Nifty – Gothic photo from the CricketDiane NYC WalkAbout 2011
19 Monday Dec 2011
19 Monday Dec 2011
08 Thursday Dec 2011
Tags
architecture, cricketdiane, CricketDiane NYC WalkAbout 2011, NYC, skyscrapers, urban photography, weather
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So, I’ve been on walkabout, but mostly not walking about in NYC after getting the flu here. It totally sucks. I watched the trees being lighted on the tele box, I’ve played with daughter’s cats and mostly felt miserable. However, a few days I’ve been able to get some photos and I did paint two little pictures to explore a new style I’ve been considering. They are about notebook paper size on bristol board. Not exciting, not particularly exceptional, but interesting.
And, I did meet some really wonderful people here before getting the flubug which has just about wasted the rest of my time here. Very annoying to not be able to take full advantage of this opportunity while here after working to get here for nearly the entire year. Oh well. It is what it is. And, I have been able to get over to the beach one day to see the sunset over the Atlantic along with seeing the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry. That is all pretty good.
Also, to be honest – I did have the most wonderful Thanksgiving with my daughter and grandbaby at her friend’s apt in the Bronx. That was very nifty with the world’s best holiday dinner cooked in the world’s smallest kitchen. Definitely wonderful. I also discovered that the warmest Atlanta clothes are way not warm enough for New York weather with its whipping winds and cold rain even though it hasn’t been as cold as usual here. In snow, I’d just have to stay home at this point.
Yesterday, in a mild rain with a light wind – about 50 degrees and an umbrella, I walked to the post office and the drug store which is probably less than a half mile away – I came home with pants soaking wet almost entirely, shoes with water in them, shopping bags covered in water, and freezing cold. That will not work at all. I wouldn’t do it again and I have yet to understand how people living here do it on a regular basis. They don’t seem to be covered over in water when they walk places under an umbrella. I don’t know how they do it. My pants looked like I had taken them out of the washer on the rinse cycle and stuck them on that way because the water was dripping from them covered with it from nearly the waist to the ground. I don’t even see how that happened – no cars splashed by me like they do in Georgia, but I was just about wetter than if I had stood out there with no umbrella at all. Really bizarre and something to fix if I’m going anywhere in the rain around here again. I’d hate to see what wet and snow does with temperatures in the 30 degree range. How do New Yorkers stay warm and dry while walking to buses, waiting for the bus, running to the Metro station openings, getting to wherever they might walk? And they do it everyday – amazing.
Anyway, I also discovered that it is nearly impossible for me to get a good picture of the Statue of Liberty or Manhattan from the Ferry and that a tremendous number of people from countries all over the world are here taking pictures with really wonderful fancy digital SLR cameras. Sometimes, we have almost seemed to be standing on top of one another trying to get just about the same pictures which I take to mean that many of the same things interest us. That is pretty amazing too, actually. I would have never guessed that.
And, I’ve discovered that twinkling little lights on trees are harder to photograph than I would have guessed, too. The photos of them that I thought were just perfect, turned out to be a blur – either I’m getting so excited to get the picture of them that I move when I take the picture or the camera is helping just a bit too much at the last nano-second, which is also possible. It does that a lot. There was a wonderful lady who stopped and helped me with my camera for about 25 minutes down around Battery Park as I was trying to take a picture of the French Chateau looking building top of a building next to a modern styled skyscraper. She was absolutely kind and generous to stop and help me with it while patiently explaining what the camera was trying to do based one whether my focal point was on the sky or the building. And, at least one of the photographs taken of it came out as I expected after she helped me with it – but the greatest thing was that she took her time to do that for me. Truly the most wondrous Christmas gift I’ve had for awhile.
Lastly, I did get to see inside Gotham Hall purely by accident and took some pictures before somebody turned the lights off while I was still in the main gallery of it. Although its massive, there is a strangely comforting feeling to that place – everyone should see it if they can. It was a bank once and now is a place to hold parties and happenings. There have been some high fashion events held there. It could make an awesome rock video or hiphop video landscape inside that atrium with its massive columns on each side and beautiful circular room with faceted sun window and chandelier floating high overhead. I wish there had been more opportunity to see and photograph its other beautiful spaces, especially looking down from the high side wings overlooking the atrium. I can’t imagine who designed it and that is definitely something to look up – truly amazing.
– cricketdiane
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03 Saturday Dec 2011
Tags
cricketdiane, CricketDiane NYC WalkAbout 2011, NY Harbor, NYC, ocean sunsets, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, sunset photography, sunsets
From the CricketDiane New York City WalkAbout 2011 –
Photo taken yesterday on New York City Walkabout from the Manhattan side of the Staten Island Ferry before it jiggled its way from the docks. In the distance, can be seen the Statue of Liberty majestically set in the harbor’s setting light. Amazingly, in person, the Statue of Liberty always seems closer than the camera relays it. To the eye, she appears so close – yet the camera captures how great the distance really is. Amazing.
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Seen through the windows of the ferry terminal, the Statue of Liberty against the sunset sky across the harbor looks stunning and dramatic. Distant cargo cranes mimic her pose and reminded me of what the space may have looked like when she was set there originally. The little boat in the foreground is actually a pretty good size and in the waters just below her feet is one of the sightseeing cruise boats that regularly leave from Battery Park near Clinton Castle where the tickets are sold. It is amazing to be here and even more amazing to get to see these things I’ve read about all of my life. Absolutely beautiful.
I am making a photobucket album of some interesting photos from the 2011 CricketDiane New York City WalkAbout. It can be found here –
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t95/dianecphillips/2011%20CricketDiane%20NYC%20Walkabout/
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– cricketdiane
NYC CricketDiane WalkAbout 2011
Photos and Comments, December 2011
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