The "Snow Bomb" Is Here

Our latest snowstorm here in New York - described as a "snow bomb" because of its size, arrived about 1am and is supposed to last thru the morning rush hour and be done by noon. 9 to 12 inches of snow are expected. This shot is from inside my warm apartment looking out across the street to the red door condo.

There weren't too many people on the streets since we had plenty of warning about the impending snow fall, so this guy is on his own.

Making A Show For The Masses

Here's a sanitation truck with its plow bucket at the ready to scoop up any and all snow. But - there is no snow ... yet. Another huge storm (they keep telling us it's "huge" on the weather reports) is due to hit late Tuesday night. But this and other trucks were out and about EARLY as an apparent display of readiness after the abysmal response to the Christmas Weekend Blizzard that saw work and rescue vehicles, cop cars and city buses stuck and abandoned in the snow because many streets weren't plowed for days. One sanitation department higher-up lost his job, but many others in New York City's "front office" escaped with only of the wrath of the politicians and citizens as their punishment ... so far.

Thinking Of The Beach

Another big snow storm is headed to where I live here in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday. So to offset that impending doom, I'm taking a look back at a Santa Monica, California beach sunset from 2008. All these people were there as if waiting for some kind of intervention from a higher power. The guy on the far left seems to be pleading for something other than a simple sunset to occur. Nothing did.

Enjoying Your Job

The Los Angeles Clippers pro basketball club has a dance team and cheerleaders. But they also have a drum troupe to help entertain their fans during timeouts. As a former school boy drummer and a fan of anything that makes noise, I wanted to capture the essence of playing a percussion instrument. The guy in the middle is the star of the group because there's no doubt how much he loves drumming and competing against his band mates. I used software that mimics the results of what's called a tilt-shift lens to home in on the faces of the drummers while putting everything else into a soft focus.

(No) Bull Riding In New York

The new season of the professional bull riders (PBR) tour kicked off its 2011 schedule at New York's Madison Square Garden. It was my first rodeo since the mid-80's in Las Vegas where the circuit ends with the championship tournament in October (they take June and July off to rest.) Here, 2010 PBR World Champion Renato Nunes of Brazil, is barely hanging onto Congo during the first of three nights of competition.






A very good opening night crowd was in attendance and of course many fans donned their best cowboy hat. Vendors were actually selling cowboy hats along with soft drinks and beer. As the evening worn on it seemed as if the beer sales had taken the lead. It was very noisy - with the ring announcer/MC/carnival barker and lots of rock, rap and techno music blaring between bull rides. One minute it's AC/DC followed by New Order (from the 80's) and then New York's own Beastie Boys keeping the crown pumped up.

Outside the Garden - as with most performances of any kind featuring animals - protesters were displaying their opinion about what was going on inside the building.

Blue Trash

Coming home from seeing the very average movie TRON (as in yawn), I came upon some of the millions of tons of trash still on New York streets more than a week after a ton of snow fell on the city. The blue light from the overhang of an apartment building cast my favorite color on this small mound of garbage ( in New York, this is considered a 'small' mound) that's due to be picked up soon. They better hurry: more snow is predicted to hit the tri-state area on Friday.

In Search Of Color In New York City

Sometimes I'll hit the streets of NYC in search of a common theme. And color was what I was looking for in as many shapes and forms as I could find. The Empire State Building was adorned in holidays colors while a window with a water fall streaming down its glass created a series of muted colors.

The golden spire of the New York Life Insurance Building is always an eye-catcher and when's the last time you looked at a spool of tread up close?

Big Snow

Here's the view from my kitchen window looking down on Dean Street in Brooklyn, New York. It took me 17 hours of traveling time to get home from southern California. And this is what I found. Some 20 inches of snow fell over Christmas weekend - the 6th largest storm in NY history. The airports here were closed and us holiday travelers were hard pressed to find alternative ways to get home. Last year our biggest storm came in February. So this could be a preview of things to come.

Rain Is Good For Something

Wet weather in Los Angeles - six month's worth over an eight day period - has given the streets a nice sheen. Here is my favorite gas station - with its futuristic sweeping roof - being reflected on the street as traffic whizzes by.

Favorite Light Fixtures

What's better than forks, spoons and knives to make up of a light fixture in a diner? In this case, we have Kitchen 24 in Hollywood, California. So just in case your waiter fails to provide utensils, all you have to do is reach up and pry lose something to use to cut and eat your steak

Visiting St Patrick's Cathedral

The lighting of a prayer candle at New York's famed St Patrick's Cathedral is possible right of passage for this young boy. I wanted to photograph a child because of the way the fire light reflects off of young faces who are learning to think of others especially during the holiday season.

I set my small Panasonic point and shoot camera on its timer to get a nice steady shot of the interior of the church which is not lit very brightly. At 1/6 of a second at iso 800, I wanted to accent the color in the beautiful stained glass windows while bringing out the detail in the support columns and arches.

The vast interior of the church is in a neo-Gothic style and can accommodate 2200 people. The church was dedicated in May of 1879.

Look Over There!

When I saw the woman looking to her left and the bird looking to its left, I lined them up just right and shot this picture. I think it's my PICTURE OF THE YEAR!

Part Of The Preparation For The Big Day

This couple was having their engagement photos taken on the streets of New York City when I happen to come up on them. I snapped a few frames while they posed for their photographer who was standing to my right. The photog brought along an assistant who held a bright floodlight on the scene. I like the fact that while they're posing there's plenty of activity in the background. They seem to be on an island of calm as they lead up to their wedding day.

Christmas Season On Display in New York

Christmas time in New York City always brings out visual feasts for photographers. And that means almost everybody because cameras are a prime accessory for tourists and locals alike.





Here is a window display that reflects Rockefeller Center.

And a giant moth adorns another window - although it looks like it's climbing the outside of the building it faces. And the rink below the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is busy with lots of skaters.

Time For Lunch

As is the case in many restaurants, this bird was looking around and wondering why his meal was taking so long to be delivered from the kitchen. I ate in an indoor place that couldn't keep small birds like this one from flitting around the room. But long as there were no "accidents" from above, I was OK with their presence.

Cashing In At The ATM

While waiting for a light to change, I saw this scene unfolding at an ATM. I liked the color and shadows and the single figure in the scene.

Blue Light of Worship

The warm-up musical group that played before a Joyce Meyer ministry appearance in Tampa, Florida, has the man on the right and others on their feet. I'd seen Meyer on TV down through the years and I accepted an invitation to see her in person during her weekend visit to the bay area.

One Thing Looks Like Another

Ever seen a picture of what deep, deep space looks like? I'm talking about those super novas - those explosions of gas and stars that are many lights years away. That's what I seem to have here. Actually this is a simple photo of fireworks over Central Park last weekend, but when I looked at it, I was reminded of images I saw when I looked through a powerful telescope two years ago. One thing looks like another.

Big Bubbles

On the day before the 41st annual New York City Marathon run, people were out and about in Central Park to check out the finish line area of the 26.2 mile course and explore other attractions of the park. And that includes the big bubble zone in front of Bethesda Fountain. This woman was a bystander until she decided to give big bubble making a go and she got the hang of it right away.

One of the regular bubble blowers fashioned what appears - to some - to be a floater that has a human face on the right side. I can see it. Can you?

Ready For Halloween

Out for a walk in the neighborhood and this big dog was sitting on his owner's lap while they waited outside a grocery store on Court Street in Brooklyn, NY. His owner cautioned me - after I sought permission to take a picture - that his dog probably wouldn't pose very well. But I have a way with pets to get them to do what I want and I got a very nice look from the "Devil" dog - much to the shock of his owner.

Say Good-Bye To 70 Degree Days

When I opened my front window today I saw this bird looking around and wondering - what happen? This time yesterday it was in the 70's - admittedly about 15 degrees warmer than the average temperature for this time of year in Brooklyn, New York. But still, it was great to feel warm weather this late in the year. But today it was only in the 50's and the weather forecaster on TV says we probably won't see 70 degree temps in these parts again until next spring ... around April. Luckily I have many warm jackets that will get plenty of use in the next few months.

Change In The Weather

It's a foggy night atop New York's Empire State Building due to the unseasonably warm weather we've had. A cool front moved in at night and brought with it the low ceiling of fog and clouds.

But it's headed back into the low 70's for the next two days before a big drop off into the 50's over the weekend.

Help For Halloween

While on my way to a place from another place, I passed a wig store in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The choices of head-gear was somewhat limited. But if one is daring, the wig in front would be my pick. And thanks for the suggestion that it's for

Halloween ... so my Christmas wig will have to come from someplace else.

Wild NY Weather

Little pearls of hail on the ground outside my house in Brooklyn after a tremendous thunder, lightning, rain, hail and wind storm blew in around 8:30pm. It was a noisy storm with the hail pellets raining down on the roof and windows sounding like being inside a popcorn popper. It was in the low 70's earlier today and tonight we get hail.

Many people were caught unprepared for the hail and rain storm. The sidewalks were full of the thousands of little ice pellets.

And walking across the street was an invitation to get your feet wet since streams of running water were hard to avoid. This is at the corner of Dean and Smith a few feet from my front door.

Can't Escape Conan

While watching the TBS television network the last few days, you couldn't help but notice the many, many promos for Conan O'Brien new late nite talk show. But that wasn't enough, TBS hired a blimp to float over New York to help 'remind' people that CONAN is coming. I was switching back and forth between football and baseball (on TBS) when the blimp buzzed my neighborhood. So with its great color and some nice tree branches in front of my window, I thought I'd combine the two to lift the picture from being an ordinary snapshot.

One Night In The Bronx

The playoffs returned to New York and the Yankees beat the Twins to win the first round. 50,840 fans turned out - the biggest crowd ever in the two year history of the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will play the winner of the Texas -Tampa Bay series for the ticket to the World Series. The West Point Color Guard (center) presented the colors in front of the giant American Flag and the West Point Glee Club (bottom left) sang the national anthem.

The Color Of October

The color is orange. And when I saw these squashes at a New York farmer's market I thought about how often we see this color in the month of October. The leaves are changing to orange with fall well upon us and with Halloween coming up and pumpkins on every doorstep, orange is the go-to color this month. And the San Francisco Giants - whose team colors are orange and black - are in the baseball playoffs and their fans have been waving bright orange rally towels this week.

A Different Point Of View

Sometimes things look better upside down. That was the case for me with this lighting fixture.



It's upside down. The floor is actually the ceiling and the top of the fixture is really the bottom of it.




But when I was looking at it on the computer - doing some toning and stuff - I hit the button that flips the image around and when it came up this way, it reminded me of a tree of lighted balls of glass.



So the lesson here is to look at things from a different point of view - you just might like it better than the conventional way.

Is This Too Early For ... This?

While on holiday in southern California, I saw my first Christmas window in the front of a music store in Westwood near the UCLA campus. I took this shot on Friday, October 1st. Christmas is a little more than 2 1/2 months away. But with the economy the way it is, you can't blame a business owner for wanting to get the jump on the competition. As the sign says: Have a Cool Yule.

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.