Figure 1 – Rhinoceros Boston, MA, IPhone photograph. (c) DE Wolf 2013.

One of Boston’s true gems is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Home and Museum on the Fenway.  We are now further graced with the beautiful new wing by architect Renzo Piano. The collection, originally a private collection, is spectacular, if a bit quirky, as it reflects Gardner’s personal taste.  She mandated that the museum, in what is referred to as “The Castle,” remain unchanged.  This has and continues to cause problems.  The lighting is terrible and people are dangerously close to the art.  Still, it remains an absolute must see – especially the indoor courtyard and garden, which can be a cathartic retreat, especially in winter.  Also the concert venue is gorgeous. BTW – my wife and I split in our reviews of the restaurant, me thumbs up, her thumbs down.

There is one major problem, however – no photography allowed – “the unkindest cut of all.”  So I had to leave my camera at home.  I could have carried it through the museum – but, really what for.  As we exited the museum and walked back to the parking garage and past the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, I just couldn’t resist any longer the need to photograph.  Out popped my IPhone, and I amused myself with the two photographs shown here, one of the rhinoceros sculpture and the other of the courtyard tile work, perhaps reflecting on the maze at Chartres.

The Iphone is an always ready and fun camera.  As discussed before it is wonderful for taking true verticals.  I think that if one looks closely at the rhinoceros you can see the limitation of eight bit depth images.  The dynamic range is not quite there and the tonal quality flattens. One way to clearly see this in your own work is to observe the discrete levels of the greyscale histogram.

Figure 2 – Circles, Boston, MA, IPhone photograph, (c) DE Wolf 2103.