By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Last year, I wrote about the first annual Cardboard Kayak Race, held on City of Water Day at Governors Island. This year, I was in it!
No, it’s not what you’re thinking. We didn’t build a boat out of cardboard and then race it. But others did! And I was part of a fleet of “safety kayaks” whose job it was to rescue paddlers whose cardboard boats sank (and fish out the sodden detritus).
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
In Manhattan we get our share of celebrities. Some live here year-round. Many zoom by in a blaze of flashbulbs and applause.
And some show up reliably every day, unapplauded, but make a celebrity entrance a few minutes out of the year. That’s what happens at Manhattanhenge. Twice a year, roughly three weeks before and after the summer solstice, the setting sun lines up precisely with the east-west streets of Manhattan’s street grid.
It’s a well-known phenomenon, and has become more so with each passing year. Photographers gather at major intersections, awaiting that perfect moment when the sun touches the horizon, framed precisely between buildings on either side. For a moment or two, the sun is a celebrity.
I’ve heard about it, and Vlad has taken pictures of it many times. But this year was the first time I’d actually experienced it.
Posted in Nature, New York City
Tagged Manhattan, Manhattanhenge, New York City, Photography, Sunset
By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Decoration.
Inspecting the decorations at the 2012 and 2013 Tugboat Races—
We look forward to this year’s North River Tugboat Race & Competition!
Posted in Life, New York City, Photography
Tagged Decoration, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Tattoo, Travel, Tugboat Race, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Relic.
Kayaking around New York Harbor, we pass many relics of its maritime past—
— Major General William H. Hart
— the Yellow Submarine, Quester I
— and, of course, the celebrated Graveyard of Ships
By Vladimir Brezina
Sea kayaking, most of the time, is about wide open waters… But, paradoxically, kayakers also can’t resist exploring tight spaces. They poke the nose of their boat into every sea cave they come across, for instance.
Urban paddling is a bit different. Instead of sea caves, we have low bridges, tunnels, passages under piers.
And now and again, we even get the chance to paddle under another boat…
… to create our own sea-cave experience
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
“A ticket to see fireworks? Don’t you just, uh, look up?” That was my friend Kathy’s comment when I mentioned Vlad had made the long, hot trip downtown in a thunderstorm to pick up our tickets for the fireworks.
Normally, she’d be right: For the past few Independence Days, we’d gone up on the roof, or just looked out from our window on the 17th floor. Even in New York, some things are free!
But these weren’t just any fireworks. This was the first time ever they’d be in the lower East River—even be launched from the Brooklyn Bridge! And our friend John, who, like Vlad, is a photographer, would be in town expressly to take photos, and we needed to find an uncrowded location for them to set up their tripods.
Posted in New York City
Tagged East River, Fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, New York City, Photography
By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge today is Twist. Just in time for the Fourth of July!
These were last year’s fireworks (more photos are here). We’ll see what tonight will bring!
Here‘s another kind of Twist, in response to The Daily Post’s Photo Challenge, which also had Twist as its theme only a month ago.
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged Fireworks, Fourth of July, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Travel, Twist, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Yesterday in the early evening a line of strong thunderstorms rumbled through New York City. This happens often in the summer and the sight can be awe-inspiring. But I was working all afternoon in a windowless room, and later, when I got to a window, it was too late to discern much. The building was already submerged in thick green fog. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked directly overhead.
What to do under those circumstances? Let’s go to the video replay!
And from where better to observe the arrival of the storm over New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline than the Statue of Liberty?
Posted in Nature, New York City
Tagged EarthCam, Manhattan, New York City, New York Harbor, Statue of Liberty, Storm, Webcam
By Vladimir Brezina
Vlad in action (photo by Johna)
I am often asked how I take my kayaking photos. What camera do I use? Am I not worried that water will damage it? And how do I manage to keep those pesky water drops off the lens?
So, here’s a brief answer.
Posted in Kayaking, Photography
Tagged Camera, Kayak Photography, Kayaking, Optio W, Pentax, Photography, Waterproof Camera
By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s Photo Challenge is Contrasts.
Spot the kayak in these photos—
The first set of Contrasts was here.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City, Photography
Tagged Barges, Contrasts, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2014, Sea Kayaking, Ships, Weekly Photo Challenge
... 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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