Autumn in the Hudson Valley

The following pictures were taken on 10-15-11 at Minnewaska State Park.  We hiked a trail we've not done yet.  The weather failed us, but we managed to get some nice pics.

Thanks for looking!!!!

There were lots of cyclists on the trail this day.  A few people took this turn very fast.

 Puddle reflection.

  

 Always remember to look up!!!!

This one was taken across a valley, from a distance of about 1,000 yards (give or take). 

Zoomed in to 200mm and cropped.

It was raining for most of the day, so I had to find sheltered spots to aim upwards.

Again, out of the rain to capture this outcropping.

Finally, a touch of color.

More Reflections

Now that the fall colors are starting to pop, I grabbed these a few days ago.

This is an interesting little place, two small lakes that straddle Rte. 21 (Wingdale Mt. Rd) in Wingdale, NY.

The water is almost always smooth as glass.  These were taken at about 8:30 AM, under a cloudless sky, as you can see.

Now that the fall colors are starting to pop, I grabbed these a few days ago

Reflections

This scene made me stop my car on the side of the road to capture. 

Hurrican Irene, aftermath

The following pics were taken from the same site, about 6 hours later. 

The water had receded back below the shoreline, but left a ton of debris. 

Rain was gone, but the wind was strong, as noted by the flags below flying fully horizontal.

The force of the water breaching the shore ripped this bench from it's mounts (spikes into bricks). 

For shits and giggles, I tried to move this log.  Hernia operation is scheduled for next week::))  A closer look at the log indicates that it had been floating in the river for quite some time.  The surge brought it ashore, and although you cannot tell from the pic below, the log is now resting at least 100 feet from the river's bank!!!

This is a small pier from which site-seeing boats are launched. 

Normally, the brick landing is at least 5-8 feet above the water.  Not this time!!!

Hurricane Irene

Living in the Central Hudson valley offers some wonderful photo opportunities.  Here are a few pics taken yesterday during Irene's "assault" (all pics were taken at approx. 1:30 PM from the eastern shore of the river in Poughkeepsie, NY).

Visual Deception

Sometimes, what the eye sees (or more appropriately, what the camera catches) is not what actually exists. 

The following are two shots that I noticed while browsing some pics from last fall. 

These were both taken on the same day (Sept. 11, 2010) at Stone Church in Dover NY.  Something we've noticed on our hikes is that here and there, people have constructed stone structures.  We've seen these in many different places.  Must be some kind of fad or something. Some are small and simple; just some rocks piled on top of each other, like this one:

The above structure was about 12 inches high.

Others are larger and more complex, like this one.

Almost big enough to walk through, or so it seems.  This structure was in reality only about 18 inches in height, and maybe 3 feet in width, but the perspective of the shot makes it look much larger.  Tricky, eh? 

Finally, this one is just a very weird reflection I happened to catch in some flowing water.   

Kindy trippy; it looks to me like an alien wearing sunglasses.

It was pure luck, because the image only appeared when viewed at a very distinct angle.  If I had walked by it from a different approach, I wouldn't have seen it. 

Historic buildings

This group consists of a few old factories and an old church.  Check out the roof on the church.  A lot of buildings in the area used patterned shingles. 

Farms and Buildings

Shots taken today from Dover and Wassaic, Dutchess Cty NY. 

It's amazing how many abandoned and dilapidated farm structures there are in the area.

Old Buildings

Here are some shots Feb. 12, 2011.  Just some random buildings, but they caught my eye.

This first group are of an abandon farm house.

 This group is from an old abandon sanitarium in Harlem Valley, NY.  You really need to see this place at dusk.  It looks like Michael Meyers' home.