October 13, 2004

• Photopost: Nantucket Island: 1999

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  I purchased my very first digital videocamera, a JVC, in late 1998. This was before digital cameras had been invented, and there was no "still" function for memory stick or card, but you could take a "still" on the videotape. I shot a lot of video footage when on a two week vacation on Nantucket Island in September of 1999, which eventually made it into a 90 minute "documentary" about Nantucket, which has a long history in the whaling industry back in the 18th and 19th centuries. The "stills" I am featuring on this post are from my Webshots folder "Nantucket Island" and were obtained by taking a "still" from the video after the tape was inserted in my new digital videocam, which can save stills to a memory stick. (This is the camera that is still in the shop, prohibiting me from taking new photos. That's okay, I still have lots of photos on Webshots which haven't been featured here on Xanga. The photo above is me in front of the Sankaty Point Lighthouse.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  This is a shot of the steeple of the tallest building on the island, the Presbeterian Church. Inside, you can climb up to the top and view the complete island. I visited right as Hurricane Floyd was scheduled to hit Nantucket (it missed and got Virginia instead, which ended up wiping out my ex girlfriend's house on the river in Virginia) Because the weather got pretty intense, even with the hurricane skirting the island proper, when I visited the church steeple, it was rocking back and forth pretty much.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The cloud formations were excellent. I took a lot of footage of Brandt Point Lighthouse, above, which is a rather small but picturesque light. This "photo", also part of video footage, was taken early in the morning. The rain had stopped the day before.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The "photo" above is of one of the east coast's ubiquitous slat fences, with a gull in the distance. This is on Scionnoset Beach. (I might have the spelling wrong. I'm posting this at work and my computer is about to crash, so I can't open another browser window to check spelling. I'll do that later.) Everyone on the island calls the town "Sconset" anyway. There are very few "towns" on the island, which isn't very large. I got around by renting a "scooter". In 1999 the Island government was thinking of banning the scooters from the island, but they were the easiest way to get around.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  On my MikeVideo, "Nantucket Holiday Island" which is on VHS and hasn't been "digitized" for computer viewing, I detail the unique architecture, which is basically grey clapboard homes, many built in the late 1700s. Here's a shot of a house and a partially covered old truck.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The last photo on this post is looking up into Nantucket town from the harbor. I wanted to use this shot for inspiration for a drawing, and began one quite a few times, but never finished it. To the right of the white van, which is one of the many "tour busses" is a diner made out of a train car. I spent a fine two whole weeks in Nantucket in 1999. This was my last real "vacation" if I don't count my yearly Vegas trips, which only last three days. I stayed in a Bed & Breakfast, and was there so long, that I had to "switch rooms" two thirds of the way into the vacation. I brought my VCR and edited my "movie" while I was on the island. Someday I hope to feature some of the footage online as an internet movie. But for now I do have lots of photos besides these in the Webshots Folder.

  • 8:55 am
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