Observing The Night Sky

Good morning everyone!  I am finally awake after not getting to bed until 2:30 AM.  Last night I drove out to Robert Moses State Park, which is about 40 miles away, on the south shore of Long Island.  I arrived after sunset where I met my astrophotographer friends (left to right) Faissal, Grace, Preston and Stan and not pictured, Chirag and John.  We were there to observe and photograph the night sky, so in the waning light of day I managed to get this photograph.  The glow behind them is light pollution to the west, which is so frustrating.  We observed Jupiter and Saturn, and then the rising last quarter Moon at about 1:00 AM  It was a wonderful night with friends and the night sky.

The Yacht and the Red Sun

This photograph is from July 20th when I was driving around looking to see how many different views I could get of the big red sun.  This was the last photograph, and it might have been better if I was down on the water at Sea Cliff beach sooner.  The sun would have been brighter, and a bit more obvious, but it would have been higher in the sky and further from the masts of the yacht.  I left the two birds in the upper right corner of the photograph - I couldn't decide if they were distracting or not.  So all in all, an interesting photograph, but not a perfect one!  I do like the contrast, by the way, of the four small sailboats to the right of the huge yacht.  They are Laser sailboats and about 14 feet long.

The Columns at the Vanderbilt

Wow, what a surprise I just got, researching this photograph!  I went out to the Vanderbilt Museum because we needed to do some testing of the audio-visual system for the resumption of in-person meetings of  The Astronomical Society of Long Island, come September.  How unusual for me to be here during the daytime!  I am usually here at night for the meetings and our observing sessions.  I have seen and photographed these columns before in the years I have been coming here, but I had no idea of their historical significance.  So I Googled the columns and am stunned by what I found!  These six marble columns are ancient and come from Carthage, now Tunisia!  When William K. Vanderbilt II (1878-1944) began building Eagle’s Nest, his Centerport estate and the home of the Vanderbilt Museum, he installed them here.  Each column is 14 feet high, 59 inches in circumference, and weighs 4,000 pounds. The Cipollino marble was quarried on the Greek island of Euboea.  I am blown away by all this new information!

 

Flower in the Hedge

I was walking upstairs and I stopped on the landing to look out the window, which I do often.  Something caught my eye, and I looked closer and saw that it was a single flower bloom way up at the top of the hedge that separates our yard from the people next door.  It hasn't been cut for a couple of years, so it is about nine feet tall!  Where did this bloom come from?  Well, there are all kinds of vines that grow up inside the hedge.  We start each Spring by going into the hedge and cutting the vines and pulling them out.  I am glad we missed this one!  The photograph below shows where the flower is, and how small it is compared to the hedge.  Amazing that I spotted it!

Bizjet

I was photographing the sun going down from the park in Sea Cliff, when I heard the whine of jet engines overhead.  I looked up and saw this business jet flying low overhead.  Since I am a photographer and always ready with my camera at a second's notice, I lifted my camera, found the jet in my frame, zoomed my lens out to 400mm and grabbed three images!  Perfect!  World's greatest photograph?  Not exactly, but something different for me.

Heh-Wo Wabbit!

We have noticed a rabbit in our yard lately.  A fairly large rabbit, and that was such a surprise because I don't believe we have every seen rabbits around here before.   It seemed fairly calm about being around people - I have photographed this one before and it didn't run away .  Well, imagine my surprise yesterday when we saw her in the yard, and then saw tiny little rabbits jumping along behind her!  Wow!  Three babies, out with their mother, hopping along in our yard and feeding!  Maybe we shouldn't be cheering to see them but they seem to be eating stuff in the grass, rather than in the garden.  I hope it stays that way. Here is a view of one of the baby rabbits in the garden today - no sigh of the mother rabbit and the two other siblings. They are incredibly cute, and even more so when you see the little ones leap up and disappear back into the tall grass.

 

An Orange Sun, Again

I saw another orange sun starting to set when we were on our way back from our ice cream cones at McDonalds.  So I drove back up to the park to see what I could see, and I liked what I saw!  This time there was a sun rake on the water, and as I watched through my telephoto lens, the sailboat in the middle ground sailed through the reflection on the water.  Click.  Well, actually I clicked a lot!  Couldn't decide which photograph was the best, but at home I decided it was this one.  Lucky me, living in Sea Cliff with this view if I go to the park!

 

Mysterious Flowers

For something new, I am showing you a photograph of some mysterious flowers.  Ok, so they are not "mysterious" flowers at all.  It's just that if a flower is not a Rose, or a Daisy, or a Purple cone flower, then I have NO idea of what it is!  These flowers grow on a chain link fence down near an old boat storage yard.  I don't believe anyone planted them, they are just there.  But they are quite beautiful and brighten my walks down to where the old power plant was.  They are long blossoms that kind of look like trumpets, the blossoms are so long, but viewing them from the front you can't tell how long they are.  Anyone want to solve the "mystery" of what these flowers are?

 

Scudder's Pond

Scudder's Pond - my favorite pond just down the street.  I have taken so many different photographs here over the years, and it has changed dramatically over time.  About 8 years ago the pond had become so silted with sand and overgrown with non-native species,  it was down to half it's size.  It was so overgrown with Phragmites (which we called "cattails" as kids)  that they had a major operation with heavy machinery, and small boats that moved dredging hoses around.  The cleaning took about three months, and when they were done, it was a brand new pond at twice the size and the cattails were gone.  So here is a tranquil view of a series of trees which are reflected in the still water.

 

What a Difference a Day Makes!

 

So I showed you the orange sun setting on Tuesday night.  Well, I went to take the garbage out Tuesday night and when I looked up at the sky and was stunned to see the moon above the horizon and it was bright orange!  That shouldn't have been a surprise since 6 hours earlier I had photographed an orange Sun!  But it was still a surprise to see - I don't remember ever seeing an orange moon before.  So I grabbed my camera and a telephoto lens, and a tripod and made the photograph.  Then on Wednesday night, after a cold front passed through, there was the moon, white as can be!  So I thought that a comparison photo of the two moons would be fun to post. 

The Orange Dot

So you have all seen my red sun and the dead tree from yesterday.  I started down at the foot of our street to photograph the red sun in the haze and I tried a number of different things.  Then I decided to go up to Memorial Park which overlooks the harbor to see if I could find a photo there, which I did - this one.  Then I drove down to the beach that faces north and did another photograph - stay tuned for that one.  So it was fun to chase the sun from one place to another to see if I could find interesting photographs, and I think I did a good job.  Please click on this photo to see it in a larger size.

 

Big Red Sun

Two hours before sunset, which was at 8:21 tonight, the sun was a brilliant orange in color.  It was still 20 degrees above the horizon.  It usually doesn't turn orange in the summer until it is much closer to the horizon.  Remember my post from July 6, with the sun going down over the buildings across the sound?  Well, something was up.  But what?  You have been reading about the fires on the west coast?  Believe it or not, the smoke from those fires, which have been really severe, has reached the east coast!  And all those particles of smoke in the atmosphere are what reduce the light from the Sun and also the particles cause the blue rays from the sun to scatter, and so only the longer wavelength waves which are red, manage to make it through the atmosphere to our eyes, and to my camera!

 

Viewing Pollock

This is a photograph of two women viewing Jackson Pollock's painting "Autumn Rhythm" (Number 30) while in the background is another Pollock - "Number 28, 1950"  I kind of knew of the work of Pollock, but didn't think I would really like it much.  But when there was a large retrospective exhibition of his paintings at the Museum of Modern Art in the Fall of 1998 I went to see it.  I was stunned!  Somehow those drip paintings just took me in!  I guess I read some comments about "Oh, it's just dripped paint."  Well, that may be, but his paintings are SO much more than that!  I couldn't believe how much they affected me, and moved me!  And I had no idea why, except that the paintings are incredibly detailed and so complex in their design.  I was completely stunned!

Here is a detail of the "Autumn Rhythm" painting and you can see how rich and detailed it is.  Why does this dripped paint speak to me, and hold me in its grasp?  I have no idea, but I keep coming back to them every time I am in the museum.

I Don't Go to the City, and Look What Happens

So it has been over a year and a half since I was last in the city.  Well, actually I have been here several times in the last month, but on this day, I headed from Penn Station over to the west side to go to B&H Photo.  I may have taken photos back in 2019 of some construction going up, but at that time it would just have been steel work.  But this time I saw the finished building for the first time and it was stunning, sheathed in curved blue grass.  The structure is called 1 Manhattan West, and is a 67-story office skyscraper, containing 2.1 million square feet. It is astounding to me how many new buildings have been going up in Manhattan recently. 

Two Women in a Gallery

                             

I love photographing in museum galleries.  It is as if a gallery is a stage set, and I wait for the actors to come and go.  When I came into this gallery the woman was sitting on the bench, so I had the start of a photograph.  Then I watched the other woman enter, and stop to look out the window to the left of where she is now, but that didn't work for the photo - the figures overlapped.  So I waited a bit longer and a man entered and walked over to the windows, and that didn't work at all.  So I waited until he left and the window woman moved to her present position.  A nice balance and interest because of the two figures.

The Painters Having Lunch

Sometimes I wonder where my photographic brain is!  I was walking the 22 blocks up to the Met and there are park benches all along the way.  I always keep my eye out for photographs as I walk.  I passed four guys dressed in white, and I kept on walking!  What?  Yeah I did.  Then I said to myself, "Maybe I should go back and shoot those guys, they are all in white and it would be a great shot," and then I kept on walking.  Then I thought about going back again, but I had walked two blocks by then.  What is wrong with me!  FINALLY I thought "What am I DOING?  GO BACK THERE!"  So I turned around, walked back, and asked the four guys "Can I take your picture, just for fun?"  They said "sure" and this is the result!  I can't believe I had to argue with myself for two blocks to get this shot!  

 

Traintime is Mask Time

I took the train to Manhattan today to see some exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The train from Sea Cliff always stops at the Jamaica station in Queens, so that we can switch from our diesel locomotive, to an electric locomotive, for the trip through the tunnel that runs under the East River.  They don't want that filling up with smoke!  So standing on the platform I was reminded that masks are still required to be worn on the LIRR and on the New York City Subway system.  That's still a great idea with the Delta variant of Covid around.  I was wearing a mask, of course, but it wasn't until I was standing on the platform in Jamaica that I was reminded of this, seeing these two women both wearing masks.  Most people on the train were, although on the way home maybe 10 percent of passengers were not, even though it is required.  I mean, COME ON, get serious - haven't you learned enough already?

 

Something to Hold a Plant

I have passed this concrete structure for over a year now on my bike ride. They were paving one of the roads I rode on everyday, and I had to find a new route, which I did.  I liked the new route better because it took me through a nice residential area.  I have seen this every day, but in the fall and winter and early Spring I wasn't able to see a picture.  Until today, when I realized that having all the greenery around it, and something planted in the urn on top finally made the picture come together.  This sits on the lawn of a regular suburban home and I have no idea how it ended up here.  I don't think there was a mansion here originally.  Some day I will have to stop and ask about it.  I love this because like so many things I love to photograph, it is deteriorated, with rust stains on it, which makes it really interesting.

Climbing

I was mowing the lawn today and I noticed this ivy climbing up our Hickory tree.  I was about to tear it off the trunk of the tree.  Ivy growing on a tree is not a healthy thing for the health of the tree.  Just as I was reaching for the top of the ivy, I realized that this would make a lovely photograph.  So I stopped and went in the house and got my infrared modified camera and made this photograph.  That camera records infrared light, and any growing thing with chlorophyl in it radiates a lot of infrared.  I have no idea why, but mainly this blog is more about art than science.

 

The Yellow Building

I was in Huntington today having lunch with a group of ASLI club members, which was nice.  They started doing that several months ago when restaurants were allowed to serve people outdoors and we usually sat on the patio.  But today we were indoors, and maskless, and it seemed safe.  I have not been in a bookstore for a year and a half, and Huntington does have one of the great bookstores, "Book Revue" so I went in and wandered around and looked at books for an hour, which was just wonderful after all this time!  On the way back to the car I passed this bright yellow building that is boarded up and empty.  I have no idea of what was here before, or why someone would want to paint it bright yellow.  Maybe to attract attention?  Who knows. It sure does stick out like a sore thumb!

 

California Leftovers, II

I just spent 20 minutes trying to find where I took this photograph on Lincoln, Blvd, in Venice, California!  Behind the truck is the wall of "Fabric Planet" where we went to get some fabric.  But this parking lot is for Clutch Venice, a laid-back setting for Northern Mexican cuisine specializes in barbacoa, smoked duck & veggies. This is a 1940's era GMC Pickup Truck in their parking lot.  I guessed at the general age of the truck and did a google search, and bingo! 1940's it is.  The wolves painted on the wall behind the truck are amazing!  In any case, this truck is older than I am!  What a cool looking machine!  Welcome to California!

 

California Leftovers

I have some photographs that I took in California, but never got to post before I got home.  One day we took a long walk through the neighborhood where Liz & Sarah's new house is.  This was one of the more spectacular houses we came across.  And that was because of the amazing California landscaping around it.  Wow, is this different or what?  And look, no lawn to mow.  Now there is an interesting idea! 

 

Blue Cat, Yellow Chair

I think I was talking to Amy on the phone before we got to Joan's for the party, and she didn't know what Joan's condo looked like.  So I took my camera and walked out in the street and took a couple of photos.  In trying to get further away from her building, I ended up on the sidewalk across the street from her.  It was then that I noticed this blue cat sitting near a yellow chair, in a neighbor's yard, and I thought that would make a photograph.  So I made the shot!

 

Spooky New House

When we were out on our friends' deck for the fireworks, I noticed this house next door under construction.  I thought it looked spooky with the black windows and no sense of light from the building.  So I decided to take this picture, just for fun.  Actually, all my photograph are for fun, for the most part.  Anyhow, I like this.  Here is the puzzle - can you find any interesting shadows in the photograph?

 

The Life of a Cat

Ah, the life of a cat!  I was in the kitten when Kathy said "Come look at Grace!"  So I peaked around the corner into the dining room, and couldn't believe my eyes!  Here she was, lying on her back, upside down, rolled up against the wall, happy as a clam.  I nearly laughed out loud when I saw her.  Then I had to quietly walk into the living room get my camera and quietly walk back to the kitchen and HOPE that she had not moved.  She hadn't and I got the shot!  This makes me laugh. She has a look on her face that this is perfectly normal.  Well, if you are a cat!  I hope this makes you smile too.

 

The Setting Sun

Our schedule has been different this week because of the holiday, so it was last night that we went to McDonalds for our ritual ice cream cone.  While there I noticed the orange ball of the sun setting in the west, and I quickly calculated that after we ate our ice cream cones, we could drive to Memorial Park which overlooks the sound and I might get a photograph of the sun close to the horizon.  It needs to be hazy so that the sun's illumination is dimmed, but if it is too hazy, then the sun can disappear into clouds way before it gets to the horizon.  So I was lucky, and got this photograph of the sun setting over buildings in New Rochelle, New York.

 

Fireworks!

We left our family party in Connecticut late in the afternoon yesterday, and drove back home.  We were really lucky because it was the middle day of a three day holiday, and there was no traffic at all.  We set a record time for the trip!  We rested for an hour and then headed over to the Gordon's for dinner with them and some other friends, and then sat on their balcony overlooking Hempstead Harbor.  Once again, the fireworks never failed to make the evening special!  What made this picture special was that the fireworks started while there was still light in the sky, and the blue sky and clouds added to the photograph.

 

The Birthday Boy and His Baby Sister

 

The Birthday boy, and Betsey, his baby sister, pose with a flaming pie!  The pie is actually not flaming, it is just the birthday candles on it to celebrate all the Spencer relative's birthdays in the month of July.  Our mom and dad were born in July, and Betsey and I were, and Kelsey, Karen's daughter, and last but not least, Amy was born in July!  So the two of us represent all the family members by holding the pie.  Kathy baked the pie - it is a strawberry rhubarb pie, and it was stunning - so delicious!  Kind of a birthday treat for everyone gathered at the party at Joan's in Connecticut.

The Kodak Colorama

When I was a kid and took the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad from Connecticut to Grand Central Station I was always wowed by the giant Kodak Colorama on display at one end of the terminal.  These giant photographs were on display from 1950 to 1990 and a new one was installed every few weeks.  There were a total of 565 of these, and they were 18 feet tall and 60 feet wide.  These were designed to demonstrate the brilliance of color photography. The Colorama advertising campaign ended in 1990 as Grand Central Terminal prepared for renovations that would restore the original architectural integrity of the landmark building.  The original displays were transparencies, and this is a print from the original negative.

The Terrace Garden

There are all kinds of work going on around the George Eastman Museum!  I showed you the new entrance and visitor center previously.  This is a view of the Terrace Garden, as seen from the room that George Eastman's mother lived in.  There is a passageway from the visitor center that leads to the main house, and it is all glass on one side and features a colonnade on the outside, and that has recently been restored.  In order to do that, they needed to take all the plants out of this garden, and now that that project is finished, they are making improvements to the brick walkways, among other things, and then the old soil will be replaced with new soil and the gardens replanted with their original flowers. 

This view looks in the opposite direction, and you can see the restored colonnade to the right in this photograph.   I have always enjoyed photographing the gardens here, and there are a number of them.  I cannot wait to see what the garden will look like when the restoration is done!

 

Fading Into History

This is the abandoned farmhouse in Ovid, NY that I have been photographing for years.  This photograph was taken in April of 2009.  So when we were coming home from our week in Rochester, I stopped to photograph it in it's current state.  I last photographed it in October 2019.  I usually photograph it in early spring and fall, and there are usually no leaves on the trees.  That was not the case on this occasion.  The house was pretty obscured.

Here is a view from the same side as the first photo from 2009.  It may not be obvious but the front and back roofs have collapsed, and both chimneys have collapsed.

A view from the front, with the front door boarded up.  You can see daylight through the window at the upper right because both the front and back roofs have collapsed.

I was really rushing around, trying to get photographs because I didn't have much time - we needed to get going.  And the bright sun and dark shade made photography difficult.  I think this is a collapsed porch leading to one of the back doors.

And here is a view through one of the windows of the tangle of debris from both a collapsing roof and a collapsed floor, and a stairway. 

I would love to have seen photographs of this farmhouse when it was new.  It must have been a beautiful home. Look at the beautiful detail of panels in this rear door.  And in the photograph below, look at the detail over each of the side windows.

Through this window on the right, you can see a timber with notches where floor joists once were, and you can see the whole interior wall lit by sunlight because there is no longer a roof over the room.

And look at the beautiful woodwork and spindles on this screen door, at the rear side of the house.  This really must have been a beautiful home place. You might want to click on each of the photographs to see each of them in greater detail.