first snowfall

Posted on December 16, 2013December 16, 2013 by Jake

Over the weekend New York City had its first snow storm that actually left behind any accumulation. I’m not sure what it is about this event that makes it so great. The fact that it happened on a weekend made it extra nice. It is kind of like a magical slap in the face driving home the fact that winter is here.

It literally snowed all day on Saturday. I took the opportunity for a quick walk in the park first thing in the morning. Most of the photos that I took were mental images. But these are a couple of images that I took with a camera. Also saw this today and found it amusing.

Some clouds and stuff

Posted on July 22, 2013July 22, 2013 by Jake

I have made it a point, for the past several weekends to get out of the city. I haven’t been to the Hamptons, or anything like that. But I have been able to turn my usual weekend trips to Yonkers into adventures farther up-state. These trips have been very pleasant for several reasons. For one, the temperature seems to magically drop by 10 degrees once I cross the county line into Westchester. Additionally, the scenery in up-state New York can be quite nice.

This snap is from Saturday. It could be from anywhere that has skies and bird(s). But this image is from the top of (the East Coast version of) a mountain on the bank of the Hudson, moments before those clouds let loose with torrential rain. So that is my story from the weekend. Happy Monday.

yet another sunset photo

Posted on September 24, 2011September 24, 2011 by Jake

After the rain let up, the sun actually came out for while. When the sun went down, there was this.

I guess I ended up making it outside today after all.

We might be swimming home

Posted on August 26, 2011August 26, 2011 by Jake

Mother nature is messing with us. I’m sorry to be writing about hurricane stuff, because that is all anyone is talking about today. But, it is looking like this storm is going to seriously affect our weekend plans. It makes me crazy when everything that we had planned out, is suddenly up in the air like this. Happy Friday?

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Summer is fading

Posted on August 24, 2011June 20, 2021 by Jake

A great sign that summer is on it’s way out is when hurricane season arrives. I wouldn’t say that we are already in hurricane season. But, apparently Irene is coming through this weekend. As a side note: the young and impressionable Jake was always curious about how the names of hurricanes were chosen. This was one of scads of technical questions that I was able to ask my dad and receive a true and accurate answer about. In the pre-Google days, I feel bad for people who didn’t have a certified genius for a dad, like I do.

Back on topic, the days are shorter, etc.. I certainly hope that Irene turns out to be all media hype, like every other hurricane that has made it’s way in our direction since I have been a New Yorker. Why? I have some good stuff planned for the next few days. I’m not just talking about my boring old running. I’m supposed to be shooting something tomorrow morning that I’m pretty stoked about. Aside from that, a DC road trip is on the calendar for this weekend. More outdoor activities are slated for DC.

So, I can deal with the fact that the sun is no longer making itself seen until after 6 AM. But Irene, please girl, leave us alone this weekend. Ok? Go ahead and send your siblings through in a couple weeks, so that we have some real waves for NYC’s first real surf competition. But, I know that I’m not just speaking for myself when I plead with you to just turn yourself around and head back out to sea. k, thx.

[photo: shot on my way out the door to make the first video tutorial for the photo series]

Lightning

Posted on August 18, 2011August 18, 2011 by Jake

I have never been able to successfully shoot lightning… until tonight. I mean, at least marginally successfully. These images aren’t blowing my mind or anything. But they are definitely better than the crap that I have captured in the past. When I walked in the door from this evening’s run, the whole hallway lit up. Then it happened again like 3 times, before I even got to the bedroom. So, without even changing out of my nasty sweaty running garb, I grabbed a cam and a tripod and scurried up to the roof (which I hear is one of the smartest places to be in a lightning storm). Anyway, the flashes were so frequent and consistently located, that it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel. When the storm started to move more directly overhead, I felt like it was time to call it quits and retreat. Here is one more shot of a lightning illuminated cloud.