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.

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.

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...

Jaundice

Empire State Building glowing yellow tonight

I know, I haven't posted much lately - too busy with holiday preps and other things. But, I went to the city today for Christmas shopping, dragged my camera along "just in case". Wish I hadn't because now my shoulder hurts and I didn't really take any pics. But when I stepped outside the Manhattan Mall at 32nd and 6th, I couldn't help but be struck by the fact that the Empire State Building was yellow during Christmas season (usually it's red, green and white throughout all of December). But boy, did it look pretty against the darkening blue sky, so here's my shot for today. It isn't all that sharp because instead of my tripod all I had was a bicycle chained to a lamp post to steady my camera at 1/5 of a second. I still like it though, especially because the camera shake makes the moon look full although it wasn't ;). Oh - and why is it yellow? I had to Google that: "The Simpsons Movie DVD release from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment".