Category Archives: Blog

Foggy Day in Montclair

My wife and I negotiated some time to ourselves yesterday. She got a 3 hour block of time to catch up on her Guiding Light, and I got 3 hours to take some pictures. It was foggy and rainy, and the sunset was at 4:52. I packed up my gear quickly, and headed over to Brookdale Park. I have mixed feelings about Brookdale. There are plenty of places for activities.. playgrounds, ball fields, and a nice track and soccer field. I find that it is lacking a little in the hidden spaces and beautiful views department. Combined with my frequent visits there, it makes it hard sometimes to find a new angle to photograph. The first shot is of an old gnarled tree near the bike path :

As the light started to fade, I was struggling to find an interesting subject. I started taking shots of the raindrops on the branches. I was attracted to the little images inside of the drops. I converted all of the images to B&W since there was not much in the way of color to begin with. All photos were taken with a Nikon D200 and my old workhorse 28-105mm lens.

First flight… the way it should be

I mentioned in an earlier post that I went for a biplane ride at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. The plane is a 1929 New Standard in pristine condition. Up to 4 passengers sit in front of the pilot in an open cockpit. They give you a leather cap and goggles to wear to protect you from the wind. My son asked what the goggles were for. I told him that they keep the bugs out of your eyes. As you can see in the 2nd picture above, he was really worried about the bugs and kept his hands over his eyes during the takeoff. This was his first flight in any kind of plane, and I was a little worried about his reaction. He was a real trooper, and gave me a big grin and a thumbs up once we were off the ground. The views from the plane were great, especially with the foliage almost at it’s peak. The bridge you see in the slideshow is the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge . At one point I turned the camera back at the pilot. Not thinking, I left the flash up to give a little light on his face. After 2 shots, I realized that it was probably not the best idea to blind your pilot with a bright light. It was an amazing way to share my son’s first flight. He is still talking about “Airplane Day”, and I hope it is a memory he will cherish as much as I do.