Monthly Archives: January 2013

Power of Water

Posted by Mike on

Non-typical January day in the Oriskany Creek. The past couple of days have been full of unseasonably warm weather and rain. The snow is gone and the water is making the dash to the low lands. It is hard to believe but I was in the middle of all that exactly one week ago photographing the snow covered creek in below zero temps. I wonder what tomorrow will be like?

Power of Water View from the top

Power of Water
View from the top

Power of Water In the heart of the action

Power of Water
In the heart of the action

Power of Water The ice chunks moved out of the waters way

Power of Water
The ice chunks moved out of the waters way

Power of Water Low view of the action

Power of Water
Low view of the action

Outcropping

Posted by Mike on

For the Monochrome Winter series… discovered along a trail in the Rockefeller State Park Preserve near Tarrytown, NY.

Outcropping Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/80s, 24mm, f/8, ISO 200

Outcropping
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/80s, 24mm, f/8, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light

Posted by Mike on

When I realized my daughter would need to make a trip to Pace University for the FTC Robotics competition I started searching on the web for what would be available to explore with my camera. As I mentioned in a previous post I didn’t research deep enough and feel I missed some great opportunities but too late to cry about that any more. The very first attraction I found that I wanted to capture was the Tarrytown Light.

The Tarrytown Light is a small lighthouse on the east side of the Hudson River in Sleepy Hollow, NY. The main attraction for me, besides just being a cool lighthouse, was the ability to have the Tappan Zee bridge in the background with the lighthouse. I thought there would be some great possibilities for images. One of my original ideas was to get a late evening, early night capture with the bridge lights in the background and maybe even some light reflections off the water.

I did manage to find the Kingsland Point Park which would allow me to get a clear view of both the lighthouse and bridge but when I arrived after dropping my daughter off at the college the first night it was too dark without any park lights to allow me to venture far from the car. The next morning was a much better time for my first trip through the park and resulted in the images below. If it wasn’t almost four hours from my house I would be heading back some time soon to grab that night view.

I will also have to keep an eye on the status of some construction occurring near the lighthouse as it did prevent me from getting closer. Other images I have found on the web appear to be from a very close vantage point and there was a walkway that brings you right past the lighthouse. I’m thinking a weekend trip later in the year!

Tarrytown Light and Tappan Zee Bridge Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 90mm, f/13, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light and Tappan Zee Bridge
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 90mm, f/13, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light - Landscape Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 190mm, f/13, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light – Landscape
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/400s, 190mm, f/13, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light - Portrait Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/500s, 200mm, f/13, ISO 200

Tarrytown Light – Portrait
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/500s, 200mm, f/13, ISO 200

River Ice

Posted by Mike on

While my daughter was getting ready for the FTC Robotics competition at Pace University I went exploring around Sleepy Hollow, NY. I did some pre-visit research but apparently not enough. As I was waiting for the gates to the Kingsland Point County Park to open I parked at the Philipse Manor Railroad Station and captured a few pictures of the partially frozen Hudson River. I really liked the ice and the view of the Tappan Zee bridge.

If I had just done a 180 from where these two pictures were taken I could have captured the historic railroad station which is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. I had such a list of places to see in a short period of time but now I feel I really missed out on some great images. I managed to capture the views on my list (still to be processed) but now I want to make the 4 hour drive again to finish my exploring.

As Cold As Ice Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 26mm, f/8, ISO 200

As Cold As Ice
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 26mm, f/8, ISO 200

Philipse Manor Marina Breakwall Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 70mm, f/8, ISO 200

Philipse Manor Marina Breakwall
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/250s, 70mm, f/8, ISO 200

A Word a Week Challenge – Smile

Posted by Mike on

This week Sue over at A Word in Your Ear found a word in her dictionary that was going to give me a problem… smile! I generally do not get images of people. They never seem to turn out like I want and I find I always have issues with every capture. Check out Sue’s post on this week’s challenge at A Word a Week Challenge – Smile.

Luckily, this weekend I had to take my daughter on a road trip to Pace University in Pleasantville, NY for a FTC Robotics competition. She recently joined a new team created from a group of kids that had been participating in the FLL Robotics competitions. What is the difference you ask? Well the FLL (FIRST LEGO League) uses LEGO products to build the robots that are programmed to solve a problem autonomously while the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) teams build robots out of nuts and bolts with programmable logic and remote control capability which compete head-to-head in an arena to accomplish a specific task, placing rings on posts.

It was my first experience with an FTC competition and I have to tell you I was very impressed. The quality of the robots built by the various teams was incredible. The engineering involved and the different approaches to solving the problem was fascinating. I’ll try to get a post together to highlight the event.

This post is about the smile challenge and hopefully I did it some justice. Here are a couple of pictures of my daughter and her friend dressed for the competition…

Team Spirit Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/15s, f/8, ISO 800

Team Spirit
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/15s, f/8, ISO 800

Hi Dad! Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/80s, 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 3200

Hi Dad!
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/80s, 200mm, f/5.6, ISO 3200

I can tell by looking at these images that if I want to continue to capture people I am going to need some more practice… lol!

Who Me?

Posted by Mike on

A little warmer image on a cold day. From my recent excursion to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY…

Who Me?Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/100s, 135mm, f/8, ISO 3200

Who Me?
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1/100s, 135mm, f/8, ISO 3200

Ice Flow

Posted by Mike on

The continuing saga of my Monochrome Winter series…

Ice Flow Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 0.5s, 55mm, f/16, ISO 100

Ice Flow
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 0.5s, 55mm, f/16, ISO 100

A Word a Week Challenge: Weather

Posted by Mike on

Snow!

Snow! Nion D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1.125s, 150mm, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Snow!
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6, 1.125s, 150mm, f/5.6, ISO 1600