Upon entering Fort Delaware, I asked the Park Ranger a question she probably hadn’t been asked before: “Does the fort have an original bathroom?” Indeed, it did. Two in fact. Further inquiry revealed a bit about how the “throne” sat over the moat, which was flushed out into the bay on a regular basis. One of the two “interior outhouses” was particularly photogenic. The authenticity-driven Park Service placed a Harper’s Weekly—the most prominent magazine of the era—by the hole…there was a built-in ashtray there, too. Ever since there were written materials to be read, I suppose people have read while they sat. I propped the magazine in a position that made it more visible.
 
To soften my flash, and to widen it to cover the full sweep of my 10mm lens, I bounced it off a white card directly behind and above the camera. In bouncing the flash, I used the bounce card to focus the light so not too much light would hit the foreground bricks; they were so close to the flash there was a danger that they would get blown out. By placing the bounce card well above the camera, I was assured of getting some shadow detail on the bricks. My exposure was 1/125 sec. at f.10 (ISO400), which enabled to me to get substantial depth of field (the foreground bricks and outside building are all relatively sharp) while retaining some detail through the window.
 
I’ve blogged before about how working on a book project (or any photo project) transforms aimless meandering into purposeful travel. Aimless travel is fine, but I like the way giving myself a purpose focuses my eye and my energy. My project gave me a very different perspective on Fort Delaware than most people get…and my book project moves forward.