooling over the project, this is a great example of what one of my friends calls giving the equipment I take photos of personality. When I look at this photo, the first thing I think is that the excavator is saying "Feed me!"

Thursday, May 27, 2010

When You Really Want To Clean A Beach

This is one nasty looking piece of machinery. It is called a RockHound and was used mounted to the front of a Mustang track loader (Someone tried to tell me that it was a Mustang Backhoe - I think that's like calling it Puffs Kleenex....). We used it for for hardcore beach cleaning - this thing is going to pick up a lot more than random pieces of trash and cigarette butts. From a distance it is not that impressive, but when you get your face up-close to the actual RockHound and peer through the holes (Health and Safety moment - turn off equipment before peering through holes), this is one vicious looking thing - think row of two inch long teeth mounted on steel bars that all rotate around a central shaft. Looks more like a medieval torture device!

Monday, May 24, 2010

A Barn At Last!

This past weekend I went on a photo safari into the White Mountains with a friend - no real plan, we just wanted to shoot barns. We meandered up Route 93, stopping along rivers to take pretty, scenic photos or anything else that caught our fancy. We eventually wound up at Mount Washington - no barns, but a really cool cog railway. And while driving up to the parking lot I happened to comment, "Hey! Are those the piles of coal? How cool!" Apparently Mt. Washington has nothing on stockpiles of coal for the cog railway.

On the way back we stopped at waterfalls and old covered bridges. Eventually we found our barn. I don't even know if I could tell you where it was - in a field by some mountains and trees. The best part - old cars! So while we spent the day surrounded by scenic mountains and streams, my current favorite shot is an old Chevrolet in a random barn.