Father Pitt

Would you like to see a random article?
Of course you would.

    • About Father Pitt
    • Contents & Search
      • Alphabetical Index
    • Father Pitt’s Other Collections
      • Father Pitt’s Pittsburgh Encyclopedia
    • Privacy
    • Using These Pictures
  • Dappled Shade in the Woods

    Stream in the woods

    “Two stops underexposed!” says the camera. “Nuts to you!” says the photographer. Manual exposure was necessary to keep the spots of sunshine from being blasted out into solid white.

    You may notice that Father Pitt keeps returning to this one scene the way Monet kept returning to his water lilies. Not that old Pa Pitt compares himself to Monet, but there are certain rewards for the artist in returning to the same subject in different lights and different seasons. Getting to know the one place intimately reveals the changes wrought by time and light.

    Camera: Canon PowerShot S45.
    July 4, 2015
  • Alcoa Building, North Shore

    The Alcoa headquarters is a modernist symphony in aluminum. Father Pitt confesses to liking this building a great deal better than the old Alcoa building downtown, which still looks like a pile of old television sets to him.

    July 3, 2015
  • Frederick Osterling’s Architectural Studio

    Frederick Osterling built this charming little building in 1917 to be his office and studio. From it he had  a fine view of the Pittsburgh skyline that he was helping shape—a view now blocked by the new Alcoa building.

    July 2, 2015
  • Eastern Cottontail

    A rabbit pauses while grazing on Herr’s Island (or Washington’s Landing, as it likes to be called these days).

    Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.
    July 2, 2015
  • Herr’s Island Railroad Bridge

    Built in 1890 to reach the stockyards and other industrial unpleasantness on Herr’s Island, this bridge now carries bicycles from the Three Rivers Heritage Trail. Herr’s Island itself, renamed “Washington’s Landing,” is now full of expensive townhouses at this end, with some offices and businesses in the middle of the island and a park at the northeast end.

    Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.
    July 1, 2015
  • Skyline from Spring Hill

    June 30, 2015
  • Toad

    An American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus) along the Trillium Trail in Fox Chapel.

    Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.
    June 30, 2015
  • Polish Hill

    Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, built by Polish railroad workers in their meager time off from work, presides over the vertiginous neighborhood of Polish Hill. This view was taken from across the Allegheny on the Herr’s Island railroad bridge, now part of a bicycle trail.

    Camera: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3.
    June 28, 2015
  • Heinz Factory

    Some of the old Heinz factory buildings have been turned into loft apartments, and some are still awaiting their next use. The H. J. Heinz Company was a kind of workers’ paradise when old H. J. himself ran it—there was never a strike, never a wage reduction; medical care was free; there was a library and a gymnasium, free concerts for everyone in the auditorium, and even free manicures for the women. Heinz was also notorious for pushing for federal food regulations when the rest of the food industry was fighting them tooth and nail. It was probably just the way old H. J. was constituted, but it was also priceless publicity: would you rather buy food from the company that fights federal oversight or the company that flings wide the doors and welcomes the inspectors?

    June 28, 2015
  • Chartiers Hill United Presbyterian Church

    A congregation near Canonsburg founded in Revolutionary times by John McMillan, “the Apostle of Presbyterianism in the West.” He preached here for decades, and his grave is here in the old churchyard, along with graves of many other early settlers.

    The current building dates from 1840, with extensive renovations in 2002. While the renovations were in progress, the whole front fell down, so that everything you see on the side with the bell tower and entrance is new.

    Update: Father Pitt has found some old pictures of Chartiers Hill Church he took in 1999, when the old front was still standing

    Camera: Olympus E-20n.
    June 28, 2015
←Previous Page
1 … 345 346 347 348 349 … 443
Next Page→