Curvy

I have tried to get this shot before in different ways.  I tried it with a wide-angle lens and didn't get the effect that I wanted.  Today I was traveling with the 70-200mm lens so I tried zooming out all the way and this is the result.  It is the best way to show how curved the railing is that runs along the water at the edge of the harbor.  This is just an interesting exercise in composition and design.

 

A Man and His Dog

I did my walk to the old power plant today because the temperature was about 42 degrees which was the first time above freezing for several days.  It was sunny and a nice day for a walk.  I looked over the railing along the harbor and saw this man walking his dog.  The dog would run way out ahead of him, then turn and run back.  I liked the shadows of both the man and the dog, and I followed them for only a short time, and only took about 4 frames.  I like this one best because of the shapes of the man and the dog and the shadows.

 

Night Train

There is a fairly famous photograph from a well known photographer in Maine.  It shows a steam engine at night, stopped at a small station during a snowstorm.  That photograph has always stayed with me and I have always hoped to take some kind of photograph here on Long Island, with a night train at this station.  I haven't gotten that picture yet.  And this isn't that picture.  But I do like the feeling of this photograph, taken right after the train I came in on left the station.  It would have been better if it was raining or snowing, of course.  I do like the mood of this photograph, though.

 

Ice Storm!

I woke this morning to find a thin layer of white snow that had fallen over night, and on top of that was a layer of ice.  It was still raining lightly in the morning and that rain was adding to the ice on everything.  The ice, although dangerous, made for spectacular scenery!  I was seeing photographs everywhere.  This photograph is the famous Japanese maple as you have not seen it before.

This is a closeup of the end of one of the Japanese maple branches.

Another more recognizable view of the maple tree.  It is hard to see but the top branches are illuminated by the sun later on in the afternoon.

A view of two trees seen from the back yard.

And this is the tall Hickory tree in our front yard.  What makes this spectacular is the blue sky behind the branches, and the branches are lit by sunlight.

 

Train Time

I named this photo "Train Time" because it has trains in it.  But "Train Time" came to mind because it is one of my favorite tracks from the group Cream's "Wheels of Fire" album, which, of course has nothing to do with this photograph.  This is the Jamaica train station of the Long Island Railroad.  I was on the train from Penn Station and I have to transfer from the New York train to the Oyster Bay train, which is the one that goes to Sea Cliff.  You take the escalator from one platform, then walk across an elevated walkway to the escalator that goes down to the other train.  The setting sun was shining to the west, and people were going down the escalator.  I waited until they got to the bottom so they didn't block the scene.  A late winter afternoon at the train station.

 

The Hotel Grey Ne

Another photograph during my 20 block walk north on Broadway, on the upper west side.  I think I know what this photograph is about.  Maybe.  It's about the red light on the building from the neon sign advertising this hotel, and it is also about the pale blue light in the sky at dusk.  And of course what makes it all fun is that three letters are not illuminated on the sign so it is advertising the "Hotel Gray Ne" instead of "Hotel Graystone."  I really do love the colors in this photograph.

 

The Metro Diner

To get to the dinner last Friday night, I decided not to take the subway the whole way to the 103rd Street subway stop, but to get off at 86th street.  I was ahead of schedule and needed to kill some time, so I decided to walk 20 blocks.  I don't remember the last time I walked up Broadway this high up.  It was fun just to see the neighborhood, and some of the buildings and restaurants, and some of the architecture.  This diner at 100th street grabbed my attention from a block away.  I just like the design of the neon signs advertising the place. It's a nice photograph, except for the garbage out at the curb.