By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Near and Far.
Every year I accompany in my kayak the swimmers that circle Manhattan in the annual Manhattan Island Marathon Swim. During this 7- or 8-hour-long race, I have plenty of opportunity to pair in my photos the swimmer in the foreground, just a few feet from my kayak, with various New York City landmarks in the distance.
And there is a particular spot in the Hudson River, with just a few miles left to go, where the landmark is the Empire State Building. I never fail to take a photo there! Here are the photos from three different years.
More photos are here, here, and here.
A second response to the challenge is here.
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Some other nice “Near and Far” interpretations:
- Flickr Comments
- la Mandraka
- Joy and Woe
- Chittle Chattle
- Ungemaltes
- Marbonz’s Blog
- Rossella Sferlazzo Photography
- A year in the Life
- Fenland Photos
- The World Via Standby
- Around the World in Eighty Years
- A Happy and Beautiful World
- Ron Mayhew Photography
- Zeebra Designs & Destinations
- Creativity Aroused
- Francine in Retirement
- Les Petits Pas de Juls
- The Positive Page
- The Thirdeyeworld
- Perfecting motherhood
- Mezzaphonically Speaking
- ArtBea
- All that I am. All that I ever was
- Cosy Photography
- kaldirimlar
- A Word in Your Ear #1
- A Word in Your Ear #2
- Jeff Sinon Photography
- adinparadise
- weird & cool stuff seen while out & about
- Pictures for Froghopper
- yukimba17
- Images & Words
- East of Málaga
- Movin’ On
- A Backyard Universe
- Photography Blog
- bluebrightly
- retireediary
- Beyond Life. Almost Daily
- Shimmering Grains
- Coop’s Photos
- ft. // la vie éclectique
- spreadingValue
- Artifacts and fictions
- Compass & Camera
- Max510’s Blog
- Geek & Chin’
- Autumn in Bruges
- The Wish Factor
- Live. Love. Laugh.
- Thoughts from Finchley
- A Busy Life of Leisure
- patriciaddrury
- A View From The Woods
- Rainbow Bakery
- peregrination
- The Space Between
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
Great photos. I often stand on my balcony, amazed at the stamina of some of these swimmers. Every weekend, and days during half terms, I see swimmers going up and down the bay here for hours. I don’t know if they are training to swim the channel or some other reason, but they just keep going in all weathers.
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Yes, it’s quite amazing how they can keep going mile after mile, hour after hour. I think I can understand it a bit from our kayaking—there too, it turns out that if you can keep going for a few hours, you can keep going indefinitely. But I admire the swimmers all the more as I’ve recently discovered that my own swimming skills have sadly lapsed…
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I’d have to photo-shop the swimmers in to get that kind of photo! Nice photos that I’m sure the swimmers appreciate!
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They do, although the photos are just icing on the cake—they appreciate primarily being taken around Manhattan without swimming into any piers, pilings, or floating logs…
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Many thanks for the pingback, I appreciate it.
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And thank you for your pingbacks! I really liked both of your photos this week…
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Great photos for the theme. ;)
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Thanks!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge – Near and Far | Chittle Chattle
Why do you think it was so sunny this year, but not in previous years? Could it be the effect of global warming? :-)
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Indeed, if you zoom in on the three shots and compare the water level, you can see the water rising ;-)
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Very nice!
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Thanks, Fergie!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far (Lesbos) « What's (in) the picture?
I love the first photo…the swimmer’s bathing cap is so vibrant compared with the background…great choice for the theme…
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Yes, they pick out the swimmers’ cap color at the last minute according to what kind of day it’s predicted to be… very fashion-conscious, NYC Swim is… ;-)
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I also love the first photo, for the same reasons as sued51, great contrast against the grey water
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Yes, I do love the brilliant cap colors—now if only they could make the swimmers’ numbers on them easier to read from a distance…
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love the swimmer photo.
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Thank you!
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Nice shots! :)
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Thanks, Inge!
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Really cool entry! I’ve done a marathon but it was only a little less than four hours nothing like 7-8 hours of swimming open water! Wow! Great of you to help out too.
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Yes, it’s pretty amazing for them to swim that long and far. Although round Manhattan pales in comparison with some other swims that have been accomplished or attempted…
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far « Authentic Photography
Great shots! Do you make them available to the swimmers?
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Certainly! And they’ve been used in a number of swimmers’ blogs, newspaper articles, and a forthcoming book…
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How wonderful! :-)
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Awesome! That’s a neat way to do it, seeing three different views of the theme! :)
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I get one per year!
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Great shots – interesting how the Empire State Building and Frank Gehry’s iconic glass building in Chelsea are part of all 3 pictures!
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Somehow that exact spot just makes me pick up the camera :-)
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“Every year I accompany in my kayak the swimmers that circle Manhattan…” great job, congrats!
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Thanks! I’ve written up the experience here and here.
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far | Life of 24 Hours
You provide a huge service to those athletes. I’m sure it’s amazing to see it all from that vantage point too. Nice shots!
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It’s quite a day… see the links in my response to frizztext’s comment above.
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Ooooh.. Your reply to Johna put chills through my body. For sure you would note the subtle changes not only in your photos but also in our world’s oceans. The Ice melt data is scary.
As always, great post, and thanks for the pingback! z
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I wasn’t being entirely serious… ;-)
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i chuckled on that one! but those polar ice caps really are melting way too fast. z
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Wow! Incredibly wonderful photos!
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Thanks so much, Angeline!
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Incredible photos, love your interpretation of the near and far theme,!Thank you for stopping by and checking out mine! Have a fantastic Saturday! G.
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You too—thanks for stopping by!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far The Sequel!! (Greece, Ireland, Holland) « What's (in) the picture?
Some very unique photographs of swimmers!
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Thanks, John!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near and Far « Pictures for Froghopper
Great shots!
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Thank you! :-)
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The clarity of that middle one is very nice. Helps to have the sun out. I’m sure the swimmers like that the sun came out that year, too. 8 hours? In the water? (shudder) I prefer a kayak, thank you very much! :)
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I actually don’t know whether the swimmers prefer it sunny or overcast. (I certainly prefer it overcast, and yes, I much prefer being in a kayak!) They care a lot, however, about the water temperature. That’s one reason why the race is held when it is, usually in June, when the water is neither too cold nor already too warm…
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Near And Far « Flickr Comments
Excellent shots! :-)
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Thanks, Elizabeth!
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Just perfect for Near and Far!
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Thank you!!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: More Near and Far | Humbled Pie
Love the idea of the photo across the years – god, what a grueling swim – even the kayaking has got to be a challenge. I wonder if I ever saw you as I rode the SI Ferry? (Ohhh, I love the Gehry building!) Thanks for including me on your list!
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The main challenge in kayaking with the swimmers is being able to sit in the boat that long. There’s no serious paddling involved—even though the swimmers are amazing, and many of them are world-class open-water swimmers, they still swim considerably slower than a kayaker would normally paddle.
If you take the Staten Island Ferry, you might well see us. We’ve certainly tangled with it often enough!
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You are TINY compared to that boat! I’ve moved to the Seattle area, so no more ferries, but what a fantastic way to commute, overall. Good for you for learning to listen to yourself & separate the real from the imaginary.
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I remember from the time I spent there the ferries from Seattle out to and among the San Juan Islands—a fun way to see the scenery there too. Of course, a kayak would be preferable…
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Thanks for stopping by l♥v your photos.
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Thank you for stopping by here!
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great captures! as a side note, it is interesting to see how the weather differs from year to year. thanks for sharing.
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Yes, the weather is the wild card in the race. In most years, the weather on the day turns out to be typical NYC summer weather—hot (although not as hot as it will be later in July and August), humid, with afternoon thunderstorms. The thunderstorms have turned out to be a serious problem several times—the race had to be stopped and restarted, and one year actually canceled half-way through.
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Love your shots, and thanks for the ping!
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You are most welcome, and thanks!
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Great photos! And thanks so much for including a link to my Near and Far photo on your blog. Very nice. :)
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You are most welcome, and thank you!
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Lovely pictures! Thank you for the pingback!
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Thank you—your photo is great for the challenge!
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Perfect response, Vlad – but tell me, what is that cage, to the left? Is it for lifting boats out of the water?
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Sorry to have to break it to you, and maybe the full scale of the thing is not apparent in the photo—but it’s a golf driving range. Golfers line up on the land side and smack their balls out into the Hudson—but you wouldn’t want them to hit that passing yacht, or for that matter kayak… :-)
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Oh wow – wow – how extraordinarily inappropriate! No wonder it’s netted like that. Shame it’s so ugly, but I guess there’s worse in the world … :)
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There’s much worse…
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Oh dear, perhaps you’d better not tell me :)
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Great shots. I love that you take them every year , it must make a cool slide show.
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Will have to try a slide show! :-)
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That’s simply awesome! Can never get enough of the city … whew!!
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Thanks so much, Kavita!
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