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Matt Blaze

@mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy

835 followers 4 following 5.8K posts

Scientist, safecracker, etc. McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown. Formerly UPenn, Bell Labs. So-called expert on election security and […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ federate.social/@mattblaze, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 20h

Whoa. Retired head of the German BND (the country's lead intelligence agency) arrested for allegedly selling classified information to an unspecified foreign government. It appears have been quite the enterprise, involving his purchasing documents from a former underling. Apparently he was […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

This is part of a set of two identically framed images of Vegas. The other, at night, shows the strip at its best, such as it is, with the lights and excess at least hinting at some sense of glamor and excitement. This one, made during the day, shows the strip at its most depressing, looking […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

This is a composite of two captures with the Rodenstock 70mm HR-Digaron-W lens, each made with the back shifted up 15mm, and then with the individual captures shifted 18mm left and right, respectively. The result is two "side-by-side" 4x3 vertical images, with just enough overlap to allow them […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Las Vegas Strip (Daytime), Paradise, NV, 2023 All the pixels, which when you hold up to your hear, you can hear slot machines, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/530… #photography

The Las Vegas Strip by day, complete with a fake Eiffel Tower, a ferris wheel, a creepy sphere, and an inexplicably large, inactive, fountain. Best viewed from a safe distance.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

Las Vegas Strip (Daytime), Paradise, NV, 2023 All the pixels, which when you hold up to your hear, you can hear slot machines, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/530… #photography

The Las Vegas Strip by day, complete with a fake Eiffel Tower, a ferris wheel, a creepy sphere, and an inexplicably large, inactive, fountain. Best viewed from a safe distance.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

The BetterLight system was a marvel of its time, but looking back I don't know how I managed it in the field. The form factor was a standard 4x5 film back, but with a built-in scanner (much like a flatbed document scanner) that slowly scaned across the frame one row at a time. It took a couple […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

One of the barriers to producing a true large format digital back is that there are almost no modern large format lenses that can compete with the resolving power of the best current medium format digital lenses. So having a real system would require producing not just a large sensor, but also […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

I miss shooting with the Sinar (and the control provided by full 4x5 format), but I don't miss the bulk and clunkiness of the BetterLight scanning back. Unfortunately, there's no current commercially available true large format digital back. For most practical purposes, the PhaseOne (645 format) […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Captured with a Nikkor 90mm/4.5 lens on a Sinar P camera with a BetterLight 4x5 scanning digital back. This is really more a study in lines than anything else. The simple, unadorned design of the derelict building invites interpreting and exploring abstract forms. This building, from Treasure […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Pipes, Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 2007 All the pixels, and nothing a good coat of paint won't fix, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/211… #photography

Abstract photo of two pipes zig-zagging across the outside of a simple building. Vegetation is emerging from cracks in the pipes.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Pipes, Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 2007 All the pixels, and nothing a good coat of paint won't fix, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/211… #photography

Abstract photo of two pipes zig-zagging across the outside of a simple building. Vegetation is emerging from cracks in the pipes.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

This photo is another example of having the wrong camera/lens for the job being inferior to having the right ones, but infinitely better than having no camera at all.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

What caught my eye here was the line of people at the door. Something about the way they were dressed felt timeless, like the photo could have been made at any point in the last 50 or 60 years. I'm not a street photographer, but this scene seemed worth a try. Fortunately, everything moved […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Captured with a Pentax 645Z (a medium format DSLR) and a 75mm lens. I had no shifting lens for the 645Z, so I shot a bit wide and cropped to maintain the geometry. The main challenge was the red neon, which was so bright it washed out the red channel and would have required overly darkening the […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Margie's Candies, Chicago, IL, 2015 All the pixels, which may contain nuts, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/211… #photography

Exterior of an old-school sweets shop at night. A neon sign above the windows reads "Margie's Candies" in a stylized script. A small line of people wait at the door at the corner, at left.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Margie's Candies, Chicago, IL, 2015 All the pixels, which may contain nuts, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/211… #photography

Exterior of an old-school sweets shop at night. A neon sign above the windows reads "Margie's Candies" in a stylized script. A small line of people wait at the door at the corner, at left.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

There are styles of photography that generally don't (or simply can't) use a tripod: street photography, action, much photojournalism, etc. But I'm too slow to do those anyway.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

More modern mirrorless and DSLR cameras now often have quite good image stabilization systems to allow handholding at a few stops slower than you would otherwise be able to get away with, but still can't compete with a solid tripod on longer exposures. But the main benefit of a tripod for me is […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

This is one of the rare images that I post that wasn't captured with a tripod. The composition would have benefited from one if I had had room to maneuver with it, but I just didn't. I had to compensate for the low light with an uncomfortably high ISO, which the Nikon D3s handled pretty well.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

More ICBM photos and discussion here: www.mattblaze.org/blog/titans According to thebulletin.org, it's currently 85 seconds to midnight.

Matt Blaze: Notes from the No Lone Zone

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Captured with a DSLR and a Zeiss 21mm Distagon lens. Handheld (there was no room to set up a tripod). In 2009, I was fortunate to join a "top to bottom" tour of former Air Force Titan ICBM site 571-7, now preserved as a museum. Titan II missiles carried a nine megaton(!) "physics package" in […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Titan II ICBM, Launch Complex 571-7, Sahuarita, AZ, 2009 All the pixels, but probably no warhead, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/418… #photography

Looking up at a missile pointed upward inside a cramped underground silo, which is lined with retractable platforms and various apparatus.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Titan II ICBM, Launch Complex 571-7, Sahuarita, AZ, 2009 All the pixels, but probably no warhead, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/418… #photography

Looking up at a missile pointed upward inside a cramped underground silo, which is lined with retractable platforms and various apparatus.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

NB: Hobo moniker tags are a rathole you can spend a lot of time going down. I highly recommend the somewhat obscure documentary "Who Is Bozo Texino", which I recently noticed is currently up on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSqMAADNKA8

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

This was made with a DSLR and a swinging lens to provide selective focus on the milepost at left. This moved the plane of focus to be non-parallel with the sensor, yielding only a sliver in focus. Image was was captured at "Park Junction" in Philadelphia, where the former Reading Railroad once […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Park Junction, Philadelphia, PA, 2010 All tyhe pixels, but be sure look both ways before crossing, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/447… #photography

A single railroad track, receding into the distance, in a lonely urban area behind some houses. Almost everything is in soft focus. A railroad milepost, marked "O QA" is in sharp focus at left. There's a hobo-style graffiti moniker tag on the milepost

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Park Junction, Philadelphia, PA, 2010 All tyhe pixels, but be sure look both ways before crossing, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/447… #photography

A single railroad track, receding into the distance, in a lonely urban area behind some houses. Almost everything is in soft focus. A railroad milepost, marked "O QA" is in sharp focus at left. There's a hobo-style graffiti moniker tag on the milepost

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

There are also ventilation structures for the various railroad and subway tunnels that cross the NYC rivers, but their smaller size makes them less prominent. (The electric trains that use these tunnels don't produce exhaust that has to be as aggressively vented as in an automotive tunnel). Let […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Manhattan boasts six large ventilation towers serving the four automobile tunnels that cross the Hudson and East Rivers: two each for the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and one each for the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn Battery Tunnels. All sport an industrial art deco design reflecting their […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

The Lincoln Tunnel, opened in 1937, is a multi-tube automobile tunnel that connects midtown Manhattan with Weehawken, NJ under the Hudson (North) river. To provide fresh air and remove dangerous car exhaust, three ventilation towers (two in Manhattan and one in NJ) exchange the air in the […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 32mm/4.0 lens (@ f/7.1), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 64), Cambo WRS 1250 camera, shifted vertically -5mm, horizontally -15mm. Cropped a bit. This humble and functional, yet handsome, art deco structure is the easternmost of three ventilation towers for the Lincoln […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Lincoln Tunnel Ventilation Tower, 491 11th Avenue, NYC, 2025 All the pixels, but no tolls charged, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/543… #photography

A roughly six story simple industrial art deco-style building, lacking windows, but with a narrow louvered vent at center running vertically along its length, across a city street.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Lincoln Tunnel Ventilation Tower, 491 11th Avenue, NYC, 2025 All the pixels, but no tolls charged, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/543… #photography

A roughly six story simple industrial art deco-style building, lacking windows, but with a narrow louvered vent at center running vertically along its length, across a city street.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

The power station has long been an iconic landmark on the south bank of the Thames, distinctive for its four prominent smokestacks (two for each of its two separate generating facilities) and industrial art deco architecture. Perhaps most famously, it featured in the cover art for Pink Floyd's […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

London's Battersea Power Station, built as two nearly-identical halves completed in 1935 and 1955, respectively, was originally a coal-fired electrical generating plant. It was decommissioned in 1983. After being idle for nearly 40 years, the plant has been re-developed as retail space and […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Rodenstock 70mm/5.6 Digaron-W (@ f/8), Phase One IQ4-150 digital back (@ ISO 50), Cambo WRS 1200 camera (right shifted 20mm, vertically shifted 8mm). This composition fully exploited the image circle and edge sharpness of the lens. We're to the right of the power station, but to preserve the […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Battersea Power Station, London, UK, 2024 All the pixels, none of the flying pigs, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/540… #photography

A large industrial building with four prominent smokestacks at each corner, across a river at night.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Battersea Power Station, London, UK, 2024 All the pixels, none of the flying pigs, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/540… #photography

A large industrial building with four prominent smokestacks at each corner, across a river at night.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

I chose the 32mm Rodenstock with stitching here. I could have just barely squeezed this into a single frame with the wider-angle 23mm, except that the 23 doesn't have a large enough image circle to accommodate the vertical shift needed to keep the vertical lines from converging. The 32 has a […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

This is a stitched composite of two captures made from the same position, using horizontal shift movements to get a wider field of view on either side. This was really the only way to capture this building from in front of a tree that would otherwise have obstructed the facade, while also […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

Captured with the Rodenstock 32mm/4.0 HR Digaron-W (@ f/6.3 lens, Phase One IQ4-150 back, and Phase One XT camera. Composite of two shifted images (+/- 12mm from center horizontally, -12mm vertically). Officially, "House of the Temple, Headquarters of the Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

House of the Temple, Washington, DC, 2023 All the pixels, but no human sacriifices whatsoever, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/532… #photography

An imposing Masonic temple at night, with Ionic columns, ornate features, flanked by human lions statuary.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

The "AI changes everything" people rhyme remarkably well with the "blockchain changes everything" people.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

House of the Temple, Washington, DC, 2023 All the pixels, but no human sacriifices whatsoever, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/532… #photography

An imposing Masonic temple at night, with Ionic columns, ornate features, flanked by human lions statuary.

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

This photo particularly references two O'Keeffe paintings from her time in NYC, almost a century ago (during her Precisionist period). She lived (with Alfred Stieglitz) in the building at the left edge (the former Shelton Hotel, later a Marriott, now a dormatory). See […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

This image plays with the boundaries between realism and more abstract schools like Precisionism and Cubism. While it's a realistic image in the strict sense that it's a straight, basically unaltered photograph of buildings, it deliberately omits elements that might distract from the abstract […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

This was captured early afternoon on a clear day with a Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 50mm/4.0 (@ f/7.1) lens, Phase One IQ4 150 Achromatic Back (@ ISO 200) and Phase One XT camera (10mm vertical shift). 760nm IR filter, which effectively blackened the sky. This is an abstract view of modern midtown […]

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Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Midtown, NYC, 2022 All the pixels, but smaller than they are in person, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/518… #photography

An abstract composition of NYC midtown skyscrapers.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

The people telling me I should stick to photography and the people telling me I should stick to technology need to get together and come to a consensus about what lane they want me in. I’ll still ignore them, but at least they’ll have someone to talk to first.

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Midtown, NYC, 2022 All the pixels, but smaller than they are in person, at www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/518… #photography

An abstract composition of NYC midtown skyscrapers.