Silhouette looking at the Cruise Ship in the Hudson River....

Lady in the Harbor

Chinatown and a water tower, New York City

Architecture seen in Chinatown, New York City. What do you think MSI stands for? I don't think it's original to the building though.

One of my Flickr groups sets up different projects to help us improve our photography skills. It really is fun, especially since I never took formal photography classes. This project was for a restaurant....Make a menu cover, a kind of logo or icon for the restaurant. This was my entry.

Australia Day Party

Our friends went to Australia recently. They decided to throw an "Australian Day" party. Australia Day in Australia is in January....really. But they figured since January in Australia is their summer we would just have the party here now.

Summer clothing, flip-flops, shrimp on the barbee and roasted lamb as well as Australian beer and wine.

Lots of fun and laughs!

See the photos below.

Kangaroo and Koala

Rrrrr....a koala bear and kangaroo? Is that legal?

Well, both are marsupials!

Shrimp on the Barbee, Australian beer and costumes.

I know, it sounds nerdy, but it was fun!

Watch out for the koala and kangaroo!

Australian outfits to set the mood.....

Dessert with merengue and strawberries!

Our friends made this "Australian" dessert: anglefood cake, merengue, whipped cream and strawberries.....Goodness!

It's not easy to stay on a diet with friends like these!

Do you think this is really Australian?

We had frog races!

Day at the Beach, Fire Island, Long Island, NY

Activity at the beach.....a family, some young surfers and me!

The boat is a Coast Guard vessel.

Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

Atlantic Ocean on the Fire Island National Seashore

Late in the day.....

The light is reflected off the crashing waves and the sand & sky are dark.

Each day, sometimes each hour at the beach brings a new experience and a change of light and wind and waves.

I am never be bored at the beach!

The Great South Bay at sunset as seen from Sayville...

Early Morning...Great South Bay

Would you believe that this is the Great South Bay?

Early morning in summer, before the pleasure boats begin the traffic to the beach, this is the view looking east just after sunrise.

I love to be on the water most at this time....calm, serene and summer morning warm.

You can see part of Fire Island on the right, and in the distance a ferry is making the first trip to the mainland.

Here's back at you......I couldn't resist! Just as he was taking our photo, I took his. Look at everyone's expression!

Lower Manhattan.....Click on each photo to see the details. Do you see how small the cars and people are?

Washington Square Park

A fountain in Washington Square Park.

We took friends into Manhattan for a tour of the city. Yes, again!

I just love taking photos in the city. We, of course had to stop at the B & H camera and video store.....hmmmm.

What do you think we bought?

The park is just as I remembered: lots of people, many younger college students, sitting around the fountain, talking, reading;

musicians playing; people, maybe homeless, sleeping on the grass; and lots of energy!

I can't explain it, just energy that carries over into your heart.

I love New York City.

I went to NYU for a summer back in the early 1970s.

I had the same feelings then. I was happy to be there.

Maitre D' at the Positano Ristorante, New York City in Little Italy.

We went with friends into New York city again. This time, it was the NY Waterways boat tour around lower Manhattan. They had never been there. This shot is the "ground zero" area of lower Manhattan.

Graffitti....it wouldn't be NYC without it!

Washington Square Park, NYC

Park Rangers

An unusual sight at the beach....

The horse and his rider are part of the Fire Island National Seashore.

The Park Ranger rides along the beach where vehicles cannot go.

Ususally though, four-wheel drive vehicles have no problem on the sand, but I guess the Parks' Department keeps the horses for special occassions.

There are wild deer here and even fox, and of course many, many birds.

Rangers are often seen riding on "mules", those sand buggies that look like golf carts but manuver the sand better.

Always something to see at the beach, it was another beautiful day!

Dancing for a hand-out....

On the lookout at Watch Hill, Fire Island National Seashore...

Under the Robert Moses Bridge

Fishing under the Robert Moses Bridge.

Lots of wave action as the currents travel under the bridge.

The crabs are abundant. A warmer winter has prevented the Great South Bay from freezing and there are crabs everywhere.

You can see them swimming near the surface. They hang onto the bait meant for other fish.

It makes me happy to know that the bay is healthy with living creatures.

On this particular day we caught 4 bluefish, 3 fluke, and 2 sea robins.

The fluke had to be thrown back because there is a minimum size limit of 18 inches.

The sea robin had to be thrown back because, well....see the photo below.

We had the blue fish for dinner. Some people think it taste "fishy".

Well, not if it is prepared properly.

After caught it must be immediately put on ice. Immediately, so bring an ice-filled cooler with you.

Then, after the fish is cleaned, coat with flour and salt.

Pan fry with a little butter, add some chopped almonds. Cook just a few minutes on each side. Don't over-cook any fish, ever!

Done. Dinner, straight from the sea.

Nothing beats it!

A sea robin that we caught. We had to throw him back in....cute guy, isn't he?

Part of the fishing fleet out of Captree State Park.

Wing span of a seagull....This is a Ring-billed Gull...ring on the beak and yellow feet.

Gulls at the beach....We've been to the beach a few times this past week. The weather on Long Island has been wonderful!

Learning to take better photos.....

With fill flash...

My practice and work with using fill flash. I think I got it!

Originally, using NO flash, Greg's face was too dark, even though the background was properly exposed. See the photo below ↓.

The first flash photo was so bright (built-in camera) that Greg's hair had lost all detail. That shot was not posted here, so......

For this shot, I needed a EC of -1.0. I can see the details in his face now and nothing is over-exposured.....(no pun intended!)
I submitted this pair of photos to my Utata group on Flicker.

Utata Flash Project

My brother Greg with no flash. The background is properly exposed but his face is too dark. See the above photo.....

Kyacks are more frequently seen on the canal.

Another ferry shot, entering the river....

NYC

Davis Park on Fire Island...This little town is a family centered community complete with church, general store and snack counter. This photo shows some homes along the Atlantic Ocean. The bay side of town has a marina for over-night visits by boaters.

I didn't know that the Lantana is a flower that the butterflies adore. This butterfly is huge and very beautiful. It didn't stop moving as it hovered above each flower. Fast shutter speed to the rescue!

The Great South Bay at sunset....We barbequed on the beach and watched the setting sun. What a wonderful way to spend an evening on Long Island.

modeled from another era..................Doesn't this look like a movie shot from the 1940s?

More ferry shots...they can't stop me!

boating fun...in the waves

cool sunglasses

Watching the sunset...

Sunset on the calm river. Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

visit from the police

I take photos....of everything.

Yesterday, a police detective came to my home, at dinnertime. He wanted to know if we owned a Parker boat. Yes, we do. He wanted to know if we had been taking photos of the Fire Island Ferries. Of course we do; we take photos of everything. Someone "reported us".

He came into our home. He wanted to see the photos. He also wanted to know if we sold those photos to anyone. (I wish!) He wanted to see the boat too.

I was very uncomfortable with the whole situation. My husband became assertive and insisted that we had rights, rights to photography anything in public. The detective said there were "new laws" against taking photos of public transportation, but he could not quote those "new laws". My husband informed him that there were no new laws. I just listened, wanting him to leave. I thought that the more we encouraged discussion, the longer he would stay.

We showed him the photos on the computer. After all, we had nothing to hide, but I felt violated. My computer, my photos and this strange man without a search warrant, coming into my home, my world, my space. We could have refused to show him the photos, I guess, but as I said, we had nothing to hide. We are law abiding citizens.

After he left, I felt sad. My husband was angry. What is happening here? Can an officer of the state just come into your home with the possible suspicion that there are terrorists present or activities? What would he have done if we were of Middle Eastern background or just dark-skinned?

I'm still processing what happened, but I thought I would share this with you.