Author Archives: Vladimir Brezina

Weekly Photo Challenge: Our Neighborhood

Posted on March 11, 2013 | 61 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Our Neighborhood.

Last week’s snowstorm was surely the last gasp of winter. On Saturday, the remnants of the snow were vanishing in the warm sunshine, the first flowers were peeping out from under last year’s dead leaves, and everyone was out in Central Park. I was there too with my camera (not my cell phone)…

(click on any photo to start slideshow)

Runners and puddles
Reflections 1
On the bridle trail
Promenade
Reservoir jogging track
Reflections 2
Walking the dog
Remnants of snow
Reflected feet
Crowded
Killing two birds with one stone
Red shoes
City all around
First flower
Hidden crocuses
Golden in the sun
Shy snowdrop
Yellow and orange
Old and new
Big puddle
At the turtle pond
Pair
Spring mess
Resting in the sun

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61 Comments

Posted in New York City, Photography

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The Eyes, the Window to the Soul

Posted on March 8, 2013 | 54 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

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54 Comments

Posted in Nature

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Tendrils

Posted on March 6, 2013 | 54 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

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On a Florida beach recently, lost in the details…

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54 Comments

Posted in Photography

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First NYC Paddle Since Sandy!

Posted on March 4, 2013 | 54 comments

By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson

Four months is a long time.

And  it’s been just over four months since we’ve been out on NYC waterways—since our trip to the Gowanus Canal right before Hurricane Sandy, in fact.

A variety of factors kept us off the water: Sandy cleanup, boat issues, and a couple of Florida trips that provided the option of paddling in balmier waves.

But we’re back—and delighted to make our first NYC area trip of 2013, a short but satisfying jaunt up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge.

(Click on any photo to start a slideshow.)

After a tasty lunch rafted up in the lee of a rocky embankment, we leave the George Washington Bridge behind…
… and head back down the Hudson
What’s this on the right? The wreck of the Binghamton
The Binghamton was so dilapidated before Sandy that Sandy doesn’t seem to have done all that much more damage
The Hudson River vista stretches out before us…
… and the blue sky, dotted with soft white clouds, above
Vlad takes photos (photo by Johna)
The West Side of Manhattan is lit up by the low afternoon sun
Vlad is happy to be out on the water again (photo by Johna)
Sunset approaches
We cross the river to the Manhattan side
The rays of the setting sun reflect off the glass and steel of Manhattan
We paddle past Midtown Manhattan
Our destination is in sight
The colors take on that soft intensity of dusk…
Last light over New Jersey
Almost home!
We turn into the Pier 40 embayment
The lights of the new World Trade Center tower shine out brightly in the twilight

The individual photos are here.

54 Comments

Posted in Kayaking

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Lost in the Details

Posted on March 1, 2013 | 70 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Lost in the Details.

Big fleas have little fleas,
Upon their backs to bite ’em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas,
and so, ad infinitum.

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But then the tide came in

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and so I could not tell whether it really was ad infinitum.

70 Comments

Posted in Nature, Photography

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Florida Paddling

Posted on February 27, 2013 | 54 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Look what’s floating by in the turquoise-green water!

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I collect them all

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to take them home.

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But, sadly, the brilliant colors are evanescent…

54 Comments

Posted in Kayaking

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Synchronized

Posted on February 27, 2013 | 25 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This synchronized team puts in a pretty impressive performance—

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— and they leave the stage triumphantly!

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Others are pretty good too…

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but their synchronized diving still needs some work.

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From a recent visit to St. Pete Beach, Florida.

25 Comments

Posted in Nature

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Travel Theme: Bridges

Posted on February 25, 2013 | 46 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Bridges.

Ailsa asks, “Are you ready to cross the bridge when you come to it?” But we follow quite another set of routes through the city, which were there before the first bridge was ever built over them…

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46 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward

Posted on February 22, 2013 | 71 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Forward.

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71 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, Photography

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A Word A Week Challenge: Industrial

Posted on February 18, 2013 | 43 comments

By Vladimir Brezina

Over on A Word In Your Ear, Sue’s A Word A Week Challenge this week is Industrial.

Gowanus Canal

Paddling through New York Harbor, the ecosystem that we observe is not Nature, but Industry. Where elsewhere we might hope for close-up sightings of animals coming down to the water’s edge, in the harbor we observe the raw workings of industry. Industrial enterprises line the  banks and occupy the scraps of waste land in the corners of the harbor. They present their best faces to the land, but as we paddle past, through, and sometimes even under them, we peer into their back yards…

Continue reading →

43 Comments

Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography

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