Category: photography

new york city – day 3

i’m starting to get a little tired in the mornings now.  i had to get moving today.

first up is the statue of liberty.  i had checked online the evening before for tickets to go up in the statue, but they were sold out.  apparently, you have to get those a month in advance (as do you tickets to late night with jimmy fallon).  but the ferry ride to staten island was free and takes you by the lady libby twice.  so, i took the boat.  it was cloudy morning casting a shadow on libby, but a few moments when the sun broke through gave me shots like this one.

the next time i visit, i want to make it to liberty island.  this time, however, it worked out well.  i had to make it back to town to find spaz (aka ryan) and have some lunch.  i got off at the wrong stop and ended up walking more than i wanted.  this turned out for the best as i hadn’t made plans to find park avenue and madison avenue.  my trek took me right through that part of town.  after a bit of searching, i hooked up with spaz and and some sushi.  it was a good catch up lunch.  in fact, i don’t think i’ve been to lunch with spaz before when he was still in knoxtropolis working for scripps.

my next stop was to visit ground zero.  this area is under a lot of security, and i wasn’t able to see as much as i would have liked.  diagrams and mock photos showed what the future of the site was to look like.  you could see the construction so far of the two new towers.  i found the memorial mural.  the changes to the block are significant.  the buildings in that part of town are very picturesque.

i didn’t stay too long there because i needed to head back to clean up to meet rebecca at lincoln center.  she was kind enough to grab some tickets to that evening’s concert of the new york philharmonic playing their summer classic.  (we ate some sushi before.  yeah, more sushi.  more good stuff.)

rebecca works there so she has access to the tickets–what a deal that is!  before the concert, she showed me around the plaza of lincoln center.  i saw a little of fordham university’s campus and heard some salsa tunes for a midsummer’s swing.

the concert was incredible.  it was one of the highlights of this trip.  the box seats we had gave us a good view of alexendar gavrylyuk’s fingers as he flew across the keys.  he performed amazingly.  the conductor bramwell tovey entertained beyond his conducting.  rebecca told me his interaction with the audience was worth the evening.  she was right.

we finished up with some pinkberry yogurt not far from lincoln center.  it was all-in-all a grand evening.

>> day 4

new york city – day 2

after getting some rest, i woke up and strapped on my dslr and took to the streets!  well, right, i found a starbucks first and grabbed some coffee and fuel in pastry form.  then i made my way to the trains again.  my next lesson:  pay attention to uptown/downtown mentions on some of the entry points before you pay for the train.  some stations don’t have access to the other direction without leaving and paying again.  it took a couple of times to learn this lesson.

my first stop was the empire state building.  the morning was overcast so visibility wasn’t as good as it could be.  but i got to the top and took some pictures from the 86th floor and then journeyed to the 102nd floor to see more.

i spent over an hour up on top of the world.  then i realized i was hungry.  i ate in the restaurant at the bottom of the building.  bacon on my burger.  good stuff.  while there, i found spaz (aka ryan) and made next day lunch plans with him.

ok, next stop:  brooklyn bridge.  subway again.  i am starting to get the hang of this transit stuff.  i made it to the bridge after a little wandering around to find the walkway entrance.  the walk across the top was one of my favorite walks.  the sun was hot, but the breeze made things feel better.

after casually walking around up here and enjoying the afternoon and taking a bunch of photos, i headed back to grab a shower and meet haley and her crew again for their cultural dinner.  the restaurant was awash in the east village.  the cuisine was ethiopian.  lindsey (lindsay? lyndsee?) and i did our duty and cleaned off one of the platters at our table.  it was good food.  and a few of us headed over for a load-your-own-pay-by-the-ounce/pound yogurt place.  phileo’s was the name of it.  again, good stuff.  and the evenings were better as they were cooler.

oh, and i had to taxi over to the east village since i had screwed up on the direction entry point again and realized i wasn’t going to  make it on time if i tried to train it.

>> day 3

benton’s bacon…and a waterfall

a few weekends back, i made a trip to bald river falls to photograph with a friend and my niece.  it was a very sunny day for a drive into the more country side of tennessee.  the back roads away from the city set my mind in a more relaxed state…unless i hear banjos.  plenty of rains from the weekends before fueled the falls with plenty to shoot.

smooth wateri snapped a bunch of photos experimenting with very fast and very slow shutter speeds.  i posted a few of what i came up with, including a few of my niece, on flickr.   i also messed around with a polarizing filter to help cut down on the glare from the sun.  this was quite educational.  rotating the filter changed the light and color of the image.  although i’ve used this filter before, i’ve not played around with it to this extent.  (see “how to use a polarizing filter.”)

after we finished (aw) snapping our photos, our trek back took us close to benton’s bacon in madisonville.  did we stop by?  are you kidding?  i contained my excitement as we walked into the modest storefront.  once you step through their portal, the wonderful smell of smoked goodness fills your senses.  although visually there’s not much to see, the aroma tells a different story.  when i was asked i could be helped, i immediately told the fellow, “i need bacon!”

“how much?”

hmm, what a question?  i really hadn’t considered a limited amount.  but i knew i wanted a slab.  i asked rationally, “how much is it?”

he told me the price per pound.  i pondered for a moment and knew he needed an answer.  so i uttered, “twenty pounds.”  unphased, the benton’s butcher turned and walked toward the back.  in a moment, he returned carrying a slab and a half.  he loaded it on the scale and told me it was close to twenty pounds.  i told him that was fine.

benton’s bacon redefines how i rate the taste of bacon.  my senses have been re-calibrated to  a high level of quality.  everything else pales in comparison.  i don’t think i can eat regular bacon again.