Fire Island…

Last week my friend Madeline asked if I had a photo of the Fire Island lighthouse, and had to admit that the last time I photographed it was back in the stone age of digital photography. Yesterday, Eddie & I were at Heckscher State Park to try out our new tandem bicycle for the first time (the tandem story is for another post), and after the bike ride we drove over to Fire Island. We were on Fire Island from about 6:30 to 7:00 P.M., and as we drove over the bridge we could see a storm on the western horizon, but the light on Fire Island was almost perfect.


For a few more photos, take a look at the full post.

Thanks for coming…

Thank-you to everyone who visited my photography exhibit at the Wilkes Gallery—and a special thanks to all of you who came by yesterday to "meet the artist." I thought I be standing there all alone for most of the day, and instead I had non-stop visitors. It turns out that the show is going to be up for a second week, through August 20, so if you haven't seen it yet, please stop by.

Northport Harbor Views…

Last week I had the opportunity to take photos at the home of a friend of a friend who lives on Bayview Avenue, in Northport. Houses on Bayview back up to the water, offering some fantastic views of the harbor.

More photos in the expanded post.




The family has a Boston Terrier puppy who followed me around everywhere I went. I guess he was begging for a photo shoot, and I was glad to oblige!

My gallery show is up!!!

An exhibit of my photographs on canvas is on display at Wilkes Gallery, in Northport, from today, August 6, through August 12. I hope those of you in the area will get a chance to visit the gallery and see the show. I'll be at the Gallery on Sunday, August 10 from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M., so if you are in the area, please stop by and say hello!

Type rest of the post here

Swansboro, North Carolina

Last week we were in North Carolina visiting my mother for her 85th birthday. (Way to go, Ma!) New Bern is located at the meeting of the Neuse and Trent Rivers, and not far from the Intercostal Waterway. About thirty miles from New Bern is the picturesque (which also means touristy) town of Swansboro, located at the mouth of the White Oak River and just across the Intercostal Waterway from the barrier beach and the Atlantic Ocean. "Downtown" is narrow street about three blocks long lined with shops and homes. It rained on and off while were were there, but that didn't stop me from capturing some local color!


More photos in the expanded post.

The fishing boat, from another vantage point and with the colors muted.


Doorway to one of the many shops housed in historic buildings.


This second story home was located in the back of one of the shops. It looks as if the inhabitants take living in a seafaring village very seriously.



This final photograph isn't much to look at, but tells an interesting story. The ripples in the water were made by a school of small fish that kept jumping out of the water. You could see the fish nearing the surface and making ripples, and then all of a sudden a bunch would jump out of the water. The school was huge, and the antics went on for a good twenty minutes before we left the dock. I went back on the dock a little later, but all the fish had gone. I couldn't capture the fish, but at least I got their ripples.

The Zoo… and other blogs — part I

Eddie & I finally made our planned trip to the Bronx Zoo last Thursday. We hadn't been there since the kids were — well, kids! And that was a long time ago. The zoo has actually become a wildlife park, and most animals live in natural habitats instead of behind bars. It makes it much more difficult to get good photos, but it is so much better for the animals. I had my Nikkor 70–300mm VR lens on the camera the entire time.


This photo of a group of NYALA (a species of South African antalope) was taken at f/8, 250 of a second with the lens zoomed to 240mm.

On to another subject…I've been promising some links to blogs that you might find of interest. Expand this post for the first installment.

The blogs I read regularly are divided into several categories. A few are just about photography and photographic equipment, several deal with photography and Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom, and others are pretty difficult to categorize.

Three excellent photography blogs are:

1. DIGITAL PROTALK — David Ziser is a wedding photographer, but the tips he shares are valuable for all photographers.
2. STROBIST — STOBIST is a site devoted to using off-camera flash. I'm not really sure why I have it on my list. 99% of my photography is natural light, and I don't own an off-camera flash. That being said, anyone using a strobe should check out this blog.
3. MOOSE PETERSON — Moose Peterson is a wild life photographer and teacher. He runs photography seminar in all sorts of amazing locales, and the photos he posts on his blog are phenomenal. (He wouldn't be posting photos taken at the Bronx Zoo!) His most recent post, July 8, is a series of grizzly bears in Alaska — where I think he is now. According to the blog, Moose, his wife and son camped next to where the bears live, and I gather the photographs are for a book. Pretty amazing!

We are going down to North Carolina for a few days celebrate my mother's 85th birthday. I'll list some more blogs when I can next post, probably over the weekend.

A blog post worth reading…and not mine!

No photo from me today. Nothing I could post could possibly compare with the photos, and accompanying story, at Joe McNally's blog. He is a New York based professional, and the story he tells in his July 8 post is extremely powerful. Check it out!