Picture a Day for 2007

Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

A couple of days before Christmas and all through the house not a creature is moving except my wireless mouse.

It moves is circles and squares concentrically around the little curly hairs of Santa's beard as I crop and cut to bring out his shock as the lovely Amanda whispers her list in his ear.

What shock what joy to know he is just a little boy. Confounded by beauty as we all once were, it is he has a gift he wants to open to soon this night.

Love all you folks, click on the title of this post to see what is garnering my attention this and into the New Year.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

2007-12-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

So it is December again and this was my second attempt at a picture a day blog. Well this year I didn't post as many as I did last year and I must say it was not so much of a priority as it was in 2006.

In many ways I have stopped looking for words of others to validate my work or give me my self worth. Well the latter I cesed doing years ago with the help of therphy and some loving friends. LOL. Took 4 years though.

What I have found is many people have varried opinions as to what makes a good image or what makes a good image great. I have heard from many people who love to give their opinions and thrive on the reactions fueled by their said opinions. Honestly, I am tired of the people who live in front of their computers to spew stupidity. Oh you know who you are, the way you know is their posts are not anywhere on my blogs.

Some people go on and on and when you look at their portfolios online (if they have one) you see they can talk a good game but couldn't take a good picture if you setup the lights, camera, hired a model for them, did the makeup and put the camera on a tripod and all they had to do was push a button. So why would I care what they say?

EVERYONE who has commented on my images on this and my 2006 blog I consider a friend and you are not one of the people I speak of here. You have all supported me in my work and have even shown true caring and concern when I didn't post for a while. Thank You all.

I thought I would post an image for everyone here tonight which would inspire you to never think you can't take a picture again.

Hahhhhh

2007-11-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

After the fire...where do you go?

2007-11-20T22:29:00.001-05:00

There was a fire tonight in an apartment near me. These people were living in adjoining apartments, they can't go home tonight. Sad, they will be able to get back in soon but what do they do in the mean time?

The Fire of Sienna

2007-10-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

The eyes of a beauty, Valerie

2007-10-01T07:27:00.000-04:00

Miss Valerie Whitaker

2007-09-30T14:14:00.000-04:00

And a fine time was had by all.

2007-09-24T10:53:00.000-04:00

In Demand, Jeff takes a few questions, Dover DE.

2007-09-22T09:20:00.000-04:00

8 Dale Earnhardt Junior Practice Dover DE

2007-09-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

24 Jeff Gordon Practice Dover DE

2007-09-21T21:59:00.000-04:00

Crash Truck Teterboro Airport

2007-09-19T19:00:00.000-04:00

That B 17 again.

2007-09-18T17:49:00.000-04:00

This is the same B-17 I shot in 06 and 05. Still get chills when it passes. Shot this Sunday when I went to the Wings and Wheels show at Teterboro Airport.

Support the troops.

Violetta a wonderful model.

2007-09-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

They don't have the luxury to forget.

2007-09-12T23:24:00.000-04:00

Never forget

2007-09-11T22:50:00.000-04:00

Smiles are contagious.

2007-09-10T15:39:00.000-04:00

Prometheus at 30 Rock

2007-09-01T17:55:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Architectural Subject

2007-08-25T10:28:00.000-04:00

Mama Mia.......

2007-08-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

....That's a somea spicy meata balls.

God did it.

2007-08-20T16:11:00.001-04:00

The Art of the Dance

2007-08-20T16:02:00.001-04:00

Just a simple butterfly.

2007-08-20T15:52:00.000-04:00

Tiana at Sunset

2007-08-16T21:43:00.001-04:00

Federal Hall NYC

2007-08-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

Object of our attention.

2007-08-14T07:17:00.000-04:00

A human mannequin a the South Street Seaport was a photographer's delight. I gave her my card and hope she contacts me so we can work together soon.

Renee King

2007-08-12T14:53:00.000-04:00

Another Green eyed Lady, Wenona

2007-08-05T22:21:00.000-04:00

Still Life? Na too much work on it.

2007-07-24T22:01:00.000-04:00

No news is good news? Then why do I worry?

2007-07-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

WetDown Fun

2007-07-21T17:21:00.001-04:00

Whenever a town gets a new truck or any piece of new fire apparatus they have a wet down to wish all concerned good luck. In the early afternoon a priest comes and blesses the new truck, then the real fun starts. As different towns arrive to the party they spray the new truck for good luck and it slowly breaks down to an all out hose fight. See the images.

Saddle Brook NJ Working Fire

2007-07-21T09:56:00.000-04:00

Both Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park were on scene of this horrendous house fire yesterday. Luckily no one was hurt.

The one who gave all Yesterday.

2007-07-16T16:14:00.000-04:00

Stephen R. Dembski was a firefighter since he was 18, at 41 his service ended.

I wrote a story about Steven and all the firefighters who are not just some guys who hang out and drink beer. Click the title of this post to read Steven's story. This picture was taken by my friend Brett of Steven who was at this house fire Sunday morning while most people were sipping on their coffee and reading the paper. Read it and then pray for Steven's family and support your local fire department.

Some Give, Some Give all

2007-07-16T01:39:00.000-04:00

Somebody has to do this, it might as well be me.

2007-07-15T10:43:00.000-04:00

See more of Sienna on Washlet.com Oh and a billboard on 51st and Broadway in NYC.

Yea I knew her first. :)

NYC,NY CS3, Learning still learning

2007-07-12T00:40:00.000-04:00

Vanity vanity all the world is vanity. LOL

2007-07-11T12:45:00.000-04:00

I just posted a slight bio on First Responder news. I have posted two articles there as a corespondent. Last one was from an accident near my home. That's the picture here. You can read my bio if you click on the link in this post. Enjoy.

Pretty Eyes

2007-07-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

George Washington Bridge, Infrared

2007-07-03T10:49:00.000-04:00

You know there are hundreds of tutorials online for working with Photo Shop and this one I found is one of the best. If you click on the title of this post you will be taken to a page where I learned a new way to sharpen an image without causing those nasty lines along the edges of things.
I used this technique on this Infrared image I shot yesterday of the George Washington Bridge. It was such a nice day and the clouds were just perfect to shoot this. Hope you like it.

An Envious Position on a Day When it Hits 100

2007-06-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

Monalisa, Melissa

2007-06-21T09:53:00.001-04:00

You gotta love this face.

2007-06-19T08:34:00.000-04:00

This is one of the most lovely models I have ever work with. Melissa is retiring from modeling after a very successful 4 years. This was one of her last shoots. She will be successful at whatever she does. Smart, funny and my god you have to love that face, how could you not love this lady? Thanks Melissa for the shoot. You can see a few more of Melissa on my other blog. Feel free to comment there too if you like.

Not my picture but a picture of me.

2007-06-11T22:08:00.001-04:00

My friend Brett took this shot of me on the 5th at the location of the gas main explosion. He sent this to me and pointed me in the right direction to get some of my images published on First Responder News. Thanks Brett I am now a registered corespondent on that site.

Another little note about this picture which came to me today. First in just 7 days it marks my second year not smoking. I find it hard to believe it has been 2 years already. If you saw this image then I would be smoking. Second my belly would not be holding my camera out so far from me either. Give a little get a lot in more ways then one. But I will say this, it feels good to be able to think of myself as a non-smoker.

Model Caroline Ann Martin

2007-06-10T13:04:00.000-04:00

Taking nothing away from any model I have ever worked with, I am going to single out a model who inspires me to be a better person. Caroline is special for many reasons.

Last March I got to meet her for the first time at a group GTG (Get together) in NYC. A bunch of photographers and models from Model Mayhem met up at a little place in the village. My only regret was I could keep Caroline all to myself. We talked a little and I must say she is everything she is cracked up to be. Click on the title of this post to learn a little more about this lovely lady I got to capture here in a candid moment at our little meeting in March.

Caroline keep doing what you are doing you have no idea how much you are appreciated.

A few more images.

2007-06-06T19:18:00.000-04:00

One is my friend Brett who takes pictures for the fire department and has turned into a good friend. You can see a lot of his images at BrettsFirePhoto.com As a matter of fact you can see the image he was shooting from the bucket truck on that page.

The others show in closer detail the two cars involved with this accident. Such a shame it happened. I would say it was not an accident but negligence on the part of the workers and company doing this work.

A better angle.

2007-06-06T06:52:00.000-04:00

Picture yourself driving along on your way home from work on a perfectly glorious spring day, top down wind in your hair and suddenly the ground in front of you explodes open and flips the car in front of you into the air, dust fills the air and rocks and dirt smash through you windshield and rain down on you as your car is suddenly stopped by a 1000 pound slab of compressed pavement falling from the sky. Not your typical ride home on a Tuesday night. Nice work PSE&G. Stupid stupid people.

As best as I can gather from this that must have been what it was like for the Lady in the silver car. I am sure it was much worse for the man in the red Honda who was shot into the air as a 18 inch gas main under test let go two feet below the pavement. You can see clearly in this image the hole left behind by the blast. About two feet wide and 20 feet long. The red Honda was right on top of that hole when all hell broke lose that afternoon. It lifted that car into the air and flipped it on it's roof.

All this because PSE&G was testing a new line just installed and it failed. Why did they leave the road open while this test was going on? Why were people not warned it was going on? Why did these two people have to be put through this horror in order to have PSE&G save a few bucks?

Someone is going to pay and pay big. This is very upsetting to me. Can you tell? What if it was me, what if that lady in the silver car had been 2 seconds earlier it could have been her convertible on it's roof or the concrete could have landed on her head? What if it was my daughter coming home from classes? I tell you folks someone should be on the phone to this company and ripping them a new asshole. I might do that today.

Sorry for the colorful language.

Road Explodes in New Milford, NJ

2007-06-05T19:57:00.001-04:00

Around 4:45pm on June 5th 2007 a PSE&G Crew was testing a newly installed gas main under high pressure. Unbeknownst to the crew the new coupling in the intersection of Henley and River Road was going to fail. No precautions were taken in the test to stop traffic or clear pedestrians away from the coupling under test. Needless to say the test failed. The resulting explosion lifted a Honda into the air and flipped it trapping the gentleman inside in the crushed car. The lady following in a small convertible was lucky in that the slabs of compressed pavement landed on the hood of her car stopping just at the front windshield. Both were taken to area hospitals to be checked for injuries.

The town fire department of New Milford was sent as well as the local and county HazMat Teams. Two New Milford Ambulances responded and were responsible for the extrication of the women from her car. ABC and NBC sent both News crews and helicopters to cover the event. More then two hours after the event the road remains closed to traffic.

God Bless & Support the Troops! Happy Memorial Day

2007-05-27T17:21:00.000-04:00

NO

2007-05-25T19:43:00.000-04:00

USS Wasp (LHD 1)

2007-05-24T12:18:00.001-04:00

Unknown Blimp Over Manhattan

2007-05-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

Four Navy F/A-18 Hornets from Strike Fighter Squadron 15

2007-05-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79)

2007-05-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the Azaleas

2007-05-23T19:48:00.000-04:00

Fleet Week has begun in NYC Welcome USS San Jacinto CG-56

2007-05-23T14:09:00.000-04:00

Lazy on a Sunny Afternoon

2007-05-22T15:33:00.001-04:00

Very Busy Jogging

2007-05-21T08:24:00.001-04:00

Lovely Renee

2007-05-19T20:07:00.000-04:00

Stacks of Gold Along the Great White Way

2007-05-16T18:03:00.000-04:00

And now for something completely different...

2007-05-15T19:21:00.000-04:00

F-22 Raptor Side View

2007-05-14T18:16:00.000-04:00

F-4

2007-05-14T06:54:00.001-04:00

C-17 Transport

2007-05-14T06:39:00.000-04:00

F-22 Raptor, replaces the F-14 Tomcat

2007-05-13T07:53:00.000-04:00

You don't see this very often, 8 Thunderbirds

2007-05-13T07:34:00.000-04:00

The show with the Thunderbirds consists of 6 F-16 Jets just blowing your mind as they climb and twist and turn in seemingly death defying feats. What you don't always see is the six primary jets with the two more F-16's which are outfitted with two seats instead of one. These two extra jets are used to ferry unsuspecting news men and women on a little mini flight to help them write their storey's from a more personal level.

I also thought it was a great example of patterns. :)

F-117 Stelth Fighter

2007-05-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

P-51 Mustang / McGuire AFB Open House

2007-05-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

Am I getting better?

Sky Typers AT6 Trainers from WWII

2007-05-11T21:31:00.000-04:00

This is an F-15

2007-05-11T20:38:00.000-04:00

This is an F-15 . This was shot at McGuire AFB in June of 2005 two weeks after the Jones beach show. The reason I am revisiting these images is to find where I could improve my photography of air shows. I have the privilege to shoot at McGuire AFB tomorrow as a press photographer so I want to make sure I get it right.

Though this image looks a little OK without enlarging it, the mistake I made was shooting at ISO 800 since it was so dark because of the cloud cover. I had only had my E-1 about 5 months and was not aware of all the different things I could do while shooting to get the right images. I just got images that day. In two plus years since I shot this I have a little better handle on what to do. Lets see if I can make it work this time. :) Look for more Jets over the next week and you can be the judge.

I feel the need the need for speed! F/A -28 Rhino

2007-05-11T16:20:00.000-04:00

Sorry had to change the name of this. I made the mistake of calling this an F-15 but I was wrong it is an F/A 18 Rhino which is basiclly a larger version of the F/A 18 you see in my post a few days ago of the Blue angels.

This shot and the Golden Knight jumper were shot at Jones beach Air Show in 2005. Both were shot with my Olympus E-1 which is only a 5.5 MP camera. I used my 50-200mm lens with the 1.4 conversion lens as well. This would make the over all 35mm equvilent about 500 to 600mm.

Now to be honest I lessened the DPI to enlarge the images in photo shop but did not resample. So orginally shot at 300 DPI the images were about 5x8 inches in size. After lowering the DPI to 200 they become about 8x10, then I crop just the section with the plane in it and do some cool photoshop stuff and there you go. Above is the orginal image just cut down to 900 px with nothing else done to it. 1/500th F-8 ISO-200.

Home of the Brave

2007-05-10T20:44:00.000-04:00

From the 2005 Jones Beach Air Show. US Army Golden Knights.

You remember how much I love May? F/A-18 Hornets

2007-05-09T16:47:00.000-04:00

Remembering a hero. Lt. Commander Kevin Davis lost his life last month while performing with the Blue Angels. He is said to have not ejected to try and keep his plane from crashing into a more populated area. He is a hero.

This image was shot at McGuire Air Force Base in 2005 at their open house. I will be traveling there this weekend to shoot the Air Force Thunderbirds. Remember this spring and summer as you enjoy these air shows around the USA that these men and women dedicate their lives to keeping us safe. This isn't something they do for ego or for praise, they do it for honor and a respect for our constitution and love for their country.

Thank them when you see them.

Alexander Hamilton Park, Weehawaken, NJ

2007-05-04T00:36:00.000-04:00

Shot with 5 images merged into one in Photo Shop with HDR. This is a park near the spot where Arron Burr shot the Vice President Alexander Hamilton in a duel. The Hudson is to the right and this is just above Ferry Road. The reason the Duel took place here is New York had banned Dueling as a way to settle grievances. NJ had not. Click the title of this post for a more detailed history of this famous spot in NJ.

14 to 1 Panoramic, NYC @ Sunset

2007-05-03T10:02:00.000-04:00

BTW this is a scene from 14 different images merged into one. The actual size of the image is 32 inches by 8 inches. It is not as noisy as this smaller lower resolution image. What I would like to know is a way to get rid of the banding made by Photo Shop in the merge. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Resized and USM, that's how it looked for real.

2007-05-02T23:53:00.000-04:00

Brett and I a Self Portrait

2007-04-29T09:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at the NJMFPA shoot I met up with a friend Brett Dzadik who also likes to get out and shoot some fire scenes in town. He has his own web site where you can see some of his fine work, click on the title of this link to see it. Anyway we were comparing photos on our cameras when I noticed this great shot. Enjoy.

Cool shot isn't it? That is the outrigger of the tower truck you see in yesterday's image of the flag going up.

Don't worry Brett I used Photo Shop Warp tool to make us both look a little skinner. Chill. :)

New Jersey Metro Fire Photographers Association 22nd Annual Photo Night

2007-04-28T23:59:00.000-04:00

The first image is the Montvale NJ bucket raising the American Flag over the display of fire trucks from around Northern NJ and NY.

This was the 22nd Association photo night extravaganza. Many different town fire departments showed up to support the group and many photographers came to show their work from the past year.

Below that in the second Picture is the River Edge Fire Department's newest engine for Company 2. There is a painting on the side of the truck of the 1962 truck it replaced, below that is the actual 1962 truck in the painting and last but not least the close up of the painting on the new Company 2 engine. Ed May is the artist who painted that mural on each side of the new truck.

Thanks to all the firefighters who keep us all safe. Just last week many of them (including my nephew from Company 2) were out braving the rushing waters of the Hackensack River to rescue people trapped by the Northeaster's fierce rainfall.

Brother John

2007-04-28T08:37:00.000-04:00

By day he keeps a construction company running and lots of hard working guys employed. Weekends he is Rancher John on his farm working while the sun shines to make a place for his horses. I give him a lot of credit for the setup he has made for himself. He does love the peace of the farm even with cement mixers spinning for hours make cement for the fence posts for the new coral. Buddy, Lucky and the new guy Justin are all going to live a nice life.

Getting aquainted.

2007-04-27T20:46:00.000-04:00

Lucky and Buddy chase the new guy Justin as they all have only known each other a week. I think after a while Buddy and Lucky will let Justin into the barn. It was funny, when Buddy wasn't looking Lucky came over to the fence with me and Justin. Then Buddy came over and chased Justin away and Lucky just went along with it.

"I just washed my main and I can't do a thing with it."

2007-04-25T06:56:00.000-04:00

"It's gonna be spring if it's the last thing I do!"

2007-04-24T19:57:00.000-04:00

Spire at hand.

2007-04-23T22:35:00.000-04:00

At last the farm, meet Justin.

2007-04-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

April Showers Bring April Flowers

2007-04-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

Be sure to click to enlarge this image to see everything. Olympus FE-200 image shot on Macro. Not the yearly yellow daffodil is it? I think this still qualifies me to be a photographer this year again. LOL.
It's like if you don't shoot a yellow daffodil in April you can't be a photographer like you can't be a magician if you don't do card tricks. LOL.

Where have I been?

2007-04-19T20:30:00.000-04:00

Hello friends,

As you can see from my last two posts we had a little rain here in NJ. (Understatement of the year.)

Thus, my day job is calling and I have been working no less the 12 and sometimes 17 hour days this week and it isn't over yet. However I have managed to get Saturday off so my photo shoots will go on as planed and then Sunday it's back to the grind until the all powerful Verizon says I can go home at 5.

Good news is it will pay for my new camera I had to buy and the money I spent to fix my old camera.

Hang in there I will be back soon with some really nice images.

Mike

This isn't a joke.

2007-04-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

License Plate Blurred to Protect the Stupid.

2007-04-16T22:53:00.000-04:00

At least he left his flashers on so nobody else hits him when they pass.

Hint boats have a rudder cars have wheels, cars don't float. Dah.

Station revisited from April 2005

2007-04-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

Hey found another.

2007-04-10T23:33:00.000-04:00

Not the complete moon but didn't know I caught this the other night.

Glam Baby

2007-04-08T20:58:00.000-04:00

Over Shadowed

2007-04-05T18:36:00.000-04:00

Shrouded

2007-04-04T16:36:00.000-04:00

This is an image shot the same night as the full moon. The empire State Building was adorned in Yellow and White to celebrate spring as the mist which blocked the moon moved over the city. The building in the Foreground is One Penn Plaza AKA the EIB Building. Do you know what the EIB building is? Well it is the place where one of the most popular radio talk show hosts started broadcasting his nationally syndicated show in 1988. Any guesses?

There is also another famous Conservative who broadcasts from that same building every afternoon for three hours a day "That's all I ask."

Be ready, had less then a minute.

2007-04-03T16:10:00.000-04:00

The far left picture is the one I posted last night with a little cropping, otherwise as I shot it. The two next to it are the two additional images I shot. This was the only time the full moon was visible over the city last night. Be ready or you will miss it. All three shot in less then a minute.

I love shooting the Full moon over NYC.

2007-04-02T21:53:00.000-04:00

You know, there was a persistent mist in the air tonight. It was cold and raw never cleared up completely over the city. I was not lucky enough, I worked it baby. I stood out there in this dreary mist until for a brief moment I got off three shots or the bashful moon as it came up behind the Chrysler building. This was the second shot. In three seconds it was gone. Shot at 1 second F 8.0 and ISO 400 this is what I got. See what I mean? As I learn this new camera the night shots will get even better. BTW the focal Length was 283mm which converted to the 35mm film equivalent would be 366mm. I knew there was a reason I bought those expensive lenses.

New Camera, New Lens setup on auto night shot.

2007-04-01T16:21:00.000-04:00

My favorite location to shoot the skyline of NYC. It was cold last night so I only set the camera on auto and pumped out a few shots. Not happy with the auto settings. I will get back soon maybe tomorrow to get this shot with the full moon in it.

"No really guys look he is taking our picture."

2007-03-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

New Lens, with New Camera

2007-03-27T17:17:00.000-04:00

Well I guess 100,000 pictures is the limit for my E-1. Before it died I had shot over 2000 images this past weekend. Not bad mouthing Olympus here, that camera lasted about 4 years under heavey use. Figures after I spend over $400 on another cool snazzy new 4 thirds lens I have been telling you all about. Well the New Professional Olympus camera isn't going to be out till July and the New E-510 is just a dream and I needed to shoot a shoot yesterday, I got an E-500.

So this is the first post with an image with an E-500. This is a macro of a 4GB Compact Flash card.

Watch real deal.

2007-03-24T11:50:00.001-04:00

This is a great lens. This image is a 1200px cut right from the original image. I did this so you could see how close and sharp you can get with this macro lens. I am loving this.

BTW this may be the last image till Tuesday, I have three days set up shooting starting this afternoon.

Remember the Franklin Mint?

2007-03-23T22:19:00.000-04:00

These are two images I shot tonight with my new F 2.0 50mm Macro lens. For the price I can't believe the sharpness at this close range. I have to go back to the Orchid Show. BTW no USM.

This is a watch, which I can't get a battery for, made by the Franklin Mint which has since gone out of business. I loved that store. I bought this one in Las Vegas years ago. I just love this watch.

Pretty in Pink

2007-03-22T21:53:00.000-04:00