A Reflection

After my day in the city, I was walking west along W. 32nd Street toward Penn Station which is the building with all the glass.  I saw a reflection in the windows and decided to take a photograph of the reflection.  I didn't think too much about it, but I did think the reflection was interesting.  After I took the photo I kept walking but began to wonder which building it was.  Then I gradually began to realize it could only be one building.

When I got to Penn I turned around and faced to the east and there was the building that was reflected in the glass - the Empire State Building.  It is kind of pretty surrounded by the gray clouds.  So not a big deal, but the mystery was solved!

 

It Happens to the Best of Us

What happens to the best of us?  Well, getting old, of course. You can see that this old timer hasn't got much time on earth, at least above ground.  He was a good and faithful Jack-O-Lantern but now his time is almost up and he won't be illuminated on the front porch to greet passersby at night, sorry to say.  He has lasted a long time on his perch on the front porch railing.  And that is because he is illuminated by a night light, rather than a candle. We have used candles for years, but the heat causes the pumpkin to deteriorate so much quicker.  So he has lasted a long time, thanks to electricity.  A squirrel did eat one of his teeth and part of his mouth.  I think something else ate the two other teeth and then just normal deterioration caused him to soften and begin to collapse.  He served us well this year and has been a wonderful thing to look up and see, orange and glowing, when night comes on.

 

 

Light and Shadow

This is a funny story about how I came to take this photograph.  I was on the phone with Stan Honda, because it is a Tuesday and we talk each Tuesday.  That is something we started back in the time of Covid.  While I was talking to him I saw the light and the shadow on this glass topped table, and the vase of flowers, and the duck decoy and a pitcher that I bought in France years ago.  So I said to him, "Can you hang on for a minute?  Or two minutes?  I need to take a picture!"  So he did hang on and I photographed this scene and we went back to talking.  So this is all about light and shadow, and dark shapes and bright shapes from the sunlight, more than it is the objects. I think our eyes kind of move all around the image because there are so many things to look at.  I hope you enjoy this photograph because it is really different.

 

Our Magnificent Sycamore Tree

This magnificent Sycamore was a surprise to us the first fall after we bought our house in September. 1970.  About a month or so later this huge tree in our tiny front yard turned a brilliant yellow in color.  What a wonderful surprise!  After 56 years this tree tells me when I have to stop painting outdoors.  I have to stop painting when the temperature is 50 degrees or lower, and once this beautiful tree turns yellow, it is never warmer than 50 degrees, ever!  This tree is such a joy!

 

The "Mystery" Grass Returns

When I was looking up and photographing the brilliant yellow tree across the street yesterday, I had not noticed these decorative grasses right in front of my nose!  So I spent a few minutes trying to find a nice photograph of them.  I love how they stand out because behind them are dark evergreen trees.  So here's the funny part.  Back on September 11,  I did a close up photo of the top of something that looked like this, and I attributed the mystery of where it came to a house up the street and around the corner!  When in fact it was right across the street!  It is Japanese Silver Grass and quite beautiful!

 

Fall Color, Right Near Home

When I got back from my bike ride today, I was standing in the driveway looking around and there seemed to be a lot of fall color.  I saw two trees further down Laurel Avenue and I shot a few frames, then I walked over to the side yard and saw this magnificent tree to the north of us across the street, but easily visible because there is a hill to the north of us. I took a few photos from my side yard, but there were wires in the photograph.  So when I went down to the street, and up the hill a bit I had a clear view that included beautiful blue sky and even a bit of cloud.  Perfect!

 

Is Anyone Awake?

I ride the subway all the time in New York, but the last thing I would do on the subway is fall asleep!  Of course I am only liable to be traveling for less than half the length of Manhattan.  From Penn station up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or down to the International Center of Photography.  So that's only likely to be 10 stops or so.  One time I did take the subway out to a barbeque in Brooklyn and that ride seemed to take forever!  But for people who ride daily, I guess sleeping on the subway is OK.

 

Stan at the International Center if Photography

A few times when Stan and I have been to ICP, there have been either extra large or extra small things that are not cameras but look by them.  Each time Stan has picked one up and pretended to photograph me which means that I will take a photograph of him because my camera is always ready.  So that happened today and this camera is furry!  So we had a good laugh over this photograph.

After I  posted the first photograph I went back and I did a search of the blog and found one other time that Stan picked up a fake camera and i photographed him with it!  This is starting to be a nice collectiuon!

 

Caumsett, Four

Back to Caumsett for yet another post, and there will be another one after this, eventually. Once again, the astounding colors of the grasses are the star of this photograph! I just can't get over that beautiful yellow color in the grasses.  I think the grass colors perhaps seem brighter because of the blue sky. On the color wheel, yellow is opposite blue, more or less and when you put them together in the same photograph, one enhances the photo.  Or could.

More yellow.  I hope you are not bored with this.  I had not noticed this, but after mentioning the complimentary colors of yellow and blue, here is the same combination, with the blue coming from the color of the lake.  This really was an amazing and rewarding afternoon trip!

 

Fall Color, Close to Home

I am taking a quick break from Caumsett again.  This morning on the way to Dunkin' at the beach we drove by Scudder's pond and I was surprised by seeing some fall color there.  I am attracted to that silver leaning tree, so that adds something extra to the photograph.  I guess, actually it makes the photograph.  There has been so little around here that just seeing a few trees in full color is a big deal!

 

Caumsett, Three

I was composing this photograph and balancing the arrangement of the dark black tree trunks and the bush on the right.  Suddenly a runner came by me and as he ran into the distance and got smaller and smaller I rapidly clicked away.  I like him this size so he is there but is not a dominant part of the photograph.  Not a lot of fall color in this photograph.

I found this brilliant red leaf on the trail and picked it up.  I wished it was a perfect leaf, but of course it is not.  So I was thinking just forget about this, but I photographed it anyhow.  Then afterwards decided that so many things in the world are not perfect, and this leaf does show us how brilliant the fall colors can be.  So here it is, beautiful in its imperfection!

 

Caumsett, Two

Fall color, more or less, I guess.  It's funny because in some places it looked way past peak color and in others many of the trees were still shades of green.  There is some color here but nothing really spectacular I think.  But I shot it because most of the trees we can see have some color.  I did a search and discovered that the best fall color depends on rain maybe in August or something but then very little rain in September and October. But that was not the case for us this year, so, mostly subdued colors.

So two for one here.  These brilliant red berries really stuck out as I walked by this tree with dried out brown leaves.  Want to guess the type of tree?  I was surprised...  It is a Flowering dogwood!  The ripe berries serve as an important food source for songbirds and other wildlife moving through in the fall.  And it brightened my day to see them in the bright sunlight against the yellowish leaves of trees in the background.

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween.  Well, I guess a day late...  I think that Halloween is my favorite holiday.  And I have made a Jack-O-Lantern every year since I can't remember when.  I love coming up with a face and then doing the carving.  My Jack-O-Lanterns are never creative, they are definitely "old school."  I have seen some amazing faces by creative folks but I just do my traditional face.  Last year I was tired of buying a box of parafin wax from I think it was Gulf Oil or something and making a candle that would last for days because it was 3" by 3" made by putting the slabs together with heat.  So Kathy suggested we put a regular night light inside the pumpkin and run an electrical cord out the back and plug it in!  Genius!  It saves remembering to put the candle out so it wouldn't burn all night long and then be gone.  Tonight before writing this, I walked down the driveway to the street and looked back up at the porch where this sits and I realized how unusual it is that we have a "real" Jack-O-Lantern, made from a pumpkin on display with a light inside it.  This smiling guy is actually real and hand carved.  I don't think there is another like this in all of Sea Cliff.  All the others are made of plastic.  So I realized that this is something special in town and it made me feel good.

 

Caumsett, One

I drove out to Caumsett State Park which is about 40 minutes to the east of Sea Cliff.  Every year about this time I spend the afternoon looking for fall color.  I have done this almost every year for perhaps the last five years. I take the same route - the same roads and trails, and photograph the same places each year.  Of course inevitably the trees with color may be different each year.  The surprise was I was instantly fascinated by the grasses in the park!  Why had I not really "seen" these before.  So I was looking for trees and scenery but always looking for grasses.  So here is a selection of wonderful images that I found in my grasses quest!

I like that this photograph has a foreground, at the right, a middleground, in the center and a background, the tiny tuft on the upper left.

I saved this one for near the last because I think it is the most subtle of all the photographs and this is my favorite.  I think.  Unless I decide that the first one is my favorite!

I thought a close up might be interesting so that you can see the nature of different kinds of grasses close enough together to do some comparison. 

And lastly, a completely different kind of grass, growing in a different part of the park.  I love the delicacy of these grasses.  You should know that I was thrilled with the results of my quest.  Stay tuned for more Caumsett photographs in the days ahead.

 

I Am Tired of Skeletons...

I don't mean to be a grinch but I am getting tired of skulls and skeletons for Haloween!  I sound like a grouch.  I do love Jack-O-Lanterns and I will carve our pumpkin tomorrow!  I have ridden by this boy and girl scarecrows for a few days now, and today the light was perfect, so I stopped my bike and used my iPhone to take a photograph of this lovely fall display and these pair of smiling faces.  There, I have posted it and feel better already!

 

A Little More Fall Color

So when we got back from the beach I happened to notice this tree with red leaves in our neighbor's yard and that is more color than I have seen so far.  It is partially blocked by the Japanese maple tree's green branches, but some of the color shows up.  and I love seeing the two white Adirondack chairs in the foreground to complete a pretty photograph.

 

Fall Color

This was Dunkin' at the beach day.  So we parked facing this tree and bushes because we could get nice views of the harbor to the left and the right, so actually this was a good place to park.  I didn't think much about this view while we were sitting there taking in the day.  Then I realized that maybe this was a photograph in a way.  Because there were yellow leaves in the picture!  So I decided to call it Fall color.  We noticed that across the harbor were hundreds of trees on that side that were bare.  And I don't recall seeing any color on that side of the harbor.  I seem to remember if there is a lot of rain when the leaves change, their color is not as brilliant as it would be if it is more dry.  This Friday I am headed out to Caumsett State Park on Friday to hike and photograph for the afternoon.  I am wondering if I will see much color at all out there.  Stay tuned!

 

Stark, High Contrast Houses

I am posting three photographs here.  This one which is a wide angle shot of a brand new house that was just built after a long time ranch house which was here for years was demolished.  I have posted about this before.  I wondered what would replace the original home, below.

The photograph below is a cropped version of the first photo so you could see the house that was built.  Over the last 5 years or so, in this one neighborhood I have seen 8 or 9 "teardowns" of nice looking family homes, and what was strange was most of them have been replaced with these stark black and white homes.  There is no warmth to them at all!  So I just asked a question about this style of home which is black and white and has no trim at all, and learned this:  "Yes, you are describing a major, highly visible trend in residential architecture.  Over the last several years, neighborhoods across the country have seen a massive rise in these stark, high-contrast houses."

"Design experts note that the trend is currently hitting its peak and experiencing a significant backlash, with residential architecture rapidly shifting toward warmer, more textured, and more organic aesthetics. Designers and homeowners are beginning to experience "monochrome fatigue". On architectural forums and design platforms users frequently complain that these homes look sterile, institutional, and entirely devoid of neighborhood character."  Wow, I could not have said it better myself!  They all seem completely out of character to the neighborhood and have no warmth at all.  I think I will photograph some of the first ones that I saw built on my bike ride and share them with you at some point.

 

Beautiful Dancing Ghosts!

How beautiful is this!  It looks completely homemade and is so creative!  We went driving around the village looking for interesting decorations.  Most were commercial ghosts or skeletons or dinosaurs or gravestones.  But this one stopped us in our tracks.  We happened by when the light was absolutely perfect!  There is something about the beauty of this wonderful creation.  Perfect!

 

Outreach for Long Island Cares

So this is why we were here at Robert Moses State Park, so show the Moon and Saturn to people who came bringing food for Long Island Cares food bank.  Bringing some non-perishable food as a donation, allowed you to look through our telescopes.  The wonderful thing is that at the end of the evening there were 800 pounds of food in the truck that will be in the warehouse this morning.  Here one of our members is setting up her telescope in daylight so she will be ready when it gets dark.

As it got darker, this is all of the amateur astronomers from both ASLI and also from the Amature Observers Society of New York.  We had a great turnout of members from both clubs with not only telescopes, but TV screens that were set up to show visitors some of the work that amatures have done in terms of imaging some distant objects.  Some of their photographs look like they were taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, that's how good their images are.

Here are both members and visitors viewing a TV screen in the middle of the parking lot, showing amateur made photographs of deep space objects.  I never did figure out where the power came from!

All kinds of things were set up here, automated telescopes that would display images on screens and screens showing photographs done by amateur astrophotography in other places at other times.

This is one amateur and his antique telescope, made at the turn of the 20th century.  He is about to show the moon to the person at left.  Unfortunately once visitors started arriving, I was busy non-stop showing visitors both the Moon and Saturn and I never got to walk around and see visitors looking through the telescopes of other amateurs.  All in all, it was an astounding evening and so many people were astounded to see both the Moon and Saturn for the very first time - they have never in their lives ever looked through a telescope at the night sky!

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