A Picture Each Day

The Other Thing I Found...

2012-02-01T22:20:00.001-08:00

So this is the last photo I took of the Buttonballs. I think it is my favorite. Well, maybe the pedestrian first, then this one. But again, the lesson is that you never know what you will find when you go looking for photographs, so it pays to constantly be looking. I think I like this one best because it is very specifically about the structure of the tree. Because it is a silhouette, the structure is the only thing you really see.

Buttonball Tree

2012-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

So this is what I saw from the car, and went back to photograph yesterday. Then I saw the long view along the line of trees, and forgot about this for the moment. These are "Buttonball trees" which are really American sycamore trees. I usually photograph them in a long line, but the strange convoluted branches against the sky are what caught my attention. The "lumps" on the end of each branch are not normal for Sycamores - they have been pruned like this for the 45 years I have lived here. That's because they are planted very close together and need to be pruned like this to prevent them from getting their branches entangled together. Please click on the photo to see it in more detail.

I Went Looking For Something...

2012-01-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

...and I found something else. But photography is like that. Life is like that too. I was driving along the shore and glanced up at the Sycamore trees and looked into the upper branches - sort of a close-up view, instead of the wide angle view of all the trees in a line along the shore. So I parked the car and walked back along the line of trees, looking for the best tree top. But then I looked along the line of trees illuminated by late afternoon light and realized I had a good picture, but only if there was a person way off in the distance. So I waited for about ten minutes until this woman and her dog came along. Bingo!

The Kitty's Spot

2012-01-29T20:20:00.001-08:00

This is one of the kitty's favorite spots. Which Kitty? I still haven't a clue... :-) This is the back of my easy chair in the living room, and right behind my chair is the radiator. So the kitty lies down on top of the radiator cover, with the chair back on one side and the wall on the other, and then there is no way she would fall off. Of course kitties don't fall off anything. But she looks so cozy jammed in to her favorite spot.

A Ride in Late Afternoon Light

2012-01-28T20:09:00.000-08:00

The wonderful thing about winter light is that the sky can be exceptionally clear at this time of year. Which means that when the sun is close to the horizon, it is still bright, and can cast long shadows. In the summertime, as the sun approaches the horizon it fades after shining through the moist stagnant summer air. So shadows like this only happen in winter. I was climbing the hill on my bike when I saw my shadow, so I stopped and took this photograph. I was using my iPhone, which I why I stopped, instead of trying to ride and photograph at the same time. Wow, first time you ever heard me say that! :-)

The Fog

2012-01-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

I went down to the water this afternoon because it had been rainy and drizzly, and I thought I might find some fog, and maybe a nice picture. There was a layer of fog all over the harbor. Wow! I quickly got the camera out of the trunk. It had been cold, however, and when the warm air came in contact with the cold lens, everything fogged up! Oh no! So I quickly got back in the car, turned on the heater and put the lens in front of the warm air. Gave it a minute, and then started running for the harbor. But a cool breeze had started from the south, and by the time I got to where I could shoot, most of the fog was missing! Arghhhhhhh... I did manage to get this. But you should have seen it before.... Sigh.

They Built Airplanes Here

2012-01-26T23:00:00.001-08:00

This is all that remains of a proud tradition of aviation on Long Island. It is one of the few buildings left of the Republic Aircraft Corporation. They were famous for their P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the great aircraft in WWII, and the F-84 Thunderstreak, a turbojet aircraft, then the famous F-105 Thunderchief used in Vietnam, and lastly the A-10 Thunderbolt. This building and several hangars are all that remain. Fortunately the hangars are still in use - one as the American Airpower Museum. I think this abandoned building is not long for the world. So much of aviation began on Long Island, both at Republic, and Grumman, and Curtiss, and now the world has changed and there is nothing left.

First Solo!

2012-01-25T22:08:00.001-08:00

I went out to the airport this morning to go flying. While I waited for my instructor to finish with the student just before me, they came into the room and she got some scissors from behind the desk. Then she started cutting up from the bottom of the student's shirt! She kept on cutting from bottom to top. Whaaaaat? Well, it turns out that the student had just made his first solo flight in an aircraft, without his instructor. This is a great moment in any pilot's education. To this day I can remember exactly the moment I took off alone and while on downwind for landing, turned around because I couldn't believe my instructor was not in the back seat of the airplane. What a great moment! The thing I don't quite get here, is that I am familiar with the custom of cutting off a shirt tail after a first solo. I have never heard of cutting off the entire shirt! In any case, it was a grand celebration, as you can see, and we all enjoyed the moment.

The Root Cellar

2012-01-24T20:15:00.001-08:00

I have photographed this scene before, but under different weather conditions. I like it in the flat light of an overcast and rainy day where we can see detail in the highlights and in the shadows. What takes this image out of the ordinary are the branches coming in from the upper right corner - almost like tentacles reaching into the picture. It is always this "something else" that I hope for in photographs.

The Challenge

2012-01-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

For me this is a tough time of year to look for photographs. Today it was gray and drizzling outside. There was none of the lovely light that I can find at times when the sun is shining. Gray and drab. So I wasn't looking forward to having to find a photograph today. I looked out the dining room window toward the herb garden, and saw the silhouettes of the dead plants against the snow. I spent about 30 minutes looking and shooting, trying to find the most interesting shot. I started with wide-angle views of many plants together, and ended up coming in close to just one plant - in this case, just a single stalk. It was difficult to edit, and to pick the most effective image. These photographs that I did today are, for the most part, about the structure of plants. These stalks are absolutely fascinating, and so beautiful, when examining them closely. It helps to have the snow behind the plants, to set them off from the background.

The Engaged Couples

2012-01-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

It is the start of the winter Pre Cana program at church. These are all the engaged couples who will be working with lead couples in their homes for four weeks. We will be working with five of these couples as part of the marriage preparation program. As the Mass is ending, the priest, at right, invites all of the young couples to come to the altar, and the he introduces all of the couples to the congregation, and then he offers a prayer for them and their coming marriages.

The End of the World as we Know it.

2012-01-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

You don't see one of these every day. It is the nuclear nose cone of a Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, in it's silo in Arizona. At one time nine of these silos, with missiles in them, were in a ring around Tucson. They were all fully staffed with a compliment of U. S. Air Force officers and men and women who lived there and were on duty around the clock. The logic was that the Russians could launch an atomic weapon, and if it made a direct hit on one silo, the silo and missile and crew would all be vaporized, but the other silos would all launch their missiles back toward Russia, thus destroying the enemy. There were other rings of silos around other cities in the U.S. Man who THOUGHT of this? Whew! What is cool is that when the Air Force decommissioned all of these sites, one aviation museum managed to preserve one of these sites, and an empty missile in its entirety, so that we could learn how crazy this all was.

Waves of Grass

2012-01-20T18:49:00.001-08:00

On my walk on the rainy day I went down to the boardwalk which is in a really out of the way spot, so I rarely go by there. I am glad I did on this day, because these grasses which are fading, were sculpted into these beautiful shapes. I am not sure if the wind helped with this, or whether is it just the way these grasses grow. They feel like waves to me, which is appropriate, because they are growing about 10 feet from the water's edge. I spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect angle - moving a foot or two one way or the other made all the difference in whether the composition worked for me.

Derelict

2012-01-19T20:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am having trouble making up my mind. Can you tell? This yacht has been just off the beach for several months now and I thought it was on a mooring. Then a few days ago it drifted ashore, so that when the tide went out, it was high and dry. I went looking at it closely, and found it was connected to a very small anchor, no where near large enough to keep the boat anchored.
So two days ago I spent some time photographing it when the tide was out. I was happy that I had a nice photograph of it, but then on the way to the bagel store this morning, I saw this view, with the boat and its reflection in the water, and the blue sky and sunshine, and wanted to do that version as well. I think the photos on the overcast day are better, when I am talking about a derelict yacht, but it is hard to walk away from the pretty image. So which shot do you like best?

A Galaxy of Raindrops

2012-01-18T22:03:00.001-08:00

It was raining out when I left the house for my walk yesterday. The first thing I saw was the famous Japanese maple tree, with raindrops clinging to all the branches. I was going to ignore the scene, because I have photographed individual drops on the branches before. But I decided to look around for a bit and saw this view. There were so many drops in this one image, it felt as if I was looking at a galaxy of stars. The trick was to move around until the the background was as dark as possible, and then the drops really became more obvious.

The Pedestrian

2012-01-17T22:22:00.001-08:00

Funny that I would call this "The Pedestrian" because this photograph is not about the person walking. It is about everything else in the picture, and the division of space within the frame. I was out walking in the rain and went to the harbor. Coming down the hill I first spotted this landscape - it was the light pole that first got my attention. So I framed the picture and then suddenly wished there was someone walking along, which would serve as a point of interest. I took a picture, and then continued down the hill. I happened to look back along the boardwalk and here comes someone walking along! Yikes! I couldn't run back up the hill for my original composition, but I took this from a different vantage point with a different light pole. Wow, lucky me!

The Other Wedding Photographer

2012-01-16T22:06:00.001-08:00

Well, I whined about the wedding photographers the other day, who stood in the center of the aisle during the service. Here is another photographer at the wedding, and I was really impressed with his behavior. He had this cool looking camera, that at first I thought was a toy. Apparently it does take real digital photographs. It made a cute sound each time he clicked it. He was having a good time using his camera - he photographed relatives sitting in the pew with him, as well as photographs of the altar with the bride and groom. What was particularly nice was that he didn't block anyone's view.

Memorial Park

2012-01-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

I went out walking the other day (when it wasn't so cold... :-) It was gray and rainy and I thought that I should be able to find something beautiful. I did a lot of walking and shooting but didn't have anything dramatic enough. Finally I walked up the hill in Sea Cliff to Memorial Park. It is is a beautiful spot, high above Hempstead Harbor and Long Island Sound. I went over to the fence and looked down, hoping for a grand view of the sound, but it was just kind of gray overall. It was only as I was leaving the park that I turned to look back along the pathway that I saw this. If the pieces of slate were not wet from the rain, I think the path would not be as interesting.

Almost Famous

2012-01-14T21:13:00.001-08:00

So this is cool... A videographer from a local media outlet contacted me because he wanted to do a story about people who build telescopes and make mirrors. I have built a number of telescopes but I don't have any under construction at the moment, so I suggested that the students I am working with be included in the story. So we began at Jess' house and he did video of them working on grinding their mirror, and then interviewed them about the process. Then we all came here, and I set up three of the telescopes I have made. He did video of them, and then interviewed me, and I spoke of the joys of amateur telescope making. The completed video should be up on the web in a few weeks. Oh, the green? The photographer was not comfortable with me photographing him at work, so in order to post the photo on the blog, I had to take him out of the picture. Thus, the green.

The Wedding Photographers

2012-01-13T20:31:00.001-08:00

We went to a wedding this afternoon - just the service at church - of a lovely young couple we worked with in the marriage preparation program. I *think* they actually got married, but looking at the altar, we couldn't see the actual vows at all! These two guys are two of the wedding photographers and videographers - there were four all together. But to stand in the absolute middle of the aisle, and not to crouch down is just nuts! It is also rude. It is as if they are completely unaware of everyone in the church behind them. I was really shocked that they were so oblivious. And they stood there for at least 15 minutes while the vows were being said, rings exchanged, and blessings read. This is just stupid!

The Great Flood of 2012

2012-01-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Actually not really. But it was raining cats and dogs early this morning and the wind was blowing something fierce. I was going to go to the city to see some exhibits at MoMA, but I decided not to go. I checked the tides, and at noon when it was high tide, I walked down to the water. The wind had ceased an hour or so before this, so there were no great waves. The only thing I saw was this puddle, because sea water was splashing over the sea wall and into the street, causing this flooding. Some kid in an SUV came down the street and aimed for the puddle and made this huge tidal wave, and I had my hands in my pockets! Oh man, never saw it coming. So then I stood there hoping someone else would drive through the puddle. This was the best I could do.

NY Trees, LA Trees

2012-01-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

These two photographs were taken within 2 days of each other. The day before I left for California I took the first one - bare trees against a leaden sky. Reminds me of the Robert Frost poem, "My November Guest." Then we went to California, and I photographed the palm trees out there, against a crystal blue sky. Quite a difference. The thing is, I love both of these photographs and both of these places. I am aware that my life is connected deeply to the change of seasons - even if this change is the result of a six-hour plane ride.

The Pond, Different

2012-01-10T22:00:00.001-08:00

The sun was low in the sky and everything was orange in color. As I approached the pond I was hoping that I could find a photo here, even though I have photographed this pond before. I took my iPhone out of its protective pouch on the bike, and started toward the railing which keeps people from falling into the pond. Then I stopped and realized I was seeing a different photo. Normally I would be looking for the beautiful landscape. But I realized that by leaving in the pipe railing I would be showing the scene as it really is. And this shot does have an interesting feel to it - more like real life.

Another House on the Dead End

2012-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

I have posted about this site before. Someone bought this big piece of property, which was a big hill, and proceeded to take most of the sand out, leaving really steep walls at the edge of the property. Then they built stabilizing walls with concrete blocks to keep the surrounding dirt from falling in. Anyhow, they built one house here, and it looked so strange, with towering walls around it on two sides. Now they have started to build another house in the same cul-de-sac. Maybe after a couple of more houses are added, it won't seem so strange. But maybe it will. It was the late afternoon sun illuminating just the house that caught my eye, as I rode by on my bike.

Strange Butterfly

2012-01-08T21:21:00.001-08:00

When out for our walk yesterday, we watched seagulls picking up mussels in their beaks, and then they took off and climbed to about 40 or 50 feet and dropped the shellfish on the rocks. Then the gulls would almost fall out of the sky, and proceed to peck away at the contents of the now broken shells. I have seen this before, but not recently. It was fun to watch. Then I got curious about how many mussels were actually around on the beach. I walked out on the beach to where the beach grasses grow - at this time of year there are just clumps of stumps of the grasses. And in amongst the grasses, what did I see but mussels growing. I pulled one out and it was clamped tight. So I got out my knife and cut it open - it was alive and growing. I had never noticed them on the beach before. I had seen shells, but didn't know where they grew. Anyhow, here is one, spread open. I thought it looked like a strange butterfly. No way I would take a chance at eating one, however.

Sixty-One Degrees!

2012-01-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, and the high temperature was sixty-one degrees! Wow! It was enough to make me stop working on painting the dining room ceiling, and decide to go for a walk. It was too good a day to miss, by being indoors. We walked down along the shoreline of the harbor, and then into Tappan Beach. While walking along this walkway I saw these two figures under the tree and quickly thought of taking this picture. Got the toy camera out, and managed one shot, before they moved a bit closer to each other, and the silhouette was then not as interesting. One shot. I am used to taking many more pictures than this, but at least I got it. Or rather, got something.

The Fisherman

2012-01-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago, when I photographed the power plant that is going to be demolished, I walked all around the park across from the plant. I went out on this fishing pier, where a solitary fisherman was not having much luck, it seems. We only spoke a few words - there was a language barrier - but the sense was he only had one or two small fish. Then he packed up and headed back down the pier towards land. I think it took me half a minute to think of taking a photo! Anyhow, as he approached the end, I realized that the best part was this tiny figure at the vanishing point of the pier and railings.

The Squirrel

2012-01-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

This squirrel is lucky. Lucky that I shot him with a 300mm lens, as opposed to shooting him with a .308 Winchester. That's a joke - you don't shoot squirrels with high-powered rifles... :-) These guys are all over the yard here - one reason may be the Hickory tree in the front yard. They are all over that tree, because of the Hickory nuts. But they have be annoying this year - for some reason they have been digging all over the side yard. Digging all around where I planted grass in the fall. They are making a mess of the lawn - It looks as if it has been cultivated in some way. It is REALLY annoying. Maybe annoying enough, as I think about it, to go look for that .308 Winchester... :-)

Guess What...

2012-01-04T21:21:00.001-08:00

Can you guess what this is, without reading further? You can click on it, and it will open in a larger window - I have posted a larger image which might help you to figure out what this is. Please try looking, before you continue reading.
So I was in Huntington, waiting to cross a busy street at the busiest intersection in town. I pushed the button for the walk light, and then waited about a minute for the light to change. While I was looking around, I saw this about a foot in front of my nose! At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I looked again. Wow! It is a utility pole, with about a billion staples in it! Whaaaat? Then I realized, that this has to be the most popular place to staple a poster in the whole town. Now there are no posters, but the staples remain. I mean, it is unbelievable how many staples there are here. Did you figure it out?

Our Habit

2012-01-03T21:44:00.001-08:00

This is our habit in the morning, when in Venice. It is called Abbots Habit, and is a great, funky place for great coffee (better than Starbucks) and wonderful muffins, sweet rolls, danish, and bagels. But the great thing about this coffee shop is the atmosphere. It seems to have a lot of writers, and Hollywood types and I would guess people in the movie biz. We go here day after day for our breakfast and always enjoy just hanging out here.

The Mirror Blank

2012-01-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

My friends Adam and Jess have been away at college, and are now back home for Christmas break and are going to resume working on the telescope mirror that they are grinding. Here Jess is examining it with a powerful magnifier, looking for "pits" in the surface. Grinding needs to continue until the pits are gone. They will get some more grinding done, but they will not get the mirror done until they are on summer break. You will be able to watch their progress right here.

"No Photography"

2012-01-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

OK, so I can't tell you where this was taken, and I can't tell you the name of the sculpture or the artist. Why? Because I made a mistake... We were at this museum (a clue - my favorite...) and I saw this sculpture and did a quick shot of it, and then a guard said that you couldn't take pictures here and pointed out the tiny little sign on the wall that said: "no photography." Duh! Here is the amazing thing - I clicked one frame, and it just happened to be at the exact second that this father and his daughter were looking at the sculpture. Isn't it a stunning piece of art! I looked at this one object for about ten minutes because it was so striking and so beautiful.

Happy New Year, From The Kitty

2011-12-31T21:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! You can see that the kitty is SO excited about the arrival of the new year - you can see it in her eyes, and the smile on her face. She jumped up on the coffee table to celebrate! We hope you have a wonderful New Year, all of us!

Running Girl

2011-12-30T21:47:00.000-08:00

Another "aerial photo" of people, this time from the Getty Museum. OK, so we are back in New York, but I have a lot of photos from California, so I will post them for the next few days. I will show more photos from the Getty, my favorite place in Los Angeles. There are photos everywhere. There are several levels of plazas and multiple stairways and balconies looking off in all directions - the views are spectacular. So I was idly looking down at the lawn and gardens below, late in the afternoon, and saw this young girl starting to run. Fortunately, I was ready, and managed to get one nice shot.

Benice Cafe

2011-12-29T20:43:00.001-08:00

So this is the second part of the Benice Cafe story. This is the building itself. The first thing to note is that the word "Benice" sounds like the city of "Venice" but if you break it down, it also can say "Be Nice." How wonderful is that! It is lovely both outside and inside, with morning sunlight streaming in through the windows and on to the tables. The cafe is not fancy at all, and that too, is part of its charm. And the service is sunny as well. Bacon and eggs, or omelets and hot buttered sourdough toast, and steaming hot coffee and conversations with good friends. There is a remote chance that it will survive, and we certainly hope so, but things are not looking good.

The Tuesdaters

2011-12-28T22:04:00.001-08:00

OK, so this is a long story, and this post is Part One. Liz has a group of friends who get together for lunch on Tuesdays once in a while, and so they call themselves the "Tuesdaters," One of their favorite places to eat is the "Benice Cafe." Interesting that "Benice" is in "Venice." We have eaten breakfast there several times. Awesome! Anyhow, Benice may be gone before long, which is terribly sad. It has to do with stuff like leases and things like that. So I decided I would take a photo of the group, and the owner, for the sake of posterity. The owner is in the middle of this group shot, wearing glasses. Her name is Elan, but I don't know if it is spelled that way, and she is delightful. More tomorrow...

Air Dry

2011-12-27T23:46:00.001-08:00

When we were at the beach yesterday, after walking around for a while, some of us stretched out on the sand to relax and soak up some rays, and even snooze just a bit. When we got up, some of us found out that we had been lying on sand that was slightly damp. Liz was one of those, so she was trying to figure out a way to dry her jacket. Then she came up with the idea of twirling the jacket around to see if that would dry it out at all. The wonderful thing is, that she decided to do this at sunset, so that made for an interesting shot! I am not sure how much dryer the jacket got.

Contemplating Infinity

2011-12-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

We did a lot of walking today, including around the Venice canals, and then we came down to the Venice pier and walked out over the beach and the Pacific Ocean. It is absolutely beautiful at the beach, with the mountains in the distance. I was watching people in the distance, strolling along on the wet sand. Then I noticed one couple who was approaching and I moved over so I would be above them when they walked under the pier. I photographed them from further away, and then got this last photo just before they disappeared under me. It feels to me that it is a bit more than just a straight photo - it seems a bit cosmic in some way - as if they are walking into the future, perhaps.

A Venice Rooftop

2011-12-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

On the way to the beach yesterday, Amy pointed out this rooftop on a home just a stone's throw from Venice Beach. The building is three stories high. We know nothing at all about who lives here, or who made these statues, or anything else. Zero. All we can do is be amazed that someone took the time to do this. Sorry for not knowing more about this. Some things in life are supposed to be a mystery.

Merry Christmas To All!

2011-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

We went off to church at 6 O'Clock, and then after the service, we took part in our annual family tradition of Christmas Eve dinner in a Chinese restaurant. We were trying to figure out how long ago this ritual started, but we couldn't remember exactly. anyhow, we had a really delicious dinner, and then suddenly Amy put this package on the table in the restaurant. She said it was a family present, for all of us. So because of that, we all put our hands on it to open it. I thought: "Hey, that's a shot!" So here it is. The present? A board game. Games are another tradition in our family. This one is called "Catch Phrase" and we have had fun playing it tonight. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, as we are!

Liz & Amy Take Their Own Portrait

2011-12-23T22:29:00.001-08:00

We went to the Huntington Library, which consists of a Library, Art Collections, and a Botanical garden. This was our first visit to this amazing place. There is so much to see that we only scratched the surface with our visit today. We did spend most of the time in the gardens. The Chinese garden is particularly beautiful, with multiple bridges, courtyards and buildings. There were pictures everywhere. But when I looked up and saw this one, it really touched me - Liz and Amy are masters of hand-holding their cameras in order to do portraits of themselves wherever we go someplace special. And there they are, at it again. Aren't they beautiful!

Tarzan Did This

2011-12-22T23:38:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to a sunny day in California. I loved seeing the shadows of plants on the venetian blinds in the room. Then I saw the flowers through the missing blinds. I know who did this. Tarzan did. Tarzan is Gus's cat and rules the roost here. He is a beautiful long-haired cat. Tarzan likes to look outdoors - I have been in this room and seen him come in and paw the blinds open so he could see what was going on outside. Amy said that he kept pawing them until several of them broke and so she removed several of the blinds. So now we can see the flowers outside. And Tarzan can see outside as well. I really love the shadows - I think that those are really subject of this photograph.

America!

2011-12-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

New York to Los Angeles covers a distance of 2475 miles, and encompasses an amazing variety of landforms as seen from the air. But this scene topped them all. I think it was on the border of Nebraska and Kansas, and most of the ground was brown, but there was a narrow swath of snow running east to west for maybe a hundred miles, and it was maybe 20 to 30 miles wide. I never realized a storm could be this localized. Anyhow, what caught my eye at first were brown fields with straight lines of snow on one edge. I guess the snow had drifted because of the winds. A bit further along this came into view. I am assuming that some of the wavy lines had to do with contour ploughing, but I can't be sure. It feels as if this is some kind of a child's collection of blocks. To me, it is an astounding image.

Gingerbread Cookies!

2011-12-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I made my annual batch of Gingerbread cookies! Yummm... This is a fairly old New England recipe - my grandmother got it from her friend, and passed it along to my mom and she passed it along to my sisters and I. I am guessing that the recipe is 80 or 90 years old. And if you ever have one of these cookies, you will be ruined for life! There are generous portions of the spices and molasses that make up this recipe, and it is so much better than commercial gingerbread cookies that you buy. You make the dough, and then refrigerate it for an hour, then divide it up and roll it out, and use cookie cutters to make the cookies. That cutter that looks like a Dutch girl? I made that outline years ago, but I have no idea what it was based on. It is certainly not "a gingerbread man." It doesn't matter - one taste and you will be hooked forever!

The Garden in Late Fall

2011-12-19T21:54:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the four pieces of Lilac bush trunk, and how I was not sure why the scene appealed to me? Well This is another instance of that, I am afraid. I got out of the car, and saw the sunlight on this scene, which included some dead pieces of bush that snapped off. There is something about the light in this - the fact that it is coming directly over my shoulder - the kind of lighting I would usually not use because it is considered "flat." But there are exceptions to everything. I think this is also about little patches of color and texture in various places in the image.

One Small Cloud

2011-12-18T17:38:00.001-08:00

Are you tired of my night shots by now? I am. So I found this sunny-feeling picture from a month or so ago. I saw it at the end of my bike ride. It was the single cloud that jumped out at me. It was just lovely against the blue sky. The thing that really clinched it was that somehow that single cloud was illuminated by sunlight, making it glow, unlike all the other clouds. Left me with a kind of mystical feeling. It feels as if the tree is reaching out to the cloud. I think this photograph is much more significant than I first thought it was. I shot this with the iPhone, believe it or not.

The Night Train

2011-12-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

I got a late train out of Penn Station the other night after the concert. It arrived here in Glen Head at about a quarter after midnight. As I was walking down the platform I saw this crossing gate illuminated by the sodium vapor lights, giving the scene a strange reddish cast. I think that was what first made me stop to look more carefully at the scene. I had to struggle with the composition - there was a telephone pole very close so I did shots including it, and then excluding it. Then I spent a LOT of time trying to decide whether or not I liked the black and white version better. That was a struggle. I decided I liked the strange red light best. But the bad part is, there is no train! I think this picture would be much better if the train was disappearing in the distance. Duh! I may go try this photo all over again, and get the train next time.

Not Long For This World, II

2011-12-16T21:29:00.001-08:00

On the way to the Beacon Theater the other night, I was walking down Broadway and saw one of those plywood walls surrounding a site. You know the ones - they always say "Post no bills." So I was curious what was behind the walls. I saw some heavy timbers along the edge of the street, so I climbed up on them to gain some altitude and to get a better view. This is the best I could do. It appears that these buildings are about to be torn down. What is interesting is to see how decrepit the fronts of the buildings are. I almost wonder if there were false fronts on the stores that have now been removed. I do think that this photo has a spooky feel to it with the three illuminated windows higher up.

Not Long For This World

2011-12-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

I love to photograph industrial ruins. Oh wait, you already know that. I know these are not ruins. Yet. This was the Long Island Lighting Lighting Company for nearly forty years and has been here since before I moved here in 1966. It has been managed by something called "National Grid" the last eight years or so. It was recently announced that it will be shut down and demolished! Wow! This is only half the facility - there is a huge brick building with more smokestacks on it, to the left of these structures. I think these boilers are newer than those in the brick building. It will be unimaginable that these structures will be gone one day. Oh, and one other thing - this company pays a fortune in school taxes to the community. It is going to hurt when we have to make up the difference.

The National!

2011-12-14T22:26:00.001-08:00

One of my new favoritist groups EVER is "The National." I heard them do one number on Letterman about a year ago, and heard "something" in their music that grabbed me. So I asked Liz if she knew about them, and she sent me a few tracks. Then I got "Boxer" - one of their albums, and it was amazing. Then I got their newest album "High Violet" and it was astounding. I don't know anything about music, really, but their songs are very musical, and complex musically, and some of the songs do what Amy describes as giving her "The Chills." The National does that for me, so I got a ticket for their performance tonight at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan. The venue is relatively small and really nice, their music is great and their performance was wonderful! So glad I got to see them live.

The New Bridge

2011-12-13T19:26:00.001-08:00

I have done photographs of the destruction of the old Roslyn Viaduct, and the construction of the new one. I have been looking forward to photographing the finished bridge once all the construction equipment was moved away. I went by there today, and unfortunately there is still a lot of construction stuff around that ruins any attempt at a beautiful photograph. I wandered around, looking for some angle or composition that would not include the junk. I happened to glance up and saw this amazing abstraction with much of the structure in shadow, and only a narrow strip illuminated by the afternoon sun. I was stunned by how beautiful this was. I was also surprised that I didn't have to move more than a foot to get the perfect composition!

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

We have decided to put up some decorations, but are not sure what would be appropriate. So I have spent a lot of time driving around looking for good examples to follow. I think I found my favorite. This is about a mile from our house. Of course, it takes a lot of time to put up something this complex. I know that having done stories on people who "do" their houses, many of them start planning in July for December. So I am late to the starting line. I guess I will have to tone it down a bit, at least this year.

Another Christmas Party

2011-12-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

We went to another Christmas party this afternoon with friends who we met when our kids were in school together. That was a long time ago. Anyhow, I met one of the grandchildren and was told that he loved science. He is 12 years old. I forget how the conversation with him started, but somewhere along the line I told him I built a telescope, and he was surprised, and asked how I did it. So we got a piece of paper, and I started drawing the telescope I built. He was fascinated, so I then explained about two different kinds of telescopes how they both worked. He still seemed interested so I spent some time talking about astronomy. Then I remembered I had a pair of binoculars in the car, and Jupiter was in the sky, so we went outside and I showed him where it was. He was able to see Jupiter and two of its moons, and he thought that was pretty cool. A couple of hours later he got to look at the rising full Moon. Here is the best part - I promised I would bring my telescope back to their house, at the next first quarter moon, and show everyone the Moon and Jupiter. Now THAT will be cool!

The Christmas Party

2011-12-10T21:12:00.001-08:00

So our astronomy club had its Holiday party tonight, a yearly event for us. It's always nice to gather with friends and have plenty of time to talk with each other. Of course everyone has to take photographs of everyone else seated at their tables. There were flashes going off all over the place - it seems as if everyone is a photographer. So while they were taking our photo I decided to take theirs. Always great to have my toy camera on my belt!

The Kitty is Waiting

2011-12-09T19:21:00.001-08:00

So we have this routine. The kitty waits outside the bathroom door while I take a shower. Then she runs into the bedroom, and jumps on the corner of the bed closest to the door. Then she sits. And stares. At me. Because she is waiting for me to scratch her behind her ears. So I carry out my part of the bargain, and scratch her behind the ears, then under her chin, and she purrs. And her day is complete. The sun was shining in the south window today, through the opening in the curtains, and it silhouetted the kitty on the wall. I know, you want to know which kitty this is. I haven't a clue...

Man Talking in Times Square

2011-12-08T21:43:00.001-08:00

I take the subway up from Penn Station to Times Square then walk over a block to get to the International Center of Photography. As I was passing through Times Square I saw this video camera on a tripod and lighting setup. So I stopped and watched for a few minutes, and before long the man began to talk. I couldn't see any sign of what this was for and I didn't recognize the speaker. I do know that this kind of thing is called a "standup" where a reporter on a story ends up filming himself talking, instead of filming the scene. So that's all I know. And this may not even be a reporter on a storhy. I should have asked more questions!

Primordial Mists

2011-12-07T20:33:00.001-08:00

The weather around here has been wonderful for nearly a week, with fog every morning. What is interesting and different is that the fog on the water stayed around for most of the day, but it was a fog bank out over the water. Late in the afternoon I decided to take a look at the Sound from Memorial Park in Sea Cliff which is very high up overlooking the water. I was stunned that the fog was still there. And what was really cool was the way that it was absent from the harbor, but at the tip of Sands Point, it had moved in and enveloped the tips of the peninsula. It looked as if it was the dawn of time. Please click on the image to see it in more detail.

Manhattan at Twilight

2011-12-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

I went to the city today to see the photo exhibits at the International Center of Photography. Found all kinds of interesting photos along the way. But when I left ICP and stepped into the street, I saw this. Twilight in Manhattan. The city is magical, at this hour, on a gray and drizzly day. In fact it is magical at so many times. It always recharges my batteries to go there. Makes me feel more connected to the world.

Chris, and Angela with Crutches

2011-12-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

We had surprise visitors yesterday! We received a call from Chris, and he and Angela had to come to Long Island for a funeral, so we offered them a place to stay overnight. This was not the best time for them to travel - Angela had JUST had surgery on one of her feet, so the last thing she needed was a long ride in a car to get from Baltimore to here. We did make it worth their while with a nice dinner Sunday night, and some home-made bran muffins washed down with my legendary coffee made from beans I roasted here at home. So bright and early this morning they headed out for a long day at the funeral, then a family gathering, and after all that, they head back to Baltimore late in the day! Whew!

Looking for Something

2011-12-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

I can't stop looking at these four pieces of tree trunk . You have seen them in another post, surrounded by beautiful fall leaves. There is SOMETHING about these pieces that I can't let go of. They are from a Lilac tree that I planted about 30 years ago. About six months ago I cut away the dead wood, and these are pieces from that. What attracts me to them, is that the branches have a twist to them. I laid them down together, because they fascinated me. I could have just thrown them out, but I didn't. I walk by them every day, and I have photographed them several times, but I can't seem to put my finger on what it is that I am trying to show. But I keep trying different views, different compositions, from close to far, and in different light. This closer view seems to be the right one, but I can't tell you why. Anyhow, here they are, and they are still a mystery to me. You might want to click on the image to see it in more detail.

Christmas Cookies!

2011-12-03T17:59:00.001-08:00

Christmas Cookies! It's that time of year, and these are the first ones done. Very fancy this year. In fact, they are so fancy, that you should be able to tell that I didn't make these - Kathy did. But guess is going to help eating them? Yes, you got that right. I test one about every 15 minutes, just to be sure they measure up, and because I am the quality-control officer for things like this.

Urban Archaeology - The Store Room

2011-12-02T20:04:00.001-08:00

I still have some pictures from my urban exploration project. This room was in the building I photographed from outside and posted a couple of weeks ago. It apparently was a plumbing supply room - thats what the bins on both sides of the room are for. There were some fittings left in some bins. I love the light in this room but it was contrasty, so I did several exposures and combined them to show more detail. The processing is called "HDR" for High Dynamic Range, for those of you who are technically inclined.

Strange Landscape

2011-12-01T20:39:00.001-08:00

When I stopped to photograph the trees yesterday I leaned my bike up against a fence that was covered with vines. Curious, I tried to look over the fence, but it was difficult. I grabbed my iPhone and held it up over the fence, and I could see the view. So I shot this. This property was going to be developed, so the owner cut down a lot of trees and removed brush put up a fence, and then they discovered that the property at one time had some kind of industry on it and was in fact polluted. Wow. So the land has been untouched for several years, and these vines have completely taken over. A very strange landscape.

Winter's Coming On

2011-11-30T21:22:00.001-08:00

Does this scene look cold? Guess what - it was cold! This is the last mile of my bike ride each day, and today it was cold and windy, and the sky was a blue-gray in color, which only seemed to emphasize the cold. Brrrrrrr.... And why am I complainging? It was 49 degrees at the time. Of course that is warm compared to 32 degrees, which I will soon be riding in. But it is cold compared to 90 degrees in the summer, which I actually don't mind. I know I have photographed this scene before, and posted it on the blog. But I wanted to show you this version because of the color of the sky.

Kings Park

2011-11-29T20:29:00.001-08:00

I have a number of photographs left over from my urban archaeology field trip two weekends ago. I am gradually editing the shoot, and there are a lot of photographs to look through. As you know, I love landscapes, both beautiful scenic ones, and industrial ones like this. The abandoned power plant is in the distance, and a loading dock for a building in the foreground. I love the foreground/background here - it makes the photograph more three-dimensional and has more interest, in my opinion. The original photograph is in color, but the color was distracting, so I converted it to black & white which emphasizes the form of the structures more.

In Praise of an Unknown Photographer

2011-11-28T21:09:00.001-08:00

So today I sing the praises of an unknown photographer, from a long time ago. And it is also in praise of a time when quality and craft really mattered. My sister loaned me several photographs of my mother and her twin sister to make copies of. I chose this one of the three as being the most elegant. Look how beautiful this image is, and how it has been carefully composed and lit with care. It is such a delight to contemplate the artistry and quality of this. There is no date on this. The inscription embossed on the mat says "Crosby, 831 Chapel Street, New Haven, Conn." Credit where credit is due.

Coffee with Friends

2011-11-27T21:32:00.000-08:00

My friends Adam and Jessica are home from college for Thanksgiving, and we managed to get together for coffee today, which was wonderful. Actually I was the only one having coffee. We talked for three hours non-stop about school, and life, and astronomy, and engineering and who knows what else. What a great time. I have missed them being off at college, even thought they are only an hour away here on Long Island. The cool thing is that they brought a SONY PSP with a game on it, and I had never seen one of those in use, so they were showing me how it worked. Looks like they are having fun with it. Now I want one!

Joan's White Chairs

2011-11-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

We stopped at Joan's on the way home from Massachusetts, because I needed to pick up a bowl of Indian Pudding that she and Betsey saved for me from Thanksgiving Day. I LOVE Indian Pudding, and in our family we only had it twice a year, at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Anyhow, I stopped to pick up my pudding and saw these chairs on the porch. There was something about the white chairs and the white walls - a kind of sparse still life that speaks to me of New England.

Twilight

2011-11-25T19:30:00.001-08:00

Late in the afternoon I took a walk around the house here in Attleboro, looking for photographs. I photographed a few things, but then saw these decorative grasses against the twilight sky. It feels as if this photograph has a different feeling than so many of my other photographs. I like how this looks, and I like that it is different, and I love the feeling of a November twilight on a crystal clear day. These are called decorative grasses, and this one, in particular, is called "Miscanthus sinensis" - I just know that some of you out there would like to know the scientific name for this. Of course, I could be wrong... In that case, please feel free to correct me!

Finley!

2011-11-24T21:02:00.001-08:00

This is the beautiful Finley, all of 4 months old, the daughter of Pat and Bethany. The last time I photographed her, she was still being carried by Bethany, her mom, and I photographed them both on the chaise lounge in the back yard. So this is exciting for us because this is the first time we have seen her in person. She is such a happy baby, and is always smiling, and lively - note that she is a bit blurry in this photo. I should have used a higher shutter speed. You would think I would know this by now! I decided that I should use the photo anyway, because her character shines in this image, even if it is not perfectly sharp. So that's my excuse...

A New England Stone Wall

2011-11-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

We are in Attleboro, Mass, in the heart of New England, at Pat & Bethany's for Thanksgiving with family from upstate New York and Baltimore, Maryland. When we drove in this morning, on a rainy misty day, this stone wall jumped out at me right away. When I was growing up, I would visit my grandfather's farm, and all the fields were ringed with these old stone walls built by hand from rocks which came to the surface after plowing each spring. These walls were all covered with lichen, and seeing this brought back so many wonderful feelings of visiting the old farm. Together with family at Thanksgiving - the only place to be.

Dusty Miller

2011-11-22T18:04:00.001-08:00

I spent yesterday raking leaves in the yard. I actually hated to rake the beautiful red and yellow leaves from underneath the Japanese maple tree, but it was time. In the process, I did a quick job raking leaves out of parts of the gardens around the house. That is what brought me here to this garden, and this plant. I love the beautiful subtle color of Dusty miller. And the shape of the leaves, if that is what they are called, resemble snowflakes in their shape. Just a lovely plant. I spent a while with various different compositions, both close and further away, and settled on this closer view.

Completely Legal

2011-11-21T21:23:00.000-08:00

So this is one of the subjects of our photographs on Sunday. It appears to be some kind of workshop, but it was hard to tell. It is two stories high. It is in pretty bad shape, in that half the roof has completely collapsed onto the second floor, and we could see from outside that the floor is rotted. I say we could see these conditions from outside, because of course we would never go inside an abandoned building like this. It is amazing how overgrown it is with vines, and it has been that way for a really long time. I have two closeup photographs of vines on the outside that I will have to post eventually, because they are so interesting.

Urban Archaeology

2011-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

Had a cool "field trip" today with a friend of mine from the astronomy club. We went out photographing and doing some "urban archaeology." That is a euphemism for exploring abandoned buildings. To be accurate, we spent most of the day wandering around and photographing the outsides of different buildings at a former mental hospital. Many of these buildings are slated for demolition in the spring. Twenty years ago I did a photo essay, which took me several months to complete, about the architecture of abandoned mental hospitals on Long Island. At that time I had the luxury of access to the insides of all the buildings. Today it was different, since this was not an official visit. So my friend and I had to arrange our own access. You're looking at it! We got a lot of great photos, and I will, of course, be sharing them with you. With luck, this will not turn into Urban Archaeology Week!

The Old Dogwood

2011-11-19T17:41:00.001-08:00

This old Dogwood was here when we bought the house forty years ago. It was flourishing then, but it has slowly lost branches to whatever the blight is that is killing Dogwood trees. I have tried to take care of it, but there is not much anyone can do when these trees have this disease. Anyhow, some of the branches still bear leaves. The leaves have fallen off any live branches by now. I do like the shapes of the branches, and to me what makes this photograph is the design of the branches - the different shapes. And maybe the sense that the tree is reaching for the heavens, like the arms of the Joshua trees do.

The Blue Period

2011-11-18T19:15:00.001-08:00

I was at the Cradle of Aviation the other day for the training class for Project Astro. You already know that. Anyhow, when I left the building I looked up while walking under the entrance covering and stopped in my tracks. What grabbed me was the dramatic color difference between the warm lighting in the entrance and the deep blue sky at dusk. There is a time of day, at dusk, called "The Blue Period." I think that when I first heard of this, I saw it described in French. In any case, once I knew the term, I look for it at that time of day. And here it is!

A Magical Moment

2011-11-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

I walked across the porch this morning, to go get the newspaper, and when I got to the front steps, this is what I saw! There is a day each year, when a majority of the leaves of the Japanese maple fall. They gently blanket the ground under the tree, and they are brilliant in their color. Today was that morning. I was just stunned with how beautiful it was. You will notice that there several pieces of wood in the middle of the photo. These are dead pieces of a lilac tree that I cut off in the spring. They are interesting because they are twisted, so I left them there, thinking that one day I might make a picture of them. Well, today was the day for the branches, as well as the leaves. It started raining later in the day, and now the leaves are soggy and matted down, and the magic moment is gone. I posted a larger than normal image, so please click on this to see it in greater detail.

Modeling Moon Phases

2011-11-16T22:07:00.001-08:00

Had an interesting day today. I am taking part in a program called "Project Astro," where an astronomer is teamed up with a school teacher and they work together three times during the year to teach astronomy. I am really excited about this project. Today we had a training with a group of astronomers, and a group of teachers working together. Various class projects were talked about and demonstrated. Then we tried the exercises ourselves. This one is "Modeling Moon Phases" where we took a ping-pong ball and watched the effect of light on it, as if were the moon revolving around the Earth in a month, changing phases.

Spooky Plant Photo

2011-11-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

I came out on the front porch in the morning, to get the newspaper, and this sight stopped me in my tracks! What is interesting is that this photo was taken on a sunny day. It doesn't look like it, except for the sharp shadows of the plant on the white porch. This is a plant that has been on the front porch all summer along. There is a basket of dark pink flowers up above, and then these long stringy things that hang down. They are green-gray in color for most of the season, but have turned just plain gray now. I, of course, don't have the faintest idea of what plants these are. But you don't come here for horticultural information - I am sure of that! In any case the reason the background is black on a sunny day is because it is the shady side of the Japanese maple tree in the distance, and is what gives this image the spooky feeling. I like this photo a lot - it has a completely different feeling from any other garden photo I have ever done.

Flying Again!

2011-11-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

Well at least today's photo isn't fall color again. Of course, it is me again... I promise, no more pictures of me for a long time. But I am excited today! I have been meaning to get back to flying for about a year now. I need to do a lot of studying for my biennial flight review. Stuff like airspace, weather and forecasts, aircraft performance, and FAA regulations among other knowledge. So until I have done all my studying, I wasn't planning on flying. The biennial consists of an informal written and oral exam, and then several hours of time in the airplane with an instructor. But I realized that I was really missing flying - it must have been sitting in the cockpit of that Thunderbolt! So I today I just scheduled time in an airplane with an instructor. I haven't really flown in four years, so a lot of things seemed a bit foreign to me, but my flying skills, according to the instructor were not bad. It was great to be back in the air again!

Fall Color, Again

2011-11-13T22:00:00.001-08:00

I have had to wait for fall color for so long this year. Now that it is here, I am seeing pictures everywhere. This is the Japanese maple, and I see it from this angle every time I pull into the driveway. I saw it the day before yesterday and did some pictures, but the Sun had moved too far west to illuminate the whole branch. Imagine my happiness when today, earlier in the day, I saw that the branch was completely illuminated. I tried some subtle differences in composition before deciding on this view.

Ablaze With Color

2011-11-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

During my bike ride today, I was grinding my way up the mile-long hill when I saw this gorgeous red japanese maple kind of all by itself in the woods in front of someone's home. But I had a hill to climb, so I did a dangerous thing - I didn't stop! Then I immediately worried that the light might change by the time I came back down the hill. Dumb thing to do, passing a picture like that. The rule is always STOP NOW! Well I didn't but I was in luck. I finished the ride to the top, turned around and raced half way to the bottom, and the orange sunlight was still on the tree! Whew! Just brilliant color, the combination of the red leaves and the orange light.

Thunderbolt

2011-11-11T21:09:00.001-08:00

There was a story in Newsday yesterday that said the two aviation museums on Long Island were having a special weekend in honor of Veteran's Day, and there were several airplanes at each museum that you could go to and sit in the cockipit. One was this Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, built right here on Long Island back in the time of WWII. This was something that I couldn't pass up. So off I went to Republic Airport and the American Airpower Museum. The P-47 was one of the most rugged and powerful single engine fighters of the Second World War. This one is still flown. Hard to explain why it mattered to me to sit in the cockpit and try and imagine the lives of the young pilots who risked their lives against the enemy in an aircraft like this. As much as I have read, it is still just unimaginable for me to understand what they went through. I salute them all on Veteran's Day.

Hickory Tree & Fog in the Morning

2011-11-10T19:23:00.001-08:00

I woke to a beautiful foggy morning. Everything was transformed and I saw lovely things everywhere. This was the first thing. Here is the story of this tree - it is a beautiful, tall Hickory tree. And it is a harbinger of winter every year. When I am painting the outside of the house, the temperature has to be warmer than 50 degrees. I have learned that when the leaves turn yellow, like this, then that will be the end of painting season. It will never be warmer than 50 degrees after these leaves turn yellow. This tree is so beautiful when it is this color, and wonderful to be tuned into nature like this.

Beach Grasses at Sunset

2011-11-09T21:19:00.001-08:00

After I took the glove off my eyes, I started looking around, and since the sun was low on the horizon, I thought I would go down to the sand, and see what the beach grasses would look like close-up, with the sun behind. This photo came together quite easily - I didn't have to struggle with the composition at all. The wind was moving the grasses around a bit, so I took perhaps 8 frames. Oh, and you will be thrilled to know I did this with my iPhone, and did NOT use Hipstamatic!

Sunblock

2011-11-08T19:37:00.001-08:00

OK, so I know this is a weird and creepy photograph... :-) But here's the deal - I kind of beat up on myself for not being as creative as I "should" be. So I don't often shoot photographs that are really different, but I think about it all the time, even though it doesn't show. So I was resting on my park bench after my ride. I put my head back, and the sun was in my eyes. Usually I bring a bandanna to put over my eyes, but I forgot it. So I put a bike glove over my eyes, and was resting when I suddenly thought: "I wonder what this looks like?" Then I remembered I had my iPhone with me, so I took it out and tried holding it up in the air, looking down on me, and that's how I took this. I don't know exactly how creative it is, but at least it is different...

Not Done With Tucson

2011-11-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

I am not done with photographs from Tucson. I went nuts out there with my camera - I saw photographs everywhere I looked. I took this at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It is a traditional shelter from the sun and the roof is covered with "staves" from inside the Saguaro cactus. When the cactus dies, and then rots on the ground, the wooden staves which support the plant are exposed and the indians use them for all manner of things they build. In this case, to construct a shelter from the sun outdoors. When I visited Mission San Xavier del Bac, there were rows of these shelters, but I couldn't find a background there that I liked. So I was thrilled to find this one out in the desert at the museum. It is really a beautiful structure, isn't it?

The Large Sunspot Group

2011-11-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

Well, the big news in astronomy circles these days is that a really large sunspot group has formed on the Sun and has rotated into view on the Sun's face. The Sun has cycles of about 11 years that go from no sunspots to large numbers of spots. Recently we have been coming out of a low period. But this spectacular grouping is an exiting jump in activity. So when it appeared, I grabbed my camera and a whole lot of other stuff, and managed to get a decent photograph. I have posted both the Sun's full disk so you get a sense of the scale, and a close-up of the large group.

Farewell to Arizona

2011-11-05T20:09:00.001-07:00

It was good to be away, and it is great to be back home. It's good that I get out every now and then! Boy, there is nothing quite like an Arizona sunset. This one was from the top of Kitt Peak. The air is clear here, and I was at an elevation of 6,500 feet so that makes it even clearer. And the crowning touch is a small crescent moon in the upper left of the photo.

Trapped in the Bagel Shop

2011-11-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

I was having breakfast in the bagle store down the street from my hotel in Tucson. Wow, fresh squeezed orange juice every morning! Now I am spoiled. So I was sitting there eating my toasted and buttered pumpernickle bagel with my cup of French roast coffee (I thought you might want to know that) and I noticed this toddler exploring the dining area of the store. Everything was fascinating for her. But it wasn't until she went to the door that I grabbed the iPhone (and the hipstamatic, of course) and snapped this.

The 90-inch and the 4 Meter

2011-11-03T21:25:00.001-07:00

SOME people, who shall go unnamed, have suggested I have shown enough pictures of telescopes! I guess that could be, but I love these magnificent instruments, so here are two more. On the left is the 90-inch telescope, and my friend Mikee is one of the two operators of it, and the other is the 4-meter Mayall telescope. I already showed you the telescope itself inside the dome, a few days back. This is the exterior showing the dome and the very distinctive support structure. I don't think there is another telescope this high off the ground. Together these instruments make a spectacular photo, just after sunset. Well, if you are a telescope aficionado, at least.

Hiking with Mikee

2011-11-02T21:54:00.001-07:00

This is my friend Mikee, who I have known for about 20 years now, I think. We met in the astronomy club on Long Island years ago. Now he is living in Tucson, and is a telescope operator for one of the big telescopes on Kitt Peak. After the convention was over, we went hiking and photographing out at Gates Pass and Tucson Mountain Park, and at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. While in Gates Pass, I happened to look up from what I was photographing and saw mike doing a shot with his toy camera. It reminded me of a photograph of Ansel Adams that I am familiar with, so I hollered "Don't move!" He didn't and I got this shot.

My Sister Wanted Mountains

2011-11-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

Today I was out photographing in the desert west of Tucson. It occurred to me that with my iPhone, I could snap a photo with it and email it to my sisters. I got back a note from Joan: "I would have expected mountains" in response to my photo of Saguaro cacti! So... I went looking for mountains that I had photographed on this trip. How are these? This is from the summit of Mount Hopkins, the home of the MMT telescope. The summit is at about 8500 feet. We are looking down at the switchback road that we needed to travel on to get to the top! Yikes! The view from here is just spectacular - range after range of mountains stretching to infinity - more mountains than you can shake a stick at! I believe that if it is clear, you can see further than one hundred miles, from this altitude. It is an absolutely stunning view in person. I posted a larger-sized image, so please click on it to see much more detail.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

2011-10-31T23:15:00.000-07:00

Busy day today. First we traveled to Mt. Hopkins to visit the MMT Telescope. Spectacular scenery, and a VERY exciting mountain road to go up and down. Then on the way back we visited the Titan Missile Museum, and then this church! Quite an eclectic day! This is a stunning architectural treasure of the southwest. Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles south of Tucson, on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation. We tried to get here while the sun was still up, but missed it by about 15 minutes. No matter, there is still color in the sky, and the beauty of the church is easy to see in this soft light.

The Spaceship Has Landed

2011-10-30T23:12:00.001-07:00

OK, I know this isn't a spaceship, but when I stood in front of it, and saw the fluorescent bulbs reflecting off the blue horseshoe mount, and all the bulbs in the ceiling, and the panels in the dome, this just seemed like some kind of spaceship to me. It is, in fact, the 4-meter Mayall telescope on Kitt Peak. The largest telescope on the mountain. This is a BIG telescope - the Hale Telescope at Mt. Palomar is a 5-meter. Oh, those measurements are the diameters of the mirrors in the telescopes. 4 meters works out to 13 feet in diameter. And it is an unusual design in that it is 100 feet up in the air, a design consideration that hoped to minimize troublesome air currents close to the ground. This telescope is striking from both inside, and outside. Maybe this coming week will be "Telescope Week" and I will show you all more of these magnificent instruments. I bet you can't wait! I intentionally left this picture dark to enhance the other-worldly quality of the scene.

The Astronomer's Stroll

2011-10-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Spent a spectacular day and evening at Kitt Peak National Observatory today. First our group got to tour a number of large telescopes on the mountain - there are more telescopes here than you can shake a stick at. Then in the evening we got to do some observing through much smaller amateur telescopes that are on the mountain for visitors. It was a great experience. As sunset approached, I walked up to one of the highest spots on the mountain so I could see a number of telescopes, hoping to get a good picture in the late afternoon light. Well, I didn't quite get that, but I got THIS - an astronomer taking a walk around the outside catwalk of the 2.1 Meter telescope before a night's observing run. I am not sure if this is ritual or not, but it felt that way. The small human figure shows more than anything else, how large these telescopes are.

A Gathering of Tubas

2011-10-28T22:39:00.001-07:00

I had an astounding experience today. I was crossing the University of Arizona campus after touring the Mirror Lab with our group, when I came across about a dozen drummers practicing together. They were fantastic, and I watched for half an hour. Then I continued across the campus, and stumbled across the REST of the band! There seemed to be well over a hundred students, not including the drums. There were more tubas in one place than I had ever seen before! They were playing a choral that nearly moved me to tears it was so beautiful. Then they broke up into groups. I asked one of the members if the large group would play together again, and he said in an hour. So I went and ate dinner and came back. Now the drummers had joined the group and they played and marched, and their performance was beyond belief! Really. It was so beautiful it choked me up, and really gave me the goose bumps. I took a fair number of photographs, but seeing all these tubas, and one trombone player with her instrument at attention was the best. What an amazing happenstance to see them all and to hear their music. Makes me wish I came to Arizona more often, and could hear them perform more.

The Juggler

2011-10-27T23:45:00.001-07:00

I was at LaGuardia airport waiting to board my flight to Dallas Fort Worth and Tucson. I saw this fellow standing motionless, with a red ball balanced on his fingers. He stood there as if he were a statue. I looked at him, then went back to my reading. Then I caught motion out of the corner of my eye. He was rolling the ball back and forth across the top of his arm, and then he rolled it up the side of his head. By now I had the toy camera out and started shooting. I liked this shot. So naturally I had to go talk to him - he is a juggler, and was on the way to San Antonio to do a couple of shows But get this, in college he trained to be an astrophysicist!

Boo!

2011-10-26T19:58:00.001-07:00

Every year at this time, I carve a pumpkin and make a Jack-O-Lantern. Have done it every year since moving into this house. But not this year. We will not be around Halloween night, and I was busy running around and didn't get the pumpkin in time. Boo-hoo. I hate to miss this wonderful tradition that we have had. So this is a poor substitute, but the child who lives across the street put up this ghost and I thought it was cute, and of course, I was desperate. So "Boo!" The Jack-O-Lantern will return next year.

Two For The Price of One

2011-10-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

While having dinner a week or so ago, I noticed this one Chrysanthemum stem hanging out of the top of the vase. I was immediately attracted to this because, although I love flowers, I am really attracted to flowers that are fading. So this spoke to me as a good subject. I found a nice place on the radiator in the living room, between the windows. I did the first shot. But I kept thinking about the vase, and then yesterday, while I had my little "studio" set up on the dining room table, I did another photo, using a spotlight. So you get to choose which you like more. Oh, and the first shot, of course, was with the dreaded Hipstamatic.