May 29 2010
Sort of cross-posted at DKos as Friday Evening Photo Blogging: Lion Cubs Today!
I took a little trip to the African veldt today.
Oh okay, I never made it out of the Bronx. Today I went to see the three new lion cubs that were born on January 27th and made their public début this week. So give a roaring welcome to Nala, Adamma and Shani as they get used to their new digs. Their big sister Moxie is a very good baby sitter for these 25 pound kittens.
May 16 2010
Cross-posted at DailyKos and Firefly-Dreaming.
Some flower photographers claim that bright sunny days are not good for capturing flowers. Some go out with reflectors, diffusers and big honking strobe lights on sunny days to get that perfect shot. For me it’s a game, go out and find that flower at that moment that the bright sunshine works to the advantage of the observer.
Thursday was a glorious blue sky day wedged between two that were murky and dim, so I took both my trusty Cannon G-10 and Nikon Coolpix P90 to the New York Botanical Garden to find a flower where the strong direct sunlight was just right.
Spending the entire day looking for that perfect flower I thought that perhaps now I can articulate what I’ve learned about flower photography so far. I’m not meaning to blow my own horn but I’ve been running that play for a while now and I’ve developed a few skills in composition and dramatic effect.
I got a little too involved it this diary. That’s why it’s a day late.
May 09 2010
Cross-posted at Firefly and deleted from DailyKos.
I have posted fourteen Van Cortlandt Park photo diaries at DKos and a few might think I’m posting photos over and over. These photos from yesterday may look the same but sadly after a harsh winter there are many trees missing from my favorite walk.
But my favorite for photos and probably the most abused tree in the park still stands. This is Van Cortlandt Park (last stop on the Broadway local) in transition from spring to summer.
I had not taken my lakeside walk and forest stroll there for over two weeks, a long time for me. Surprised by how rapidly the transition from spring to summer views occurred the forest is shady and the last of spring flowers can be seen floating on the surface of the lake. Everything went so green and lush so quickly.
Below the fold is another photo walking tour of my favorite slice of nature in New York City. Just a walk in the park.
Apr 30 2010
Cross-posted many places including DailyKos.
On Thursday afternoon the AFL-CIO held a rally to protest the banking bailout and demand a peoples’ bailout. There was a call for not just regulating the banks that almost took this nation down but also doing an about face and forcing the bankers to bailout the people.
Do you think Wall Street should pay for the jobs they destroyed?
“People in New York and across the country who did nothing wrong and want to work have paid for the misdeeds of the big banks with their jobs, homes and retirement savings,” said Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president.
Do the elected officials of this nation think Wall Street should pay for the jobs they destroyed?
See a few photos and read some people’s stories below.
Apr 16 2010
Cross-posted at DailyKos and Firefly-Dreaming.
After it was announced this week that New York City would make a “first major changes to the city’s recycling laws since 1989” and “require the Department of Sanitation to recycle all rigid plastic containers,” I know I played a small part.
I’d like to think that waiting my turn at public hearings and constant letters to elected officials had something to do with keeping “more than 8,000 tons of plastic out of landfills annually.” I wish my low impact DKos diaries played a part but I’m pretty sure that my graffiti had some serious impact.
For about a year whenever I found myself in the privacy of a public men’s room stall, I just scribbled some message on the wall. I also think that so many New Yorkers assuming that the city accepted all sorts of plastic played a role in the new legislature but a few saw my message.
Protest NYC’s limited plastic recycle program. Place all plastic in the Blue Bag!
I wrote other messages. Too many to remember but here are a few more.
Mar 27 2010
Cross-posted at DailyKos.
At 11:30 yesterday morning on the corner of Greene St. and Washington Pl. I met Firefighter James M. Sorokac for the first time. I’d never met him before but being the keeper of “The Last Alarm” and a member of the of the FDNY ceremonial unit, his face was far too familiar to me.
In the shadow of the Asch Building he explained that the bell that is rang for the fallen dates back to a time when there was one bell at every NYC fire house. He told me the story of the four fives. When firehouses would communicate to each other across the city by ringing five times in a series of four the message that “a brother has fallen in the line of duty.”
Today that bell is rang once by a white gloved firefighter at funerals and memorial services.
Yesterday Firefighter James M. Sorokac rang that bell 146 times.
Feb 23 2010
Cross Posted at Daily Kos, Firefly-Dreaming, La Vita Locavore and Progressive Blue.
No more snow job photo diaries out of me. Since it is midwinter and everyone can use a little break from the cold, I think a little Brazilian Modern is in order.
How about you? Join me below for more photos and see an amateur review of my South American trip from last year.
Feb 20 2010
Cross-posted at Daily Kos.
Welcome to a new but old series that is all about photography. Do you have any photos or information about photography to share?
Yesterday’s diary was about snow pictures on a perfect blue sky day in Van Cortlandt Park. Tonight’s represents something a bit more challenging, trying to capture the snow as it is falling.
It’s not so easy and I really should have worn a hat and some gloves.
So if your in the mood for another snowy park, than take a walk below the fold for a park in a blizzard.
Feb 19 2010
Good evening this is my second installment in an attempt to get a regular series started called Friday Evening Photoblogging. Cross-posted at Progressive Blue, La Vita Locavore and Firefly Dreaming, it is based but different from a posting from last week at DKos.
I often write about and I’m very much in love with the undeveloped parts of Van Cortlandt Park. It is the fourth largest park in New York City and just a few blocks from my apartment. I guess the most popular diary so far was called Just a Walk in the Park, Van Cortlandt Park.
Few Manhattanites know of the beauty of this 1,146 acre park located in the Bronx but this New York City oasis should be of special interest to visitors from drier areas of the nation. The green will just blow you away.
You won’t find much green in this diary that focuses on photographic composition but I found a little color to make it interesting. In this photo the underpass leads to the Van Cortland marsh where the story ends. An old bridge from the the abandoned “Old Putt” and an oak tree that likes to hold a few leaves each winter improves the composition.
“Old Putt” is the affectionate nickname that hikers and cross country bikers have given to the New York and Putnam Railroad. The right of way for the railroad bed is a trail that runs the length of the park and passes through almost every type of ecosystem that can be found in the northeast.
Below the fold are the best of the 465 pictures I took last Thursday. Most of them on the Van Cortlandt Lake and surrounding wetlands of the Bronx park. Mostly they are photos of geese but I experimented with ways to defeat the the most annoying property of snow, monochromatic and way too bright.
Feb 18 2010
I’m so burnt out of anything political to say but I still take plenty of pictures. I tried to restart Friday Evening Photoblogging a few weeks back at DailyKos and this is a repost. I’m going to post last week’s here tomorrow because it relates to this weeks and continue the series here on Friday night. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Have you ever gone to a zoo in midwinter? This diary is a selection of of photos from a three hour trip to the Zoo on a sunny winter day.
I could tell you a winter’s tale or two about going to the zoo. I think it is the best time for both interaction with animals and photographic opportunities.
This is not my first Bronx Zoo diary. My point about a winter visit can be made by comparing the photos in that collection from about twenty visits to the zoo and these from a three hour tour.
