Summer By The Bay

A hazy breeze and a little nostalgia on a summer evening by the Great South Bay. Life is good.

Summer Rose

Planting Fields Arboretum is a former Gold Coast Era estate located in Oyster Bay. Now part of the State Park system, Planting Fields is registered as a National Historic District and well worth a visit. This late season rose caught my eye and called out for a macro shot.

Proud Grandpa Series

You Go Oliver!....put that sticky finger right on that lens!

To see the the other side click here.

Getting Close To Nature

Summer macro fun at Planting Fields Arboretum! (click on the image for Larger view)

Money Bags

Now, that is one very optimistic jockey.

Mets Fans

Going to a Mets game, a phenomena known to sociologists as "Group Masochism."

Close Finish

More from Belmont's Top Of The Stretch...(see previous posts)

Sailing Round

Evidence that Columbus was indeed correct! Sailing downwind and seemingly down hill. :-)

Into The Home Stretch

There was lots of practice using high shutter speeds and panning from our position on the rail at Belmont. I also had practice betting which is not one of my many vices, I was proud of my $14.00 winnings until Alida walked away with $54.00 in her pocket and a smile on her face.

A Day At The Races

Our camera group reserved a spot on "Top Of The Stretch" on the rail at Belmont for Sunday's races. This was Belmont Park's last day before all racing heads north to Saratoga. The photo opportunities were many, I fear I came home with way too many race images to process!

Fire Island Guy

For several years the National Park Service has attempted to humanely thin the deer herd on Fire Island. The most recent program has involved using baited birth control drugs. The program seems to have had results in larger and healthier looking deer. Fire Island deer identify people with food (there is no hunting on the island) and they are not shy at all.

Gantry Plaza View

The hunters Point and Gantry Plaza sections of Queens have undergone a major revitalization in recent years. The area around the park is bustling with new housing , a very active "main street" area and several new pubs and restaurants. Years ago, the Gantry Park waterfront was a known dumping ground where derelict vehicles were in abundance.

Fire Island Deer

Two uninvited guests came to our beach barbeque the other night. While "don't feed the wildlife" is a good policy, these guys would not take no for an answer. They seemed most interested in the corn husks from our garbage bag. They are by no means shy and will literally get in your face! Fire Island deer tend to be smaller than their mainland cousins although this pair were much larger than usual.

Fox News Update

The fox family on Fire Island continues to prosper. We have been following their progress since early Spring and while they are cautious, they do appear to be as curious about us as we are about them. This guy was retrieving his cache of food in the early evening, there were two dead birds that he had stashed in the small evergreens.

Street Art

In the "five points" section of Queens an old warehouse has been converted into a showplace for graffiti artist. The building provides a legal venue for masters of the spray can and attracts artist from around the world.

On The Waterfront

A hammock on the East River, and why not? A great spot for reading and relaxing, Gantry Plaza State Park has plenty of comfortable seating. New areas are still being landscaped and will be open to the public soon.

Riverside Stroll

One of New York City's better kept secrets, a quiet walk along the East River on Roosevelt Island. With no crowds and a park-like setting there is plenty of time to savor the view and watch the world go by!

Gantry Plaza

Gantry State Park is a "new" state park on the East River in the Hunter's Pont section of Queens. This 2.5 acre park has dramatic views of Manhattan in the shadows of restored shipping gantry cranes. The space includes fishing piers, decks and lawn areas for sunbathing.

Catching The Sunset

A wonderful bonus to the end of our weeks of dreary weather, a Great South Bay sunset!

Summer In The Country

This renovated cottage was calling to my lens with the echoes of past summers in the countryside.

Boater's Weekend

The holiday weekend saw Long Island boaters leaving the dock in droves. The month long wet weather pattern of June frustrated many sailors. July holds promise as the sunny weather and summer have arrived at long last.

Happy Fourth Of July

It's a fine day for flag waving! Happy 4th!

Beach Day

Lately the requirement for a quality beach day is simply a lack of precipitation. All those childhood warnings about getting a "bad burn" on a cloudy day were most likely issued by adults who had done poorly in science class. So, cloudy sky or not we enjoyed some beach time. The major thunderstorms held off until we got home!

Set To Sail

Happy July, and the sun is shining! Time to "catch up" on some overdue boating opportunities.

Orient Point Light

The East End...Depending upon one's point of view, Orient Point Light marks either the end or the begining of Long Island's North Fork. Either way, it's always a pretty sight.

Mannequin Jokes

A scene in a window gives us a glimpse into the world of mannequin humor. HEY, it's raining and I have a camera in my hands... :-)

Rain And More Rain

I don't mean to be redundant but the weather for the month of June has been consistently wet. Yesterday was Long Island's 21st day of rain this month and there still is a week of June remaining on my calendar. While the weatherman on the TV attempts to hide his gleeful joy about setting "weather records" I am getting just a tad testy about being soggy. AND... the fact is not lost to me that the mosquitoes of July are already smiling with anticipation of the impending feast.

Plum Gut

Plum Gut, originally uploaded by Chris S Thorpe.

Fishing in the rain. The narrow stretch of water between Plum Island and Orient Point known as Plum Gut or The Race and has some of the strongest currents in the area. The fishing here is legendary as bait is funneled through the cut. On a sunny weekend the Race can be crowded with hopeful anglers.

Rainy Newport

Our escape to Newport was not an escape from the rain. Twenty out of the first twenty four days of June have been very soggy. Mushroom farmers and expat British citizens are most likely the happiest among us.

Ferry To New England

The Orient Point/New London Ferry saves Long Islanders a lengthy white knuckle drive through the NYC bottleneck to New England. The ferry is a much more comfortable way to head East without traveling West ( check out a map!). During our recent trip to Rhode Island we may have beat the traffic but the wet weather came with us. (best in larger view)

Green-Wood Restoration

More from New York City's National Historic cemetery...Attention to Green-Wood's Civil War graves and monuments is just one part of a 200 million dollar restoration fund. The fund is the result of private endowments that date to the mid-1800's. Experts at the site have developed new techniques for restoring oxidized marble anf for cleaning various types of granite. Interesting what one can learn in a cemetery!

Happy Father's Day

Enjoy it your way...

Proud Grandpa Series

Oliver Scott enjoying all that life can bring at a year and a half. Amazing how quickly little humans learn the secret to stealing hearts!

Green-Wood Cemetery/ National Historic Site

Green-Wood Cemetery is 478 acres of park like rolling Brooklyn hills with the some of the best views in all of New York City. Established in 1838, the cemetery has always been more than just a cemetery. By the 1860's it was the second most popular tourist destination in the country (Niagara Falls claimed number one) seeing well over 500 thousand visitors a year. Even by today's population that is an astounding number. Green-Wood was the inspiration to create Central Park in Manhattan. The final resting place for numerous historical figures and having the largest collection of stately trees in New York, Green-Wood was declared a national treasure in 2006.
The Civil War graves in this photo are part of an on-going project to find "lost" grave sites of Civil War vets and return them to the dignity that they deserve. At the start of the project volunteers estimated finding 500 graves, the actual number in currently in the thousands!

Jockey Portrait

Another day at the office.

The Homestretch

I've heard that prior to high camera shutter speeds it was argued that a race horse always had at least one hoof on the ground. Coming down the homestretch this guy seems to float above the track approaching the finish! (best in large view, click on image)

Back At The Stable

The stable area at Belmont has it's own culture, a unique community just beyond trackside.

Sunday At Belmont

The NYRA and Belmont Racetrack's Sunday morning program runs through the month of June. The park opens it's gates free of charge for an early Sunday morning view of workouts and a glimpse of life at the track. The staff is very accommodating to photographers, the program runs from 6:45am to 9:30am. Breakfast is available in the clubhouse cafeteria for a nominal fee.

Pony Show

"The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip.”- Henny Youngman

Ferry Below

Bring on the sun!...Our rainy June continues to be very wet!

Just A Field

...but it caught my eye. The tranquil side of Long Island.

Time To Play

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

Fire Island's Burma Road

Behind and between the dunes the "Burma Road" provides access for emergency vehicles on Fire Island.

Great South Bay Evening

The bluefish continue to be on the prowl throughout the bay, the sunset is an added bonus!

Sayville Ferry

It's early June and like clockwork the weekday ferries to Fire Island are filled with exuberant elementary students. Year end class trips to Sunken Forrest and Sailor's Haven are all the rage this time of year. Passing the ferry guarrantees cheerful greetings and arm waving from hundreds of little people who are just thrilled to not have to go to math class! We must be getting close to summer...

Pretty As A Picture

Amazing how much beauty can be seen looking through my lens....

Hard Aground

Still beached and firmly entrenched the 40 foot "Gwaihir" was not going anywhere yesterday afternoon. The salvage crew worked all day digging only to watch the tide return much of the sand to the underside of the hull.

Every Sailor's Nightmare

We read the story in the paper and just had to check it out for ourselves. Seems as if the crew of this sailboat was en route from Virginia to Rhode Island when someone tacked a bit too far to the Starboard in a thick fog. The 40 foot racing hull has been hard aground for a few days now, a salvage crew was preparing things for an attempt to pull her off the beach later this week.

Old Time Baseball

Like a vintage baseball card. A little experimentation with film grain and sepia treatment gave this shot an antique look to match the scene. The larger view appears to have a grainy/older photograph type of texture.

Guarding The Line

Proof that third base has always been the "hot corner" since the days of Abner Doubleday! Old Bethpage Village is the perfect venue for vintage baseball, the entire area is a living museum and has the look and feel of the 1800's.