My 70th Birthday - part 2

Self Portrait Scenic Landscapes

What do you do when you can't travel due to a pandemic? 

I had planned several trips this year. Unfortunately, Covid-19 ruined my travel plans. I was disappointed by having to rearrange my plans, and getting stranded locally and unable to travel to several destinations with beautiful scenic landscapes.

I'm sure all of us have heard the phrase "when life give you lemons ...." So I've decided to travel closer to home, and try to add the human element into landscapes by placing myself (a self-portrait) into the scenes. 

On this post, I've included some of the images taken at various locations.  I didn't need to worry about having people around or social distancing, most locations were deserted. Maybe I could travel next year before I retire, after the pandemic becomes a thing of the past! 

Enjoy! 

Tales From The Road

It's been so long since I updated this blog that I am going to combine a couple of stories together instead of writing five separate blog posts. A lot has happened since the last time I shared anything in here.

In September, I attended a work related conference in Beantown.  Prior to this trip, the last time I visited Boston was in 1999. I've been meaning to photograph Boston's waterfront area for a while now, so what better time than the night after the conference ended.

The Fan Pier Waterfront is a magnet for photographers and wedding proposals. Surprisingly, the night I visited was almost empty. I took pictures uninterrupted throughout the night. These are two of the images taken that night.

As a member of several motorcycle internet forums, I "stole" a forum banner idea and borrowed the graphic (with his permission) from a friend to create a banner and hoping to encourage forum members participation. The concept is simple, people meet up, take pictures with the banner, and post them in the forum. 

I contacted a friend and fellow Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 rider from New York, and invited him to meet me for lunch at Orange County Choopers in Newburgh, NY. And of course, the obligatory forum banner photo. 

If you follow this blog, you know that one of my favorite locations to photograph the Philadelphia skyline at night is from the South Street Bridge. Recognizing that I am my own worst critic, and that I am not satisfied with any of the images I’ve taken from this location so far, I tried one more time. These are my favorite pictures from that night, they were taken the first week of October.

Last month I’ve visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In the past 40 years I've visited several times, mostly to serve as a “tour guide” to some of my friends. This trip was no exception. I have no interest to visit the statue on my own, the place is always crowded, over 4 million people visit each year. 

To beat the crowds, this time I planned the trip from Philadelphia to NYC to board the first ferry to the Statue of Liberty early in the morning. They depart every 15-20 minutes. As I suspected, the first ferry out to the statue and Ellis Island was almost empty. It is why I was able to capture this image without any people in it. By the time I finished taking these pictures, in a matter of minutes the place became heavily crowded. 

Two weeks ago went for a short ride to Nockamixon State Park. The trip goal was twofold, test my new Vello Freewave Plus wireless remote - shutter release, and to capture a colorful image of my bike when the autumn peak colors of fall foliage were in full swing. 

I wasn't happy with the pics I took the first time so I returned to Nockamixon State Park again this weekend. Despite the cold weather I decided to give it a try one more time. I am glad I was wearing  my Revzilla balaclava and freeze-out warm long sleeve shirt. It was a chilly ride.

What a difference a week makes; this time most trees shed their leaves ready for winter. The real bummer is that now I have to wait until autumn next year to capture fall foliage again. On the plus side, the wireless remote - shutter release passed the test with flying colors.