Brooklyn Diner

Manhattan,   New York

Staying overnight in New York City is quite the experience, especially when your hotel is only a couple of blocks from Times Square. If you haven't been there at night, you have to try hanging out there at least once. It is one of those things that you need to check off of your bucket list.

There are a lot of photographers who like to capture the zaniness of Times Square at night, and I do when I am there. I would rather shoot the same area without people bumping into you, blocking your shot or wanting to know why you are taking their picture even if you are trying to compose a building facade. That is why I like to get up early around dawn to take my serious photos.  For those who believe that New York is the city that never sleeps, I think that most of the people are asleep at dawn. At least that was so on the morning I took this photo of the Brooklyn Diner that is only a block from Times Square. There was no one to be seen when I composed this photo and the quiet was deafening.

South Carolina Swamps

Magnolia Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina

We have always wanted to visit Charleston, South Carolina, and I finally was able to do so earlier this year. We were there for only 3 short days and we tried to cram as much as we could into them (we probably needed an additional week). High on our must-do list was to visit a couple of southern plantations.  One of those that we made it to was Magnolia Plantation.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is a historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River and is one of the oldest in the South.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The attraction of the plantation (other than its buildings) are the gardens that feature a large amount of azaleas.  After getting to the plantation, we found out that we had missed the blooms by a few weeks. That was certainly in evidence as we walked through the extensive trails and saw dried-up and dead petals. The gardens are still quite beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed the very large Swamp Garden pictured in this image. 
 

Florence Architecture

Florence, Italy

The architecture of Florence, Italy, is quite diverse.  Walking through the streets gives you a sense of just how old the city really is.  The city has great examples of the many historic periods over the past 2,000 years.  It is hard to walk through the streets and not have your jaw drop open looking at all of the different architectural styles. 

One of my favorite buildings in Florence was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore seen here.  Building began in 1296 and was completed 140 years later in 1436.  It is built in the style of Gothic Revival.  It is the main church in Florence and is a Unesco World Heritage Site, along with its sister buildings of the Baptistry and Campanile. The complex is located at the Plaza de Duomo.

The Basilica's size is quite large and getting everything in the image is hard if you are  anywhere close to it (as I was).  I composed this shot in an attempt to combine the beautiful domes while also showing the ornateness of the facade.  The great soft light helped a great deal to set the mood.

Alaskan Serenity

  Byers   Lake, Denali State Park, Alaska

Living in one of the most populated areas of the U.S.,  we get used to the hustle and bustle of people moving from here to there.  Whether it be the traffic jams on the roads or the crowded sidewalks of the cities, it becomes the norm of everyday life.  Add to all of that the sounds of those activities and you wonder how we can even think.  Despite all of that, many of us don't think anything of it because we have become used to it.

It is not that noticeable until we visit a place where everything is different--from less people, to the tranquil sounds of nature, to a silence that is meditative to the soul.  Add a natural beauty that is almost incomparable, and you have an environment that forces you to relax and enjoy the simplicity that life can be away from civilization. That is how I felt when I visited Beyers Lake in Denali State Park, Alaska, and walked around it's edges. The cool breeze and the serenity of the scene made it one of my more memorable mornings.

New York Alley

Washington Square, Manhattan, New York

When visiting New York City,  it is very easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of everything from the crowded streets, traffic, and, of course, the tall buildings that tower above you on all sides. The amount of sensory overload can be stimulating and overwhelming at the same time.

I remember one friend of mine who lived in a small town in Massachusetts who joined me on a business trip to the big city. We hopped on a subway train during rush hour and he was amazed that so many people could squeeze into one car. He whispered to me, "I think there are more people in this subway car than live in my town".  That sums up New York.

Anyway, despite the size and enormity of the city, there are quaint little pockets of serenity if you look hard enough. Like this small little alleyway near Washington Square. It looks like a great refuge from everyday life in Manhattan.

Who Are You Looking At?

Eland, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida

 

Last year I visited Disney World for the first time in over 15 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.  When we visited it in the 1990's, our son was younger, and we did all of the stuff one does with kids. Now that we are empty nesters, we didn't see Disney as a travel destination until we were invited by good friends to join them at their time-share. We discovered that there were so many things to do for adults, including numerous fine dining restaurants. We had such a great time that we actually purchased a time share at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We have been back once since our trip and I decided to take some shots of the animals that wander the "savannah" right next to the lodge. It is quite a sight to wake up, look  out your window and see them wander around. This is a shot of an Eland (also known as an Eland Antelope) that originates from eastern and southern Africa. When I started to compose this shot, he just took this pose and stared at me.

Cape May Morning

Cape May Light, Cape May, New Jersey

It is officially summer at the Jersey Shore and the vacationers are flocking to their favorite shore destinations.  I grew up in South Jersey and spent my childhood and teen years each summer with my family swimming and fishing at the shore.  My Dad's favorite place to visit was Beach Haven on Long Beach Island, but when I became a teenager, the destination changed to Ocean City and Wildwood.  Now that I live in Connecticut and discovered the Rocky Mountains on vacations, I rarely visit the Jersey Shore anymore. 

My brother-in-law owns a place in Wildwood, so when I do get a chance to visit, I take a run to Cape May to shoot photos of the Cape May Lighthouse. This particular composition was taken from the beach just after sunrise.  

Decay

Pennhurst Asylum,  Spring City, Pennsylvania

Last week I posted an image from the abandoned Pennhurst Asylum in Spring Hill, PA. The post was titled Eerie.  I could have easily used that title for most of the shots I took there.  Everywhere I walked there were remnants of things that one wonders why they are there, be it an old mattress like the one in this image or some other artifact.

It is reported that Pennhurst Asylum is haunted by the many patients that were mistreated there. In fact, we were met at the gate by a self-described medium that takes many people on haunted tours of the asylum. While I am not a believer in this type of spiritual contact, her story was quite compelling and convincing.  I can't say that I am all-in on her ability but it is clear that many believe in the spiritual world. 

In any case, after seeing scenes like this one, it is easy to imagine some of the atrocities that happened there, but that is far as I go until I actually see and speak to a spirit. 

 

Approaching Storm

Arches National Park, Utah

This image is from my archives and is of my first trip to Arches National Park in Utah. I had high expectations of visiting the park for the first time. Little did I know then that Arches would be one of my favorite places in the West. The first stop in the park is a formation known as Park Avenue. There is a nice trail that leads through the bottom of the canyon.

This particular image was taken with a zoom lens from the top of the trail. It has always been one of my favorite photos,  but my processing skills back in 2005 were quite rudimentary. When I came upon this image while looking through my Lightroom catalogue, I knew it was time to re-edit the image. The re-edited image in this post takes me back to the joy I felt when seeing Arches for the first time. 

Fading Light

​Kancamagus Highway, New Hampshire

The Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire (also known as the "Kanc") is a 34 mile scenic drive that is known as one of the best fall foliage viewing areas in New England. Our group had spent the day shooting along the Kanc. The light was starting to fade and we stopped at a place that was roped off. It wasn't clear why it was roped off so we hopped over it and found this stream with its beautiful flowing water. What a great end to a terrific shooting day.

 

Windows of Amsterdam

Amsterdam,   Netherlands

Alright, I have an addiction to reflections. I love reflections of anything. Whether it is a reflection of a landscape in a lake or river or walking around city streets, I just love to capture them. This photo was taken in the great city of Amsterdam with it's great architecture. Not only was I attracted to the architecture of this building, it also had reflections of the trees in its windows. I do this type of shooting in every city that I visit. It's a wonder that I haven't been run over by a car (or in Amsterdam's case, a bike) yet.

Smooth as Glass

Hartland, Connecticut

This is one of those images that was not planned and quite unexpected. In fact,  I had no intention of photographing anything, but it shows the merits of having your camera with you at all times. My wife and I decided to take a drive late one summer evening to places that we hadn't been to. As we drove around Hartland, CT, I drove past this scene and quickly jammed the brakes on. It is a wonder that Carol doesn't get permanent whiplash as this seems to happen whenever I spot a potential scene. 

As can be seen in this image, the light was perfect and the water was glass-like. I shot a number of angles, but this composition proved to be the best. 

Eerie

Pennhurst   Asylum,  Spring City, Pennsylvania

On Sunday, I spent part of Father's Day photographing an urbex location in Pennsylvania at a photography workshop put on by Denise Ippolito. The location was Pennhurst Asylum in Spring Hill, Pennsylvania. The Asylum was built in 1908 and was designed "for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic". A commission was established that "found" almost 4,000 "qualified" patients from insane asylums, prisons and reformatories. Unfortunately, some of those found included those with defective sight and/or hearing, imperfect speech, paralysis, epilepsy and blindness, deformities of any kind and offensive habits. It is hard to believe that this was the thinking as little as a hundred years ago.

The history of the Asylum has been quite horrible. In 1968, conditions at Pennhurst were exposed in a five-part television news report entitled "Suffer the Little Children". In 1983, nine employees were indicted on charges ranging from slapping and beating patients (including some in wheelchairs) to arranging for patients to assault each other. A suit was filed that resulted in the Asylum being closed in 1987.

We were able to visit only two of the over 12 buildings on the site. It was quite an eerie feeling walking around the buildings where all of these things happened. This is one of the hallways in the Devon building. 

Waiting for the Ferry

Chester,   Connecticut

Sometimes a Sunday drive can result in an unexpected moment. On a frigid day in February, we took a ride out toward Essex, CT and the surrounding area. We drove down this one road which dead-ended at the Connecticut River. It turns out that was the ferry terminal that crosses the river to the Gillette Castle on the other side. The light and reflections were absolutely perfect. The sign said that the ferry would reopen in May. I guess we had a long wait.

 

Desert Boat Ride

​Lake Powell, Page, Arizona

What do you do to keep cool when you are in the desert?  How about taking a 2-hour boat ride to a National Monument. You can't do that in every desert you visit but you sure can when you visit Page, Arizona. The ride in question travels along man-made Lake Powell and ends at Rainbow Bridge National Monument.  Along the way, you see some of the most amazing rock formations like this one. The scenery never stops and when you leave the lake to get to Rainbow Bridge, you enter a very small canyon where the boat barely fits through (you can literally reach out and touch the walls).  After visiting the monument, you can look forward to seeing the scenery once again. 

Olympic Communications

​Montjuïc Communications Tower, Barcelona, Spain

I have never attended the Olympics while the games were actually played, but I have been to several of the Olympic locations where they have been held. I am always amazed how much investment is made into building the infrastructure of a city for games that last for only a few weeks. It seems each city tries to outdo the prior ones with memorable architecture and structures and that is why I like visiting these locations.

On our trip to Barcelona, the site of the 1992 Summer Games, we made it a point to visit the Olympic complex.  It is a really cool place.  One of the iconic structures that was built in preparation for the games was this Communications Tower that was built to televise the events. The tower was designed to look like an athlete holding an Olympic Flame.  It also acts as a sundial, which uses the square below to indicate the hour. 

Pemaquid Dawn

Pemaquid   Point Lighthouse,Bristol, Maine

I have posted quite a number of shots of my favorite lighthouse in Maine, Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.  It is such an iconic light that it is easy getting up before dawn to get shots of it.  Every time I visit there, I try to come up with a different view of the light so as not to repeat what you have already seen. 

This composition was taken just after the sun rose on this beautiful August morning. Using the fence as my leading line, I wanted to take the viewer's eye toward the light and the sunlit fence and then onto the sun.  I've not seen this composition before and I hope it delivers a different point of view.

Brickwork

Higgs   Beach, Key West, Florida

I am a believer that some photographers see primarily in color while others see in black and white. Of course, some bridge both color and black and white.  I have known for a long time that I am more of a color photographer. It's not like I don't like B&W photos, in fact, I really love the look of them. My problem is that when I am photographing a scene, I don't see the B&W possibilities, only the color possibilities. 

With this image of an old building on Higgs beach in Key West, I processed it in color but there seemed something off about it. I just couldn't get the color right or at least the way I wanted it. I liked the composition so I tried to play around with a B&W version. I ended up with this sepia toned image that I actually like a lot (even though it is not in color). 

Grand Vista

Grand   Canyon National Park, Arizona

One of the main requirements to be a successful landscape photographer is to shoot during the golden hours, either at sunrise and sunset. In fact, many magazines will not even consider photos that were taken during other times, no matter how good they are. 

Even when not publishing, there are certain places that the only way to get a good picture is to shoot during the golden hours. The Grand Canyon is one of those places. Photos shot during those times add depth and definition to the beauty of the canyon.  Any other time, photographs are flat with little or no definition because the sun is higher in the sky thus casting very shallow shadows. This shot from Yavapai Point was taken just before sunset.

 

Old Monaco Alleyway

Monte Carlo, Monaco

​

If you haven’t visited Monte Carlo before, you probably have a pre-conceived idea of what it looks like. I know I did. My thoughts were based on watching movies, reading books, and watching the Monaco Gran Prix on television. When I visited Monte Carlo, many of these ideas were reinforced. But there is a side of the city that I was unprepared for: Old Monaco.

Pre-modern buildings and small alleyways are the norm in this section of the city. Walking down the streets and alleys, I felt transported to the past. Walking around Old Monaco, I could almost hear the people hawking their wares and the bustle of everyday life a hundred years ago. This particular alley is pretty typical of what you see in Old Monaco. Very different from the rest of the city.