By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Beyond.
When paddling counterclockwise around Manhattan, or down the Hudson River back to the city, there comes that breathtaking moment when the distant vista of Midtown Manhattan comes into view beyond the George Washington Bridge.
I always take a photo at that point. By now I have many, in rain and sunshine, day and night… Here are a few of them.
More photos from these trips are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
 | CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
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| Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
 | Marilyn Albright on The First Leg! |
| CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
| Johna Till Johnson on Looks Like They Made It! |
 | Pit on Looks Like They Made It! |
| Johna Till Johnson on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
 | Larry Jensen on More Scenes From the Nort… |
| Johna Till Johnson on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
 | Frank Winters on R2AK: Scenes From the Northern… |
| Johna Till Johnson on Halfway There! |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
| Johna Till Johnson on And They’re Off! |
Wind Against Current 
very exciting pictures!!!
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Thank you!!
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Beautiful shots!
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Thanks!
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Your photographs continue to take my breath away.
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So nice of you to say so… :-)
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Reblogged this on The Boston Harbor Picayune and commented:
Got caught in a few traffic jams on the GW on my way back to Boston from D.C. a few times.
Nice to see the bridge from your perspective instead of being on it!
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Thanks for reblogging!
Yes, much better to be floating under it… when you are on it you don’t see the bridge at all, although the views of the city and the river are spectacular!
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Beautiful photos. I was on Spirit Cruses when we approach the George Washington Bridge and it was an amazing sight as your photos show. I bet it was especially awesome being so close to the water especially at dust.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
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And at night, when it’s lit up over the dark water…
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Excellent photos – it’s a beautiful bridge… :-)
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That it surely is… :-)
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Lovely views…I hope to one day see it in person! =)
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From the water, I hope ;-)
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Yes, of course! =)
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Great photos! :)
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Thank you!
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Wonderful pictures, !
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Thank you! :-)
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Awesome pictures. As I type this, I can see the magnificent GWB in the distance with its twinkling lights, and your pictures truly capture all its glory.
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Lucky you! We do see a part of the GWB in the distance, but tiny, among tall buildings. On the other hand, we see the Hell Gate bridges quite well (at present–we are also watching a building go up, day by day, that will eventually obscure a part of the view…)
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Wow, what a wonderful perspective of the bridge and beyond.
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It is indeed!
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Beautiful! I enjoyed seeing these!
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Thanks, Gail!
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Those are all great shots. The bridge is a great symbol for ‘beyond’.
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A powerful framing device :-)
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Hi, you and your wife are such avid kayakers, and take beautiful pictures. You may enjoy this, a video my husband made while we were in Florida…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRMBm8C_ii8
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Lovely video—thanks so much! Very evocative of Florida paddling :-) We were in Florida too not too long ago, although on the opposite side, on the Gulf coast—I hope to post some pictures from there any day now ;-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond « Pictures for Froghopper
Such interesting shots! God bless!
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Thank you!!
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I like the capture of the first. Clouds looked like cottons in the sky! :D
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The sky will dominate a photograph like that if you let it :-)
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Those are fantastic! You are very brave. I am too afraid to bring my camera anywhere near water!
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Well, this is a waterproof camera… that takes all the fear away! :-)
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AHHH Smart!
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These pictures are amazing, but it all looks very scary to me. Beyond anything I could do!
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It’s just a matter of floating under the bridge with the current, most of the time ;-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond as well (aka ’2′) « What's (in) the picture?
All are amazingly awesome Pics…loved the first one with all clouds
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Thank you!!
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Always I am there is with a lot of traffic and stress…But you are so lucky to see it from outside the noise and stress!!!!
I love your pics, specially with the sunset…
Steel bridges have a magic atmosphere….
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Especially big steel bridges :-)
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Great shots Vladi ! It’s fantastic for me to see NY from your point of view :-D
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From the water, you mean… :-)
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Yeah ! ;-)
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Wonderful selection of views!
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Thanks so much!! :-)
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Beautiful shots! Beyond the bridges, East Coast/West Coast :)
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Yes, I saw yours… :-)
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Nice pix
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Thanks!
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The second pic is absolutely gorgeous! You should make a time spun video of all these pics. :)
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Good idea! I’ve been thinking a bit about getting into video-making…
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thanks for sharing these beautiful moments, all of them with such different lighting.
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It’s the lighting that makes the scene—the bridge is just a fixed prop :-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond 3 (aka What’s in the light?) « What's (in) the picture?
Fabulous photos of the NYC skyline. Definitely captures the theme. :)
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Thank you, hugmamma! :-)
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BTW…congrats on being “freshly pressed.” You deserve it! :)
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Thanks!!
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You’re most welcome!
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A nicely captured view of the city I bet few ever get to experience.
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Only kayakers—but there are more of them every day ;-)
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I would expect the Hudson river to not be very still, and actually rather agitated for paddling on it. Kudos for paddling on it, and for managing to take such pictures at the same time!
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Well, it’s not still at all, but not necessarily agitated. Even though it might move at much the same speed sometimes, it’s not like a narrow whitewater river—it is so broad that when you are away from the shore, you don’t even notice that the entire river is moving with you in it…
But then again, there are often quite big waves due to Wind Against Current ;-)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond « Dibbler Dabbler
There are some very choppy waves in #5. I think that would be kind of unnerving…
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That happens when the wind blows against the current (Wind Against Current… ;-) ) But the waves never get really big in such protected water. Out on the ocean it can be a very different story…
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I have limited experience with kayaking. Once, when I was in Fiji, I was kayaking near the shore and all the sudden the ocean decided to show me who is in charge. No matter how hard I paddled, I couldn’t make any progress. I will never forget such feeling of helplessness…
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Scary! Yes, indeed, that will happen sooner or later. You have to assume it will and plan for it…
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Loving the pics! Inspiring, actually. Now I suddenly have an urge to try kayaking under the Golden Gate Bridge :)
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But if you do, pay careful attention to the currents (not to speak of wind, fog, and boat traffic). Not the easiest spot…
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Now that you mention it, perhaps I should begin my kayaking future a little closer to shore since I’m a newbie. :)
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Probably wise… although being near the shore is no absolute guarantee of safety—see Maurizio Riccio’s comment above….
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I kite! Were you flying from the kayak? That’s so cool. Great photos as always, of a landmark I’ve loved for so many years – it’s great to see that view from other perspectives too – from a plane, or even the West Side Hwy! And once I had dinner at an apartment just “beyond” the GWB, about 15 floors up – what a view that was – all doctor’s housing, too bad.
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Not my kite—someone else’s escapee, in the strong wind on that day…
I have done some kite-flying from a kayak, but the point there is to have a traction kite that will pull your kayak along so you don’t have to paddle :-) This kite wouldn’t do the job, and in any case the wind at that point was blowing in exactly the wrong direction…
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Vladimir,
Nice shots…I especially like the second photo because my eye went to the red lighthouse (or buoy) under the bridge. I also like the shot with the kite and the last photo…
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It’s the Little Red Lighthouse, well known from a famous children’s book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge :-)
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Thank you for “liking” my story :).
Svetlana
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You are most welcome!—an elegant little story… :-)
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Could there be a best in this lot? Ninth one down maybe, misty, evocative, beyond…
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Eighth one down, the hazy sunset one?
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Yup that’s the one I meant – I made the same mistake again on the check, counted the sixth as two photos because the bridge bisects one long one across the middle. Whatever, got another look at them all, worth doing!
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Thank you again!! :-)
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Great record of that magical moment. One of the photos jogs a memory of my own, coming back down the river on a sailboat (the only time I had the privileged experience.)
The one with rough brown water reminds me that the Hudson is a mighty river, not always placid, and how formidable it must be on those occasions in a kayak!
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The Hudson is certainly not always placid, occasionally it can be formidable, but it is always circumscribed, in the sense that there is land all around and you can always—if sometimes at considerable inconvenience and embarrassment—get out of danger. Not so on the open ocean…
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These photos make me wish I was near water, again. They are vivid so much so that I can feel the breeze, hear the sounds, and smell the air. My favorite is without a doubt the 2nd one with the rain in the distance. The lighting brings the light grey tone of the steel bridge to the forefront. Just beautiful!
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There was a storm brewing… that was a fun day, now many, many years ago. Thank you for reminding me of it! :-)
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Amazing shots of the bridge! :-)
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Thanks, Elizabeth, and thanks for liking everything just now! ;-)
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Thank you for visiting my blog. Hope you enjoy my little cutie pie bird. Thanks for sharing your experience. I esp. like the one with that beautiful kite.
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A uniquely cute bird indeed… :-)
Thanks for following our blog!
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Dear Vladimir,
I really envy your adventures along the Hudson River, drifting over those placid, sometimes choppy, chocolate or blue waters, with that awesome view of the bridge holding its breath to let you pass under the iron belly.
Those are the moments which make life magic and special. Keep going and God bless you!
Carlo
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Thank you for saying it so well, Carlo! Yes, those are the moments we try to experience and write about on this blog…
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That’s clearly quite the trip. Who flew the kite?
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It was an escaped kite that we encountered—we were paddling against the wind and it was flying downwind. We see things like that all the time :-)
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