As the sun sets on 2010,

I hope and pray all the

fences that keep us from

peace and happiness

come tumbling down.

 

Health, peace and happiness

to all for the new year.

 

Fire Island

I took a ride to Fire Island mainly because there's usually a lot of deer roaming around. I wasn't disappointed, I just didn't get what I was looking for.

This is the Fire Island National Seashore Lighthouse and two deer from among maybe twenty or so grazing in the grass. There's plenty of signs telling people not to feed the deer. It's a New York State Law, but it doesn't stop many people. It not healthy for the deer to eat human food, there's plenty of natural things for them to eat, and deer are big carriers of ticks.

I found it funny that deer would walk up to cars, but they were afraid of me on foot. Maybe next time, maybe I'll drive up to the deer in my car.

That time of year

Resolutions

to be more healthy

to exercise more

to be faster, stronger, better

reach for the sky

or

maybe

just 

be the missing light in someone's

life.

Snowed in, dug out.

We didn't get as much snow as New York City. Everything west of here was a lot worse, we only had eight to ten inches with tremendous winds and erosion. There's a house in Montauk that's only feet from falling into the ocean.

Today's photo was made yesterday before all the wind blow the snow off the branches.

Our first ral snow

We got the storm that was moving up the east cost. It covered us here on the east end of Long Island with six or eight inches today. They say more is on the way.

The wind stirred up the unfrozen bay and whipped the snow against the house.

The weather is untamable.

Cheistmas 2010

I'm waiting for my oldest son to take his shower. He just finished a bike ride, then we'll join my wife over the in-law’s house for Christmas. Christmas is all about family and friends, whatever family and friends you have.

Part of me says I should post something today, because the regulars that stop here are family and friends in the blog world. I look forward to reading your posts and comments and seeing your photos. I hope you are blessed with a happy and healthy Holiday Season & a prosperous New Year.

Sunset on Shinnecock Bay

 

I think the best part of living on Long Island is the fresh seafood. I ordered what we need for Christmas Eve dinner at the seafood market and made this photo a few feet from their parking lot. I would have made it from their lot, but the place was hopping busy. I couldn't even park in their lot.

It was cold at the waters edge, and the wind off the water made it feel colder.

Bundle-up and stay warm!

 

New York City Reflection

Just a reflection in a glass building in New York City. I'm in a good mood, our internet problems are fixed (dare I say that). The new router is working fine and everyone is happy... for now.

Holiday Blues

There's a large part of the population that get depressed during the holiday season. For one reason or another it's just not a happy time of the year for some folks.

Sometimes I feel that I'm on the borderline, I know I suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). But sometimes the Christmas season is just not all that ho, ho, ho, for me.

Stress from the physical and financial demands as well as the added stress of clients who need things right away all help work me up.

Mostly, it's the pure commercialism of the whole thing. Our pastor gave a sermon two Sunday's ago and came right out and said he wished that Christ had nothing to do with Christmas. It sounded weird, but I understood what he was talking about. It's at the point where the birth of Christ and Christmas have little in common and maybe they should be separate. Santa, snowmen and the leg lamp have all replaced the Nativity, and don't get me started on “...good will towards men...” it just not that easy to find.

Don't get me wrong, every year I need my dose of Miracle on 34^th Street, It's A Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol. I sometimes visit houses decked out in lights, like the one I photographed tonight, get the holiday spirit moving. I try really hard to: wish people a Merry Christmas, be extra patience and thank sales help. I try to remember the less fortunate and contribute to Toys for Tots, the Coat and gloves Drive and a food pantry. It's not perfect but it all helps.

Graffiti Art

On my travels today I saw this blue corrugated building with red graffiti. I had to make a detail of the art.

On the internet front, the new modem arrives tomorrow. Today, it's working.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Clear as frosted glass

The internet is still not working and I'm waiting for a new wireless router to come. Figures, this would happen at the busy time of the year for the fed-ex people. Frustration is a mild description for what I've been feeling these past few days.

I shouldn't compliant the router is seven years old, it's had a good life. Can't expect it to last forever.

We were given a fancy coffee machine for Christmas three or four years ago. I've seen this brand sell for $80 to $120. It stopped brewing. I called customer service and they told me there's no service available, I'd have to buy a new one. The $30 coffee machine the gift replaced is back in service and doing fine.

Coffee and internet, the only two vices I have left.

This window is as clear as internet protocol is to me.

At the Parrish Art Museum

 

I had a job yesterday to photograph two pieces of art at the Parish Art Museum here in the town. It's nice to work locally. While I was there. I came across this statute in yard and I liked how the snow contrasted with the gray stone,and also how ths hands were holding the madalion.

This was one of the photos I couldn't find yesterday. The camera's date was reset and so the photos didn’t download into the folder for yesterday's date. Such a silly thing, to drive one crazy.

While at the Parish, I did learn that they have a petition going to get a William Merrett Chase postage stamp. Chase was an Impressionist painter (1849-1916) and resident of the Shinnecock Hills section of Southampton, right where I live. Sometimes I look at a painting of his and feel like I've been there.

I signed the petition.

Today's photo was made with the Canon 5d and processed with ACR.

Internet Problems

So, for the past few days I've had problems with our internet. I had to replace the modem supplied by the cable company. Last night, the cable company had me on hold for over two hours before someone answered. Now, the router is acting funny. Technology is driving me crazy. We had our first snow today. Not much, just enough to make the roads slippery. I made a few snaps of the snow, but I can't find them right now. Today's post is the last of the series from the walk in the field. I like these things.

Canon 5d mkII and ACR.

Another from the field

 

Weeds

come alive

in the morning sun.

 

A walk in a field.

 

 

It's hunting season and I can't go walking through the woods. Today I took a short walk through an open field along side a wooded area. I was caught off guard as a white-tailed deer bolted from the field into the woods. Naturally I jumped out of my skin! I did manage to make this HDR photo.

I love the way the background looks.

Made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with Photomatix Pro and ACR.

 

Art on the beach.

 

Sometimes all I have to do is have my eyes open and my camera in hand, nature does the rest. Yet, some people just walk on by never looking or never stopping to smell the rose.

Today's photo is of a skate egg casing, it's about three inches long and made from the same material human finger nails are made of. The contrast between the speckled sand and the black body caught my eye.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

 

Sasha

 

It's not often Sasha lets me photograph her. She's a typical anti-social cat that only needs me when she's hungry. She let me make four or five frames today, all with a little attitude. This was my favorite.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR. I used photoshop to take some dust off her nose.

 

Dance in the wind

Beach grass

leaves it footprint 

as it dances in the wind.

The Santa Parade

 

This is my night photo for Carmi's Thematic Photographic, night. I'm not a big night photography guy. Buy, I was going to see the annual Southampton Holiday Parade and the arrival of Santa, (Santa's helper).

The various towns decorate a fire truck and parade down Jobs Lane, our Main Street. There's a committee that gives a trophy for the best decorations. This year Hampton Bays won with a truck decorated as The Polar Express, it was very good, but not my favorite.

The North Sea Fire Department decorated a truck as Snoopy's dog house and all the department members had big round heads like the Peanuts characters. I thought the Seanuts (for North Sea) crew should have won. But alas, it's about the lights not the costumes.

So this was the best out of the bunch. I leaned against the street sign to steady the camera the best I could.

This was made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with ACR.

 

Patchogue Ally

 

Long Island has quite a few places with Indian names, Patchogue is one of my favorites. It's so miss- pronounced. There's a lake on the north shore that has an Indian sounding name. Lake Panamoka, it not a tribe or an Indian, it just a made-up name, not Indian at all. I always found that funny.

Today's photo I made this morning while in Patchogue for work. It the ally next to the Pachogue theater. The theater is what saved this village from becoming a slum, that ans some smart planning.

This is a HDR photo made with the Canon 5dmkII and processed with both Photomatix Pro and Photoshop.

A puddle of leaves and me.

Yea, that black triangular blob at the bottom of the frame is me. I know I don't have to point out the leaves to anyone.

I'm getting ready to photograph a tree lighting ceremony and the arrival of Santa Claus, naturally by fire truck. It's an annual gig, what can I say.

Today was one of those days...

Today was one of those days. I felt more like the top wall than the bottom.

Maybe tomorrow will be brighter.

Both photos were made last week with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Maple Leaf Leftovers

 

I went through my files tonight and found these Maple leaf photos that I never posted. Being the last day in November, I saw it was fit to post them now. They were all made the on November 2, the day I purchased the Canon 100-400 4.5/5.6L lens. They were all made with that lens also.

Sunday, I had the second opportunity to use this new lens in a sports setting. This was why I purchased the lens, to get more sports jobs. The lens works great, but I need more time behind the camera on the field with this baby.

The bottom image is my favorite.

 

Thoughts on the beach

we are individuals

each different
none pearls

Man's intrusion

This controversial item is called a beach groin, also spelled groyne. They are jetties built to prevent sand erosion. This one is made of wood, but some are stone others are corrugated steel. You can see the sand is higher on the right of the groin. As the tides move, the sand deposits on one or the other side of the groin, depending on which way the tide is moving.

The rich who live along the beach pay to have their own groins built or sue the government and Army Corps of Engineers for failing to protect their property. Once they win, they use taxpayer money to build them. The groins only move the effects of erosion to an unprotected beach.

The Indians believe the migration of the beach is cyclical. What is washed away from here today, will return tomorrow.

The colors and swirls made by the water and sand are beautiful. Especially on this overcast day. For me, the jetty brings another element to the seascape. We can't leave nature alone, we have to control. We have to overpower. It never works in nature, and we never learn.

 

Lazy Day

I photographed a clients Christmas card photo this morning. After that I, pretty much vegged out on the couch. Adam headed back to Vermont and tomorrow, Brian will also be heading back to school. It's good to have a lazy day every now and then.

Today's post was made on my walk yesterday. I'm always amazed at how vast the ocean is, and how small we are.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Retail sprawl

It's funny what we as people will do sometimes. I think Black Friday is the best example of human nature at its worst. Yes, I fell for it once. We got up before dawn the Friday after Thanksgiving and waited until the store store opened, then waited on line just to buy a toy. Three hand-held video games actually. I think they were Game-Boys.

I remember the line. It went from the toy department, past sporting goods and home furnishings around the corner to the men's department. The store manager was smart, he walked down the line asking each customer how many video games they were purchasing. Two people past us were the last of the lucky ones.

Sleep deprived and fifteen dollars richer, and the toy Game Boys are in a box in the basement, have been for years.

That was the first and last time we did anything like that.

I'm sure the sleep is worth more than the savings, the sleep and the sanity.

Today's picture was made on my walk this morning. I converted it to grayscale and toned it sepia for Carmi's Thematic Photographic.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

I'm sitting watching football and waiting for our company. My family all live in Florida except my brother, who lives in South Carolina. So, I spend most holiday's on the phone.

I'm posting a photo I made Tuesday, but it is very much a Thanksgiving photo. These are two of the grandchildren of John T. Donohue, a former Suffolk County Legislator who passed away this past September 2008. Our current legislator, Jon Schneiderman dedicated the preserve in his honor this week so his whole family, together for Thanksgiving, could be there.

After the speeches and formal photos, the two children asked me to make a photo of them.

Happy and health Thanksgiving to all!

 

Thanksgiving Eve

 

 

Hopefully all the shopping is now done. If it's not here, I guess we'll just do without it. Thanksgiving is here this year and we are trying the Ina Garten recipes that you get when you hover over the Google doodle. Ina owned a food store a few towns over called the Barefoot Contessa. It's now closed and she has a TV show and a line of cookbooks. We're trying the Cranberry Fruit Conserve and the Herb & Apple Stuffing.

While at the fruit and vegetable stand I came across these gourds and pumpkins and made these two photos for today's post.

My thanksgiving

I am very thankful the blessed that both my sons are home, safe and healthy from school, even though it's only till Saturday. There's plenty of families that won't be together for the holiday, some that I know. Holidays are all about family and friends. It's very hard to be alone this time of the year.

I am thankful and blessed to put food on the table every night. And to be able to serve thanksgiving dinner to the in-laws and my sister-in-laws family. There are plenty of families that won't have a regular meal let alone a thanksgiving meal in their own home.

I am thankful for my health and the health of my three sons.

I am diabetic, yet I have the resources to be able to eat right and have insurance that covers my prescriptions. There are plenty of people that can't afford to see a doctor, or can't afford the medications they need. Some have made the choice to take care of their children first, at the cost of their own health.

In our early days, Cel and I didn't have insurance. We were able to make arrangements to pay the hospital monthly for the birth of Adam, our middle son. Some people are never afforded that kind of trust.

I am truly blessed and thankful for my occupation and avocation, photography. Photography has opened my eyes as much as it it helped me to open the eyes of others.

This is a link to a Town of Babylon Slide show I made of the students of a local elementary school. The students enlisted the help of the whole school district in filling the empty shelves of a food pantry located next to the school. Because of their generosity and hard work families having a hard time have someplace to go to get food. I am thankful for teachers who teach more than what the state requires, and make it fun and meaningful. I'm sure it's a lesson they will carry with them long past the rules of composition.

And, yes I thankful to you too. You stop by and read and comment on my scribble and photos. You make me feel part of a community, the blogging community. Thank you I hope you have a happy thanksgiving.

 

Don't block my sky.

I thought about a concept for a new photo series while I was driving a while back. The sky has been incredible and so has the light. But my mood was getting in the way of my creativity.

The sky was beautiful again today, so I pulled off the highway and parked.

The highway sign looked statuesque with the view of the wide angle lens.

Made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with ACR.

9:17 Speonk

After traveling the rail all day, Adam is home for the week. One son down, one to go. Brian is sharing a ride down to Westchester, from there we'll play it by ear.

Well, this is the 9:17 to Speonk, pulling in for her last stop.

I made this image with the Canon G10 and I used a trash can to steady the camera. I used ACR to process it.

Candid

Fellow blogger Carmi at Writteninc.blogspot.com has candids as the celebrated theme this week at Thematic Photographic. I've been working on a new business brochure and while going through the archives I came across this wedding candid from August of 2006. All these years I've have this image in the back of my mind as one of my favorite wedding candids. I was waiting for the bride and groom

and looked over there they were. I raised my camera and made this image.

Candids are a lot more fun for me than posed photos.

Tonight, Adam comes in from Vermont. He's been texting us all along the Amtrack route. Last year the train was delayed because of snow. It was a miserably long trip for him. We follow the status on the web and he arrived at Penn Station in Manhattan a few minutes early.

Tuesday night Brian comes home from Postdam. Family... what its all about.

Today's photo was made with the Canon 20d and processed with Photoshop.

The Greenbrier Patch

 

 

I drove to Heckscher State Park this morning hoping to find some grazing White Tail Deer.

Here on Long Island, this park is known as the “Home of the White Tail Deer.” No luck. So I walked into the Greenbrier patch and made today's photo.

I googled Greenbrier, and found many species. The scientific name for this one is Smilax rotundfolia better known as roundleaf greenbrier.

I just love the isolation in this scene. It was worth the effort in fighting the greenbrier.

I used the Canon 5d mkII and processed it with ACR.

 

My auto repair shop

 

This photo is one of the photos sitting on my desktop waiting to be posted. It's a photo of Hampton Tire and Brake in East Quogue. It's the shop I bring the car to for everything. It's great to find a repair shop that you can trust. Bill is a true neighborhood business.

Sometimes, I wait for a oil change and take a walk around the village with my camera. This photo was made on my last visit. I was drawn to the broken neon tires sign and the sky.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

 

Raspberries and Blue berries

 

They looked too good just to eat. That's one of the problems of being a photographer. Five hour drives to Washington take seven because I have to take the scenic route...and I have to constantly stop to get the photos I want. Or having to photograph the fresh fruit before eating it.

I guess it could be worse.

I made this photo this morning with the Canon 5dmkII and processed it with ACR. I had the raspberries and blue berries, they were delicious.

 

Cross Sound Deli

 

 

There's a couple of images on my desktop that I've wanted to post for the longest time, this is one of them. I made this photo on our last trip to visit Adam in Vermont. The Cross Sound Deli is next to the parking lot for the Cross Sound Ferry in Orient, NY.

I'm a sucker for warm lights against a dark sky. This was six thirty or so as we waited for the seven o'clock ferry over to Connecticut, the sun is just breaking on the horizon. Can you smell the coffee?

I used a telephone pole to steady the camera. This was made with the Canon 5d mkII and processed with ACR.

 

59

Every now and then I find an interesting number for my 0-100 series. This was a phone number on the window of a vacant store in Hampton Bays. Tis the season for store windows.

Made with the Canon G10 and processed with ACR.

Autumn on the Peconic River

 

Today's post was made Thursday, late in the day. It's a HDR photo made with the Canon 5dmkII and processed with Photomatix Pro and Photoshop. The river was almost still Thursday and the foliage along the bank was beautifully lit by the warm light of the late afternoon sun.

 

Omaha Beach and other true stories.

I covered three veterans’ events yesterday. The first was for me, the most powerful emotionally. It was in a gated community of seniors, they had seven World War two veterans living there. Pictured here is Joseph Russo who served as a medic. He had a large collection of photos in the box to his right, and a large, framed newspaper photo of the ship he shipped out on. I think the photo he was most proud of was the framed composite of his family he points to on the table.

Sitting next to Mr. Russo is Albert Firocella who shared an incredible story of the night of June 6, 1944, Normandy. How the sky was ablaze like 1000 forth of July’s. I can’t imagine the feeling a young man of eighteen or twenty years old felt huddled in a landing craft, waiting to land on a foreign soil for the first time in his life.

The both enjoyed telling their stories to whoever would listen.

Veterans Day

It has become a tradition here in many communities to fly Fields of Honor for our soldiers that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country in the current wars. Each flag has a gold ribbon with the personal information of the soldier and is flown for the week before Veterans Day.

All those American Flags make for a stunning sight, and a beautiful photograph. It's not pleasant to think about why they fly or how many are there. I only hope the meaning and remembrance isn't lost among the beauty.

One should never let their feelings about war mar what our armed forces do for us.

Without them the world would be a much worse place to live, and for this we must thank them and honor those that have given their life for our freedom and safety.

Around the yard

I used the Canon 100-400 last night in a work situation for the first time. I was at the semi-finals for Girls High School Lacrosse. It was fantastic. I wanted to post these two I made in the yard with the same lens. I'm sill amazed.

Stones on the waters edge

Even the smallest stone in a riverbed

has the entire history of the universe

inscribed upon it.

Hikaru Okuizumi

 

This is the opening line to The Stones Cry Out, by Hikaru Okuizumi, a very good read.

The photo was made today along the Peconic Bay.