37.
May 7, 1960: The Baltimore office of the Automobile Association of America
hired me to cover this group as it toured Annapolis. I photographed them
in several spots around town, and I guess we finished up here at Jonas
Green State Park for a picnic. I'm sure I made some prints for the AAA,
then filed the negatives away, never to be seen again until now. It's interesting
how a simple assignment then has evolved into a lovely unposed portrait
of leisure in another time. MSA SC 1890-02-10,151A
38.
June 16, 1962: Jim Madison, the pastor at St. Anne's, called me one day
and asked if I'd like to go up on the steeple of the church to take pictures.
Of course, I'd been watching them put up the scaffold to make repairs and
trying to figure out how I was going to get up there, so I jumped at the
chance. Although I'd already been up in the State House dome a number of
times, this gave me a new perspective. We were standing right up by the
cross when I took this view down Main Street. MSA SC 1890-02-30,221A
39.
1963 circa: I was immediately struck by this scene at City Dock as soon
as I saw it. The Anna Florence was an old buy boat--one that bought
the oysters right off the oyster boats out in the Bay and unloaded them
at the wholesalers. By this time she had been converted into a pleasure
boat--there was no gear on her for handling oysters when I made the picture.
I learned recently that the deck house is now the ticket office at the
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels. MSA SC1890-02-531
40.
March 7, 1965: Historic Annapolis asked me to make a photograph that would
dramatize the signs and wires on West Street. They wanted to use it to
show the legislature that one of the primary approaches to the city had
become an ugly hodgepodge. I used a longer than normal lens to foreshorten
the streetscape and emphasize the signs. I like to think the picture helped,
because we got a law passed to get rid of the signs, and this was the first
street where the wires were put underground. MSA SC 1890-02-1693
41.
1969 circa: Marcellus Hall was for many years the maitre d' hotel at Carvel
Hall. He knew everyone, and everyone loved him. The Navy even made him
an honorary admiral; in fact, he had more stripes than a real admiral.
After the hotel closed, he started his own business giving tours of Annapolis.
I caught him here on Maryland Avenue just outside the Naval Academy. MSA
SC 1890-02-650
42.
1970: City Dock is always an inspiration for exhibition-quality prints,
especially when it snows. On this day, I was disappointed at first because
the snow wasn't very obvious on the boats; then I noticed the reflections.
I give a lot of talks to camera clubs, and I always challenge them to go
to City Dock and not come back with wonderful pictures. MSA SC 1890-02-2475-1
43.
February 1970: My wife claims this photograph as hers because she was the
one who saw it first. She was driving across the King George Street bridge
one morning when she saw these seagulls on the ice. She hurried home and
insisted that I go right out with my camera. I shot a whole roll of film,
but this is the only one that's really good because of the spacing of the
birds. It's a very difficult negative to print so that the details stand
out. It was one of our most popular photographs at the gallery, and we
used it one year on our Christmas card. MSA SC 1890-02-20-1-23 (35mm)
44.
March 29, 1971: The Hammond Harwood House Association hired me to make
twelve new photographs in the house for a set of notepaper. This is my
favorite, probably because it was one of the hardest to do. It's a combination
of artificial light and daylight: the secret is to make it appear that
the light is only coming from the direction of the window. Moving the artificial
lights during a long time exposure eliminated the shadows and gave a good
depth of field. Lighting the candles added the lived-in look. MSA SC 1890-02-2768A
45.
April 20, 1974: I always like to get the State House in my street scenes
because that identifies it instantly as Annapolis, even without a caption.
But that's a difficult thing to do because the wires often get in the way.
In order to get a good perspective for this view of Maryland Avenue, I
was up on a six-foot ladder with my tripod fully extended to about twelve
feet. That got me up above the fence so I could really see the Chase House
doorway. My favorite vantage point is about twelve feet up--that's why
I now have a wooden platform on top of my van. MSA SC 1890-02-3038A
46.
September 24, 1981: Historic Annapolis had built a model of City Dock during
the colonial period, and they wanted to do a modern-day version, too. I
convinced them the best way to see it from all angles would be in aerial
photographs taken from a helicopter. This was my favorite view from that
particular outing. I like the strong backlighting and how clearly it shows
the changes that had happened in the previous ten years in the area. MSA
SC 1890-02-4275-7
47.
October 1987: I made this view from the Eastport bridge for the new edition
of Annapolis Adventure we're working on. I think it includes several
of the reasons people come to Annapolis: the water, the pleasure boats,
and the Carroll Mansion symbolizing the historic homes. MSA SC 1890-02-30,208
48.
October 1987: I saw this scene when I was riding my bike one day on Lafayette
Avenue just after Mary and I moved into town. I got up before dawn the
next morning and went back. I shot a whole series of pictures as the sun
was coming up, until it got too bright for the lens. After all these years
of taking water views in Annapolis, it's still exciting when I discover
a new vista. MSA SC 1890-02-30,286
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