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I recently had a chance to revisit one of my favorite historical landmarks in Manchester. That day my goal was to boost my depth of field skills and push a couple of "affordable" lenses to their limits. And I'll admit, I also wanted to keep up with my fearless colleagues who had risked frostbite and hypothermia to capture some gorgeous shots during last week's cold snap. I found the railroad roundhouse as I had last left her — abandoned, decaying, swathed in graffiti, languishing under the beating of another brutal New York winter. Some of the refuse had been cleared in preparation for a future renovation, but there was still plenty of chaos. "If this spectacular old girl could talk," I thought. "The stories she could tell." As I set up bracketed shots to compare with their HDR counterparts, bits and pieces of bygone conversations bounced around in my head: travelers saying goodbye or being welcomed home, railroad workers kibitzing, f...

It's nothing special. It's exactly like hundreds of others all over town, gathering dust in garages, storage sheds, basements and attics. In fact, it's just like the one that's been rusting away in your neighbor's side yard for the last year and a half — nothing more than an ordinary, unimpressive little toy. But for this newsroom staff, that simple toy has risen above its humble station in life to become a friend, a playmate, a confidant, a glorious distraction from deadlines, rewrites, edits, and evolving strategies. Its name is "scooter." Abandoned long ago (one hopes) by a now-grown neighborhood kid, it has been tucked away in dark corner of the newsroom. That is, until one day a few months back, when in a totally unexpected flash of genius, our multimedia director brought it out into the light and climbed aboard. Amid the din of clicking computer keys, ringing phones, chattering voices and pounding presses, he sailed up and down cu...