Space Shuttle Comes to New York

The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise has arrived in New York.  It flew atop a 747 over Manhattan on its way to JFK airport.  The Enterprise will then be on permanent display at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space museum this summer.

Thousands of New Yorkers got a pretty good view of the Space Shuttle Enterprise as it flew over mid-town.  I was in Brooklyn when I took these shots.

As the Space Shuttle Enterprise arrived in New York,  a smaller aircraft (lower right) was captured in my shot.       ,

Both the Space Shuttle Enterprise and the 747 it flew atop are huge aircraft and their size made it easy for New Yorkers to get a good look at latest tourist attraction.

Tony Bennett - Then and Now

I photographed singer Tony Bennett in 1995 when he performed a free concert atop the marquee at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

And here is Tony Bennett today as he gestures to his heart to thank an audience member after Bennett was praised for his all-inclusive attitude about life.  Bennett is the subject of the movie, The Zen of Bennett, which he saw for the first time at its debut at the famed Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

This is the view from my seat inside the theater at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.  The blue picture at the bottom is the screen itself and the rest is the ceiling which doubles as an ever-changing series of colorful video panels.

That's Tony Bennett in the middle of the post-film question and answer session.  They took questions from members of the audience and from a special Twitter account set up for people in the room who'd rather participate in that way. 

Favorite Florida Fotos

These types of giant, puffy clouds are a daily sight in Florida - often times this type is a prelude to a late-afternoon rain shower. I'm glad the two birds decided to fly very high to contrast well against the clouds.

I don't care much for bees, but I like to take pictures of them. I got in real close and shot this image as quickly as I could before retreating to a safe distance

This cruise ship is heading to Mexico after just barely clearing the underside of the Florida Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The margin for error is only about 15 to 20 feet. So it's as close as it appears in this image. Check out this video to see just how close.

It looks like this bird is taking off to try and catch the cruise ship which is on the left of the photo. To the right is Florida's Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Seminole Sights

Is is that guy from ZZ Top? Billy F. Gibbons? No ... it''s the bass player from the band that was playing to the crowd at the annual Seminole, Florida neighborhood carnival. I saw him playing and the beard stood out.

Whenever the moon is around I try to put it in a picture. Here is the moon with a part of one of the rides in the foreground.

Using a slow shutter speed - I wanted to get three rides in one shot when they were all in action.

The vendor here posed for a portrait as she worked her magic light device. I used a combo of slow shutter speed and delayed flash.

Before heading to the carnival, we stopped at a local sushi place. This fellow was not on the menu ... at least not while we were there! They told me it's a blow fish. Unlike the other fish who ran from my lens, this fish was ready for its close-up and stayed very still.

My Eye is in the Sky

The minarets atop Plant Hall at the downtown campus of the University of Tampa. Platnt Hall - the former Tampa Bay hotel - was built in 1891.

Parking lot light standards at sunset at the rejuvinated Parkside Mall in Pinellas Park in Florida near St Petersburg.

The downtown Tampa, Florida Museum of Art with its inviting opening at the top of the building where I waited and waited (about 90 seconds ... ) for a bird to fly through the scene.

And the birds on a telephone wire with the moon in the background. There were so many birds that it was easy to get one of two of them in flight.

Van Halen Hits New York City

The newly re-formed Van Halen played Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. And Guitar star Eddie Van Halen looks like he's enjoying himself.

The original Van Halen members - except for bassist Micheal Anthony - are together again. Singer David Lee Roth (L) was in strong voice as the band plays New York in the early stages of its nationwide tour. On the drum kit is Alex Van Halen.

One guess - if you know Van Halen's music - as to which song David Lee Roth is acting out. That's right ... JUMP. Roth is 56 and only did this move twice all night. In the 80's and 90's Roth was known to jump like this 15 to 20 times during a concert. It helped to be young!

The clothing change to the yellow leather jacket helped me quite a bit. Trying to focus on dark colors is a challenge. And the red hankie added to the colorful look.

Here's Alex Van Halen taking his drum solo while the other band members took a break. The giant video screen only showed black and white images all night. The blue lights on the drum stand really make Alex pop out from the background.

When longtime bassist/vocalist Micheal Anthony was fired from the band in 2006, Eddie's 16 year-old son Wolfgang (R), was ready to take over. He's has done a very good job replacing a popular player. Wolfgang's mother is the actress, Valerie Bertinelli - the ex wife of Eddie.

New York's refurbished Madison Square Garden was packed with Van Halen fans who were whipped into a party mood by the opening act, the funk band Kool and the Gang.

The trend of having a father-son combo in a rock band seems to be very popular these days. Here Eddie (R) and Wolfgang trade licks. Such rock music big names like Sting, Peter Frampton, Neil Schon and Dick Dale - among others - have their son's playing in their road bands or, in Sting's case, his son's band was the opening act at many of the Police concerts of recent years.

A Day at the Beach

Can't have a collection of beach shots without one with a boat in it. I drained the color from the image to reduce it to its bare elements. A Venice Beach, California lifeguard station and sailboat.

It was a nice, clear day at Venice Beach in southern California and the among first things you need are some brightly colored sunnies (as sunglasses are called in Australia.)

The skateboard park at Venice Beach draws riders of all ages and skill levels. I positioned myself so as to get the shadow of the palm tree in the shot when the kid came flying my way.

Shooting into the sun can yield great results and the birds were flying low late in the afternoon when I made this image.

I call this "Sad Dog" but the fact is, this dog probably looks like this all of the time. I just liked the various textures and colors surrounding his face.

People At Work

The watch repairman and the ice creme lady.

Inspired by a recent article in Photo District News - a major photography industry magazine - about people at work. I've selected two of these environmental portraits.

The top photo is of a watch repairman who has street-side vending stand in downtown Brooklyn. He was so intent on fixing that timepiece that he didn't notice me quietly firing off a few frames.

My camera is always set on "silent" shutter anyway so he didn't hear me pressing the button as I tried to get the perfect shot with the watch face showing.

The ice creme lady photo is from my files - I shot this a few years ago - but, like ice creme, it's a timeless image. I actually bought the delectable cone she's holding.

But I thought it was such a colorful scene that she gladly posed for a picture ... before collecting my money.

Lenny Kravitz in Concert

Lenny Kravitz and his longtime guitarist, Craig Ross, put on a show at New York's Radio City Music Hall. It's a homecoming for Kravitz who was born in Brooklyn. This is his first U.S. tour in five years.

From my fifth row seat, I was able to shoot a variety of photos since the lighting was always changing.

Lenny Kravitz made it easy for all of us who were shooting pictures (seemingly every one in attendance!) as he made many broad gestures like this one throughout his two hour performance. It wasn't that long ago that each and every ticket proclaimed: NO CAMERAS ALLOWED.

It was fun to try to take advantage of the multi-media aspects of the concert when Kravitz took certain positions on the stage.

This is one of the risky shots I tried as shooting into that bright light made the auto-focus on my camera go nuts and fight to find a lock-in point. This is one of those pictures that I'll keep trying to make until I get it right!

Me And Our Shadow

With my camera in the seat-back holder, I looked out the window on approach to JFK and I saw a circular rainbow-like image on the clouds. By the time I was ready to shoot, the image - much to my surprise - changed for the better. The shadow OF THE JET appeared inside the rings. I've flown many a mile in my life and I've never seen this type of pattern on clouds. I have photographed a similar image upon landing. But never have the conditions been right for a cloud reflection - at least, with me gazing out of a window with a camera a few inches away from my hands. ALWAYS have your camera ready for the one-of-a-kind shot.

Coffee With A Flash

Here are two versions of the same picture. I was recently urged by my college photography teacher to try more black and white. So, in addition to my typical color shot, the black and white picture does - to me- add a new angle to my work. More B&W in the future from me!

I shot five frames of me pouring cream into my cup of coffee. In fact, I was warned by a friend that I might end up with too much cream if I didn't stop taking pictures. But it was worth it when I lucked into a detailed shot of the cream-stream breaking up into three separate balls of liquid as it neared the surface of the coffee.

Up In The Sky

Big time kite flying was on display in Florida over the weekend at the 15th annual Treasure Island Kite Festival & Competition. Kites of all sizes (including one rumored $5,000 model - the big dog below) were in the sky easily on a very windy day at the beach.

Yes ... this huge dog kite costs $5,000 and as you might have guessed, it was one of the more popular kites at the fest. It might be a better fit at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade because of its size. BTW, that yellow kite is a sting ray.

Since blue is my favorite color, I picked this kite as my "best in show" simply because of its sky-matching hue.

Treasure Island is close to St Petersburg, Florida where I used to live for seven years while I was with the Rays baseball team. Here is a look at the vast variety of kites at the fest.

The strong wind actually made the wrangling the smaller kites a tough job. So it was amazing to watch the kite dancing competition that's staged to the accompaniment of popular music tracks and is judged as one would judge a gymnastics or ice skating competition.

I wanted to make it seem as if a tiny kite was coming out of this guy's camera lens. I just got the right angle and shot quickly.