Author Archives: Vladimir Brezina

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside, Take Two

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Inside. I’ve already posted one response to this challenge, but here’s another one.

The view from inside as the day begins…

Inspired by our recent adventures on Long Island.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Inside.

What’s inside?

More photos are here and here. And here is a second take on “Inside”.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Dreaming

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Dreaming.

Dream of ducks, duck dream, ducks dreaming, dreamy ducks…

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Travel Theme: Night

By Vladimir Brezina

Over on Where’s my backpack?, Ailsa has posted this week’s theme for her Travel Photo Challenge: Night.

Every now and again I travel for work to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I stay in the old town. The heat is unbearable and the air conditioning is spotty. But toward evening, as the air cools, I walk through the town. Invariably I end up on the esplanade, the vast grassy open space that separates the town from the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the old Spanish fortress that from a high promontory overlooks the town and the harbor. Many others are there to watch the sunset, to fly kites in the ever-present breeze, and to enjoy the soft night air. I randomly wander through the open space or just lie down in the grass under the darkening sky…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Movement

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Movement.

Ice skaters at the Wollman Rink in New York City’s Central Park (and a welcome reminder that the city will cool down, eventually…)


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Long Island Kayak Circumnavigation: Complete!

By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina

Freshly Pressed on the WordPress.com home page!

We made it! Ten days, including a final “double day”—instead of camping, we paddled overnight to get home just as dawn was breaking.

We are completely amazed by the diverse beauty of Long Island. We hadn’t previously realized how lovely it is—we know better now!

A full writeup is to come… but meantime, here are a few photos (move pointer over them for brief captions, click to enlarge). Many more photos to come!

Update July 11, 2012: The first of the series of full writeups is here.

Manhattan Island Marathon Swim 2012: Follow the Red Herring!

By Vladimir Brezina
(Title suggestion by Johna Till Johnson)

Each summer, NYC Swim organizes a series of short and longer swims in New York City’s waterways. The premier event is the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS), a 28.5-mile race around Manhattan. Along with the English Channel and Catalina Channel swims, it is one of the three swims in the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

Each swimmer is accompanied by a kayaker (as well as a motor boat). Last year, I kayaked for the Lone Starlettes, four women from Texas swimming as a relay. And two of the Starlettes, Gretchen Sanders and Pamela LeBlanc, must have had a good time, because they wanted to return this year and repeat the experience as a two-person relay, The Texas Two-Step.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Create

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Create.

And these two did create quite an impression!

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Close Encounters with Florida Birds

By Vladimir Brezina

I am still sorting out my hundreds of photos of birds from our Florida trip back in February. But this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge theme, “Close”, has prompted me to marvel at how closely I was able to approach many of the birds.

I rented a kayak and paddled through the mangroves. The birds perched in the tree tops—some of the trees were absolutely festooned with birds, like some kind of fruit—and looked down at me nonchalantly.

Other birds stood on low branches projecting strategically out over the water. These two just looked at me stolidly, even though I was so close that my kayak was actually bumping into their branch. I could have picked them up with my hands.

And so I was able to get some good shots of the various birds. I have a reasonable idea of what many of them are—some are unmistakable!—but identification by experts would certainly be appreciated!

Some other bird photos from that trip are here, here, here, and here.

Happy Summer!

By Vladimir Brezina

The Summer Solstice, and so the beginning of Summer for us here in the Northern Hemisphere, is today at 23:09 UTC (7:09 p.m. EDT).

Summer—full of possibilities…