Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to this photo blog of mine. It was one year ago today that I started it with this bee photo and I thought every year on the anniversary I run a picture of an insect. So from the warm summer days of New York at a pond in Central Park we feature this dragon fly as this year's entry. Next year, on February 27th, it might be an ant or a spider. I've used the blog to showcase my wide variety of interests and to share with you my take on the world around us. I hope you've enjoyed my adventure that has taken me from Los Angeles to New York. Later this year I hope to have some photos from foreign locales

Another Snow Punch

Almost looks like four beers with foamy heads waiting to be quaffed in light of the most recent New York City snowfall. 21 inches in Central Park - the record is 26 inches of snow in 2006. These trash cans are up the street from my house in Brooklyn. It looks like about 18 inches of snow on those cans.

This is a look over the back fence upstairs at my apartment. The sun was out, but a few flurries can still be seen.

This is a look at 7:30 in the morning at the deck upstairs of my apartment. The lounge chairs are full of snow although it looks like a couple of people could be covered from head to toe in white blankets.

Let's Have More Snow

This should be my final snow video since by the time I come back to NY in early April from a month-long stint in Tampa, Florida, snow storms like this will be long gone - we hope!

Why Cheerleaders Have Long Hair

It's for us photographers who shoot the dance routines and are looking for an interesting result - and long hair delivers the goods. This Los Angeles Clippers dancer - and her dance mates sported long, flowing locks and all you had to do was pick one performer then press the shutter button's motor drive to fire off 8 frames of pictures per second and hope something turns out.

A Rare Day in So Cal

It's not often that the sky in and around downtown Los Angeles is clear enough to see the snow capped San Gabriel Mountains, but this was one of those days. I was joined by many other photographers at an overlook in Kenneth Hahn park in the Baldwin Hills section of L.A. Those unobstructed views of the city acted like a magnet for those of us who like (and are lucky enough with our timing) to shoot cityscapes when the conditions are just right.

The Future Is Now for Wind Energy

Flying over west Texas gives one a great view of the many energy generating wind farms that have sprung up in the past few years. Because the terrain is flat and the constant winds in the region are dependable, these giant windmills (trust me, they're big) are helping to meet the power demands of wide open spaces of Texas and beyond.

There Will Be Oil And Kite Surfing

It had rained earlier in the day and the afternoon winds came up and made life very easy for this kite surfer who had the ocean all to himself. In the background, one of the many coastal oil drilling rigs continues a 24/7 search for black gold.

A Good Dog

Any animal that holds still for my camera will always be the subject of a photo attempt. This dog and his owner were next to me in the parking lot of a bookstore and I couldn't pass up the chance to get a portrait.

Waiting For The Snow

What better way to pass the time between New York snowstorms than to find a quiet spot in a park with the daily newspaper. Winter still has some punches to throw in this area and the next snow fall will be here in a few hours.

In Case Of Emergency

Who says newspapers aren't useful? One of our New York papers - The Daily News - is once again providing those forgetful folks a last-minute bailout on Valentine's day. The paper included a center-fold roll-up bouquet of roses to be used as a peace offering for not doing something better. The paper did suggest using the insert as wrapping paper for a nice, expensive gift instead of simply presenting a photo of roses as a way to stave off getting killed for not remembering Valentine's Day.

A Car Is In There

Here we are some four days after our most recent big snowstorm and the digging out process continues - for some - in New York. Obviously the owner of this car - just up the street from my house - is in no hurry to drive anyplace and is waiting for a thaw to get rid of of all the snow covering the car - which I'm pretty sure has a ticket on its windshield from the police for not moving earlier in the week for street cleaning. BTW, I sold my car before the srorm so I have no worries about snow removal.

The Olden Report: Big Snow Hits New York City

Paul's At The Pier

The Quiet Before Another Storm

This is how a street in my Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn neighborhood looked Tuesday. This amount of snow I can handle. But this weekend, a huge snowstorm is headed our way and the streets will be loaded with the white stuff. But you can bet that this guy along many others will still find the time to walk the dog ... but snowshoes might be needed.

Ready For 3-D TV?

Will.i.am. of the Black Eyed Peas sits in the Grammy Award audience with his 3-D glasses in place for the Michael Jackson tribute that was broadcast in 3-D by CBS (where I got this screen grab) at Staples Center in Los Angeles. My 3-D glasses didn't work ... a different format (there are at least three different 3-D formats and you need the proper glasses for each one). The 3-D version of Avatar was fine - but the novelty wears off quickly and, for me, the viewing experience is not enhanced because it's 3-D. But more TV's and movies in 3-D are on the way this year so get use to the glasses.

Biggest Full Moon of the Year

I'm posting much earlier than usual to give my western blog-viewers a heads-up to the Friday night full moon. It's said to be the biggest such moon of the year. I was tipped off by a friend who sent me this article. So I braved the 20 degree temps on the roof of my Brooklyn, New York home and got some shots including this one when a jet flew into the path of the bright moon light. My timing was a little off because my hands where shaking and I was using a camera that only allowed me one shot. The local TV weatherman just said this is called a "Wolf Moon."

Two landmarks

When you first look at this photo it's not hard to miss the famous Brooklyn Bridge. However it might be harder to find the Statue of Liberty. But there it is ... on the far right standing against the light of the setting sun.


To see it better, just click on the picture for a larger version.


The sky is pretty much clear over the bridge and the rest of the waterway, but where I'm standing - on the Manhattan Bridge - a brief snow shower had just ended.

How Cold Is It?

The color blue - at least on the photographer's color wheel - represents cold. So when I saw this grouping of branches reflecting the downtown Brooklyn - Borough Hall -facade lights I thought a photo could convey the season. It's winter back here and after a day in the mid-50's, the highs will only be in the upper 20's by Friday. These twisted branches might not need any lights to be blue in those conditions.

Caught In The Rain

Here I am in a subway car seeking refuge from an sudden rain shower in Manhattan. It was rainy and very windy this morning (part of a fence surrounding my upstairs deck was blown over) but it wasn't supposed to rain later in the day when I was out and about. Wrong! But at least the mild January conditions continued. It was 58 degrees. And we'll take that in New York in mid-January any day.

Fast-Food Changing Fast

Earth tone colors, big screen TV's, flowers on the table and plenty of seating for the family. Where is this? ... none other than at a McDonald's burger joint in New York. McDonald's restaurants look like this in many parts of Europe and in a few U.S. locations. But soon, things could appear vastly different at the fast-food giant after it reported its first quarterly loss in the history of the chain. A promise of better food and friendlier counter personnel is on the grill for Mickey D's.