Rik's Blog

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Abandoned Building March 18, 2012

I noticed this run-down building this afternoon, and as it didn't seem to be posted as

"No Trespassing", I wandered in for a look-see. Interesting building, not sure what it was used for,

but the interior had several "stalls" that looked like work stations.

I grabbed as many pics as I could until I was besieged by a swarm of black flies!

Franny Reese Park - Highland, NY March 17, 2012

Greetings and salutations. Did you know that March 15 (two days ago)

was the 40th anniversary of the the release of The Godfather? Well, now you do.

No reason...

The following group of pictures were taken at Franny Reese Park,

a small state-run preserve in Highland, NY. And for looking at them, I thank you!

This is the Mid-Hudson bridge, at about 9:45 AM. A heavy fog was just lifting. The shot was taken from the west side of the Hudson river. That's the City of Poughkeepsie on the other side of the river.

Same bridge, different angle.

Probably a shipment of iPad 3's.

The next group are also from the preserve, and depict ruins from a

mid-19th century estate, called Cedar Glen:

Sunday, February 12, 2012

HDR

The following pictures were taken on 12/31/11, in the town of Cold Spring, NY (another little historic town along the Hudson River).
With this very bizarre winter we're having (or more accurately, NOT having), the temperature approached 60 degrees, so it was a great day to shoot by the water.

These are all processed through Photomatix (HDR).

This was on the roof of a building at West Point.

We were about a mile north and on the other side of the river.

911 Memorial

The following shots are from a 911 Memorial at the Kensico Plaza in White Plains, NY. It is dedicated to the people from Westchester Cty, NY who lost their lives on that day:

Christopher was from Rye. I didn't know him, as he was born the year I graduated from Rye High School. He was on American Airlines Flight 11.

I met Ward on 9/8, just three days before the towers were hit. I was introduced by a mutual friend at a Rye High School football game. As we chatted and got to know each other a bit, he told me that he had just started a new job with a company located high up in one of the towers. He said that he was terrified of heights. When the news of the crash was reported, he was the first person I thought of.

I did not not know this person, but the epitaph, "-more than just a name", seemed to grab me by the throat. so to Joseph, I dedicate this post.

This final picture is of the memorial itself. It's called "The Rising" and was designed to resemble the piece of the building (South tower, I believe) that remained after it came down:

It's impossible to stand in front of this memorial and not be moved to one's very core.

On the Wing

As I've noted, I'm not a birder, but I caught this gull soaring about 50 feet over the Hudson River. This is one of those "lucky" shots. The bird was flying in my direction. I shot this with one with my Canon 24-70mm and cropped it way down.

The bird's body is dark, as the sun was above and to the left, but I just like the detail in the feathers.

Edith G. Reade Bird Sanctuary

A few weeks ago, I went back in time to my old home town of Rye NY. I grew up directly across the street from Rye Playland, an historic amusement park located on the Long Island Sound. Behind the park, there is a section of woods that has been set aside as a protected bird sanctuary. I'm not a birder, plus I don't have the proper gear to effectively capture pics of the little fellers, but the area is loaded with great hiking (no bikes!) trails, and other wildlife abound. Here are a few pics from the area: