Virjune Manufacturing Co: Inside Waterbury's Vacant Factory

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J and I were already having a rough day. We'd just driven across town to check out an old industrial site he hadn't visited in a while, only to find it erased. Nothing left but a slab of concrete and chain-link fence. So we took a detour. Sometimes you salvage a disappointing afternoon with a backup plan, even if you're just ticking a box. The former Virjune plant hides in plain sight off Thomaston Avenue. If you drive past in summer, you'll miss it completely. Trees and shrubs swallow the building whole, nature reclaiming what industry left behind. Come winter, though, when the branches go bare and the world turns gray, the red brick skeleton reveals itself. Even then, you have to know where to look. I pulled up old Sanborn maps to trace the building's history. The earliest tenant was an auto body shop in 1922. By February 1950, something bigger had moved in. The map labels it simply "Stamping Wks." No company name. No flourish. Just function. That namele...
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A Supermoon for a Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm Tele










Capturing the ethereal beauty of the night sky, I recently took my new Takumar 135mm 1:3.5 lens for a test under the stars, setting my camera to ISO 200, a shutter speed of 1/200s, and manual mode to best capture the lunar landscape. With the aperture set between f/16 and f/22, the intricate grey details of the moon's surface were vividly showcased against the backdrop of a perfectly clear night sky. As I jot down these thoughts, the clock nudges closer to 3AM EST, specifically 2:37AM EST, underscoring the serene quiet of the early morning.

The intention was to complement this lunar exploration with some low-light video footage, utilizing the Yashica 1.4 lens. However, the whims of nature intervened, as clouds veiled the celestial spectacle, obscuring the view and dashing my plans. Such is the unpredictable thrill of astrophotography, yet the promise of future supermoons keeps the spirit of anticipation alive.

This nocturnal venture not only offered a glimpse into the moon's mesmerizing details but also served as a testament to the Asahi Takumars' exceptional optical quality. These lenses continue to be instrumental in capturing the natural world's subtleties, whether in the dead of night or the light of day.

As I conclude this post, the ambiguity of the hour prompts a playful pondering: Is it time to bid you goodnight, or rather, good morning? Regardless, the adventure into the night yields to the necessity of sleep. Until the next celestial event beckons, I bid you a restful pause, be it under the cloak of night or the first light of dawn.





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