Well I hope you polished off your pinholes and had some fun this weekend!  The last Sunday of every April marks World Wide Pinhole Day.  People from all over the world take a step back and use a handmade pinhole camera or converted digital camera to create amazing images.
This year’s online gallery is already starting to populate so check out it out!
My film shots are still waiting to be dropped off at the lab tomorrow, but I did take my Lensbaby ZonePlate/Pinhole lens for a walk with my D700 camera.  In the two shots of the daffodils I wanted to show the difference between the soft focus glow of the zone plate and the soft sharpness of the pinhole.  The beauty of the Lensbaby dual optic is the ease that you can switch between Zone and Pinhole mode.  This $35 optic will definitely make you see in a new way with your Lensbaby.  The Zone Plate is a permanent f/19 and the Pinhole is f/177, both settings make it dim to look through the viewfinder of your SLR camera.  I find it easier to compose by putting my camera in Live View mode, which shows the “live” image on the back of the screen.  In a sunny environment the Zone Plate is easy to compose this way. Take a test shot, if  you like it ~ why not shoot it again with the pinhole setting?  I advise using a tripod if possible.  The Zone Plate is easy to use handheld on a sunny day but the pinhole will have 2-10 second exposures on a bright day.  Remember the Pinhole setting needs about 5 more stops of light to get the equivalent exposure.
Don’t feel like counting the math of 5 stops?  Here is a little reciprocity math trick:
I call it the Six Stop Rule:
If your Zone Plate Exposure equals 1/10 of a second exposure
Change your Pinhole to a 10 second exposure, which would be 6 stops difference, then half that number (subtract a stop) which would be 5 seconds and the equivalent of 5 stops.

Let’s try it again:
Zoneplate Exposure equals 10 seconds.  To add each stop of light you need to multiply by 2.
20 seconds = 1 stop
40 seconds = 2 stops
80 seconds = 3 stops
160 seconds = 4 stops
320 seconds = 5 stops
320 seconds = 5 1/2 minutes.  The difference between 5 and 5.5 minutes at such a long exposure is negligible.

You can use the “Six Stop Rule” easily to compute the switch from zone plate to pinhole with the Lensbaby optic.
Tens of seconds = Seconds (minus a stop) – 1/8 second = 4 seconds
Seconds = Minutes (minus a stop) – 15 seconds = 7.5 minutes
Minutes = Hours (minus a stop) – 2 minutes = 1 hour

I’ll be teaching more about the Fine Art of the Long Exposure at a FREE seminar at B&H Photo on May 27th from 11am-1pm.  Feel free to bring by any pinhole or night images for feedback, and if you shot any pinhole on World Wide Pinhole Day, upload them to their site!

Hope to see you there.

Pardon the lack of updates lately, strange things happen to me and computers it seems during the summer…

Anyway, there are some spectacular Photo Events coming up in my two favorite cities in the States, San Francisco and New York, that I wanted to promote.

This Saturday August 29th, the alternative visions of f295, make their first symposium stop on the West Coast! I’ve been attending these events for the last 3 years in Pittsburgh and Tom Persinger brings together an amazing collection of “21st Century Photographers” to discuss their unique visions that incorporate the old and new technologies available to photographers. What’s great about this one day event at San Francisco State, is that it is free! It’s a full day of knowledge with featured speakers: Jo Babcock, Martha Casanave, Susannah Hays, Kerik Kouklis, Chris McCaw, Brian Taylor, Claudia Wornum, and of course Tom Persinger.
The above pinhole pictures were taken at this year’s f295 Photowalk in Pittsburgh.
For more info and to register for this FREE EVENT click here

D65′s Workflow not Workslow 4-day Lightroom seminar is also coming to San Francisco. I feel Seth and Jamie, of d65, give the best workshop on Lightroom that I have ever attended. You eat, drink, and breathe photography and a little wine for 4 intense days. Every person I’ve talked to that has taken this class has optimized their Photo organizing skills as well as gained a better understanding of the photo industry. The dates are September 11th-14th and for the SF workshop they are offering a special deal:

Buy one get one at 1/2 off  - you can bring a friend for half price

The total for two people would be $1648.00 (no other discounts can be applied)
Discount code is: SFSPECIAL
All the information on the workshop is at:  http://www.d-65.com/workshops.html

Now to New York…20+ of my images are hanging at the John Allan’s Club that is located on the 7th floor of Saks 5th Avenue! They’ll be up for another month or two before their next stop…but if he happen to be shopping on 5th Avenue, go check out my work!

I just got word that “Lost American” and Night Light Painter Supreme, Troy Paiva will be in a group show in New York that opens on September 9th. I don’t know where yet, this is really hot off the press, but I hope to see you there!

Heading back to SF, another Night Photography exhibit that features Troy, Joe Reifer, and Mike Hows opens on Friday September 4th at the Lucky JuJu Gallery. More details can be found here.

And finally…Are you afraid of the dark?
Well, this Halloween I will be teaching a Full Moon Night Photography Workshop in the Catskills of New York. The class will be from 2pm-2am on Saturday October 31st and will cost $300 including room and board! I’m limiting this workshop to 10-12 people so that you can get the most hands on experience. If you are interested in attending, email me ASAP at gabe@ruinism.com
I already have 7 people on the waiting list and it will be on first come first serve basis.
More details to follow…

With the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom and exposures averaging 6 seconds, last month’s World Wide Pinhole day was truly a perfect pinhole~icious time.  I met 9 1/2 of my friends at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, it was one of the few hot and sunny days we’ve erratically had here in NYC.  Shooting with Fuji Instant 4×5 backs and the Lensbaby Zone Plate, newcomers to the pinhole realm were able to easily get feedback on exposures and how to compose without a viewfinder.  Pictured here is a selection of my favorite shots, click on them to make them larger and get more detailed info.

The next full moon is Sunday June 7th, and if you are in the New York area and want to brush up on your night photography skills come check out “The Fine Art of the Long Exposure” seminar that I will be giving twice on Wednesday June 3rd!  The first talk will be at B&H’s Event Space from 11am-1pm and then 7:30 -9:30pm that night at the Flushing Camera Club.  I’ve added about 30% new content and will feature images and insights from a recent trips to Prague and the Pearsonville Junkyard Workshop.

Time Exposed, my solo exhibit at John Allan’s Tribeca has been extended until June 11th.  From there it will move to the John Allan’s at Saks 5th Ave for the summer before ending at the flagship John Allan’s Midtown.  I hope to have another opening for the Midtown location this fall, so stay tuned.

And finally I just got back from the f295 Symposium in Pittsburgh.  I’m still recovering from seeing so many amazing tintypes, dagguerotypes, and other alternative processes and visions from some of the top 21st Century Photographers.  More images and info as soon as the film dries!

Coney Island Dreams ~ Zero Image 4x5 Pinhole Camera ~ 75mm f/216 ~ 2 1/2 min. exposure ~ Fuji FP100C Instant Film

Time to dust off your pinheads and get creative as today is World Wide Pinhole Day!

What is a pinhole camera?

It’s a camera that’s lens is actually a small pin-hole, usually pricked through piece of aluminum and then placed over the opening of a camera or box. It is the oldest form of photography and with the aperture of the pinhole lens equating to f/150 and beyond it can easily open you to seeing the world in a whole new way. Most modern glass lenses max out with an aperture of f/32 so a pinhole camera’s minimal exposure is usually 2-8 seconds on a sunny day.  Given that much time in a single exposure I choose to add subjects that have movement within the image, like water, clouds, or people walking. A pinhole will also give you infinite depth of field, so it is important to place something strong in the foreground to heighten that depth. The above image features both those elements. Shot at Coney Island during last year’s gloomy NYC World Wide Pinhole day I place the wide angle pinhole camera about a foot away from the rocks. I also made sure the camera was high enough to show the tide of the water coming in and out during the 2 1/2 minute exposure.
Weather-wise tomorrow looks to be a much better day in NYC with temperatures in mid-80′s! A group of us will are planning on shooting at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and maybe take a quick dip to Coney! Feel free to send me any of your WWPD images and I’ll post them on this site.
Here’s some more info on Pinholes and how to make a homemade pinhole camera.

Intimidated with making a pinhole camera here is a list of “Professional” pinhole camera that you can purchase and get consistent results from:

	Build your own paper/cardboard camera by Lomo. These are fun cameras that give you the experience of “building our own camera” but with all the dotted lines to fold along! Both take 35mm film but do not feature a tripod socket. It’s a simple and fun way to get into pinhole photography but if you are serious you will need a camera with a tripod socket.
	For a little more money you can upgrade to a medium format Holga or Diana plastic cameras. The most interesting of the bunch is the newly released wide angle multi-format Holga 6×12 Pinhole! My good friend and fellow blogger, Mike Murray just picked up one of these and I look forward to seeing his panoramic pinhole results!
	Stepping up to Large format, the Santa Barbara wooden pinhole cameras offer sizes of 4×5, 5×7, 8×10, or 11×14. The 4×5 baltic birch superwide is the most common and is economically priced under $60! But the 11×14 size is pretty tempting for under $250!
	My favorite is definitely the Zero Image brand of cameras. These cameras are handsomely constructed of teak and brass and offer a variety of formats to choose from. I personally own the 6×12 and 4×5 versions. Both offer a turret system so you can choose to use a pinhole or zoneplate lens, or a combination of both!
	And finally the Lensbaby Composer or Muse can take the ZonePlate/Pinhole optic and easily make turn your digital SLR camera into a visionary camera. See my previous blog for examples.

Well whatever you use, from an oatmeal box to a high end pinhole camera I hope you have a great day slowing down and seizing the moments of time!

The f295 kickoff last weekend was a huge success!  Thanks to the over 150 people who came out to Saturday night’s 21st Century Photography opening!  The work and vibe must have been reminiscent of Stieglitz‘s old Camera Club openings!  Thanks  also to all that helped put the show together:  the artists who shared their work, The Camera Club of NY who gave their 500 square feet, David, Jennifer, and Amy on the B&H organizational end ~ as well as serving up a record amount of kosher wine!  And finally, Tom Persinger, who brought us all together and had one heck of a time trying to make letters stick on walls.

Wondering what camera to document the gallery opening with, I finally settled on using my trusty Panasonic LX-3, which is an advanced digital point and shoot.  The pioneering Panasonic has a little throwback feature, it has a pinhole scene mode!  See, I told you that pinholes were enjoying a renaissance!  For some reason the pinhole mode is limited to 3MP images while applying a vignette and desaturating the image.   I know it would have been better if the lens could have come off to reveal a real pinhole over the digital sensor but hey, I wasn’t going to get everyone to stand still for 5 hours for the group shot! All the images on the left were taken in this “pinhole mode” while the right hand side shows the packed house for Sunday’s presentation at the B&H Event Space.  For the second straight year over 80 people showed up to listen and learn about new ways to use older technology.

We all struggle with keeping our art and life fresh and new.  For photographers the terms wedding, portrait, landscape, pinhole, or even alt process can all pigeonhole and limit our vision.  Tom Persinger asks us to look beyond these stereotypes and empower the 21st Century Photography:

The 21st Century Photographer remains open to the exploration and use of a variety of processes, techniques, and technologies so long as the chosen method(s) most concisely articulate their creative vision. A net result of this paradigm shift is not only complete artistic freedom but also a palpable sense of empowerment. Historically photography has marched down the long path of process obsolescence – one in which new techniques replace old in a continual cycle of progress. In a 21st Century approach, however, control is wrestled from profit driven agencies -corporations, advertisers, and the marketplace all promoting a consumptive photographic model- and given to the artist/photographer. By virtue of taking the responsibility of control, photographers allow themselves to use a pastiche of tools and materials to make pictures. It is this freedom -which is new for many- that empowers and fuels the 21st Century Photographer.

Photography is a toolbox with many means to express your vision.  Some people choose one, others need multiple instruments to complete the vision.  This weekend I saw art that was in jars, painted on, waxed, dyed, and printed on anything from the latest digital technology to handmade emulsions on a variety of surfaces from tin, glass, and paper.  The photograph that I submitted in the show was originally a 6×9 slide.  I was deciding between two basic ways to present my print:
1.  Drop it off at a lab and have them make a negative copy of my positive slide and then a C-print
2.   Scan the slide and print at home on inkjet.
Now, my good friend and constant conscience, David Brommer, stood aghast when I told him that I  I was leaning towards the lab option;  mainly for convenience as I am still not 100% confident in my inkjet printing.  I’m still most at home in the B&W darkroom.  But he reminded me that I had to control the final outcome of my image.

And really, it is all about the process ~ from start to finish.

Now did I enjoy spending close to an hour digitally removing dust from my image?
No.
Is the excitement the same as flipping over the black and white image in the developer under the red light?
Nope.
But, seeing a project from start to finish is still pretty damn fulfilling.

the sea

For those of you in NYC this weekend, make sure you come to the 21st Century Photography Opening Party on Saturday, January 17th, from 7-9pm at the NY Camera Club located at 336 West 37th Street, Suite 206.
The show kick starts a weekend of inspirational activities by the f295 group with a seminar at B&H the next day.  See my previous blog for the list of amazing artists!

In other good news, one of my Holga images made it into the Krappy Kamera contest that will open at the Soho Gallery in NYC on Tuesday March 3rd!  Now in it’s 11th year, the Krappy Kamera contest received over 1500 lo-fi images and mine was one of 50 selected!  The opening party at the Soho gallery is always a blast, so mark your calenders for that fun event!

Looking for a cool night photography workshop?  Interested in abandoned car graveyards?  Night Photographer extraordinaires,  Troy Paiva and Joe Reifer, are hosting their popular Pearsonville Junkyard Workshop on the full moon weekend of March 7th and 8th.  Now it is in California, but I highly recommend it if you are at all interested in Night Photography and especially Light Painting techniques.  Availability is limited to 10 people so sign up quick!

Finally, I’ve been wanting to blog about this one for a while.  Project Tandem is the story of two young people bicycling across the United States in search for the folks who help make the world go round.  Photographing and capturing audio along their journey, Alan and Morgan are already bringing us the incredibly inspirational stories of the day to day people they meet who make a difference.  Follow their blog and check out the tandem trailer and hopefully share in their story as they will probably be visiting a town near you!

Good times are ahead in the world of photography as Lensbaby just revamped their entire line of creative lenses for SLR cameras.  I’ve been a big fan of these quirky looking 50mm lenses that create a sweet spot of focus and selectively defocus the other areas.  They’ve been described as bringing a very dreamy and ethereal quality to your photos and because of their unique look they are always an ice breaker when shooting.

So when my friends at Lensbaby asked me to beta test their latest incarnation, The Composer, I was very excited and had no idea what to expect!  I received it right before my trip to the Oregon Coast.  Not only did Lensbaby create the new lens, The Composer, but they also revamped their entire line by adding the Optical Swap System to all their revised lenses.  Now one Lensbaby can have 4 different effects!  You can easily swap out the standard 2 element glass lens for a more dreamy 1 glass element, or 1 plastic element (more holga-esque), or a zone plate/pinhole element!  Ingenious idea!  The Composer that Lensbaby sent me only had the pinhole/zoneplate optical element, so that is what I’ll be focusing on in this article.  Also please be warned that I used a pre-production beta lens and things might still change by the time you buy yours!

The Composer, is and will be the easiest Lensbaby ever to use.  I have owned all the previous versions, and have demonstrated them to thousands of people at photo events.  It takes most people a week of constant Lensbaby use to get the hang of it.  When you first try a lensbaby it  can seem a bit like juggling while taking pictures, and no one really wants to juggle cameras!  However, the new Composer will eliminate all the intimidation of how to focus as it uses a simple ball and socket configuration to smoothly and selectively focus.  The previous versions, now called the Muse and the Control Freak really need the use of both of your hands to focus, while the Composer can be easily adjusted/focused with one hand by simply tilting the lens to the desired focus/defocus. I found the option to tighten the ball/socket to lock the angle position very helpful.  It’s just like the friction control on a ballhead, you can simply adjust the tension for your tilt.  A barrel focusing ring located at the front of the lens aids in fine-tuning the focus.

The zone plate/pinhole optical apertures are f/19 for the zone plate and f/177 for the pinhole.  For those of you unfamiliar with zoneplates, they look like a black and white bullseye targets.  A zone plate consists of a series of clear and dark concentric rings that have very specific diameters to create the chosen focal length.  These specific targets are shot on a clear based film and then placed over the hole that now becomes the lens.  In the Composer the zone plate/pinhole were placed in a shiftable turret making it quite easy to choose which one you wanted to shoot with by sliding the turret back and forth.  To be completely honest with you, I had The Composer for 4 days and mainly used the zone plate setting, which I found the most interesting and easiest to use.  Remember you are shooting with either f/19 or f/177 so your other choices are raising the ISO or lowering your shutter speeds in order to get the correct exposure.  Sunny days and tripods are a must for using the zone plate/pinhole element though I did find the zone plate shooting to be very hand holdable .  Also, the zone plate was easier to view the focusing in the viewfinder of the camera as it was letting in more light.  I usually set the Composer on infinity focus while shooting pinhole.  I was using a hand held meter for judging exposures though the in-camera meter in the Fuji S5 did pretty accurate job.

The first two images are of the Oregon State Hospital, where the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was filmed.  Angus and I were given a hot tip that OSH was giving a one day only tour of the J ward, where most of the movie was filmed.  The Oregon State Hospital was built in 1883 and is in dire need of asbestos removal as well as other serious renovations.  The complete and total renovation of the J ward and OSH is to begin later this year and hopefully be complete in 2011.  The top image was taken with the pinhole setting on a tripod and the second image was hand held with the zone plate setting.  Notice the beautiful glow that emanates from most zone plate images.  The Diffraction of the highlights creates a very dreamlike look while still maintaining enough focus to make out details.  The pinhole looks sharp/soft and emulates a plastic lens look without the vignetting.  I personally do not like pinholes on SLR cameras.  I like hand made pinhole cameras or pinhole box cameras as there is usually a more imperfect look to them.  Heavy vignetting and bending verticals are usually what I like to see in imperfect pinholes.  Lensbaby creates a pretty perfect pinhole and I advise utilizing the long exposures that f/177 will give you as well as putting something strong in the foreground to heighten the pinhole effect. I found that the tilting or bending of the lensbaby with the pinhole/zoneplate element did not create any selective focus effects in the viewfinder, so I shot most of my images with it focused straight ahead.  I would like to further test this aspect as it would lead to a truly unique effect.

Besides the Fuji S5 with the Composer, the only other camera I had on this trip was the Wisner 4×5 camera.  So when we were led inside the Oregon State Hospital for the tour, I knew I’d be at a handicap shooting indoors at minimum f/19.  Just like any zone plate or pinhole, a tripod is necessary if you want to shoot indoors.  Outdoors, during the day, the Zoneplate Composer will make you incredibly happy as ordinary objects attain a certain glow.  The sunset Angus and I witnessed at Cannon Beach made my Top 5 Most Amazing Sunsets Ever list and I feel the essence of the memory was accurately captured by the zone plate Composer.

I reluctantly gave the Composer back to Lensbaby as they were preparing to bring it to the biggest photo trade show of the year, Photokina. I can’t wait to use it again as well as try the complete optical swap system. All the new Lensbabies, including the Composer, are due out in about 4 weeks. You can preorder and find out more information at Lensbaby.com or B&H Photo.

Scott Kelby is hosting a Worldwide Photo Walk to celebrate the release of the Lightroom 2.0, probably the best image editing software out there. These Walks are taking place all over the world on August 23rd and I will be leading one in NYC! The Photo Walks are a social photography event to get you out from in front of your computer and behind your camera with a group of like minded folk. Each walk is limited to 50 people, my walk will take us over the Brooklyn Bridge where amazing views of the city and for now, the NYC waterfalls, surround you. We will then meander around DUMBO and end the adventure at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory where we can share our work and have a scoop or three! The Photo Walks are 2 hours long and if you don’t see one in your city why not sign up and lead one? All the images will be uploaded and judged by Scott Kelby, with the winning image earning the photographer thousands of dollars in cool prizes! Again space is limited; so click here to sign up and find out more info on Brooklyn Bridge walk.

The International Guild of Pinhole Photographers just released Dark Chambers Volume 2, which features 3 of my images in it! These beautiful textured fine art books are each hand stamped and the produced in England. The name Dark Chamber originates from the Latin, Camera Obscura. This latest volume is over 175 pages and features 200+ inspiring pinhole images by 28 artists from all over the world. The book will be limited and produced in a small run. Dark Chamber volume 2 costs approximately $25 plus shipping and can be ordered from the Urban Fox Press website. or by contacting them directly at info@urbanfoxpress.com.

Also pictured is our newly decorated living room. The coffee table is an amazing wedding gift from my brotherman/groomsman, Angus. He created, crated, and accompanied this work of art out to us in April and assembled it in our house… now that’s what we call service! It features a hidden compartment which flips and reveals a ready to play cribbage board! Anyone game? Behind the table is Nancy’s chaise lounge that she has been transporting across the country for 10 years. 3 years ago she finally reupholstered the chaise with the luscious blue velvet fabric. Prior to the chaise, that same blue velvet covered Sandy on the Frozen Hudson seen below.

Pictured on the wall above the table and chaise is “Sleepless” by France Scully Osterman. Nancy and I fell in love with this image at the f/295 exhibit in Pittsburgh. It was a gift for Nancy for her Birthday and our 2 year anniversary. Sleepless is a 44×50 waxed salt print and was limited to a production of nine. This image is beautifully printed using the 150+ year collodion process. This gives it a lush and tonal depth that you can’t keep your eyes off.

Our Gallery Living Room in Brooklyn is open to the public by appointment only, and you better brush up on your cribbage game!

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of marriage to my lovely Nancy. I’ve only known her 1/4 of her life but can’t wait to reach the halfway mark! We were married under an arbor and when I came upon this one right outside the Woodstock area I knew I had to capture it. I used a combination of a zone plate and pinhole to take this image. My Zero Image 4×5 camera comes with a turret of 3 zone plates and 3 pinholes I can choose from for exposing. By combining the two “lenses” I was able to get the “glow” from the zone plate while retaining the sharpness of the framework with the pinhole. How much did I pre-visualize? Well a pinhole camera has no viewfinder but I’m used to “seeing” with this camera. I shot low to the ground and towards the sun and knew there would be flare, but the red and green light pouring forth is the most beautiful light I could have asked for.
Happy anniversary Nancy!

June 24th is also Nancy’s 1st anniversary of turning 40. Yes, she did put all her eggs in one basket but she’s a summer solstice baby and we both have strong feelings about midsummer eve. We celebrated the longest day of the year not at a baseball park, but in Upstate New York close to where we were married. During the summer solstice the sun appears to stand still facing the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a powerful day for telling the future as well as discovering true love, which we both are lucky to have. So the second picture featured is a reflection of Nancy taking the plunge! I know they say 40 is the new 30 but in Nancy’s case I’d have to say it’s the new 25! Happy Birthday my muse! You continue to inspire and understand me like no other. Let the summer good times begin!

First off I want to thank everyone who attended and wished me well at my sold out lecture on Pinhole and Night Photography yesterday! Thanks to David Brommer and B&H for giving me the opportunity to share my vision, I’ve been doing this for several years now but I still learned a lot while compiling my research. I did catch a cold the day of the lecture and my voice is officially shot after speaking for 2 hours!

This week’s photo of the week has been over 6 months in the making! Last October I went on a great 25+ mile bike ride that started in Brooklyn and continued up the scenic bike path along the West Side Highway. This is my usual route to work but I only get to take advantage of the wonderful views up until 34th street. Then, I met up with the infamous David Brommer, and we made a decision to explore the West Side Bikeway as far as our bikes and legs would take us. It was a beautiful day in October and a wonderful ride. We stopped several times for photos and yes, I confess, once for Dinosaur BBQ. Of course I had packed a 4×5 pinhole camera and lightweight tripod along. This black and wide image above was definitely the most amazing thing we saw! For some lame reason, I forgot about it and never had a chance to develop it until 2 weeks ago…What a pleasant pinhole surprise! I couldn’t remember where this was along the highway but I was determined to retrace my bike treads and find out more information. So last week after work, instead of biking south along the West Side Highway, I headed north and in less than 10 minutes, I started to find some answers.

“The New York Central Railroad 69th St Transfer Bridge has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior 2003″

was stamped onto a plaque on the grassy field in front of the ruin.
The top color image, and Official Photo of the Week, was taken as the sun set on a gorgeous May evening.
But now, I wanted more info – the who, what, and where of this Transfer Bridge story…

To understand what a transfer bridge is you must first know what a car float is. The car float is a specialised form of the train ferry. A railroad car float is an unpowered barge with rail tracks mounted on its deck. It is used to move railroad cars across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise access, and is pushed or towed by a tugboat. Until the advent of post-war trucking, the railroads had 3400 personnel operating small fleets with 323 car floats, plus 1094 other barges, towed by 150 tugboats between New Jersey and New York City. Deep searches into the internet yielded this excerpt that Christopher Gray expounded further in the New York Times article from 2004:

To speed the operation, several designers developed suspension systems that raised and lowered the transfer bridge from an overhead structure. In 1911, the New York Central Railroad built such a system, designed by James B. French, at the foot of West 69th Street. French patented his design, which uses two separate decks raised and lowered independently and a wide shed running across the top to protect the lifting machinery.
French’s design “swept the field,” says Thomas F. Flagg, an industrial archaeologist who has studied and written about transfer bridges for three decades. Mr. Flagg says that such an operation could unload 800 tons of cargo in 15 minutes. To a non-specialist, the rail-car transfer seems unwieldy, but it is faster than a modern container crane, Mr. Flagg says.
In the mid-1920′s, the Long Island Rail Road built several float bridges of the same design on the East River at Long Island City; they accommodated 100-ton cars and could rise and fall 18 feet.
As American railroading – and rail freight in the Port of New York – declined drastically, these float bridges tumbled into disuse, and by the 1970′s were wide open for graffiti, vandalism and urban adventure. In 1998, Gantry Plaza State Park opened at 48th and 49th Avenues, succeeding the Long Island Rail Road transfer point there. The landscape architects Thomas Balsley Associates incorporated float bridges into the design.

For further reading check out: New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan’s Significant Buidlings and Landmarks
I just ordered mine!