I hadn’t been back to the Stadium since the Yankees lost the 2003 World Series in that final Game 6, but this was going to be the last year of this version of Yankee Stadium and it was practically a requirement that real Yankee fans make the pilgrimage to the Mecca of baseball to see a game there one last time.

Besides, I wanted that top-deck, last-row-center, fisheye shot of the entire interior of the stadium that posterity required me to take. I also wanted to see what the new YS version being built next door was looking like.

Let’s start with that entire interior shot. It would be a hassle to try to do it during the game, so I got inside early to get it done.

 

 

From my seat – also in the upper deck, but more behind the Yankee dugout than home plate – I took the rest of the shots, including: The left field corner, where you can see a construction crane and part of the new YS.

 

 

Monument Park, bleachers and bullpens:

 

 

The mighty swing of A-Rod as he fouls one off:

 

 

 

So much for my last Yankee game at the old Stadium……………..but I wasn’t done yet.

The Yankee Stadium Tour!

 

 

I shot with both film and flip phone. Let’s start with…………..

FLIP PHONE PICTURES

The Stadium:

 

 

A ticket booth:

 

 

Offices and Press Entrance:

 

 

The Press Box:

 

 

The Yankee Dugout:

 

 

Manager Joe Girardi on the top step of the Yankee dugout (yeah, right):

 

 

The lineups for the final game at Yankee Stadium:

 

 

The tunnel to the dugout:

 

 

There was one HUGE bummer this day: we were told that the day before was the final day in which Monument Park was included in the tour. I got this shot from outside the Stadium as monuments were being loaded onto a forklift for the trip across the street.

 

 

Continuing my walk around the Stadium, I took these shots on River Ave, where the subway entrance and all the souvenir shops are.

 

 

 

 

This is part of a mural behind a fence. There’s a better shot of it in the film photos:

 

 

SLIDE FILM PICTURES

And here’s that better shot:

 

 

A couple more dugout shots:

 

 

 

 

I took this one from the press box. Check out the team names on the scoreboard.

 

 

This was a bonus shot that I got from the press box that I don’t think anyone else noticed. With the naked eye, we could see that Bernie Williams was featured on the Jumbotron for some reason, but when I zoomed in, I saw a small figure with a guitar standing right next to the 408 sign. He looked bald. And there was some equipment (sound? video?). It looked like a crew filming a Bernie Williams video.

I didn’t say a word and no one else seemed to notice.

 

 

Later, when we were all standing in front of the Yankee dugout, I heard someone say, “Is that Bernie Williams”? I turned around and saw Bernie, the video crew, and a guy carefully cradling his guitar, all walking toward the visitors dugout.

I yelled out, “Hey, Bernie!”

He didn’t quite look our way, but he waved and I got the shot. That almost made up for not getting into Monument Park (but not really).

 

I later found out that they were filming a video of him playing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” (http://tinyurl.com/TakeMeOutTTBG). I also found this uncredited photo that I imagine was taken while we were elsewhere and unaware:

 

 

Outside, I took this shot of both Yankee Stadiums. I guess it’s appropriate that one is fading in the shadows, while the other is bright and seemingly full of hope. It reminds me of the annual New Year’s cartoon where the old guy/old year is walking out and the new baby/new year is bouncing in.

 

 

As I left, I noticed this small sign on the old YS:

 

Thank YOU, old YS!

Check out photos from Opening Week inside the new YS in the 2009 post.

 

SO………….here’s what this post and the previous one boil down to:

GOODBYE YANKEE SHEADIUM!

 

 

 

 

Hackensack’s Anderson Street Station Burns Down

This station – about 3 blocks from where I live – was the second-oldest station in New Jersey. There’s a picture of it in my 2006 post.

I was woken very early that morning by the smell of burning wood, but my open bedroom window faced the opposite direction and I saw nothing and went right back to sleep. If only I knew…………….

By the time I got up, had breakfast, and found out the news on my computer, it was mid-to-late morning (despite what that clock in the picture says – that’s when the electricity was turned off). I ran right over there with my flip phone and took these pictures. They were still putting out hot spots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the next morning, they had leveled the building to avoid violent collapse from vibration as trains rumbled by. You can see they already had a new bus shelter installed (far left) for the train commuters to use to get to another station.

 

 

Inside the station, there was a thrift shop called The Green Caboose. That’s where this ice-coated Santana album in the rubble came from.

 

 

 

In the pile, I also found a piece of wood from the station that still had its yellowish paint on it (top). I took it home, cleaned off the gunk (middle) and here’s how the painted side looks (bottom). You can see a piece of black material stuck on the right end. Undoubtedly, it’s from a piece of clothing that was in the Green Caboose…………and it’s staying right there.

 

 

 

Hackensack’s Anderson Street Collapses

Not a good year for Anderson Street. It had another disaster in 2009 when an ancient sewer pipe – made of BRICK – collapsed, which resulted in the roadway above it collapsing as well. This was about a half-block away from me and I could see a lot of the activity going on from my living room window.

I sort of became a daily reporter for a Hackensack website I moderate because the road – a pretty busy street – was closed for SEVEN months and residents needed information.

I’m posting a few flip phone pix here, but if you want the full story: http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,1149.0

Historically, the most important shot I got was of the actual broken brick pipe with some unpleasant stuff in it. The circular pipe was two brick layers thick. I can’t imagine how much work was involved in creating a pipe like that. And they’re all over town…………..in LOTS of towns.

This construction goes back to the 1880s, so this pipe was over 125 years old.

 

 

 

These two shots include a daytime closeup shot of a big drill bit and a nighttime shot that reminds me that this was a 24/7 operation that included big cranes pounding steel pilings all night long. Sleep was sometimes a problem.

 

 

 

 

 

The workers – knowing that I’m an historian – gave me two bricks that I would not touch until I THOROUGHLY disinfected them first:

 

 

 

On the slightly humorous side, digging was extended all the way down the street to a busy intersection, so when they had to swing the traffic lights out of the way, they did it so it appeared that when you finally got the delayed green light, you were free to drive into a brick wall.

 

 

 

 

On The Plus Side………

Not everything was a disaster in 2009.

Another site I moderate is the online forum for the Bergen County Historical Society’s (BCHS) site.

One of the most historic local sites is the Steuben House at New Bridge in what is now River Edge, NJ – just across the Hackensack River from Teaneck and New Milford. The bridge itself is referred to as “the bridge that saved a nation”.

In November, 1776, the British held Manhattan while George Washington’s forces – after having been driven out by General Cornwallis – kept an eye on them from Fort Lee atop the Palisades. One night, Cornwallis marched about 6,000 troops to the northern tip of Manhattan, crossed the Hudson River, scaled the Palisades in the town of Closter and were ready to march about 6 miles south to surprise and slaughter the Americans.

A shaky legend has it that a local patriot saw the redcoats and surmised what was happening and rode his horse to Fort Lee to warn Washington. (Note: that person was referred to as “The Lone Horseman” and is featured in Closter’s official seal. The next time you get pulled over by a Closter cop, be sure to admire his shoulder patch, which shows the same image.)

But Washington wasn’t in Fort Lee; he was in Hackensack, so someone was dispatched to get him. George beat it back to Fort Lee and ordered the troops to drop everything and retreat through what are now Leonia, Englewood and Teaneck. The British weren’t far behind.

When they reached the Hackensack River, the Americans crossed New Bridge and promptly burned it down. As night fell, they camped out on the grounds of the Steuben House right by the river. They could see the campfires of the frustrated British troops on the near opposite shore in Teaneck.

Thomas Paine was with Washington’s troops and wrote his famous “These are the times that try men’s souls” line here.

Thus began the retreat across New Jersey, which led to the horrible winter at Valley Forge, PA. After that, Washington and his men re-crossed the Delaware River (he was probably NOT standing in his boat), surprised (and beat) the British at Trenton and went on to win the war.

What this all boils down to is that if not for New Bridge – the bridge that saved a nation – we’d all be speaking with British accents today.

Hardly anyone seems to know about this. I went to a good school 2 miles from this bridge and never heard anything about it growing up. That kinda pisses me off.

Anyway, the BCHS is based at the Steuben House, which was under state control, making it difficult to get anything done that really needed doing. There have been horrible floods that resulted in a lot of ruined historical artifacts because the State never stepped up in time to prevent the losses.

This all changed in 2009 when then-Governor Jon Corzine visited the Steuben House to sign legislation that turned control of the property over to BCHS’s Historic New Bridge Landing Commission.

These pictures show:

– the table, legislation and pens set up in the Steuben House for Corzine

– the speakers, including Corzine on the right

– Corzine signing the legislation (damn this crappy flip phone!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We weren’t done. The entire assemblage moved two blocks away to the North Hackensack railroad station on the Pascack Valley Line to unveil the station’s new name: “New Bridge Landing at River Edge”.

 

 

 

 

VARIOUS FLIP PHONE PHOTOS

1. Bergen County Courthouse
2,3,4. Sky shots
5,6. Flipadelic shots
7. Sun sets house on fire (?)
8. Icicled thing on my roof
9,10,11,12. The interior of the Second Reformed Church of Hackensack (my next-door neighbor)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LASTLY:

Some piggy gull decides to swallow something that’s bigger than its esophagus and tries to wash it down with the water it’s standing in. Yum!

 

.

Getting to go to Opening Day was too rich for my blood, but I got a pair of face-value tickets on eBay for seats that were upstairs, but right behind home plate AND just barely covered by the overhang, which was good because people 2-3 rows in front of me were getting wet when it rained.

There was a lot to check out, but everything had long lines……………some other time, perhaps.

 

 

I got a decent shot of the Great Hall and the bonus to me was that you could still see the old stadium through the window – something that soon wouldn’t be possible.

 

 

I had entered the building in the center field area, so I started taking pictures of whatever was happening on the field (batting practice).

 

 

As I walked around closer to home plate, I saw Derek Jeter loosening up (I think that’s Jorge Posada behind him), while YES Network announcer Michael Kay was holding court on the right.

 

 

I headed up to the top deck to do the fisheye interior shot while no one was there:

 

 

Then I walked as far as I could toward left field (just past the foul pole) to take this shot of Monument Park:

 

 

On the way back, I took a flip phone picture of a helpful young lady. The Yankees had a bunch of people scattered around holding these signs. I think this may be the most courtesy I’ve ever encountered in the Bronx.

 

 

Before heading to my seat, I took this shot of a wide expanse under the seats – something that didn’t exist in the old stadium.

 

 

I made sure I got a shot of the “Opening Week 2009” logo. Apropos of nothing, I was a friend of the guy who used to paint the field logos at the old stadium until he died and his wife took over. As a kid, I knew him in the late 50s as Dickie Kunath. In the mid-60s, I hired him to paint a name on a hot car I had (see 1968 post). I think the Steinbrenners knew him as Richard.

 

 

This may be my best shot of Derek Jeter and it’s not even my shot. I guess I should have waited until they added his last name (over “Casio”).

Now that I’ve listened to the picture, I’m pretty sure I snapped this just before Bob Shepard said, “…JE-tuh – num-buh 2″.

 

 

Then it got a little wet, so “Dry-I” took two shots of the unhappy fans on the Jumbotron: the first with my adult camera and the second with the little flip phone.

 

 

 

 

Finally, here’s my side-by-side views of the old and new Yankee Stadiums, as taken from the last row of each top deck, dead-center with a fisheye lens:

 

I put this together from things in my living room. I’ve always liked Felix the Cat and have a few Felix items hanging around.

At one time LONG ago, I had a minor interest in becoming a pharmacist (I became a chemist – close enough, especially since pharmacists in England are called chemists and my paternal grandfather came from England).

One day, I was searching eBay for mortars & pestles – which represent pharmacy – and found this amazing one that said “SIT FELIX”. Holy crap! That goes perfectly with my Felix stuff.

When I got it, I sat Felix right inside the mortar by “SIT FELIX” (DUH – they were made for each other).

Friends have asked me why a pharmacist’s mortar would say “SIT FELIX” on it. Fortunately, I had taken 3 years of Latin and knew that the mortar wasn’t suggesting that Felix have a seat inside it.

It says, “BE HAPPY”.

Does Felix look happy?

Perfect!

 

 

I took this shot of a rainbow from my living room. Yeah, it’s weak, but it’s a FULL rainbow and how often does one get to shoot something like that from home?

 

 

 

Also from home – but facing southwest instead of east – I got a colorful shot of my majestic next-door-neighbor-steeple and a crescent moon.

 

 

 

ANOTHER home shot! (why do you think I’ve never wanted to move in the 3 decades I’ve lived here so far?) On this particular 4th of July, Macy’s fireworks were shot from 5 barges in the Hudson River at least 10 miles from me, yet I got all 5’s fireworks at once.

 

 

 

Earlier that same night, I had gone to the George Washington Bridge to get a shot of the world’s largest hanging US flag AND the fully-illuminated tower. The usual south pedestrian GWB walkway was closed (to keep thousands of people from jamming it to see the Macy’s fireworks later on downriver), but the north walkway was open.

It’s much harder to access that walkway, but when I finally did, I saw no flag. I asked a bridge guard and he said that it had just been rolled up a few minutes earlier.

Damn!

I had to settle for a flip phone shot of the tower, which looks good, but it could have looked so much better.

Thankfully, I got back home in time to get the Macy’s shot seen above.

 

 

 

These are 7 flip phone shots of the Great Falls in Paterson, NJ (which has subsequently become a National Park).

The statue in the second shot is that of everyone’s new friend, Alexander Hamilton, who saw this scene and realized the potential of the falls and eventually made Paterson a great industrial power.

I’m not crazy about these images, but that’s mainly because there are much better ones in next year’s post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every year since 2009 or 2010, Osprey aircraft have become a common sight around here during the week leading up to Memorial Day because they use nearby Teterboro Airport as a base while they participate in various holiday activities in the NY/NJ area.

Their engines are loud and distinctive, so it’s easy to know when they’re coming and get a shot of them in the air…………….but I wanted to take pictures of them on the ground, so I headed on over to Teterboro.

Luckily, there was one on the ground when I got there. I wasn’t allowed on the tarmac, but it was parked pretty close to a fence, so I shot through the fence:

 

 

 

In this shot, it appeared at first that some mechanics might be working on an engine, but I was shocked to see that the HEAD mechanic wearing the oversized safety sneakers was the NY Mets’ mascot, Mr. Met!

I have no idea what he was doing there at that moment and it’s probably better that way because no explanation can be funnier or more shocking than just seeing this picture and saying, “WTF?”.

 

Transition year: the last flip-phone and analog pix and the first couple hundred digital camera shots are in this year’s post.

 

THE FINAL FLIP-PHONE PHOTOS

This first one is actually a pretty good flip-phone shot that was published in a newspaper (see below). It shows a juvenile red-tailed hawk (male) perched on my bedroom A/C. He stuck around for 2 months and seemed to be posing for me. He did that a lot.

I thought he was a bit of a ham, so naturally, he became Hammy. You’ll see a lot more shots of him when you get into the digital camera stuff below, starting in February.

The story was published in The Record in 2012, but since its lead photo was this one and since most of my Hammy shots are in this post, I’m showing it here. Normally, I would just put up the newspaper’s link to the story, but the paper has a new owner and many of the old links are gone, including the one to this story. Fortunately, the story is posted here: http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,2320

Note: Most of my hawk photos are below in the February 2011 section. However, my absolute best point-blank, closeup shot of him with his browning eyes and some blood on his face (not his and obviously taken just after lunch) is in the 2012 post.

 

 

I won’t disclose the location, but when you see a shot like this sitting right in front of you, begging to be taken, you take it:

 

 

These last 5 flip-phone shots were taken at/near the George Washington Bridge Bus Depot in Manhattan.

I have a really good shot taken from there in the digital section, showing a straight-on image of the GWB with NJ in the background. This is apparently an unusual shot because every one you see is usually taken from NJ to include NYC in the background.

The Depot has since undergone a multiyear renovation (it was kind of a miserable place), but I don’t know if I’ll be going back there anytime soon to do a reshoot.

 

 

 

 

 

So, adios to:

 

 

THE FINAL ANALOG (slide) PHOTOS

I think this is the coldest-looking picture I’ve ever taken. Fortunately, I was nice and warm in my living room when I took it.

 

From my bedroom, it’s our guy Hammy again, parked on the A/C:

 

I shot my last roll of Kodachrome on July 4, 2011. The subject was Macy’s fireworks on the Hudson River between NJ and NY and at least 10 miles away. The roll had 36 exposures (possibly 37), the last two shots shown here are #31 and #33, respectively. They also show the partially-built new World Trade Center on the far right, which is more like 12-15 miles away. Those two may not be the absolute last analog pictures I ever took with that roll, but they’re close and the best of the last few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOODBYE, WORKHORSE MINOLTA MAXXUM 9000! (1986-2011):

 

 

HELLO, DIGITAL……………..FINALLY!

First off, I should tell you that there will be a LOT more pictures each year from now on. You can thank (or curse out) digital for that.

What camera did I want? I had done a TON of research over a few weeks to find exactly what I needed. No more big camera……..I wanted something I could put in my pocket and take anywhere. I wasn’t shooting for magazines anymore, so I didn’t need super-high resolution……….but I didn’t want any cheap crap, either.

I got it down to two or three choices – time to hit a store and compare them hands-on.

The salesman was sold on one of them and I was leaning toward another. He picked up my choice and exclaimed, “It’s like picking up a brick!”

I picked it up and it felt fine.

“You don’t know the tonnage I’m used to shooting with.”

“So you want to buy that one?”

“No – see ya.”

Now that I knew what I wanted, it was time to hit eBay, where I found a great deal on the Canon SX130 and got it in the last week of January.

The zoom was very important to me and it turned out that the little Canon’s zoom went way beyond anything I had in my analog lens collection, so I made the right choice. And it was a good-looking camera for a little shrimp.

Agree?

 

 

FEBRUARY 2011

This is IMG_0001 from 2-3-11 – my first real digital shot (yeah, I know that flip-phones are digital, but it’s like baby food. I’m on to solid food now and I’m not looking back).

This was taken from my living room. I wasn’t thrilled with the color, so I made it a black-and-white.

 

 

IMG_0002 is ice on my roof.

 

 

Just another semi-interesting-looking thing to see from my living room:

 

 

The rest of my February picks are all Hammy, my visiting red-tailed hawk. To be honest, some of them blow my mind. I had seen these hawks on my roof before, but could NOT get within 100′ of them, but put a pane of dirty glass between us and he becomes my favorite model.

In the first one, I thought he was picking food out of his teeth……………except he doesn’t HAVE any teeth. Two pictures later, he’s tearing a pigeon apart for dinner (I had to go outside for those 2 shots. He was in a tree and didn’t care about anyone below him taking his picture – as long as I wasn’t a threat to his dinner).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the next 4 pictures:

– he looks like he’s ready to kill me (actually, all he saw was my arm sticking out of my LR window and my camera)

– he looks innocent

– he looks surprised

– he looks sharp (it’s a movie still)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How often do you get to see the bottom of a hawk’s feet while standing in your bedroom? (also movie stills)

February certainly made for an interesting digital start.

 

 

 

MARCH 2011

I’ll only comment on the first two.

I had never seen a police vehicle park in a handicap space before AND be in a second space at the same time. I’m sure there was a good reason for this that I couldn’t possibly be aware of, but MY job is to be observant and document unusual things I see (among other things).

In the next shot, almost ALL lights in all directions appear to be shining brightly. I think I’d be a confused driver if I encountered that (I also think this was a time exposure that caught the green-yellow-red sequence on one side and the simultaneous red-to-green on the other).

If you have any questions about any of the other shots, just let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2011

 

 

 

 

I don’t know if this mockingbird is singing. It might be screaming because it appears to be standing in a crown of thorns.

 

 

The USS Ling is a WWII submarine that’s been an attraction in Hackensack since the 1970s. As of this writing, the land’s been sold and it has to go, but it’s rusted and stuck solid in mud.

To be continued………

 

 

Next to the Susquehanna railroad tracks on the right, crossing the Hackensack River from Bogota to Hackensack, are old trolley tracks that haven’t been used since 1938.

 

 

This is my “art” shot. What that means, I have no idea, but when I saw images like this when I was growing up, they were always celebrated as art.

 

 

Doesn’t look like there’s much OT – let alone regular work hours – to be had here these days:

 

 

Hackensack’s Johnson Public library’s weather vane consists of a rolled up-scroll and a quill pen. I’ve never seen another like it.

 

 

I’ve shot (and seen) a LOT of pictures of the Holy Trinity Church in Hackensack (where I was baptized), but this first shot shows an angle I’ve never seen before, so I think it’s my favorite (subject to change, of course).

 

 

 

Morning and afternoon:

 

 

Is this what it’s like to be “connected”? Ouch!

 

 

My cute, nosy neighbors:

 

 

The next 2 shots show the emergency backup lighting by my apartment when the electricity goes out.

 

Is that blood on the ceiling? If it is, I blame the guy in the following picture, who’s trying to look innocent.

 

 

 

 

The rest of April:

 

Industrial roofworms:

 

 

 

 

Guardian angel:

 

 

 

 

The next 6 pictures were taken at Historic New Bridge Landing in River Edge, NJ. Crossing the Hackensack River, the bridge’s predecessor was burned down by George Washington’s retreating troops after crossing it, which stopped the British troops. This eventually led to the Americans winning the Revolutionary War and the bridge becoming known as “The Bridge That Saved A Nation”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protecting the eggs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever see a tree eat a guardrail?

 

 

Sometimes, unrelated billboards just work well together.

 

 

My father worked for Chevy in the mid-50s and into the 60s and I found some pretty interesting things when I cleaned out the house after he and Mom passed.

Have you ever seen 1959 Chevy taillights/fins cufflinks?

 

 

This might be from the sidewalk on Eddy Grant’s street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk5IUbdH0

 

 

Oh look – more “art”!

 

 

I took this while I was in my car stopped at a light. I put it in PhotoShop and hit “Invert” and this is what I got. Looks much more interesting.

 

 

This was on the outside of my kitchen window, so I went out on the roof and got a shot of it holding hands with itself. It’s an Ichneumon wasp.

Oh…………and the little red dot is a clover mite.

 

 

The brand-new USS New York – whose bow was built with about 7 tons of salvaged steel from the fallen World Trade Center – was to sail up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge before turning around.

Naturally, I went to the GWB and it was nowhere in sight. I walked across the mid-bridge state line and took this picture from the bridge’s New York tower……….still nothing.

 

 

I walked to the GWB Bus Depot and took this picture looking back at New Jersey and walked back to the bridge and…………a possible speck was seen in the distance. It was the New York.

 

 

While I waited for the speck to enlarge into a battleship, I saw two odd shapes in the sky. Oh wait, I know what they are…………Ospreys. I had just never seen two of them flying right at me before – kind of an odd sight.

 

 

Speaking of odd sights, some strange-looking barge with huge cranes on it and what looked like two depictions of the Italian flag suddenly popped out from under the GWB and was floating south toward the New York.

 

 

The New York suddenly turned around WAY short of the GWB. I zoomed in as much as possible to get a shot with all the sailors lined up on the side. I was disappointed that it didn’t come as far north as we were told, but then remembered that the GWB was built where it was because the river was at its narrowest point there, so turning around there might have been a problem for the ship.

 

 

 

 

Instead, a New York City fireboat came up and turned around in front of the small crowd gathered on the bridge.

 

 

 

 

I zoomed in on the boat after it turned back and saw its name: “Three Forty Three”. This was the fireboat that was dedicated to the 343 fire personnel who were lost on September 11th when the Twin Towers fell.

 

 

The show was basically over, so I started heading back to Jersey. This shot shows the GWB’s south walkway………..and a traffic jam.

 

 

Later that day, I went to Teterboro Airport to see if the Ospreys went there, since it was the last week of May, when 3 or 4 of them are usually based there for Memorial Day military demonstrations in the NY/NJ area.

No Ospreys. Instead, I shot a plane that had instructions attached to it.

 

 

Sharp-dressed man:

 

 

This was nowhere near as bad as it looks. I have two other images that show some of the ladies smiling. I think they were actually providing the man with some shade during some sort of practice drill.

 

 

What can you say about such incredibly stupid and inconsiderate parking other than that it’s apparently contagious?

 

 

This structure sits on my roof. I’m not sure what its purpose is. Maybe I can roast a hippo in it.

 

 

The rest of May:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a single person on the Fun Slide is smiling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE 2011

No comment.

 

 

These two shots were taken in Johnson Park in Hackensack on a windy day.

 

 

 

 

The separation of church and state:

 

 

From my living room:

 

 

From my roof:

 

 

From my LR:

.

 

 

What are the odds of this guy happening to come by while I’m shooting the tandem on the right? I don’t know about you, but this amazes the hell out of me.

 

 

From my roof:

 

 

OK………..I’m already getting sick of writing “From my living room/roof”, so, except for pix that have stories or need some facts/info thrown in, I’m just gonna show the images and let them speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hammy got a girlfriend? In these 2 pictures, Hammy’s the smaller one on the right. Females are larger than males, but Hammy was still a juvenile, so I can’t be sure of his friend’s gender.

This tree is on the other end of the parking lot outside my LR window, so I went out to get closer shots.

They must have been there for at least 2 hours, never interacted and I’ve never seen two red-tails in a tree locally since.

 

 

 

 

I don’t think I’ve seen women wearing this headwear in public since………maybe the ’50s?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2011

These are my first digital fireworks shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pancakes and peanut butter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever see someone mowing dirt?

 

 

This woman was the inspiration for Jimi Hendrix’ hit, “Boxy Lady”.

 

 

 

 

Ships in the night day.

 

 

 

 

Probably NOT Chris Webber:

 

 

“If you don’t give me DirecTv, I’m leaving!”

“See ya.”

 

 

Across the street from me:

 

 

Control tower and incoming flight at the airport:

 

 

“Splish-splash, I was takin’ a bath…………..”

 

 

If the meter of a piece of music is the arrangement of its rhythms, what do you call the arrangement of music stands by a meter?

 

 

 

AUGUST 2011

This has to be one of the best lightning shots I’ve ever taken. Multiple bolts and offshoots are great, but to have something recognizable in the scene is the ultimate. Having both the Empire State Building and the being-built new World Trade Center visible makes this tops in my book.

The ESB is dark because they used to turn the lights out after midnight (this was taken around 2am from my roof). What makes this even better is that there’s NO rain, either where I am or 10-12 miles away in Manhattan, If there was, the buildings and lights would not be sharp, if visible at all.

There’s only the one energy-filled, flying saucer of a cloud dipping down to put a charge into the city.

I LOVE this shot!

 

 

A firetruck visits my building and then heads on down the street.

 

 

 

 

I’m sorry, but this is one dopey-looking fashion statement:

 

 

I’m not crazy about at least one of these either………….OK, both.

 

 

This one isn’t bad:

 

 

Lucky lightning shot #2………….17 days after getting the NYC one, I got this one that looks like it’s tearing through the clouds and into Hackensack’s high-rises.

 

 

This cutie might be underage, so off with her head (besides, her father’s in the next picture).

 

 

“…………til her daddy took the T-Bird away”

 

 

Ghost!

 

 

Preparing for Hurricane Irene………….egad!

 

 

The sunset after Irene:

 

 

Irene knocked out the power to most of Hackensack, except for the high-rises and the hospital (on the left end of the high-rises),

Cars coming down Passaic St towards my street had to turn left or right because the road was blocked (see the barricade?). It was tough getting a shot with enough car lights in it to make a good time-exposure image and I took lots of shots to get this one. On top of that, it was very windy (Irene wasn’t finished) and I had to pull down on the tripod with all my strength to keep it absolutely steady for 15 seconds, but I got this one good shot and I’m very happy with it. You can even see a couple of stars in the sky.

 

 

Stink bug! And look at the size of that rear exhaust pipe’s opening!

 

 

This is a real spider web near a Revolutionary War cemetery that’s across the street from the Bergen County Courthouse.

 

 

The rest of August:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER 2011

This is the “Yankee Lady”- a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress – coming in for a landing at Teterboro Airport (and giving Enlightenment – atop the Bergen County Courthouse – a scare).

 

 

This is an emergency vehicle heading up the street.

 

 

Happy kids:

 

 

Since I shot this on September 11, I’m designating this as a US flag molecule. And what’s with the color of my watermark? (It’s what you get when you mix red, white and blue)

 

 

It takes a village to change a flat tire:

 

 

This guy’s also losing a fight with his pants:

 

 

NASTY-looking storm clouds! (yet you can still see Manhattan in the distance):

 

 

 

The rest of September:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OCTOBER 2011

I thought square toes were out (but the triple-threat arm candy is cool). Uh-oh…………it appears that my watermark is blocking the driveway.

 

I saw bubbles floating past my 7th floor LR window one day and couldn’t imagine where they were coming from until I opened the window and looked straight down.

 

I know the camera is supposed to add 10 pounds, but I didn’t know that sunlight added 50.

 

 

The anti-aircraft guns atop the unfinished new World Trade Center react quickly to stop the terrorist MetLife blimp from destroying the crane in Hackensack.

Bi-state cooperation at its best!

 

 

Apparently, not everyone appreciates the beauty of nature, but at least we now know where the river got its golden hues from (somewhere, there’s a joke to be had about “ladder” and “bladder”, but it escapes me. Feel free to put yours in the comments).

 

 

This is either North Korea’s first-ever missile or it’s a steeple renovation at the Old North Church in Dumont, NJ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Car washes aren’t cheap around here.

 

 

After trashing her bicycle, a classy woman calls for an Uber.

 

 

I think I see a face in that portal to Hell opening near NYC.

 

 

Turkey vultures: beautiful in flight and ugly as sin on the ground. Hit Google Images to check that out.

 

 

Another fire engine comes down the street.

 

 

A piece of this guy’s van fell off, so he picks it up and dumps it by a pre-school playground on Halloween. Class act.

 

 

Poor kid lost her balloon to a bully:

 

 

Let a fish be your umbrella:

 

 

Golden hawk:

 

 

Tinkerbelle meets John Cena:

 

 

There are no windows in my bathroom, but there IS an ancient, non-functional, translucent skylight right above the toilet. I heard the sounds of a bird on the glass and could make out that it had a waterbug (actually, an American cockroach) in its beak (we had an infestation of these bugs in our building and everyone called them waterbugs).

 

 

Where’s the fire?

 

 

MFP (Moon, Flag, Plane)

 

 

This girl walked up to the Camaro and looked like she was taking selfies of her reflection in the car’s window. She walked away, looking at the camera and smiling. Then – while still looking at the camera in the municipal parking lot – she suddenly struck a pose, complete with duck lips.

Weird.

 

 

The rest of October:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 2011

The truck’s divining rod finds water.

 

Remember when you were this amused by your shadow? Neither do I.

 

NOT Mellow Yellow:

 

When I exit the back door of my building and walk up to the side street, this is what I see: my neighbor’s (the Second Reformed Church of Hackensack) Tiffany stained glass windows. Of course, they look a thousand times better from inside and there are indoor shots of them elsewhere in this blog.

 

You don’t see a behemoth like this being lugged around that often these days:

 

The next 11 shots were taken at one of my favorite local places, the Great Falls of Paterson, NJ – http://tinyurl.com/GreatFallsPaterson – (which has since become a national park). I’ve shot there many times and I think this is my best shoot there. The falls were magnificent in the bright sunlight and the fall colors were on full display, not only in the foliage, but also in many of the reflections on the water.

My favorite shot is the one with the blue ball in the pre-falls (not the full falls – these are a few hundred yards before the actual falls). These falls reflect the golden foliage and the ball could not escape. It would move up two feet and immediately get pushed back. I got to take my time and take a lot of shots until I got this one with the ball perfectly placed. For all I know, it might still be there.

The shot after that is a close second, showing the sheer force of the flow around a metal barrier and includes some more of that golden foliage reflection, (and some cool green stuff).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the other end of my street, the Union Street Park has two walls that seem to get a ton of gorgeous fresh graffiti art almost every year. It’s a fun shoot that’s built for photo stitches.

 

 

Hot street!

 

 

 

11-11-11 was Veterans Day and the day I had probably my best shoot ever at the George Washington Bridge and the magnificent Palisades. The fall colors were in full bloom and I went in the morning when the east-facing Palisades faced the sun. Being a national holiday, the world’s largest hanging US flag was in its usual place on the New Jersey tower of the bridge.

Being a windy day, the flag showed up in places and at angles I wouldn’t normally see on a windless day. The first shot was taken from the Ross Dock Picnic Area, which is just north of the bridge:

 

 

The Palisades from Ross Dock:

 

 

These two shots were taken from river level:

 

 

 

 

Just south of the bridge is Hazard’s Ramp, which accommodates boat trailers and, apparently, guys who like to exercise with heavy tires on chains.

 

 

This is an unbelievable shot. I’m standing directly under the bridge and looking straight up. The flag would normally be vertical and barely visible from my position, if at all. Today, however, the wind blew it completely parallel to the roadway. Click!

 

 

There’s a road cut into the Palisades that you can take from on top, SOUTH of the bridge, to get down to Ross Dock, NORTH of the bridge. You’re not supposed to stop on it, but who could resist taking this shot with Manhattan also in gorgeous color?

 

 

This is the last shot I took on my way back up to the top of the Palisades and started walking on the bridge to take the next shot from the walkway underneath the flag.

 

 

This shot is similar to one that I took with a flip-phone and posted in the 2007 listing.

 

 

So I came home from the GWB to find a kids’ church group playing some sort of game with ropes, blindfolds and a upside-down plastic bucket in the parking lot outside my window. Anyone care to clue me in about this other than to say that it “builds teamwork”? How?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a red-headed balloon-eating tree from which a very happy balloon has just escaped.

 

 

The tallest building in Hackensack from the mid 1920s until sometime in the 70s was a 14-story-tall bank building on Main St. It was recently sold to developers to be converted to residential use.

Before work started, the city historian and I were permitted to visit the building after the bank left and I got to shoot its interior. Then we went up to the top on a beautiful day and I got to take pictures I never thought I’d get a chance to take – some for historical purposes and some personal.

Of the personal shots, this has to be my favorite………..it’s my neighborhood, looking north.

Starting in the lower left is the Hackensack Middle School. Above it is the First Presbyterian Church and its beautiful steeple (the steeple – but not the church – is my next-door neighbor to the south on a height level). To the left of that church is a smaller, tan stone, slope-roofed building. This is the back of the First Baptist Church, which is right across the street as you walk out my building’s front door. Directly across the street from that church is a square-block park (Anderson Park)

Jumping over to the right, the church with the red steeple and roof is Holy Trinity R.C. Church, where I was baptized. Across the street from it (and not visible) is their grammar school that I attended. Below Holy Trinity is a church that has a square castle tower and 3 stained-glass windows. This is the Second Reformed Church – my immediate neighbor to the north.

All this means that I must live in the yellow-brick building (which, BTW, is all red brick in the front). I live in that one apartment that has no neighbors on any side (or above). The building is classified as a 6-story building and, for the most part, it is, but not where I am. That’s why I take great delight in telling people that I’m the 7th-floor tenant in a 6-story building.

Out to the west are the Watchung Mountains, which, at some point, bend around to the north and become the Ramapo Mountains, which are mostly in New York State. I’m guessing, but I’d say that from just left of center on the horizon and then going to the right are the Ramapo Mountains.

If your eyes are good, you can make out a sign on a building just below mine that says “Enopi”, which is a Korean learning center.

 

 

This is the bank’s board room table:

 

 

Who can resist a puddle? Not this genius.

 

 

It’s Thanksgiving morning and look how this turkey parked.

 

 

Two pictures showing Venus and a crescent moon:

 

 

 

 

This is either 24 Venuses or a plane taking off from Teterboro:

 

 

My kindergarten picture and the shirt I was wearing in it:

 

 

Pointing the way to Newark Airport (20 miles south):

 

 

Only paid the lower half of the electric bill?

 

 

 

The rest of November:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DECEMBER 2011

According to my supermarket cart, maybe we shouldn’t have let this company sell our parents’ house.

Too late now.

 

 

Unintentional municipal birdbath:

 

 

Shadowy figures in bright light:

 

 

The fog in these two shots is only above the Hackensack River – not any land. The McDonald’s is on RIVER St, across the street from………you-know-what.

 

 

 

My bathroom skylight and a full moon:

 

This is the scene I “saw” from my kitchen sink in my 2007 post about waking up photographically, but you’ll have to go back there to read the story. This is similar to the image I created back then.

 

From my apartment, I can see both towers of the George Washington Bridge – which is about 6 miles away – but only in the winter when the foliage is down.

 

Hammy returns for a second winter. His eyes are changing from juvenile yellow to a more adult brown, but he has a way to go to get to adulthood.

 

“I’M THE KING OF THE STEEPLE!!”

 

 

2011 COMPILATION #1

I saw this woman occasionally over he course of about 3 months, pushing a shopping cart and not looking well. In the first picture, she looks like she had an accident or got beat up. Then she had a balloon that said “Get Well” and later, another one that said, “Welcome Home”.

She looks like she’s had a rough life. I haven’t seen her since. I hope she’s OK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2011 COMPILATION #2

This great building from 1932 is a block away from me. The Sears exterior makeover occurred over the course of a couple of months. It wound up looking a bit spiffier, but it didn’t help much – they’re still tanking.

BTW – I got to do a shoot the following year from that tower, so look for something from that in the 2012 post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO STITCH

My camera came with a program called PhotoStitch. Being as it’s not very sophisticated, it was easy to learn.

This is an early attempt at a photo stitch. I had never tried a stitch this ambitious before. A LOT can go wrong in a 3- or 4-image handheld stitch. This one has ELEVEN hand-held images. It’s a greater-than-360-degree image from the center of a small park that’s across the street from where I live.

It’s got 4 churches (one is barely visible), 4 apartment buildings (the stitch has tilted one of them), a Baptist school and a Catholic convent. I’m standing in the middle of a deactivated-for-the-winter, rectangular fountain and the stitch has curved that too.

Click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.

 

There were only two major photo events for me in 2012 – Shuttle and Sandy – so most everything else is posted randomly and small (the site where I was posting some of these had a 640px long-side limit). 2012 was the first year that I started to save “best-of” files, so they were already done.

 

The shuttle Enterprise’s NYC/NJ flyover

Here’s what I wrote back then:

As all good Trekkies know, when it comes to the Enterprise, the best place to be is on the bridge, so that’s what I did this morning: I went to the George Washington Bridge to shoot the shuttle Enterprise’s flyover on a NASA 747.

The rest of the story (and additional pictures) can be found here: http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,2422

 

Approaching the bridge:

 

 

After it passed the bridge, I tried to get some shots of the rear of the tandem as it started to climb to a higher altitude. Unfortunately, a lot of trucks in the westbound lane of the GWB were whizzing by and ruining the shots…………….until I got this one, which I love. As I wrote:

It looks like a 1950s hot rod under a 1970s airplane that’s carrying a 1980s space shuttle – ground, air, and space over water.

 

 

Most people on the GWB left at that point, but I knew that not only was it coming back, it was also going to make a third appearance, cutting across NJ just south of the bridge (and parallel to it) to do a fly-by at NY’s LaGuardia and JFK airports. It actually cut across closer to me than I thought it might and I got this shot:

 

 

Superstorm Sandy and aftermath

This is my best shot during the storm. It wasn’t raining, so I could clearly see what at first looked like a volcano a half-mile away. It turned out that no homes were on fire…………….it was just a lot of extreme sparking from downed wires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrical wires kept a tree suspended over a street:

 

 

 

A mockingbird (I’m assuming it’s the same one) started showing up every morning on the top of one of my building’s chimneys and just started singing up a storm, which I could clearly hear in my apartment.

I went on the roof to see it and noticed that – at semi-regular intervals – it would suddenly leap 10-20′ in the air and return to the same spot………….without ever missing a note.

“I gotta shoot this!”

Pretty easy to do – bring out a lawn chair, sit and use some concert timing…………….Bang! Zoom! Done!

People started finding the shots online and began posting them on social media: “Bob Leafe’s beautiful images of the Northern Mockingbird…………..”

Between Hammy and Jukebox, is it any wonder that I don’t like to go out much anymore? I might miss something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KALEIDOHAM

I just found this and it had no info. I can tell I took the original shot of Hammy in 2012 because his eyes are brownish (they were yellow in 2011). I ran it through a kaleidoscope program and it worked really well.

 

I like that shot a lot, but my absolute favorite (and best) shot of Hammy is this after-dinner closeup:

The reason the area under my watermark is yellowish is because the shot was taken through one of my bedroom windows and the window had an old, dried-up drop of paint on the glass, which was the last thing I’d be noticing when this magnificent creature is this close to me and staring right at me. It’s actually a bit less obvious because of the watermark, but now it may be more obvious because I mentioned it.

 

 

 

“Yo! Cookiepants!”

 

 

“Yo! Crazypants!”

 

 

This is a Crane fly on my window:

 

 

This looks like a weather sandwich: stormy with a rainbow on the lower level, a mix in the middle and sunny with puffy clouds on top.

 

 

I was up real early one morning for some reason and was out on the roof when I saw this almost perfect V-formation of geese, who were lit up by the just-risen sun. I’ve never even seen that before, let alone gotten a shot of it.

 

 

The Bergen County Courthouse and a fire in the Meadowlands:

 

 

The rest of 2012:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raw catfish sushi:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twinkletoes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peek-a-poop!

 

 

 

Valentine’s Day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959 Mercury:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madonna visits………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special event for end-of-school-year (a block-and-a-half away):

 

Just a regular day in the neighborhood:

 

 

On the Hackensack River and coming straight at me in my living room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I take two, I’ll call you in the morning.

 

 

PHOTO STITCHES

The first one is an 8-shot stitch of my neighborhood as seen from the top of the Sears tower. If you’ve been following along, you know where I live in this shot. The only structure not seen previously and which might be of interest to locals is the Holy Trinity Grammar School, where I attended from grades 5-8. It’s the U-shaped building where my watermark is displayed.

There are a bunch of Sears tower shots on this blog. Up there by the flag is about a 12-story level. The building – two blocks from where I live – was constructed in 1932. But there were ZERO pictures from up there in the city’s database – until now – so I was fortunate to get up there (“fortunate”, my ass – it took two months of negotiations with a Sears corporate attorney at Sears HQ in Hoffman Estates, IL, to get permission to go up there. It was given because I was up there to take “Before” shots of the Main St area in advance of a major rehabilitation project. I must say, though, that the attorney was very nice about it).

Click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.

 

This one is a 5-shot stitch of a sunset, taken from my roof:

 

 

The new toy this year was HDR – High Dynamic Range imaging. You can find all kinds of definitions online, but I’ll just tell you how I did mine.

First, you must have a tripod because you have to take 3 shots of the same thing with the exact same framing. The only difference will be the exposures of each: a normal-exposure shot, another shot that’s overexposed by 2 stops and a third short that’s underexposed by 2 stops.

That seems like everything will simply average out to be a normally-exposed image, but that’s not the case, as you’ll find out when you run the trio through the HDR program of your choice. You may need to try out a LOT of these programs to find one you’re happy with because the results will vary wildly, from something that looks like a painting to something that’s incredibly (and beautifully) weird.

At the time I started, I was using an old Mac and a loaned PC until I got a better Mac. I found a simple PC program that got interesting results that I could augment as much as I wanted (or as much as the image should really have).

I shot HDR in 2013 and 2014. I finally got my better Mac in 2015, but my program of choice was incompatible. I looked around for something similar for Mac without success.

Thus ended my HDR flirtation.

Here are my favorites from 2013. Some are subtle and some are not. The first two show an original and its adjusted version:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drinko de Mayo (taken the day before Cinco de Mayo)

This girl was walking through the parking lot, holding a bottle of supposed Sunny Delight. She took a sip and appeared to be instantly beamed into a heavy metal concert. A few seconds later, she looked ill.

This all transpired in a period of about 15-20 seconds.

 

 

Frosty the Selfie:

 

 

Cardrophenia

I must have been listening to the Who when I named this shot of what looks like 4 cardinals (it’s the same bird).

 

 

Girl: “Why are you smiling?”

Guy: “Oh………no reason.”

 

 

Moving Day at the church:

 

 

Taken on Christmas Day:

 

 

Strawberry Candy Straws and………….BEER? (Well, these were found on a college campus):

 

 

Sunday morning after church:

 

 

Nearer my God to Thee:

 

 

The Smoking Dog:

 

 

Dead red oak tree:

 

 

Raggedy butterfly:

 

 

Sports in the parking lot:

 

 

 

 

Found by the river:

 

 

New Year’s Day: Annual Ecuadorian “Our Lady of the Cloud” procession starting point for marchers

 

 

Decayed and de-keyed:

 

 

Nature’s drying rack:

 

 

“Death to street signs!”

 

 

I used to see this guy boarding to and from work at a bank almost every day:

 

 

At Hackensack’s annual Main St Festival:

 

 

At Lark Street Music in Teaneck, NJ:

 

 

I was given a Valentine’s Day balloon. Four days later, I let it go…………….to Manhattan:

 

 

Planes landing at Teterboro Airport come in pretty low over Rt 46 (the fence is a few feet from where I’m standing).

 

 

The New Anderson St RR Station is finally taking shape after the devastating fire of 2009:

 

 

Another juvenile red-tailed hawk shows up on my building:

 

 

Cubert’s Cube:

 

 

I have no idea what this is:

 

 

“The Modern” (the first of two towers) construction in Fort Lee, NJ:

 

 

Two versions of the same shot of the GWB:

 

 

 

 

Clever egg placement/protection:

 

 

“Hulk need work!”

 

 

 

This guy was in front of a Mexican restaurant right next door to where the Hulk was:

 

 

I told my super to go fly a kite and………….

 

The rest of 2013:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What could possibly make clouds form this uniformly?

 

 

(Compare with version in HDR section)

 

 

Is that a ………………?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh-oh…………

 

 

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What I did with all of my photo passes (not shown: a door covered with them):

 

 

 

PHOTO STITCHES

This 8-image stitch was done at the Union St Park in Hackensack. The wall is L-shaped.

I’m not sure how often it happens, but periodically, the artwork is completely changed. They’re all interesting, but so far, I think this one is my favorite (subject to change).

Click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.

 

 

This was really cool and fairly easy to get. It’s a 6-image stitch of a World War II bomber called “The Yankee Lady”, which had been coming here every year as part of an air show at Teterboro Airport, which is just south of me.

When it’s here for the weekend, paying customers get to take 40-minute flights in it. This occurs several times a day for two days.

The plane has distinctive-sounding engines and when I hear it coming, I can sometimes get a decent shot of it from home. There are a couple of these shots elsewhere on this blog.

This particular Sunday morning, I was out on my roof reading the Sunday paper (with my camera right next to me), when all of a sudden I heard those engines. The plane was coming right towards me from Teterboro.

The plane then started turning well short of my location and I took 6 pictures of the turn that luckily stitched together nicely, considering that I didn’t have a chance to plan anything or even think. I originally thought I might be getting a couple of shots of the plane as it went by me overhead, but then suddenly had to switch to stitch mode.

And I even got to include most of my favorite steeple.

Start this scroll from the right – the same way I shot it.

 

As I put these yearly posts together, I search my hard drive for various “Best of”s that I put together at the end of each year. Usually, it’s an accumulation of jpegs that are arranged by image number rather than by date or subject matter, so there’s no real placement rhyme or reason (unless it was an event with multiple images).

For 2011 – my first real digital year – I didn’t even think to make a “Best of”, so I had to go through every unaltered original, make my selections and start scanning and manipulating – a LOT of work. Since those originals are arranged in my Pictures file by month, that’s how I presented them.

As I start the post for 2014, I see that – for the last time – they’re arranged by month. After 2014, it’s back to rhymelessness/reasonlessness……………..just good shots (he says, hopefully).

Before we get to those monthly groupings…………

 

HDR (High Dynamic Range – continued from 2013)

 

The Anderson Street Station

 

This HDR image shows the newly-rebuilt station before they put the name on it:

 

 

This HDR image shows a train stopped at the station. I had to run up a few car-lengths to include the engine. Between the running, the setup and framing and the 3 exposures needed for the HDR, I barely finished before the train pulled out.

 

 

This is a combination of front and side exposures run through the HDR program. The yellow part of the tall building on the left is the front of the tall building on the right and the same side wall is shown in both (look at the one lit window on top).

I had NO idea how – or even if – this would come out, but I like it a lot:

 

 

The Second Reformed Church of Hackensack (my next-door neighbor):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hess Oil Tanks, Bogota, NJ

As seen from across the Hackensack River, these tanks are now gone and are to be replaced by apartments…………..in a flood zone. We’ll see how that works out.

 

 

The George Washington Bridge’s reflected lighting

The George Washington Bridge’s lighting is reflected in the Hudson River. The orange and green lights are the reflection of the bridge’s “necklace” during Super Bowl Week (orange=Denver, green= Seattle). The game was played at nearby MetLife Stadium.

 

 

The other HDRs of 2014:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JANUARY

Photographically, I remember this month for two things: a local Super Bowl in winter and the frigid polar vortex (those are unrelated things – SB temps were OK).

Super Bowl XLVIII was played at MetLife Stadium, about 5 miles from where I live. Because the Giants weren’t in it (Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks) and ticket prices were sky-high, I settled for a visit to the Super Bowl Boulevard celebration – smack in the middle of midtown Manhattan.

I took a bus into Manhattan via the NJ Turnpike. This shot from the bus is as close as I got to MetLife Stadium that week:

 

 

On the NY side of the Lincoln Tunnel sat this bus/ad. Actually, I took this shot on the way home because I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus on the way in.

 

 

The heart of Times Square had a new street sign:

 

 

Headless Super Bowl and local (Giants, Jets) mannequins were available for mean-looking, ferocious fans to lend their heads to. The two meanest, most ferocious fans I shot chose Seahawks and Giants uniforms. Of course, the furry Giants fan has a connection to MetLife Stadium.

 

 

 

 

North of 42nd St, I found both the Lombardi Trophy and an enterprising (and surprisingly honest) gentleman who refused to let me take his picture, so I walked across the street, zoomed in and probably got a better shot.

 

 

 

 

On my way back to the Port Authority bus terminal, I noticed that the two starting Super Bowl quarterbacks – I recognized them by their uniform numbers – were hanging out in front of the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium on 42nd St and were kind enough to pose for me.

 

 

After I got home, I remembered that I still had one more place to go that was Super Bowl-related and required documentation.

I had read that the bulbs of the George Washington Bridge’s “necklace” were changed to each team’s primary color – orange for Denver and green for Seattle.

It was VERY cold that night and the entrance to the Fort Lee Historic Park – atop the Palisades and right next to the GWB (and where the best shot of the necklace could be gotten) – was closed to cars………….but you were free to take the lengthy, steep hike if you so desired.

I desired. Apparently, no one else did…………and no lights were on. It was pitch black and I had never walked up it before. I eventually found the spot I was looking for and got the below shot – orange on the Jersey side and green in NY.

The Seahawks just-barely edged the Broncos 43-8.

 

 

 

Other January shots:

Ecuadorian procession (every January 1) steps off from a restaurant:

 

 

 

 

Frigid weather

My back door and window:

 

 

 

 

Others:

 

 

 

 

 

I’m guessing that freezing occurred at various tide levels:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of January:

 

Charmer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Venus Jet Trap:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FEBRUARY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horizontal Man:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How’s that for timing from a block away? I love the impish grin on the thrower (who didn’t know the bicyclist).

 

 

 

 

MARCH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windy day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portable street light:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The moment that you find your keys in the ignition of your locked van:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cindy’s billboard works well with others:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FCC regulations forbid me from showing the fifth frame.

Let’s just say that parallelity with the horizontal plane was achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, he IS crossing River Street, so that makes this a little less crazy-looking, right? No?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stopped at the light:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(“Pssst! They can’t see you pointing.”)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shot from home:

 

 

 

 

Busted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It finally falls to Earth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JULY

New York Giants Training Camp:

The Giants hold some open-to-the-public training sessions in East Rutherford, NJ, every summer. I had never gone before, so it was time. The players are on a field that’s surrounded by a fence. You’re expected to sit in one of two bleacher sections. You’re really not close to them at all. In some areas, you’re allowed to stand by the fence, so that’s what I did, zooming my lens between the chain links. That got me some decent shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the top row of the bleachers and facing the opposite direction, I got this shot of MetLife Stadium (and half of the Izod Center/Continental Airlines Arena/Brendan Byrne Arena):

 

 

When training finishes for the day, different groups of players – usually by position – are made available each day in a separate area for autographs.

It was pretty jammed that day because Victor Cruz was signing, so I stayed in the closer (and elevated) bleacher just off to the side and got a pretty good shot of him signing his book without my having to fight a crowd to get in there.

The only negative that day was that I got a strong sunburn on the back of my neck from shooting through that fence for a couple of hours.

That didn’t keep me from going back the next month to shoot some more and you can see that under “August”.

 

 

 

Fireworks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rest of July:

This was a TREMENDOUS bolt of lightning that appears to be behind Manhattan (compare its size to the Empire State Building).

 

 

Three-track traffic jam in Teaneck:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Then don’t drive in front of me.”

 

 

“This was a great trade for that noisy kid!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUGUST

New York Giants Training Camp (Part 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parking lot paint job

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BergenPAC, Englewood, NJ (Edgar Winter, Vanilla Fudge, 2 more):

 

 

Considering that I retired 22 years prior, not bad………….

 

 

 

The rest of August:

 

Cindy welcomes a new match:

 

 

 

 

Cute hood ornament:

 

 

Pole smoker:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Solo in a church parking lot:

 

Good to the last drop:

 

 

 

 

Lunch-time attack:

 

 

Oblivious on the right (lucky for him):

 

Left pic is same person, 40 minutes after right pic:

 

 

 

 

I never saw the companion when I shot this……..bonus!

 

 

 

 

 

Old-on-old

 

 

 

GPS directions: “At the road arrow, make a sharp left……..”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2-3-4-5:

 

 

 

Old guy selfie with Dre-days cap (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P690t9IzvjU)

 

 

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER

Hackensack’s Main Street Festival:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who put these things in the back of my closet? In my defense, they appear to be brand new. Must have been a “gift” that was immediately hidden away.

 

 

I used to see this girl walking around carrying a large Minnie Mouse doll. There are other pix in upcoming posts:

 

 

Mickey joins the fun:

 

 

 

This is a 2-photo stitch:

 

 

The rest of September:

 

 

The Itchy & Scratchy Show:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler alert!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This IS right-side up:

 

OCTOBER

New Martin Luther King, Jr. statue at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack

I was invited to take pictures when this statue was to be delivered and erected. The last picture was taken two days later at the official unveiling and dedication before an invited crowd of about 300. If you’d like to read the story and see more photos: http://tinyurl.com/MLKstatue-FDU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of October:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER

This is the steeple of the Holy Trinity Church in Hackensack…………where I was baptized and whose school I attended from grades 1-8. I didn’t even live in Hackensack during that time, but I now live two blocks away and took this picture from my roof. The church used it in their web site for a couple of years.

 

 

 

The rest of November:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DECEMBER

Note: sometime in the first week of December, I dropped (and broke) my beloved Canon SX-130 (but I did get it fixed later on). I IMMEDIATELY got on eBay and bought a similar SX-160. I’m pretty sure that all the December, 2014, shots shown here were taken with the 160, which looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 My pick pick:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My New Year’s Eve shirt………….according to the copyright, I’ve had it a long time (photo taken December 29, 2014).

 

 

PHOTO STITCHES

 

Lots of stitching this year…………..

This is a 4-image stitch taken from the banks of the Hackensack River in Terhune Park in Teaneck. On the far left is the Midtown Bridge from Hackensack to Bogota. To the right of that for about half the stitch’s length is the northeast corner of Foschini Park in Hackensack.

Starting from the left to the middle of the picture, the direction of the river is north-south. It then makes a sudden left turn and runs east-west. Beyond the view of this picture, it returns to north-south. The east-west area is called Kipp’s Bend.

As usual, click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.

 

 

This 6-image stitch is almost the opposite of the previous one. It was taken 5 months earlier in winter from Foschini Park in Hackensack – just to the right of the midpoint of the above stitch – and looks across Kipp’s bend to Teaneck.

 

 

This 7-image stitch was taken from my living room window and shows (l-r): the Sears tower, the reflection of the setting sun, (on the horizon) a new high-rise in Fort Lee, NJ that’s right next to the George Washington Bridge, the Kipp’s Bend section of the Hackensack River, the Hackensack YMCA, all of midtown Manhattan and the new World Trade Center (and a couple of sky glitches).

 

 

This is a FIFTEEN-image stitch of geese parked at low tide on the Hackensack River, with a confession from me on one of the frames.

 

 

This is a 4-image stitch taken from another bend (what – no name?) in the Hackensack River from Hackensack, looking at Bogota. The entire Hess tank farm is now gone.

 

 

Next up is an 8-image stitch (1 glitch) that shows both sides of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Teaneck/Hackensack campus. I’m on the Teaneck side and the pedestrian bridge over the Hackensack River on the right leads to the Hackensack side.

 

 

Lastly – and right on the Hackensack side of that pedestrian bridge – is a 4-image stitch taken at the unveiling/dedication of the new Martin Luther King statue, which you saw earlier in this post.

If I recall correctly, everyone was singing “We Shall Overcome”.

 

 

All this stitching and I still can’t sew a button on my shirt…………….

 

I took some pictures in Asbury Park, NJ on November 14 at a tribute to promoter John Scher, which had about 30 of my images on the walls and went back on December 19 to shoot that gallery exhibit. On both that day and the morning after the tribute, I shot up and down my old favorite boardwalk – something I had never done in cold weather before.

The beach in winter:

 

 

 

 

Happy girl heads for Convention Hall:

 

 

The Convention Hall entrance, showing a newly-added (and sold out!) show for that night:

 

 

I shot a LOT of shows at Convention Hall in the 70s and 80s, so I snuck in to get a shot of its interior and was shocked to see a women’s yoga class going on:

 

 

I think this kid’s mom is in that class:

 

 

This is where I stayed overnight:

 

 

The Paramount Theatre is right across from Convention Hall in the same structure and I also shot a lot of shows here in the 70s and 80s:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Asbury Park shots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heading back home:

 

 

 

 

The rest of 2015:

 

One of my FIVE boxes of 45s:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite early 90s poison:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hackensack River under Route 4 overpass looking from Teaneck towards Hackensack, NJ:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wave ya WY-pizz in the AY-ah like ya jus’ don’ CAY-ah”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “POP!” goes the…………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The next 4 pictures were taken at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy in Teaneck, NJ:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 At the urologist’s office (NOT for the “V” product shown)………….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demolition of 76 Main St, Hackensack, after fire:

 

 

See explanation in the final photo stitch at the end of this post to tie this image and the above one together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my 2015 favorites (and not just because it took a lot of color removal to make it look right) – I didn’t move or touch anything:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTO STITCHES

This 5-image stitch was taken from Garret Mountain in Paterson, NJ and shows Route 80 running through the city made famous by…………..(you KNOW the answer – we’ve already covered this).

Click the image once. After it takes over the screen, hover the mouse over the image. You should get a + sign. Then click it again. It’s now full-size and must be scrolled to see everything. Click it once more to shrink it back and then use your back button to return to the post.

 

 

 

This is a crazy 9-image stitch that I would normally reject because it’s not a perfect rectangle – something I caused myself because I couldn’t shoot the whole thing while standing in one spot. But it DID stitch – albeit in a goofy manner.

It’s joyous and crazy and even works in some Hackensack history and has become quite well-known in town.

I showed a picture earlier in this post of a fire-ravaged building (76 Main) that was being demolished. It was a building that had a restaurant on the ground floor and everything above it was apartments.

A wooden fence was put up around the site. Later, people from the city’s business improvement district put out a call to artists to create a mural illustrating Hackensack’s past, present and future.

This stitch shows the resultant long side of the mural they created.

Right  after that demolition shot, there’s one of an unusual grouping of 3 gentlemen from different centuries. This is part of the shorter (Main St) side of the fence around the site and is artist Damien Mitchell’s section of the mural: “Faces of Hackensack from Three Points in History”.

The 3 gentlemen (l to r) are:

1. Oratam (17th century) – Chief (Sachem) of the Achkinhenhcky Indians. He is the symbol of Hackensack and appears on the Hackensack municipal seal, police patches, etc.

2. Rah the Barber (21st century) – He ran a barber shop at 69 Main St.

3. The Marquis de Lafayette (18th century) – He was a Frenchman who fought alongside George Washington during the Revolutionary War.

You could not get 3 more disparate men if you tried, yet here they are side-by-side – courtesy of Mr. Mitchell – in a mural in Hackensack, New Jersey.

With that being said, THIS is my unusual stitch of the other side of the fence:

 

 

Furling the huge George Washington Bridge flag (click it once). I just happened to be standing under it on Veterans Day when they started pulling it up into its tube: