After Sunset

Seagulls wading the surf shortly after sunset at Robert Moses Beach

The beauty about photography is that you never know what to expect and rule #1 is to always keep an open mind. I have come to learn that if I have any type of preconceived notion of what sort of picture I want to capture, I more often than not fail miserably. This might be especially true for landscape photography, where you can never 100% predict the weather, the clouds, the wind and the lighting conditions resulting from all of the above. I came to shoot what looked like a promising sunset, yet ended up being bland and boring and disappearing half way through behind a thick layer of haze. Yet the light reflected beautifully in the sand once the sun had set and those gulls just made for perfect models.

Stark

Bare branches at dusk, starkly silhouetted against a cold yet beautifully colored winter sky

I ventured out on one of the coldest days of the season to date with entirely different intentions, namely to capture a picture of the Big Duck in it's Holiday dress. I passed my turn-off and ended up turning around at a this dead-end street overlooking Flanders Bay. I was enchanted by the evening sky and picked this tree to provide a focal point. Goes to show you that you never know what to expect. The Big Duck pictures didn't come out at all, but this one's fast become one of my favorite landscape pictures of all of 2011!

New Beginnings

First sunrise on the first morning of brand spanking new 2012

After a rather intense 2011, which also kept me quite busy with work, I decided to stop posting here and on Flickr for a while. But if you know me at least a little, you will also know that I will never stop taking pictures no matter how busy I get. Part of my New Year;s resolution is to revive this photo blog and what better picture to choose than the first sunrise of the year. Taken at Montauk Lighthouse, the easternmost point of NY State. Montauk has long been one of my favorite places to get away from it all and so I came here to spend a peaceful New Year's Eve away from the crowds and the madness,, give 2011 a little kick on it's way out the door and welcome 2012. Cheers to you all!

Tethered

Lobster Skiff tethered to Northport Town Dock

Gosh, it's been a while although I have been taking a ton of pictures for both work and pleasure. But work got the upper hand and I haven't really gotten around to posting many pics of my new surroundings, as beautiful as they might be. Northport is one charming little town and it's become somewhat of a new custom to take a stroll down Main Street each Saturday morning, coffee in hand, down to the Northport Farmer's Market and the town docks, listening to live music and taking pics. The above Oyster Skiff is the result of one of those Saturday morning strolls. For more pictures of Northport, visit me on Flickr.

Ghostly

Seemingly abandoned "ghost ship" in thick early evening fog

Lagging a little behind in the season with my posting, but oh boy - I've been wanting to take a pic of this decaying wooden house boat ever since I first moved to the area almost 7 years ago. But somehow it just never seemed compelling enough,until one very foggy April evening three days before moving again, across the Island, to the very different environs of the North Shore. Taken with my little Lumix at that, but I love the shot, love the mood - love the blues :D !!

Spring Springing Soon

Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay Cove

Fluffy clouds traveling along blue skies, a yellow sheen on the still-bare branchbes and grass turning green again all hint at the imminent arrival of spring. I cannot wait...!

Stark

Midday sun shadow sculpture

In sharp contrast to the delicate and subtle early morning light in the previous shot, here's a somewhat harsh and stark photograph of one of my favorite subjects - those dune fences. I love how different lighting conditions can generate such different moods...

On the Road

Roadside morning at the shore

I just love the somewhat gritty yet melancholy vibe that comes with road trips and motels and off-season seaside resorts. So I decided that in light of the very tumultuous start of the year 2011, I deserve a little treat and took off for a four-day trip down the Jersey Shore. I took this pic getting ready to hit the road again after my first night which I spent in Pt. Pleasant and it pretty much embodies the lone wolf traveler romanticism which makes road trips so attractive in my eyes :)

Drab'n Dreary

Old, gray and lonesome vessel on a Brightwaters canal

I have decided that there's only one way to fight this horrible winter weather we've been having along with the unemployment blues and that is by "shooting back"! So I put on an extra warm pair of socks, grabbed my camera bag and headed out the door. I thought the sight of this gray boat on gray water under gray skies next to this bright red stop sign summed up the mood just perfectly. STOP with this weather already... This by the way is not done via "selective coloring" our world really looks this drab these days. Oh well - according to Phil the Groundhog, spring isn't too far away. Let's hope he's right!

All My Swans in a Row

Swans heading into the setting sun

Suffering from a bout of cabin fever after yet another snow storm moved through the area, I headed out for snow pictures in Gardiner County park as soon as the roads had been somewhat cleared. I arrived at the bay just around sunset and some remnants of dark storm clouds were still lingering in the western part of the sky. A lot of swans were hanging out along the eastern part of the beach, and as dusk started to fall, they suddenly began heading towards the shore. This group flew for a short stretch and my heart just stopped when they suddenly settled right on the darkest part of the water in a perfectly straight line. I had to run to catch up and wasn't looking where I was going, and ended up crashing through the frozen slush at the edge of the bay. But in my opinion, this shot was worth my cold wet feet ten times over :)

Silver Lining

A sliver of light and color at the end of a drab and stormy early December day

I know it's been a while since I've been posting one of those ocean shots, but once in a while I just have to sprinkle one in...Here, the storm clouds gave way to a small band of orange at the end of the day. I just loved the speck of otherworldly red in the sky, but oh boy was it cold! I specifically drove down with tripod and all my gear to take photographs, and this is the only (& handheld) picture I took before running back to my car shivering like crazy!

Long Island Beginnings

The tip of Long Island, as seen from Gantry State Plaza in Queens

High Rises aren't exactly what you'd first associate with suburban Long Island and people are often confused why Long Island is so boldly written across old container lifts at Gantry State Plaza in Queens. But as a matter of fact, not only Queens but Brooklyn as well technically are part of Long Island indeed. Even though both boroughs are a far cry from suburban lawns and picket fences. Incidentally, this part of town - with it's spectacular Manhattan views - has been booming for a few years and it's a far cry from the Queens I moved to in 1998. None of these buildings existed back then, and the park had just opened!

Global

The Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

In my opinion, the impressive Queens Unisphere is one of the most under-appreciated landmarks in NYC. I am simply awed by it,but it is always hard to convey how gigantic it really seems. It is 140 feet (42+ meters) tall and you feel truly dwarfed standing in front of it. I always pass by it on my way into NYC but never stop. This time I did and hopefully will do so many more times.

Caught

Nathan's Famous, Coney Island, NY

Normally I only post photos taken very recently on this blog. But for this one, I am making an exception. After a major computer meltdown a few weeks ago, I was lucky to be able to rescue most of my photographs, but a few were irretrievably lost. This here is one of them and probably my favorite. The reason I can show it here is because I had previously uploaded a very much downsized version to Flickr. I love unpredictable street shots like this and am bummed that I won't ever be able to print it for my collection at a decent size.

First Light

Fishermen walking into the first light of the day at Robert Moses Field 5

There are few things in life which I find as magical and enchanting as experiencing the sunrise at the ocean, no matter what time of the year. These days it feels quite fresh out here by the water, but the sun rises late enough that it is easy to catch. Photographers and Anglers are the only crazies you will find out here at this time of day.

Pumpkin Season

Pumpkin Farm on Long Island's North Fork

Fall season has undeniably arrived on Long Island, even though the weather has been incredibly kind to us here in the Northeast. While fall is definitely my favorite season of the year, I have surprisingly few fall photographs. That's why I packed up my camera gear and went on a little road trip to the North Fork, Long Island's most rural environment. For more fall pics, check out my Flickr Gallery

Gone Fishing

Gone Fishing on the Great South Bay

After a crazy hot summer, we suddenly experienced some sort of "fall preview" during the second half of August. Low temps and cloudy skies prevailed for almost a whole week and the beaches remained pleasantly empty. Shot this on a calm and peaceful Wednesday afternoon :)

Last Take

Taken from the 12th floor of 40 Park on my last day at work

Yoohoo - I couldn't wait for this day to come and then it was almost sad... I worked here on and off over a span of 7 years. Although I've come to truly despise Midtown Manhattan with it's bland personality and ongoing dusty, noisy construction projects along with sidewalks full of stuffed corporate suits and clueless tourists - it felt odd to leave it behind for good. This is my parting shot, taken with my little Lumix point-and-shoot. That's looking north, up Park Avenue, with Grand Central Station dwarfed by the Met Life Building in the background, and the Chrysler Building in the upper right.

Fossilized

Fossilized and vandalized Dial-Up Telephone

I see this phone every day on my way to work and have been wanting to photograph it forever. It speaks of truly bygone times. I am not sure that the children of the 2010s will be able to recognize it by sight. It also speaks of a story, especially if you zoom in closely and spot the three variations of the same telephone number carved or keyed into the outer casing. Since I wont' ever be able to find out what it's all about, I just might make it up...

Heartfelt

With heartfelt apologies to all of our customers...

Besides the beautiful, I'm always drawn to all the little oddities on the side of the road so to speak; and this one certainly is a perfect example. The owners of this closed Getty gas station have decorated all their now defunct gas pumps with big and bright red cardboard hearts. Why the hearts I do not know, but they certainly make me smile every time I drive by.

Handled

Playground Play

Oh Boy - it certainly has been a while. Had some major spamming problems, meaning I suddenly had all these comments on my posts, but they were just really lame advertising. I cleaned most of it up and here I am back again :) !

This one was shot at a little beach playground I passed this afternoon and I really liked the combination of texture, repetition and color. And, it's not even blue; go figure. Hope you'll like it too!

Shootout

Shootout at Robert Moses Field 5

Okay, now here's a beach picture of a somewhat different kind. I love taking people pictures at the beach during the colder months, they often have a strangely "staged" feel to them. And yes, these ladies cracked me up. As much as I love photography, I kind of resent people who drag around big-gun equipment when they really don't know what they are doing at all and worse - don't even know that they don't know anything (at least I do ;). These three ladybugs arrived at the beach huffing and puffing just when the sun was hovering a couple of fingers above the horizon. Like synchronized swimmers, they all stopped moving at the same time, planted their feet firmly in the sand, then whipped out their Nikon D-SLRs. They never moved, never checked their displays, never changed a setting or a lens. And although it was neither windy nor cold, as soon as the last sliver of sun had disappeared, they turned on their heels and marched back to the parking lot without so much as giving the beautiful water and sky another glance. Oh, but what really got me was the one who kept firing the little pop-up flash on her camera - with nothing to illuminate in between her and the setting sun 93 million miles away. Sigh...

At The Same Moment...

...my ferry departed, the helicopter took off.

I am not sure why these words intrigue me, but it certainly was a surprise to find them sprawled across the otherwise very businesslike NY Harbor ferry slips. I remember my first visit to NYC at the age of 15, and an evening spent on top of the Empire State Building after dark. I could not stop staring at the seemingly endlessly stretching strings of flickering lights and tried to imagine the millions of life's scenarios playing out at the same moment far below. I felt jealous, privileged and very small at the same time. It was then that I fell in love with New York City, and maybe it was then that I fell in love with photography as well. Every picture is one of a million moments and one of a million possibilities.

Sailing through

Beautiful Sailboat alongside NY Watertaxi in front of Manhattan Skyline

The other day I finally managed to visit Governor's Island, something which had been on my to-do list for quite some time. Governor's Island lies only a five minute ferry ride from lower Manhattan smack-dab in the middle of NY Harbor and it is from said ferry that managed to sneak this shot on a very picture perfect day.

Hot Coals

Jones Beach BBQ Area in Field #6 after one too many weekend storms

I am always a sucker for the surreal and when I discovered this bright red overturned barrel against a flooded Jones Beach picnic area, I just had to click that shutter.

Pink on Blue

Pink shirted Austrian tourist taking photographs at my favorite museum in NYC - P.S.1 in Long Island City, Queens.

Maybe it's because I took thousands of "people pics" as a paid gig during late spring and early summer, but lately I find myself pointing my camera at people more often than not. I have always been intrigued by the off-beat 1/500 of a second shot capturing the odd as well as the beautiful. Here, I love the odd expression and the beautiful light and colors...

Dashing

Dancing with the waves

Yes it's true - after more than a six-month hiatus, I have decided to revive this blog. There are many reasons why I stopped tending to it - not having a car to get around, not being able to process .RAW files any longer, my husband's hospitalization, our sudden move and my sudden overkill freelance work schedule for three different jobs are just some of them. But, I am excited to be back and I hope that some of you will return and stay with me!

This shot was taken at my favorite Robert Moses Beach field 5 after tropical storm Danny made for high surf warnings and a lot of people came out to watch the waves. I shot a whole series of this kid and his friend running through and from the surf. But this crisp silhouette shot is my favortite!

Hats Off

Psychedelic swirl shot on my kitchen floor

No, this is not some Photoshop experiment gone wrong - it's what happens when I am trapped at home all day long. A good thing about having that photographer's heart beating inside me is, that I rarely get bored, because there's always something to play around with. A bad thing about it is, that non-photographers often wonder "why" and roll their eyes... But just in case anyone out there wonders "what" and "how" - this is an empty red wine goblet sitting atop my rather colorful hat, LOL. I wish I had a better macro lens, mine's something of a cheapy and won't render ultimate sharpness no matter what. But I greatly enjoyed playing around with those psychedelic optics, hopefully so will you. Straight out of the camera, no Photoshop or post processing involved.

Feline Noir

Cat Ashes in the sun on the kitchen floor

Here's something a little different for a change. Still having to manage without a car on most days, I am beginning to suffer from photography withdrawal and have to look closer to home for pictures worth taking. This morning, I spotted my cat Ashes, who loves the warm bright squares the sunlight shining through the windows creates on our floors. Yes, Ashes is gray, but I thought the lines and shadows created the distinct "noir" look of movie fame. And that parted fur looked pretty cool to me too!

Spiraled

Standing inside the base of the Fire Island Lighthouse looking up

Ever since my first visit to the Fire Island Lighthouse about 10 years ago, I've been wanting to climb up the tower, yet for one reason or another never got around to doing it. Until yesterday, that is. The views from the top (where you can even go outside) are truly fantastic and the view from the bottom can be quite - eerie. Down here, the walls of the lighthouse are 11 feet thick and a metal staircase leads upwards for 182 steps. While large windows create a rather airy atmosphere higher up, the single dim light bulb illuminating the old bricks makes for a somewhat unsettling "dungeon feel" at the bottom.

Redbird

Old subway car type 'R36' at the NYC Transit Museum

This is the interior of an old # 7 train, a line which runs between Times Square and Willets Point/Shea Stadium in Queens. Although technically a so called "Redbird", this train car actually still retains it's original color scheme on the outside, meaning it probably was retired before the year 1985, which is the year many cars of this type were painted a dark red color to combat a worsening Graffiti problem. This model is old enough to sport windows which could actually be opened, and built in ceiling fans instead of air conditioning.

Pipe Dreams

Pile of rusted pipes glowing Electric Blue

Although I frequently play around with my shots in Photoshop, I rarely post the results here or on my website because I really do not take it all that seriously. But, as some of you might now, I am currently without a car and therefore somewhat limited in my photo choices. I found these rusty pipes outside a construction site and was intrigued. Even more so after with the help of some adjustments in Photoshop, they began to glow in - did I mention I love the color Blue :D ?

Frozen

Ice and ice floats cover the Moriches Bay Inlet by West Hampton

We've had a truly cold winter so far and even after a couple of warming days, the south shore bays between the Atlantic Ocean and the barrier islands are almost completely covered by ice. The water level rises and falls with the tide, leaving behind these pretty cool looking huge icy chunks. Contrary to the fact that they will float, even the smaller ones are incredibly heavy. I could not find one that I was actually able to lift.

Powdered

Branches looking cotton candy pretty after snow fell all night

Yesterday morning I awoke to the classical views of a winter wonderland. Snow had fallen all night long, and it was the right kind of snow, the one that sticks. By mid morning the sun had melted most of the snow on roofs and trees so I hurried out before it all disappeared. The best spots still remaining were unfortunately the ones in the shade, so this image didn't turn out as sparkly as it could have, had I gotten myself out of the door a little earlier.

Benched Again

Lonely benches bathed in beautiful evening light

Boy, I am lagging a bit behind here as I have recently been shooting a lot, despite the rather unfriendly temperatures. One of the things I most appreciate about Long Island is the often unique and beautiful light and here's one of my favorite photos from the past week. Two lonesome benches sitting somewhat forlorn in the middle of Short Beach on Long Island's north shore. They probably don't look familiar, but I have posted them here once before. Check out my entry from November 20, 2007 if you really want to see how much photography is all about the light!

Goosed

Geese settling in for the night on the Nissaquogue River

As much as I often curse life in suburbia, sometimes I cannot help but feeling enchanted by the many beautiful spots which still remain and continue to defy the steadily progressing development of Long Island. This was a chance encounter with some geese and some magical evening light, and although I did not have my tripod handy, I simply had to stop and take a shot.

Merry Christmas 2008

Montauk Lighthouse dressed for the holidays

For the first time in 211 years, the Montauk Lighthouse at the Eastern end of Long Island's South Fork is decorated for the holidays. As soon as I heard about it, I made plans to drive out there and take some pictures. It really looked beautiful and for those of you who received a Christmas Card from me this will look familiar. I am wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas. Here's my personal Christmas wish to everybody who sees this. Amid all the frenzy, the shopping, the food overload and gifts, lets take some time out to remember that Christmas is really and truly about love! Merry Christmas to all!

Ranched

Deep Hollow Ranch, the oldest cattle ranch in the US

You might think that I went way out west, but actually I went all the way east, as far east as Long Island will go. Ended up in Montauk, a favorite destination of mine and only a 90-minute drive away. Of course there are many ocean or lighthouse shots I could post here, but this is a little different. Few people realize just how many rural elements still remain along the island, and this, the proclaimed oldest cattle ranch in the US, is one of them. Loved the late afternoon light, it seemed to suit the subject matter well.

Setting

Sun setting between dunes

It's been a while since I've posted here and it's been a while since I posted one of those ocean shots, so hopefully, I'll get away with it. I felt as if I was just on a roll, when some horrible injury befell my beloved Black Lab Boris. It's called "Fibrocartiligous Emboli" or FCE for short and basically paralyzed his hind legs. Thankfully, in his case the prognosis was good and 5+ weeks later, he's made an astonishing recovery. But for the longest time, I couldn't take him along on my photo excursions and it simply felt wrong to leave him behind, therefore I didn't really go anywhere at all. But now that he's much much better, our first outing was to our beloved beach, and although some stupid park rangers prevented me from taking him all the way down to the water, I managed to take some poster shots of the sinking sun. It really was a nice sunset, and that dune grass helped a lot to prevent the usual overblown glare. The clouds were pretty cool too!

Tungsten

Yellow light glows warm and inviting from inside a doorway in cool and wet Quebec City

Here's another one from our trip to Canada. A cozy doorway on a cozy Quebec street. There's something incredibly inviting when a light bulb glow yellow behind a window or door. If the outside is blue, I am definitely hooked :) !

Inverted?

Whitewater rafting boats in Montreal Harbor

Boy, it's about time for an update, isn't it? I've been on vacation, a beautiful road trip through upstate New York, the Adriondacs, and all the way to Canada where I visited the cities of Montreal and Quebec. Needless to say, I've got tons of pictures, but this is one of my favorites. It looks like some elaborate Photoshop manipulation but isn't. These are very brightly colored boats in Montreal Harbor, which take tourists on a whitewater rafting experience on the Riviere (Fleuve) St. Laurent.

Re-cycled

Retro-cycles as seen here in Kismet are the main means of transportation on Fire Island

Today I went for a what I thought was going to be a short walk along the beach, but the cloudy yet warm weather seemed perfect for a longer excursion. Starting at Robert Moses Beach, I walked all the way to the first little vacation village on the Fire Island National Seashore (appropriately shortened to "FINS"). Since no cars other than Ranger and emergency vehicles are allowed anywhere on Fire Island, bicycles are the main means of transportation and can be found everywhere. Mostly they are so-called "beach cruisers" and of the old-fashioned kind, as this lovely pair in pink and blue so nicely illustrates.

Strange Reminder

Looks like my alarm clock was trying to tell me something...

I did not even realize today's date until the front page of the newspaper reminded me that yet another anniversary of this infamous day in history has rolled around. A short time later I glanced at my clock and saw - this. Thought it makes for an appropriate picture of the day.

Factory Work

Old factory sign behind chain link fence

Enough with lofty aspirations such as freedom and liberty, and back to the daily grind. On my way to the Copiague post office today, I had to drive through the 4 block "industrial part of town", if one can call it that. While gray and rainy skies to match loomed overhead (and being somewhat bored with ocean pictures as of late), I decided to see whether some photos were hiding here. One of my finds was this old sign. I like to discover things from the past and this is certainly one of them. The factory has long since closed it's doors and the sign looked like a remnant from an era before employment agencies and internet job searches. I am pretty sure they wouldn't call it "factory work" nowadays either, but maybe "manual assembly service agents wanted".

Liberated

There are many different ways to "see" the Statue of Liberty in NYC

Sticking with the current theme once again, here's another shot of the Statue of Liberty, this one straight off a tour bus, which nevertheless will get you there eventually - after a boat ride, of course, and my guess is that it will cost you extra, but I really don't know for sure.

Framed

Distant Statue of Liberty, seen through a window on the Staten Island Ferry on a hazy day

Since I am at it, I thought a shot of "the real thing" might be in order. Despite the fact of having lived in or near NYC for more than 17 years and having taken many many photographs, it just recently occurred to me that I have very few shots of all the classic landmark buildings and locations. Yet, the typical tourist shots bore me and therefore mine always come out a little different. In this case, I was actually much more enamored with the turquoise worn out window frames.

Meltdown

Statue head coming down at NY Metro Balloon Festival

As much as I don't want to mix photography and politics, my fingers are itching to photoshop this picture and mark the handler's t-shirts with the very key words which brought on the economic and political downfall the US is in the process of experiencing. Which words should be printed on those shirts? As I said, I don't like to mix politics and photographs, and therefore I'll leave it up to everybody's opinion and/or imagination...

Moonlight Sailing

Sailing in the Great South Bay under an almost full moon

I saw this sailboat approaching and seemingly waited forever for it to come into view at the right position. Just when it did, the little turquoise motorboat (you can spot it if you squint), sped up and passed by, then stopped, turned and passed again. I was furious at them for ruining my "perfect picture", but they probably tried to get a similar shot of the sailboat as I. I finally managed to capture this one...

Squeaky

July weather at its best in Stony Brook Harbor

Today was one of these incredibly rare summer days on Long Island when the world seemingly has been cleaned by a squeegy all over. Sparkling sunshine and crystal clear air, not a trace of humidity. Little puffs of "Simpson" clouds in the sky. Colors were brilliant, as you can see in this photograph taken at Stony Brook Harbor, this picture came straight out of the camera, no pp needed to make it glow. Compare it to an evening autumn shot I took on October 22 2007 at the same location...

Twins

Twin Boats in Greenport Harbor

Morning light, as intriguing as it is, can be quite a bitch when it's not coming from the right direction. But I loved the shape and old-time ring of these two row boats and was determined to get at least something out of this shot. Took it with tripod at various exposures and combined them during post processing. Taken around 6:30 a.m. in the tony harbor town of Greenport on Long Island's North Fork. I like the faded and almost monochrome feel this image conveys.