By Vladimir Brezina
In the harbor ecosystem, kayaks are definitely at the bottom of the food chain.
Still, sometimes they remind me of those frisky little mammals scampering under the feet of the great lumbering dinosaurs…
By Vladimir Brezina
In the harbor ecosystem, kayaks are definitely at the bottom of the food chain.
Still, sometimes they remind me of those frisky little mammals scampering under the feet of the great lumbering dinosaurs…
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Binghamton Ferryboat, Boat Traffic, Ferries, Graveyard of Ships, Kayaking, New York Harbor, Photography, Shipping, Yellow Submarine
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
It was the posters that finally made it real.
Everyone has a 9/11 story. Mine isn’t all that exceptional. I was in Midtown Manhattan that morning, preparing for a sales trip to New Jersey. I’d been awake since about 2 AM, working on a project for work.
When the sirens first started, I didn’t think much of it. At least at first. But they kept going… and going… and going. Finally I looked out of the window and saw the column of smoke rising into the clear pale-blue air—and realized something serious was going on.
Then I turned on the TV and saw what everyone else did: the smoke, the helicopters, the collapse of the towers one by one.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Culture, Life, New York City, Society
Tagged 9/11, 9/11 Memorial, American History, Manhattan, Memoir, New York City, Photography, World Trade Center
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Two Subjects. I’ve already posted one response to this challenge, but I can’t resist having another go.
A few days ago we had occasion to take the Circle Line boat ride around Manhattan. The boat was packed. I came ready with my camera. But I couldn’t decide whether to focus (figuratively as well as literally) on the magnificent sights of the city coming into view one after another, or on the activities of other passengers. They, too, were snapping photos of the sights but even more of each other…
You just know what is to the left of the frame in the next photo, don’t you?
That’s right—the money shot!
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged Boat Cruise, Circle Line, New York City, Photography, postaday, postaweek, postaweek2012, Two Subjects, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina and Johna Till Johnson
After more than 15 (Johna) and 20 (Vlad) years living in New York City (in Vlad’s case, just one block away from Central Park), we finally managed to visit the Central Park Zoo.
The Central Park Zoo was New York City’s first zoo, starting in 1859 as a menagerie of exotic animals given to the Park. (Nowadays, owners of exotic animals that have grown uncomfortably large for small New York City apartments are too impatient for donation: they simply dump the animals in the Park—that’s how we get alligators in the sewers…) The zoo is small (6.5 acres) but manages to house a surprisingly large number of animals—we didn’t get to see even half of them—in “natural” enclosures, some of them walk-through, that do not feel at all cramped.
As it turns out, the Zoo’s inhabitants are some of the most quintessential New Yorkers: The birds and beasts embody all the characteristic New York attitudes, from vanity to boredom to slit-eyed suspicion.
Posted in Nature, New York City
Tagged Animals, Birds, Central Park Zoo, Leopard, New York City, Panda, Photography, Polar Bear, Sea Lion
By Vladimir Brezina
Loveliest of trees, the cherry nowIs hung with bloom along the bough,And stands about the woodland rideWearing white for Eastertide.
Posted in Nature, New York City
Tagged Central Park, New York City, Photography, Spring, Spring Blossoms
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Journey.
At dawn, some leave on their journey…
… just as others arrive from theirs
More photos from that day are here.
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Other nice Journeys:
Posted in Nature, New York City, Photography
Tagged Dawn, Journey, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography, postaday, postaweek, postaweek2012, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Last night, as a lavender dusk settled over Hell Gate
a pale shell of the full moon rose up among the high buildings
then shone white in the deepening blue sky
as the bright lights of the Second Avenue construction came on
Posted in New York City
Tagged Full Moon, Hell Gate, Hell Gate Bridge, Manhattan, New York City, Sunset
By Vladimir Brezina
On Sunday, Johna and I paddled once more to Swinburne Island to see seals.
Swinburne Island, a small island in New York Harbor just south of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, hosts a healthy population of seals every winter. We’ve already visited them once this winter. But now in April, especially with spring arriving so early this year, we were wondering if the seals would still be there.
We were not disappointed!
Posted in Kayaking, Nature, New York City, Photography
Tagged Kayaking, Marine Mammals, New York Harbor, Photography, Seal, Swinburne Island
By Vladimir Brezina
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Kayaking, Manhattan, New York City, New York Harbor, Photography
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Through.
Crowds of photographers gather as the magic moment draws near. What are they waiting for?
It’s Manhattanhenge! On two days in the year, for a brief moment before it sinks below the horizon, the setting sun is perfectly aligned with the cross-streets of Manhattan’s rectangular street grid and sends its last golden rays straight through its canyons…
These photos are from the first occurrence of Manhattanhenge last year, on May 30, 2011. More photos are here and here.
This year’s magic days will be May 29 and July 12!
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Some other nice interpretations of “Through” I’ve seen:
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged Manhattan, Manhattanhenge, New York City, Photography, postaday, postaweek, postaweek2012, Sunset, Through, Weekly Photo Challenge