Walking the Boroughs ... and elsewhere

Times Square: Reflections

2012-02-09T21:43:00.003-05:00

February 9

Flag Caught in the Revolving Doors

Four O'clock

Jackson Heights, 74th Street

2012-01-26T17:00:00.002-05:00

January 25

Hand Slaughtered

Delivering the Lamb

Storefront

Tornado by Michael Sailstorfer: 5th Avenue and 60th Street

2012-01-20T22:44:00.000-05:00

January 20

Tornado on 5th Avenue

Tornado in Central Park

It's the changing "art exhibit" at 60th and 5th, constructed of truck inner tubes. It will come down in February to be replaced by another photo opportunity. A three men crew attends to the periodic reinflation of the tubes.

72nd Street Subway Station

2012-01-11T12:32:00.003-05:00

January 10

72nd Street Subway Platform

Waiting for the Express

Straphanger

Tuned In

Self Portrait on the #3

Metrtopolitan Museum of Arts: Copying Rembrant

2012-01-04T14:58:00.003-05:00

Jan 3, 2012

Copying

The Eye of the Master

Kiwi on 72nd. Street

2011-12-23T18:31:00.000-05:00

December 23

The Kiwi and the Ansonia

The Ansonia and the Kiwi

Down on Wall Street

2011-12-14T09:39:00.006-05:00

December 13

Reflection in the New York Stock Exchange Window

Police Check Point

Strange Bedfellows

Liberty Plaza

Christmas on Wall Street

2011-12-10T10:30:00.001-05:00

December 9

Wall Street blues

Eating lunch while waiting for the #1 Train

2011-10-29T07:43:00.000-04:00

October 27

Marvin and I went went out with Joe Josephs to get some pointers on street photography. We both learned a lot.

New Yorkers are always in a hurry. Some people to take this trait to an extreme.

Wall Street Protest

2011-10-06T10:57:00.000-04:00

The unions march to Foley Square and Zuccotti Park,
October 5

Foley Square Rally: Save the American Dream

The march was a controlled event. Although it had been advertised as starting at 4:30 by Move-On. I decided to get there early. By 3:30 the marchers were already moving slowly from someplace around City Hall on the west sidewalk of Broadway, north to Foley Square. The route had been prepared by the police with metal barricades. The police, in large numbers, on foot, in cars and on motor scooter, made sure that the marchers stayed on the sidewalk. There were as many as seven helicopters circling above -- at taxpayers' expense.

The composition of the marchers: mostly white collar union types -- municipal unions -- nurses, teachers, professors and students, with a sprinkling of UAW and many others. The largest contingent was from CUNY (the PSC). The NYPD was playing "good cops"; the white shirts in the background rather thannear the marchers. Nobody was going to get out of line in this group. Onlookers and those taking pictures were gently managed and it was possible (at that time) to move on and off the sidewalk if one was not carrying a sign and not perceived as "a marcher."

Once in Foley Square the barrier was tightened between the "outside" and the mostly inarticulate demonstration on the square (milling around, some bongo drums, lots of signs, cheers, but no speeches). There was a holiday atmosphere from a lively group showing support for the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. The soul and determination of this movement reside in the protestors encamped in Zuccotti Park. Bloomberg, Kelly and the cops know this, and that is the group they want to break.

I snapped a few pictures. Anyone deciding not to continued on to Zuccotti Park was unable to leave except by the Lexington Ave Subway entrance which the police controlled, permitting entrance to the subway but no exit from it. I left at six fifteen and headed home.

Addendum: After I left, under the cover of darkness and out of public view, the cops arrested 23 protestors. That's what New Yorkers get for electing a billionaire for a third term after the City Council narrowly reversed the term limit law.

Thus far only one public official, Councilwoman Gale Brewer, has publicly complained about the pattern of police brutality.

PSC Supports You

Standing By

Standing By (2)

Wall Street Protest

2011-10-01T23:12:00.003-04:00

Zucotti Park, October 1

Our tax dollars at work:
Seven hundred arrested by the NYPD. They are doing a great job of protecting the oligarchy with the tools purchased and skills developed to protect us from terrorists.

It is clear that one effect of 9/11 has been to transform our police force into a well equipped army with the technology and techniques that can be and are used against the people once their protests become too dangerous for those who control a larger and larger share of the wealth of this country. This is Bin Laden's sad legacy.

The Cause

The Cops

The Press

They've been arrested

Tools for a Police State

Tools of Protest

The Weary

The Rebel

Upper West Side

2011-09-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

September 27

It has rained so much this summer that the plants outside our apartment windows have begun to invade inside.

2011-09-21T17:00:00.003-04:00

Florence: shop window reflections

2011-08-22T19:28:00.004-04:00

August, 2011

Fading Away

Images of Rome

2011-08-22T13:03:00.002-04:00

July 28

Man and Woman
(Near Piazza Di S. Giovanni in Laterrano)

Spanish Steps

London

2011-08-16T09:01:00.004-04:00

July 20

I had just finished looking at Modigliani's Portrait of a Girl at the Tate Modern when a man stepped into the place I had occupied. I found the two together even more interesting.

Man looking at Modigliani's Portrait of a Girl

Invisible man

The Photographer on the Millennium Bridge

Walking on Broadway

2011-07-09T20:38:00.005-04:00

July 8 and 9

Forever 21, near Times Square

In a Fish Bowl, 100 Street

In the shadow of the Metro theater, 99 Street

Walking by Columbia University

2011-06-28T16:41:00.009-04:00

June 28 ...

... I saw this. Before I could frame another shot, the rat was deflated and the sign was taken away. It was the "rat patrol" scab hunting a Columbia University.

Alma mater

Time Square

2011-06-18T14:33:00.008-04:00

June 17

Flag

St. John the Divine, June 18

Candles

Walden, NY, Route 52

2011-06-16T11:43:00.003-04:00

June 11

McMansion Foreclosed

Times Square: The M & M Store

2011-06-08T22:43:00.002-04:00

June 6

Liberty

Rockefeller Center

2011-06-02T22:42:00.021-04:00

June 2

Among the most talented in New York City are the window display designers. The windows at Anthropology that I saw today are marvelously done. I stayed there for about two hour, left and came back again for a different light. The display and the reflections combined in some interesting ways. In a month or so the only traces will be the photographs taken by thousands of tourists.

Girl though the window

Display and reflection in the Anthropologie window (2)

Display and reflection in the Anthropologie window (1)

Fifth Avenue Mannequin

Riverside Park

2011-05-30T21:44:00.005-04:00

Memorial Day 2011

Riverside Park, near 204 Street

Herald Square: Back in the USA

2011-05-30T14:20:00.003-04:00

May 29

A Face in the Crowd

Our Trip to Costa Rica

2011-05-15T22:20:00.014-04:00

April 22-27

On April 22 we depart from San Jose once again, this time heading some forty miles north to a "hotel" located in a rain forest preserve that our travel agent has recommended. We have hired a driver to take us there, departing in mid-morning rather than taking the "transbus" that would have picked us up at the crack of dawn, before breakfast. This was a wise choice. The forty miles trip took "only" two and half hours on winding mountain roads. The Wagelia Espino Blanco was difficult to find; our driver had to get directions twice as we got closer to our destination. On arrival we were greeted by "Cindy" who helped us bring our luggage to our cabin in the forest. She and another women cooked the food, cleaned the dozen cabins and registered the guest, all of whom, except us, arrived and left by car. She handed us a lantern and a flashlight and pointed to a shelf with two blankets. (The second night we asked for two more.) This was quite a transition from the hot Caribbean coast.

Our stay at the lodge was pleasant and very different; the trails provided a unique occasion to hear the sounds of the forest and see an occasional monkey high up in the top branches, the restaurant was adequate and the experience will always be remembered fondly. The mosquito netting around each bed was fortunately unnecessary, at least when we were there. But in terms of taking pictures, forget it; the wildlife was elusive, the forest blocked the light and the unique experience was more aural than visual: the sound of the rain on the metal roof at night and the howling and other unfamiliar sounds of birds, insects and beasts. These cannot be photographed.

On April 24 we take an Interbus, a private van service, heading out of the rain forest and west to our next destination, Volcano Lodge. This is the last leg of our trip before returning to San Jose and our flight back home. For the past week, quite contrary to our wishes and expectations, we have traveled in a tourist bubble. This part of the trip is no different in that respect. Since I am (correctly) unwilling to drive, and since we have been warned that it is unwise for tourists to travel by public buses due to rampant thievery, we continue to be cut off from the everyday life of the inhabitants in a way we have not experienced even when traveling in more restricted countries such as as Morocco, Russia and China. (Had we opted to take our chances and used public buses it would have been impossible to make connections in a timely manner). So wanting to avoid the restrictions on our freedom imposed by "a tour" we nonetheless have remained confined to the areas catering only to tourists.

Volcano Lodge, as promised in the online ads, is indeed a paradise -- one that is gated and isolated. In many ways it reminds me of the place that was described as "heaven" in the Catholic mythology of my childhood: a charming comfortable place where one sits around bored for all eternity contemplating the infinite goodness of a temperamental old guy with a long white beard. The hotel gardens, full of beautiful flowers, are well tended every morning by a small band of uniformed workers who cut, trim, fertilize ... and spray huge quantities of insecticide to make the place pleasant for the guests. In this case we can see "the old man" outside our hotel window: the Volcano at Arenal. It is one of the top ten most active volcanoes in the world, with a visible little puff of white smoke at the top. It erupts every few years with greater or lesser violence. In 1968 it destroyed the village of Tobaćon and killed 78 people. Since then it has erupted a half dozen time, with the last major eruption in 1998 destroying a few thousand square feet of forests. Yet, on the world scale of natural disaster generators, it has only been a very minor nuisance. The nearest town and tourist destination is named La Fortuna, in recognition of its good fortune -- so far.

On April 25 we take a leisurely tour from the Volcano Lodge to visit the wildlife sanctuary at Cano Negro. We are very fortunate that I changed the pick up time to visit the sanctuary from 6:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The company doing this trip is "Sunset Tours." As the name indicates they obviously do sunset as well sunrise tours. But Liz, the agent at CentralAmerica.com, had booked us for the early morning one, contrary to Jen's instructions. By the time I realized this misdeed on her part -- one of many -- it cost us twice us much to be picked up at the time we wanted, for a private tour. But the extra cost is well worth it. Instead of a van we are picked in a car by our guide, Pablo, and his driver. Not only does this give me greater flexibility in terms of picture taking, it provides us with the opportunity for a more informal encounter in which our questions are answered more candidly and thoroughly than we have experienced on our trip so far. After an excellent lunch with Pablo at a little place along the road we make another stop before reaching Cano Negro. To our delight and amazement there are several large iguanas walking around on the sidewalk and in the nearby vegetation. This is apparently a well know stop for tourists, where more than five hundred iguanas live to a ripe old age without any natural enemies. In the bright afternoon sun most of the pictures don't turn out so well but Jen and I get to walk among the iguanas and see their prehistoric features close up.

The End: Some Flowers

ADDENDUM

The tourist industry is a necessary evil, both for the country visited and the visitors. It makes it possible for millions of people to see and “experience” something out of their everyday reality, a wildlife habitat that is quickly being eradicated almost everywhere in the world by the relentless march of population growth and modernization. But it is also just another “reality show,” having very little to do with the way the country's natives experience and feel in their everyday life. This is all the more true for a small country like Costa Rica where tourism is now the number one “industry” and which in many ways -- along with American mass culture and the spreading crack cocaine epidemic -- has degraded its culture.

Tourism has been a major factor in the rising standard of living of this Central American country and in the restoration and maintenance of its ecology and wildlife preserves. But it also pollutes the countryside with an excessive number of tour buses and creates a second tier economy of inflated prices and manicured gated environments for the captive visitors on the way to the national parks. It is like so much of modern life, a “Truman Show,” except that the curtain to the outside world is torn in many places and one or more of the other realities can always be seen unless one is asleep: before one reached the countryside and the national parks one must traverse long stretches of urban sprawl covered with Kentucky Fried Chickens, McDonalds, Esso stations, Coca Cola signs and used car lots. One also cannot fail to see that most homes and businesses are barricaded for fear of crime. The beautiful flowers above are kept insect free by the small band of workers in hazmat suits who every morning patrol the grounds of Volcano Lodge liberally spraying the flora with insecticides.

For scientific documentation see, for example: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:xSWRxSOuwQQJ:umanitoba.ca/research/media/Bulletin_January_27_2011.pdf+costa+rica+insecticide+umanitoba&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShugLG2xNPd2Gceusx-IZ7AyxjGg9lgWnwC6PDLI4peKiqeYiv_f6rIfpb6G1b4ofgRj-jS1pBTR0gYk6BRN-Sy2880SiAXARA6g1avy_n3Caa9Rs1SGMKtjSINflt84cHHiJGP&sig=AHIEtbR8PR6oX_kkEKTapWmh3ML04yiaEA

Our trip to Costa Rica

2011-04-29T17:29:00.036-04:00

April 16-28

On April 16 Jen and I are scheduled to depart for San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, on Continental flight 1796 from Newark at 5:15 PM.

Everyone we've spoken to who has visited Costa Rica tells of its loveliness. I've done a little bit of research: Costa Rica has the reputation. It's the ecological and economic jewel of Central America. Having abolished its army in 1948 it has been able to allocate the savings to education, health care and human welfare. It also boasts of a stable democracy. Thus, it has wisely moved ahead of its neighbors, with the highest standard of living in the region. Its citizens float blissfully upward economically, largely on a tide of "ecotourism": each year hoards of Americans and Europeans fill its tour buses and vans to view its abundant wildlife still thriving in this subtropical paradise. Tourism is its number one industry. We are also told that its number two industry is the production of microchips and that it exports large quantities of bananas and pineapples.

We arrive at Newark Airport at 2:30 PM and proceed uneventfully through the metal detectors and other symbolic acts of security: removing our shoes and belts while being checked out for the magical more-than-3.4-ounces-of-liquids on our persons or carry on luggage and being bombarded every few minutes with the recorded message not to leave our luggage unattended at the risk of its confiscation and likely destruction should we do so. "Security" is well on its way to becoming one of America's top industries.

We check the arrival/departure board. Once again we have arrived too early. Our flight is delayed until 6:00 PM. We read, we fidget, we eat. Soon the board shows that our flight is now delayed until 7:00 PM. No one is at our gate to explain, but it is rumored that it's the weather out West. Soon thereafter the board shows a further delay until 9:00 PM and that our gate has been moved. There are no Continental employees in sight until about 7:30 PM and no explanation until about an hour later: our plane is being delayed in Pittsburgh due to the weather. It's raining outside. Some flights are landing. Some flights are leaving for places like Daytona Beach and London, but we are stranded. And so it goes for eight hours until our plane finally departs at 1:30 AM on April 17. It lands in San Jose roughly five hours later at around 4:30 AM, local time. Our first tour is scheduled for 10 AM that morning.

April 18

I will spare you, for now, the tales of our ensuing sleep deprivation following our disastrous start. Nor will I describe in words or photos the extremely boring tour to the old church ruins in Cartago and the orchids "garden" on the day of our arrival. (And I will not tell you of the many miracles performed by the Virgin at the shrine in Cartago, evidenced by the hundreds of little tokens left by the grateful recipients of divine intervention). Instead I jump ahead to a picture taken at the rim of the active volcano in Poas National Park.

Unfortunately this particular tour required some moderate hiking up to the rim of the volcano at a sufficiently high altitude to make one breathless, as well as the descending of some four hundred steps and the ascending of another 90 after that to reach the La Paz Waterfall. This was not a tour designed for Jen. She sent me out to take pictures, while she rested at the charming Hotel Don Carlos back in San Jose.

On the short bus trip from San Jose to Poas I struck up a conversation with Bill, a young man from Liverpool. He was taking a year off from work to tour Central and South America. When we were hiking up to the Poas crater I asked him to pose near some of the remarkable flora on the trail so as to give a sense of the size of some of the plants and their leaves.

Poas, volcano crater

Flora in Poas National Park

Bill and big leaves

Hotel Don Carlos

The seamy side of Costa Rica

The guidebooks dismiss San Jose as uninteresting, a jumping off point for more exciting tourist destinations. But, unfortunately, San Jose is the first place one sees before taking a tour or renting a car to the more picturesque places. About one tenth of the four and half million Costa Ricans live within the capital's boundaries and twice as many reside within the greater metropolitan area. "What a dump" is the uncensored phrase that came to the my sleep deprived mind as we traveled the twenty kilometers from the Juan Santamaria International Airport to downtown San Jose. A half dozen trips in and out of San Jose from our base hotel, the Don Carlos, to our various destination in the central valley and the Caribbean shore, confirmed this first impression. When one of the hotel doormen advised us not to walk on our own outside the hotel after 8:00 PM we inferred that the look of the place was not the only problem. I am grateful that later in the trip we spent eight hours with a tour guide who was remarkably candid in explaining the serious crime problem that now challenges Costa Rica. On line searches validated his basic outline. See, for example:

http://www.nacion.com/2011-03-21/Investigacion/OtrasNoticias/N21-LAVADO/WIKILEAK234185.aspx

and

http://www.ticotimes.net/News/Top-Story/WikiLeaks-As-crime-rises-Costa-Rica-no-longer-safe-_Friday-March-25-2011

Costa Rica is now part of the land bridge for narcotics making their way up from Colombia through Nicaragua to the US markets; it is also now in the midst of a crack cocaine epidemic. Costa Rica has no army. The border with Nicaragua is unguarded and porous. The country has a large and growing addict population, overrepresented by its poorest inhabitants, the Nicaraguan and other Central American immigrants drawn here by the many jobs at the bottom of the ladder that the Ticos no longer wants. Property crime is rampant. It is evident that, for the most part that we and the other million and half yearly tourists are traveling in a protective bubble, a parallel universe, created by the tourist industry. Tourist hotels and resorts are secluded and secured, often gated. Police and uniformed security guards can be seen everywhere. Houses and places of business are secured with high metal fences often capped with barbed wire.

My desire to do a little street photography in downtown San Jose was easily reined in by my fear of getting mugged and having my Nikon D300 stolen. But I had seen some interesting street murals and graffiti on our trips to the volcano and to Cartago. So one morning, before our tour bus arrived, I found myself a taxi driver who understood a little English three blocks from the hotel and asked him to take me there and wait a few minutes until I took some pictures and then bring me back to the hotel.

So far I have not been able to make much sense of these and the dozens of other street murals that can be found in downtown San Jose, except for the Wizard of Oz panels. These three photographs offer, a small sample of the many murals that are clustered in a one block area near the bus depot and a "night club" that, according to my taxi driver attracts the druggies and other "hip" people.

A sample of street murals in downtown San Jose

**Transit to Tortuguero and Laguna Lodge,**

April 19

We are picked up at 7:30 AM by the Laguna Lodge bus, heading to Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast for our two night stay at Laguna Lodge. We board a large nearly full and comfortable tour bus -- with good shock absorbers suitable for the rough roads ahead. Jen and I are the last two passengers and we have to take seats apart. I sit next to Leon, a native Tico, whose English is good enough for us to have a decent conversation. I soon learn that his family is originally from Barcelona and that his sister now lives there, training to be an opera singer. He is traveling with his fiancee, chaperoned by her father. (She is sitting in front of us with her father). Leon has an MBA and is stepping into his father's construction business. He is clearly upper middle-class. Most of the people on the bus seem to be Ticos, or at least Spanish speaking. This is "holy week," the week before Easter, when a good part of the local population is off from work. Heading for the Caribbean coast seems to be a popular destination for Ticos this time of year. Later, as we mingle at lunch and at pit stops, we learn that among the non-Hispanics we are traveling with one Israeli couple in their sixties and a young French couple with nine year old boy. Our guide, Maria, is bilingual and translates most of her commentary into good English for the benefit of this small minority. She also has a degree in tropical biology, which will come in handy when when she guides us on tomorrow's wildlife sighting boat ride.

After leaving the ugly San Jose metropolitan area we travel East through lovely countryside. Once one leaves the cities Costa Rica is indeed a tropical paradise. We are still in the dry season. The weather has been almost ideal for touring, albeit a little hotter and more muggy than one would like. With hats and plenty of sunscreen lotion to protect us it's great to walk outside to take in the lush vegetation and bright flowers everywhere along the route. We make one of several stops at a banana plantation and processing plant: banana trees as far as the eye can see, each bunch of growing bananas wrapped in a blue plastic bag to protect its content from insects. All the bananas are picked green, at least at this Dole plantation, and ripen in transit to the USA and other destinations. (This probably explains why these bananas will never taste as good as the African bananas we ate in Lyon, France, which were tree ripened.) However, the main attraction during this rest stop turns out to be an "insect", not the bananas, a Hercules beetle kept as a pet and tourist magnet by one of the venders selling drinks and snacks. Clearly it is wise to cover the bananas while they grow.

At the end of our four hour drive we all climb into a boat for our one hour boat ride to Tortuguero.

Scenic view

Banana trees as far as the eye can see

Processing green bananas for shipment

Tourist with Hercules Beetle

Closeup of Hercules Beetle

Looking for Wildlife at Tortuguero, April 20

Hotel Laguna Lodge, our next destination, sits on a narrow strip of land in the Tortuguero National Park, bordered on the East by Caribbean Sea and on the West by the Tortuguero River. (See attached map). It can only be reached by boat. Its location make it theoretically an ideal base for seeing an abundance of wildlife: reptiles, birds and mammals. Indeed on two boat trips available on the morning after we arrived we had the opportunity to see a dozen or so species of birds, seven or eight monkeys and lots of reptiles, including caimans and lizards, on the shores of the canals that traverse the Tortuguero wetlands. Maria, our guide, was very good at spotting them. But most of them were even better at remaining hidden or at scurrying or flying away. Photographing them from a swaying boat, with twenty or so other eager tourists jostling for better positions with the same idea of getting that perfect shot, was not an easy task. I took many pictures, but only a few are sharp enough to present.

Laguna Lodge at Tortuguero

Camouflaged basilisk

Basilisk

Iguana

Tiger Heron

Black Crown Night Heron

Con Edison Plant

2011-04-14T22:45:00.006-04:00

April 14

St. Patrick's Day Parade

2011-03-20T20:44:00.003-04:00

Mach 17

Brass

The view from Roosevelt Island

2011-02-23T21:10:00.007-05:00

February 23

The Cable

The Con Edison Plant

The Queensboro Bridge

And imagine a better world...

On a cold winter evening

2011-02-15T21:32:00.008-05:00

February 15

53 Street Waterfall

St. Patrick's Cathedral: The Sleepers

5th Avenue Window

Rockefeller Center: Lego Store and Bryant Park

2011-02-06T21:45:00.015-05:00

February 6

The Dragon's Tail

Green Legos

Bryant Park Fountain

Sunset on Fifth Avenue

Rockefeller Center reflected in the Saks windows

2010-12-24T21:04:00.005-05:00

Christmas Eve

Rockefeller Center Reflected in a Saks window

Spinning woman and child in a Saks window

Rockefeller Center Reflected in another Saks window

Ave of the Americas

Brooklyn: Borough Hall

2010-12-17T16:08:00.006-05:00

December 17

Memories of Fall

Cobble Hill window revisited

44th. Street

2010-11-24T17:32:00.004-05:00

November 24

The hand is quicker than the eye

Part of the neon man with the moving arm above the "Bowlmor Lanes" on 44th Street. Behind him is a sign advertising the "King Tut Exposition."

Temple of Dendur

2010-11-17T15:18:00.002-05:00

Nov. 17

Displaced

Grand Central Station

2010-11-16T21:39:00.003-05:00

November 16

I went to Grand Central with some ideas in mind for trying out my tripod. I got a little sidetracked, as I often do, by a bank of brand new phones sitting there idle while everyone was on their cell phones. By the time I go around to what I had come down for I was stopped by a security guard because I did not have a tripod permit. It's a bit of hassle to get one so I will come back another time. Meanwhile here is my one shot.

Land lines

Con Edison all though the night

2010-11-11T12:23:00.005-05:00

November 11

There is a downside to city living, without warning or informing the residents Con Ed and it's subcontractors started tearing up West End Avenue, night and day, for thirty six hours...heavy equipment, jackhammers, blinding lights and engine running.

Minnewaska State Park

2010-11-07T19:07:00.012-05:00

November 6

Less than a half hour from our house in Gardiner there are some wonderful hiking trails. Jen and I went for a little walk and I tried out my new tripod taking a picture of Awosting Falls, in Minnewaska State Park.

Conservatory Gardens, Central Park

2010-11-02T05:30:00.005-04:00

Nov 1

Crabapple Grove

After years of procrastination I finally bought a tripod. This is my first picture taken with it: five exposures, one stop apart, blended into one HDR photo. (I discovered that in this case using three exposures, two stops apart, yields essentially the same result). In spite of a slight breeze Photomatix Pro did a decent job of blending the five exposures.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T18:52:00.008-04:00

Little Red Riding Hood

Waiting for the paint to dry

Painting the lips

42nd Street Collage

2010-10-19T18:10:00.010-04:00

October 19

Windows on 42nd Street

Brooklyn, Walking on Court Street, and then to a Henry Street Rooftop

2010-10-09T22:13:00.007-04:00

October 6

It's been more than two months since I last walked these boroughs. My main preoccupations during that time have been finding an apartment in Manhattan, and then when it was found, packing and unpacking. That's almost all behind us now and I can get back to taking pictures. Today was the first sunny day in a while. I took the the #2 train to Borough Hall and walked down Court Street to Cobble Hill. I took any shots of the lovely tree lined streets, but none did justice to to the wonderful residential areas I walked through. But a few offbeat shots please me and I post them here.

Then, late in the afternoon I visited Walter and Ingrid. After a couple of beers I took some pictures of the water tower that sits imperiously above their rooftop apartment on Henry Street.

Cobble Hill Tailor

At a construction site: through Plexiglass

Foundations through chain link fence

A water tower
(as seen from Walter and Ingrid's rooftop terrace)

East Village

2010-07-31T20:33:00.017-04:00

July 31

While the tourists are flocking to the Hi Line on the West Side, there are far more interesting and mostly undiscovered green fantasies right across town. In the East Village and elsewhere vest pocket parks and gardens offer delightful oases for the residents and for visiting strangers. This one, La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez, on 9th Street between Avenues B and C, transports us into another world.

La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez

Looking up dispels the illusion

Fooling around with Photoshop

2010-07-15T14:30:00.010-04:00

July 15

Turban Man Fantasy (Last year's photo of Steve recycled)

Lincoln Center Fountain

2010-06-28T13:58:00.003-04:00

June 27

Mermaid Parade, Coney Island

2010-06-20T08:36:00.011-04:00

June 19

Brooklyn Girl

Blue Man

Patriotic Duet

Beach Guys

Peacock Woman

Oil Spill Man

Inwood, 207 Street

2010-06-09T14:21:00.007-04:00

June 8

One City Indivisible

The barber shop

God bless America

Inwood

2010-06-08T21:58:00.015-04:00

June 8

Clouds

Rivington Street

2010-05-25T22:41:00.003-04:00

May 25

Astoria, Queens

2010-05-25T11:27:00.009-04:00

May 20

Socrates in the Park at Athens Square

Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine

2010-04-24T11:15:00.015-04:00

April 16

This morning I drove forty miles from Salt Lake City to Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. It’s the largest pit dug by humans on this planet, now nearly three miles across and three quarters of a mile deep -- and growing. From it 18 millions tons of copper have been extracted since 1906. One ton of ore produces only about 10.6 pounds of copper. That's approximately 339,000,000 tons of ore that have been dug and processed. As a consequence the landscape for miles around the pit is a wasteland covered with the extracted ore.

Landscape on the way to the pit

The pit

The picture does not do justice to the immensity of the pit. The yellow electric shovel on the right, which looks like a toy from the rim of the pit, has a 56-cubic yard dipper that can scoop approximately 98 tons of ore; the equivalent of about fifty automobiles. It weighs 3.2 million pounds.

3.2 million pound monster

Out of the pit

2010-04-23T09:57:00.010-04:00

Downtown Salt Lake City: Heavy Metal, April 15

Brigham Young and the angel Moroni

Heavy Metal Shop

Reloading

As I walked around Salt Lake City looking for places to photograph, the Big Yellow Taxi lyrics from the Joni Mitchel song kept popping up in my head: "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Salt Lake City, Utah

2010-04-19T09:15:00.017-04:00

April 14

We take a break from the excitement and wonders of the City, visiting Salt Lake City for four days while Jen attends the annual meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians. First, we take a side trip to Antelope Island, an hour's drive from Salt Lake City. It snowed the day before. Today is a bright and glorious day; not the greatest for photography nor for forgetting one's Tilley hat, but we enjoy it immensely.

The highway leading to Antelope Island State Park

Great Salt Lake, from Antelope Island

Flora, by the lake

Buffalo at sunset

Broadway Fantasies

2010-04-03T22:14:00.015-04:00

April 4

Steam on 37th Street

Toys R Us, Ferris Wheel

Toys R Us, Boy attacks toy helicopter

The salesman at Toys R Us was demonstrating a remote control helicopter. He flew it in front of a mural depicting a cartoon character that my grandson informs me is named Ben 10. In the dimly lit store the telephoto lens flattened the reality. Thus, the helicopter appears to be a part of the mural. The movement is revealed in the three consecutive shots, as in the above. But even then it is difficult not to see the helicopter as part of three flat images. We are constantly being tricked in this modern world of images.

Broadway Renaissance

In the Fifties

2010-03-09T23:03:00.011-05:00

March 9, 2010

Falling Towers

56th. Street

57th. Street

2010-02-27T12:07:00.012-05:00

Another Snow Storm, February 26

2009-12-20T19:00:00.008-05:00

First snow of the year, December 20

Riverdale reflection

Ewen Park

Rough sledding

Kingsbridge Armory

2009-12-17T17:51:00.016-05:00

December 17

It's unsportsmanlike to talk about the ones that got away. But with a tripod... and permission ... I could have gotten some very interesting pictures. I managed to get the one just below -- with my hands shaking -- at half a second exposure, before I got chased out. The powers that be are really afraid the public will see how this wonderful space is wasted.

In the belly of the beast

Kingsbridge Armory

Brickwork

But -- at least for now -- it won't get turned into a mall. I can suggest some alternatives: an indoor amusement park with rides skating rinks, swimming pools and laser light shows; a museum for peace; a repository for artifacts about to be destroyed in the name of "commerce" and "progress;" a preventive health care center, an all year around permanent circus... anything that would bring tourists as well as New Yorkers to visit this grand building would be better than a mall.

If any of the ten or so people who visit this site every day and say nothing have any better ideas let them speak up and post a comment.

I came by a few days later, after the snow. But all I saw was pidgeons.

2009-12-14T19:57:00.020-05:00

Highbride Park, December 14

I took a few photos and I may come back on a snowy day, but I'll wait until May when the tower is open to take more pictures.

Descending

Highbridge Tower

Highbridge

Looking through the tower

2009-12-05T17:52:00.012-05:00

Inside and Outside the Time Warner Building, December 2

2009-12-02T21:23:00.015-05:00

Sony Building -- Public Space, Dec 1, 2009

Today I had lunch with Dave in the Sony building public space. After looking at this this leaping giant for a couple of hours I became obsessed with the thought of taking his picture ... and that of the plastic Xmas tree.

Spider Man and the Plastic Christmas Tree

On the way home I ducked into Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. As I rode up the escalators I saw another style of lunching.

Lunch chez Trump

2009-11-21T19:58:00.028-05:00

Wallkill, NY, November 20

Now some pictures of Canada Geese and one obvious but essential truism: they are best seen in flight.

Geese Approaching

Three Geese

Sunset on Old Fort Road

Geese Pond

Grazing

Canada Geese Madness

2009-11-17T19:46:00.020-05:00

168 Street, November 17

New York Presbyterian: Passages

Amazing Things Are Happening Here

Meanwhile, down below

Waiting

2009-11-05T22:25:00.031-05:00

American Museum of Natural History, November 5

Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905 (Panel 1)
Two American women (as Justice and Mercy) standing between
the Japanese Emperor and the Russian Tsar

Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905 (Panel 2)
Count de Witte extending olive branch to Theodore Roosevelt

The last time I visited the museum I was fascinated by the large mural in the Roosevelt Rotunda at the main entrance. The events it depicts are from the Roosevelt era, a century ago. The mural created by William Andrew Mackay is to me more impressive than the modern Rose Center for Earth and Space and the wonderful, but rather somber museum. The mural is huge; the above pictures, from parts of the south wall are just two samples. (Unfortunately the uneven lighting makes it very difficult to adequately photograph.) It conveys an era when a Republican president could prophetically say, and undoubtedly believed:

"A great democracy must be progressive or
it will soon cease to be great or a democracy."

Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth , which ended the Russo-Japanese -- depicted in the photos of the Mackay mural above.

And here's one more sample, from the West wall.

Theodore Roosevelt and some of his friends.

African Stroll

Encounter 2

2009-10-30T18:28:00.029-04:00

P.S. 1 in Long Island City, October 30

The inside of PS 1 is more revealing than the outside, not unlike the inside of the many warehouses that still populate the landscape of Long Island City. It too had warehousing functions. Now it is a branch of the Museum of Modern Art.

Taking pictures inside is not permitted. This I learned when I tried to photograph a row of ceiling lights in the old school's hallway, each light with a red "EXIT" painted on it. The guard said something like: "You can't take pictures of that... it's part of the art." We exchanged smiles. Who makes the rules? Who decides that that ugly structure outside through which I shot the top of the Citicorp building is ART? Students, raise your hands if you agree that most of the top officers of large investment banks belong in jail.

As you can see from the "picture" below it's not just a zoom lens that links these two institutions.

2009-09-16T15:59:00.012-04:00

The High Line, September 13

Above the High Line

Underneath the High Line

Shaft

2009-09-14T16:51:00.012-04:00

American Museum of Natural History, September 12

Encounter

2009-05-21T12:04:00.014-04:00

Tomkins Square Park , May 15

NYC Dance Parade and Dancefest

The NYC Park Department sponsored the the third annual dance parade which wound up in Tompkins Square Park for an afternoon of dance performance. Exhibitionists and voyeurs had gathered to enjoy this beautiful spring day. In spite of the crowd I was able to isolate for the lens a few of the many colorful characters ... and those watching them. Many more got away.

2009-05-13T23:18:00.007-04:00

Sony Building Lobby Revisited, May 13

Today I revisited the Sony building lobby and again I focused on the ceiling. It was around 5 PM and the light was much different than on my first visit. I took a few shots, a half hour apart, each time capturing the reflections on the black marble wall to the left of me.

2009-05-09T11:03:00.006-04:00

Brooklyn Bridge, May 8

Crowd pleaser

2009-04-28T20:50:00.014-04:00

I Walk to Brooklyn on the Brooklyn Bridge,
April 28

It was another hot day in New York, somewhere around 90F, that felt more like mid summer than spring, when I walked to Brooklyn. At 2 PM the light was so intense that the Manhattan Bridge looked like a mirage against the cloudless sky.

Manhattan Bridge on a Hot Spring Day

By the time I reached Fulton and Lawrence Street (and before I stopped at the local Irish pub for a pint of Guinness) I was a bit dehydrated and also perhaps a little delusional. I had transported myself into a different world. But even there "Steve" stood out. I asked him if I could take his picture. He kindly agreed and he gave me his card.

2009-04-23T17:40:00.009-04:00

Lexington Avenue, April 23

It's been a while. I finally felt well enough today to go and scout out an area on Lexington Avenue. Manhattan is tough. So much going on. Many ugly objects blocking what I wanted to shoot. But it's good to be back.

2009-03-29T17:55:00.011-04:00

34th. Street and 8th Avenue:
The Manhattan Post Office, March 29

Zip Code 10001

2009-03-26T22:09:00.009-04:00

Underground, March 26

Attend your children

Wall

2009-02-18T21:46:00.019-05:00

Grand Central, February 18

Vanderbilt Hall

Soul

Suspicion

2009-02-05T06:51:00.007-05:00

New York Public Library, February 4

Inner space

Light streaming

2009-01-27T15:06:00.009-05:00

Upper West Side Noire, January 27

2009-01-26T22:13:00.014-05:00

Upper West Side Pastels, January 26

Ted had some time to kill between a doctor's appointment in the morning and a meeting on the Upper West Side in the evening. He invited me to walk with him in his old neighborhood. It was cold and I kept my hands in my pockets most of the time as we walked from 90th. Street and Broadway up to the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and back. That night I saw a lot of pastels. The day after I saw "noire."

Metro Theater, Broadway and 99th Street (For Sale)

2009-01-25T17:56:00.002-05:00

Winter Predators, Gardiner, NY. January 25

Deer tracks

2009-01-16T20:27:00.013-05:00

Sarah's Post, January 16

My granddaughter Sarah, age 10, got a point and shoot camera for Christmas. Since then she has taken many photos in New York City, Gardiner and Washington DC. Below are several that we both like and would like to share.

Casey in Slippers

2009-01-13T18:57:00.005-05:00

January 13, 2009 News?

2009-01-11T11:03:00.002-05:00

Madison Avenue revisited, January 11, 2009

2008-12-30T20:23:00.011-05:00

The New York Botanical Garden, December 30

I was surprised on revisiting this lovely oasis in the Bronx that it is more pleasant than London's Kew Gardens: less formal, more topographically interesting grounds, with many secluded places and not as polluted by jet plane noise. It's free on Wednesdays and you can easily avoid the $12 parking fee by finding a space within a short walking distance. It was depressing to see some parents encouraging their children to climb all over the Henry Moore sculptures.

Shooting ornaments

2008-12-26T22:58:00.013-05:00

December 26, 2008

Sarah and I wandered on the East Side and we took some photos. The tree was uninteresting to her (and to me) but she was immediately attracted by the big Xmas ornaments statue near Rockefeller Center and some of the shop windows. Later that day we wound up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Temple of Dendur

2008-12-18T21:49:00.015-05:00

The Custom House, December 18

You can read about the Custom House by clicking on the above link. Currently it contains an insignificant portion of the Museum of the American Indian. The real treasure is the building and its murals. Unfortunately it is not well lit and cannot be fully enjoyed or photographed. Shame on the Smithsonian for removing the American Indian treasures from New York and for not adequately presenting the building. This could have been another one of this city's great museum.

Around and around...

Same ceiling, different angle and different processing.

(Note: These pictures were taken under less than ideal lighting conditions and without a tripod. In the top two pictures I experiment with Photomatix (HDR blending of three different exposure) to bring out the images. In the future I hope to use HDR technology under better conditions and with better results. But, of course, in this case use of a tripod would have yielded much better photos. Traveling light has its drawbacks.)

2008-12-08T08:08:00.009-05:00

Memories of Halloween

With winter upon us, it's time to experiment with some forgotten shots. A little tone mapping made these guys come alive.

2008-11-20T19:11:00.017-05:00

Windows

Woman in the Window

2008-11-01T18:41:00.019-04:00

Village Halloween Parade

It was a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon when Ted Roth and I got off the C train in SoHo. We proceeded to walk toward the starting point of the parade, taking some practice shot along the way, tempted by the wonderful light. When we arrived various groups were already in the staging area, preparing for the event. Night pictures during the parade would be difficult, so we began shooting early.

SoHo Sunlight

SoHo Rooftop

When we arrived the cops were already there, in the hundreds. I couldn't help but think that there was excessive manpower and lots of overtime in the making.

Discussing overtime.

The staging area was bustling with models, performers, participants and dozens of photographers, a large number of whom were drawn to the body painting area.

Later that evening, it was warm...

Woman and Man

Haunted Canyon

Later, the fun began. But it was mostly too dark to take good pictures.

Snakes

Skeletons Reclining

The Drummer

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2008-10-08T22:00:00.017-04:00

Downtown, October 8

Chambers Street

Tweed Courthouse Chandelier (52 Chambers Street)

Reflections in a building Window -- Broadway and Grand Street

----

Chinatown

It was another beautiful October day as I strolled in Chinatown. What impressed me the most today was the intensity of concentration of the people as they worked and played in this wonderful public space. A guy with a big camera glued to his face caused hardly a stir as he clicked and clicked while walking among them

2008-10-06T20:05:00.012-04:00

wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover upwall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover up wall street cover upwall street cover up

Wall Street, October 6

The Dow was down another 700 points when I took the # 2 train down to Wall Street today. It was a slightly overcast, with the sun peeking out occasionally. But the mood outside the exchange was almost jovial, with hundreds of tourist snapping away, mostly at the big flag that drapes the Corinthian columns of the Stock Exchange. It stuck me once again how often we use the flag (and other totemic symbols) to cover up misdeeds.

Cover up

Too late

2008-09-25T09:12:00.025-04:00

September 25, 2008.

"If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down."

--President George W. Bush

Wall Street, September 24

"Lord of the universe"

After Hours

Facing East

Above the Fray

Garage, near Wall Street

.

2008-09-24T13:05:00.012-04:00

September 15, 2008

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

-- Senator John McCain

2008-09-03T13:32:00.025-04:00

Chelsea Piers, September 2.

While other parts of the country suffers through a housing crisis reminiscent of the Great Depression, Manhattan is still undergoing a building boom. While elsewhere the headlines read "Default," here it's: "Another Crane Topples, Killing Two." And in Chelsea: buildings going up, sidewalks already jammed with yuppies and tourists provide outdoor seating for the restaurant and cafe crowd, lots of new art galleries and "energy" everywhere.

On a summer night by the Hudson, with Jersey City sparkling, there's an exuberant mix of walkers, joggers, rollerbladers and cyclists. As I walk along the Chelsea piers, I wonder where the money is coming from. Is it high tech employers like IAC? Is it the tourists from Europe and elsewhere who come here to shop at this new bargain basement? Is it still money spilling over from Wall Street? How much longer will the party last?

Ship in the Night

Night Jogger

Double vision

IAC building by Frank Gehry

2008-08-20T06:19:00.029-04:00

Times Square, August 19.

It was a warm evening, thousands were milling around, a friendly crowd giving off a lot of positive energy: two couples, tourist from Germany and Scandinavia asked me to take their pictures with their digital point and shoot. A Latino mother thrust a disposable camera in my hand and, with gestures and a smile, asked me to photograph her and her little boy. I struck up a conversation with two young cops who seemed to be having a good time while making their presence felt. And a guy handing out circulars for two comedy clubs spent a few minutes talking with me. I wonder how many people besides me took notice of the day's headline news?

Russia shrugs off NATO scolding

42nd. Street

700 Rooms With Private Bath

Madison Avenue

Q: What are those green columns?
A: Insulation material not yet covered.

2008-08-05T20:12:00.028-04:00

Manhattan at Night, August 4

Late Shoppers: Corner 5th. Avenue and 57th. Street

(The background for this picture was a couple hundred vertical fluorescent light tubes in the Louis Vuitton window display at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th. Street. That window display was dismantled a few days after I took this picture.)

Bus Stop at Columbus Circle

Bus Stop, 5th Avenue. 6PM.

Before going downtown to see the Manhattan lights, I lingered a while at the Dyckman Street station.

1776-1905

2008-07-29T08:00:00.011-04:00

July 28, Gardiner, NY

2008-07-09T12:00:00.030-04:00

July 8, Staten Island

While others continue to deliberate on the shape, form and character of the World Trade Center memorial, Staten Island residents created their "Angels' Circle" memorial on a vacant lot on Hyland Blvd.

The text at the bottom of the angel statue in the background reads:

On Sept 11 2001 the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists. This attack was the worst murder in the history of the United States. From that hatred a little piece of heaven evolved here called "Angels' Circle"

The best part of going to Staten Island is coming back on the ferry. Where else can you get a free thirty minute boat ride with great views of an ever changing New York City harbor? Unfortunately it was a hazy day and the pictures were not that crisp. Here's one of a New York City summer folly, the most ridiculous "art" I've seen in a long time -- one of four "waterfalls" put up this summer for the tourists.

The interesting sights are endless, like the Queen Mary 2 docked just behind the dreary brick buildings on Governor's Island.

And now the Queen Mary 2 in full view. What a way to travel!

But this trip was free

.

2008-07-08T10:12:00.011-04:00

June 24, Staten Island

Today I explored Staten Island for the first time in years: it was a disappointing excursion. The borough seen from the # 78 bus on Hyland Blvd. is super-vulgar, the light was bad because I got a late start -- as usual -- and coming back on the ferry at sunset, I just couldn't get the shots I wanted. But I will go back soon.

This is the only picture (shot outside of Blue Heron Park) that I was satisfied with.

2008-06-25T11:30:00.010-04:00

June 24

On the way back from Staten Island, walking north from South Ferry, I did take this photo...one that pleased me.

Somewhere south of Canal Street.

.

2008-06-17T23:00:00.033-04:00

June 16. Today I revisited Inwood Hill Park

I spent a couple of hours working hard taking pictures of various birds, including a Great Egret and the most numerous residents, of course: Canada Geese. But none of the photos pleased me at the time. Then, as I was about to leave, I saw some bird tracks in the mud just as the tide was coming back in and I snapped two quick shots. I like one of those two the best. There is a lesson there.

Bird tracks and reflections

Great Egret (Ardea alba) diving for fish

Great Egret gets the fish

Since last October our old friend the Muscovy duck
seems to have gotten himself a new family.

Next generation: born, bred and grass fed in Manhattan.

Canada Geese caught in the wake of the Circle Line boat.

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