[wzslider height=”800″ info=”true” lightbox=”true”]Castle Craig, dedicated October 29, 1900 and given to the people of Meriden, Connecticut by Walter Hubbard is part of the 1,800-acres known as Hubbard Park named after Hubbard. There are hiking trails to the tower (most notably the 51-mile (82 km) Metacomet Trail) as well as Reservoir Road which is open for vehicular traffic from April to October – 10 AM to 4:45 PM. Walkers and joggers are allowed use of this road 365 days of the year during normal park operating hours which is basically sunrise to sunset. From the top of the observation tower, 1,002 feet (305 m) elevation, it is possible to see New Haven and Long Island Sound 25 miles (40 km) to the south. To the west, the foothills of the Berkshires are visible; to the north, the Hartford skyline as well as the summit of Mount Tom in Massachusetts.” (excerpt from Wikipedia article). For full article CLICK HERE.
Growing up in the Meriden area I’ve been to Hubbard Park and Castle Craig countless times. Going up to the castle never gets old with me. I love the views and the feeling of quiet and tranquility that’s in the air. I’m almost always alone when I go here and find it a terrific place to clear my head and take a breath. As a photographer I have even more reasons to visit.
As a kid I in high school my friend Tom and I would climb, (without ropes), all over the face of this rock cliff and adjoining cliffs. We were fairly reasonable for the most part but I do remember once nearly getting stuck where I couldn’t go up or down and the fall would have finished me. I knew I had no choice so I gave it my best and managed to get a foot hold and continue up but not before feeling some momentary terror. It’s one of those moments in time I often remember when I’m visiting Hubbard Park. How I, or should I say most of us, survived our youth I’ll never know.
I hope you enjoy these photographs and visit Castle Craig if you haven’t already. Quick photography note: digital cameras do not have the latitude that film cameras did and as a result cannot handle extreme difference between highlights and shadows. Now a days many photographers, including myself, are photographing using HDR or High Dynamic Range. This is where we take a series of shots in the neighborhood of approx. (4) where we expose each shot differently (you’ll need a tripod, manual mode, and don’t change the aperture from picture to picture only the shutter speed). We’ll begin with over exposed, exposed, underexposed etc. We’ll then take these series of shots and bring them into software such as Lightroom or Photoshop. From there all these shots become “layers” and through an algorithm they are merged together balancing the highlights with the shadows rendering an entire photograph that is properly exposed. Your photograph will have a “painterly” effect however. I happen to love that look but if it’s not for you then skip HDR.
Having said all that that’s exactly what I chose NOT to do with the pictures of Castle Craig where you see the dark shadows. I chose to expose for the highlights and allow the shadows to go dark. I wanted to create a mood and also I liked the silouette effect.
Fantastic set. The view at the top is beautiful.