By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Big.
I seem to recall that there was already a “Big” photo challenge last year… and my response was the obvious one :-)
So here’s another type of big object that we regularly encounter kayaking in New York Harbor—
For more on this subject see At the Bottom of the Food Chain.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Barges, Big, Kayaking, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2013, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Seen from St. Pete Beach, Florida, August 2013.
By Vladimir Brezina
Last weekend, the currents took us on another of our favorite paddles—from Pier 40 in Manhattan round the Battery, up the East River, through Hell Gate, and round Throgs Neck into Long Island Sound.
Rounding Throgs Neck is like entering another world. The towers of Manhattan are still visible—all this is still within the borders of New York City!—but they are tiny in the distance. The broad blue Sound opens up. Shoals of white sailboats cruise past. Rocks are crowded with cormorants. We paddle past lighthouses and round islands—City Island, Hart Island, Pea Island…
Here are a few photos (click on any photo to start slideshow).
More photos are here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged East River, Long Island Sound, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, Sea Kayaking
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
<— Previous in Friendly Creatures
Day 2
We awoke to a beautiful dawn spreading across the sky, mistily lighting up the graceful lines of the Tampa Bay Skyway.
Well, technically, Vlad awoke to the dawn… I arose somewhat later, once the coffee was ready. We sipped it, watched the sunrise, and 
remarked on the steady progression of birds flying north—for all the world like commuters starting the day!
We agreed that Egmont Key, though an unplanned stop, was a wonderful place to start our real adventure.
Posted in Kayaking
Tagged Florida, Kayak Camping, Kayak Expeditions, Photography, Sea Kayaking
By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Architecture.
Manhattan, of course, is full of dramatic architecture. But it’s sometimes hard to grasp it all from the inside. You need to stand a bit apart—or even better, sit in a kayak!
Here is some of Manhattan’s architecture that we saw on our paddle just this last weekend (full set of photos is here):
Posted in Architecture, Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Architecture, Manhattan, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2013, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s photo challenge from The Daily Post is One Shot, Two Ways, and from Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack? it is Architecture.
New York City overwhelms with its architecture, old and new, at ground level and high above. The photographer has to choose whether to capture the details of the architectural landscape or to portray the soaring verticals…
Another “One Shot, Two Ways” post was here.
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is One Shot, Two Ways. “For this challenge, capture two images — a horizontal and a vertical version — of the same scene or subject.”
At last year’s Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition—
The biggest and the smallest
Lincoln Sea throws an enormous bow wave as she overtakes the competition
Three Forty Three welcomes the finishers
The tugs line up at the pier afterwards
Meagan Ann wins the line toss!
The landscape format just doesn’t do it… It takes a portrait shot to show just how enormous Lincoln Sea is!
And the tugs are getting ready again for this year’s rematch. If you are anywhere near New York Harbor on Sunday, September 1, don’t miss the 21st annual running of the Great North River Tugboat Race & Competition!
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged New York Harbor, One Shot Two Ways, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2013, Ships, Tugboat, Tugboat Race, Weekly Photo Challenge
<— Previous in Photography 101
This is the seventh installment of Photography 101.
By Vladimir Brezina
For kayakers, islands exert a special allure. There is the attraction of a circumnavigation, returning to the very same place from which you started from the opposite direction and completing the magic circle. But even more romantic is the idea of paddling out to that remote, preferably deserted, island that you can see on the horizon—or just on the chart!—which can be reached only by boat…
In New York Harbor, we have plenty of islands—even apart from the world-famous ones. But there’s no denying that they all offer a decidedly urban paddling experience. No matter what remote corner of the harbor you are in, the city is always there when you look up. And the city is exciting. But sometimes the country calls.
So in mid-May, we drove up to Westport, MA, on the south coast of Massachusetts just past the Rhode Island border. While Johna was enjoying a couple of days of surfing and rock-gardening (which I hope she will write up, as she did last year), I set out to paddle to my favorite deserted islands.
By Vladimir Brezina
It’s our routine. Weekends, we paddle. And when the tidal currents say go south, we go south. And, unless we can think of something more ambitious, that means Sandy Hook.
But each trip is different. The sea and the sky have a different look and feel each time. We see different ships in the harbor. I can’t resist taking photos to capture it all. Here are a few from yesterday’s trip.
(click on any photo to start slideshow)
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged New York Harbor, Photography, Sandy Hook, Sea Kayaking
... 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.
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Wind Against Current 