Night and Day At The Ferris Wheel

The place to be in Los Angeles recently was the Santa Monica pier where it was a lot cooler than a few miles away in downtown Los Angeles where it was a record 113 degrees - the hottest day in the history of Los Angeles where they've been keeping such information since 1887.


The Ferris wheel at Santa Monica is solar powered and changes colors all the time with differing patterns of lights. Here, the purple lights are reflected in the ocean.

Here is the same Ferris wheel during the day time. I've been on the old wheel that was replaced by this one and the view - as you can see - is great from the top of the wheel because you can forever.

The Moon And The Sign

Here's another in this week's series of photos of the moon as it works its way around to different parts of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. I took this shot from the upper deck shortly after the game ended. The moon is rising behind some fencing at the top of an apartment building and I placed it in the middle of the YANKEE STADIUM sign. It looked best with the word 'stadium' cropped out. The final home game of the regular season is Sunday and I'll have one more chance to make a picture with the moon in it with an element of the ballpark involved ... I hope.

Moon Shot In The Bronx

I like September in New York because I know the moon will be rising over Yankee Stadium in the Bronx providing a chance to make a picture.


In this case the full moon was coming up behind right-field and I wanted to match it up against the unique architectural feature only found in Yankee Stadium - the frieze - a horizontal band that runs all along the front of the upper deck with its vertical openings and swooping arches. No other stadium that I know of in the world looks like this part of Yankee Stadium.

Back in 1923 when the original Yankee Stadium was built, the owners of the team at the time asked the engineering company to add an "air of dignity" to the stadium. So the frieze was constructed as a nod to the classic and historical buildings in Greece and Rome.

Book Stoop

Who needs the big Internet book sellers or those giant chain book stores located in every neighborhood when books are free for the taking in New York City. Here in Brooklyn, for example, people simply place unwanted books on their stoops and passersby have the choice to grab and go and keep on walking like this women. In this case the subject matter is somewhat narrow: All things Egypt. But just the other day on this same stoop across the street from my house several romance novels were available. Soon - I hope - maybe some sports-related or photography titles will be featured.

Lost In Space?

I saw the moon and I saw a lamp on the street near my house. So I wondered what the two of them would look like in the same picture. Ta Da! At first, I got the impression that I was in outer space shooting a shot of moon from edge of the sun or Saturn. But, in reality, I was on the street and letting my imagination take over.

Function And Form

These are a couple of the hundreds of fire hydrants located on streets in and around New York City. Some are plain and others - depending on the neighborhood - are seen as possible works of art.

Beads Of Water Take Life

It was a rainy day in New York and I always like to shoot close-up shots like this one during bad weather. The water beads were pretty big and give the appearance of an almost other-worldly growth on the leaves.

9-11 Tribute In Lights

It's been nine years since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York by terrorists. Almost 3,000 people died when both towers of the Trade Center were hit by jet planes - the towers collapsed and in their place since that time, these twin beams of light serve as a reminder of that infamous day. Each year in the days leading up to 9-11 these lights are turned on and people pause to reflect on the past and the future.

Swisher Takes the Tour

Yankees' players surround home plate at Yankee Stadium as Nick Swisher arrives with his hands in the air celebrating his game-winning homer vs Baltimore. The Yankees snapped a four game losing streak with the 3-2 win. Home plate celebrations are fairly subdued after the May incident involving an Angels' player who blew out a knee when he landed wrong after leaping on home plate following a game winning homer. And of course, Swisher had the hero's pie waiting for him ...

A.J. Burnett got Swisher with the pie. Swisher who then turned to the crowd with the pie remnants still on his face. The camera man is waiting for him to turn around to get the money shot of the hero of the Yankees win.

ARod Of The Yankees

The September shadows helped create this image of the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez as he prepared for his plate appearance at Yankee Stadium. ARod reached the 100 runs-batted-in (RBI) plateau for the unprecedented 14th time in his career (13 in a row) with two RBI against the Orioles. I had to act quickly to get this shot because he was standing in that spot for only a short amount of time and I wanted to line him up with the famous interlocking NY that is on the ground behind home plate.

A Nice Day In The Bronx

The hottest summer in New York City history is - we hope - behind us and cooler weather is here ... for now. The weekend began with the fear hurricane Earl would bring lots of wind and rain to the city, but - as was the case many times when I lived in Florida - the weather system didn't live up to the predictions and we spared any problems. BTW, the Yankees have won 9 in a row and are in first place in their division with one month to go before the playoffs begin.

Two Artists At Work

Yankees' pitcher CC Sabathia won his 19th game of the season allowing just one hit over 8 innings to Oakland. CC - who doesn't use periods between the two letters that make up his first name - turned in one of his best performances of the season in 90 degree heat.

It was this pose, or position, that seemed to catch the attention of an artist who literally had a front row seat as she tried to capture the essence of what CC is all about. As we'll see, she took some artistic license with her version of the scene at Yankee Stadium ...

Her finished product of Sabathia gives him much thinner legs than he actually has. But she gets the upper-body girth pretty much right. Yankee Stadium itself is rendered in generic hues of blue and green. I spotted this woman from my perch high above home plate, but I have a pretty good zoom lens and I waited until she made some progress before I took this shot.