July in Riverdale Sunset Photos

by: Eddie C

Mon Aug 01, 2011 at 17:13:30 PM PDT

These July sunsets from the Bronx are for my Mom, my Dad and my neighbor, who I think just watched her very first month of sunsets. As this long hot month began I had an elevator conversation with that neighbor who lives in the same apartment line and has almost the same view as I do. Inquiring about the Nikon D7000 hanging from my neck, I explained that I have no photographic specialty but the last on my list was "our wonderful views of sunsets."

To explain why she had never watched a sunset from her window she said "If you see one, you've seen them all." So in less than fifteen floors I tried to summarize eighteen years of sunsets from my window. I was feeling a bit like a sunset missionary as the conversation didn't end with the elevator ride. She was fascinated and wanted to continue the sunset conversation in the lobby but I was all out of steam and anxious to get out in the sunshine.

My Dad, he is pretty much the same way. He closes the western blinds to keep the Florida sun from fading the furniture. Now Mom, she calls on the phone when there is a nice sunset to watch from her Ocean County, New Jersey kitchen. Often we have the same view. Sometimes ninety miles makes a big difference.

Last Week in Photos

by: Eddie C

Fri Jul 22, 2011 at 18:30:55 PM PDT

For me the camera is a sort of kinetic meditation. Basically I walk around with a camera to forget how screwed we are with the present set of so called representatives we are stuck with. So if you need  break from ugly, than pull yourself up a Wave Hill Chair...

And take a ride with me for a week of photography.

Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey,
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top!

A Coney Island Greeting on the Fourth of July

by: Eddie C

Mon Jul 04, 2011 at 14:35:49 PM PDT

This started out as a gray day in New York City. Instead of a view if the Palisades and an armada of small boats slowly making their way down river for the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks, my windows seemed like very large glasses of milk. it looked like a perfect day to enjoy a second viewing of John Adams on HBO and remembering what politics was once like in America.

Two years back I worked on the Fourth so I made a photo diary out of my lunch break. It was a celebration of the local farmers who also worked that day, The Lincoln Center Farmer's Market on the Fourth of July. Ron Binaghi, a 6th generation farmer who really knows his product, explained the importance of being able to "Eat it raw."

Last year on this date, I think it was about 98° and way too sunny. Because I was too busy enjoying the crowd and fun at the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, I did not write a Fourth of July diary. So on this day, as I enjoyed John Adams, I found some of those photos and put together a Coney Island view of the Fourth of July.    

The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden

by: Eddie C

Sun Mar 13, 2011 at 16:52:14 PM PDT

Greetings from the Bronx where "It's warm, it's tropical, it's just thousands and thousands of orchids." As an early celebration of spring the Orchid Divas have taken Center Stage at the New York Botanical Garden.

"Horticultural theater" for the "divas of the plant world" is how the New York Botanical Garden describes the "Orchid Show on Broadway." The stars of the garden's 9th annual orchid show are over 25,000 individual drooping, weeping and otherwise highly dramatic blooms.

For this year's "Spring Awakenings" the Garden's horticultural staff has worked with a Broadway set designer to make the Garden's conservatory feel like a Broadway theater under glass. Here is the view in the Palm Court for the limited engagement, a simulation of the proscenium at the Walter Kerr Theater.

The curtain has already gone up on to rave reviews. The New York Times also plays the Diva theme for this horticultural theater "The orchids are the stars. We know how to deal with their persnickety nature. They're flashy. They command and demand attention. But when everything is just right, they absolutely steal the show."  

"Orchid Show on Broadway" opened on March 5th and continues until April 25. Since I'm a bit late with my review, I'll try to offer a backstage pass with a few photos below.

NYC Gov going "Locavore" Big Time!

by: Eddie C

Fri Dec 10, 2010 at 20:18:23 PM PST

Today on The Leonard Lopate Show the lead story was called Feeding The Soul and for anyone seeking to restore their faith in good government, it did just that. Two guest in an interview to discuss Food Works in New York City that would have seemed an unlikely pair as recently as yesterday.

One was Chef Dan Barber who has been a great advocate in the New York area for the local food movement. The other was City Council speaker Christine Quinn. Today they were on the same page. I've never heard such a merger of bottom up activism and top down good government action before. It was amazing to hear Christine Quinn's introduction sounding more like Marion Nestle in talks about what the government needs to do, hearing a powerful politician discussing things being done now and progressive plans for a sustainable future.  

The city has already moved $4.5 million in public school food spending over to local farms and is trying to change the $300,000 spent on school lettuce to money being pumped into the Rockland County farm economy and processing facilities in the economically depressed Bronx. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Just Looking

by: Eddie C

Sun Nov 21, 2010 at 22:45:51 PM PST

I have a few pleasant photography stories to tell from a week ago. Between the autumn color and the desperation of one last warm weather week, it was a good week for a photo buff. Now don't go busting my bubble by just looking at the photos because you can learn a lot from a photographer. We see things.

Below you will find a Third Rock from the Sun brief encounter during an evening walk in the Village. I have several memories from a lecture I attended on photojournalism. There is a pleasant Veterans Day walk under the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side followed by a sunset from the New York side. Then a Friday afternoon walk in Central Park with some music videos I made and all day Saturday there too. There is even a little taste of Florence, Italy.  

Photos and Stories from the Labor March on Wall St.

by: Eddie C

Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 13:36:08 PM PDT

On Thursday afternoon the AFL-CIO held a rally to protest the banking bailout and demand a peoples' bailout. There was a call for not just regulating the banks that almost took this nation down but also doing an about face and forcing the bankers to bailout the people.

Do you think Wall Street should pay for the jobs they destroyed?

"People in New York and across the country who did nothing wrong and want to work have paid for the misdeeds of the big banks with their jobs, homes and retirement savings," said Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president.

Do the elected officials of this nation think Wall Street should pay for the jobs they destroyed?

See a few photos and read some people's stories below.  

The Bronx Invasion of Brazil. On Friday We Take Cuba!

by: Eddie C

Mon Feb 22, 2010 at 19:33:48 PM PST

No more snow job photo diaries out of me. Since it is midwinter and everyone can use a little break from the cold, I think a little Brazilian Modern is in order.

How about you? Join me below for more photos and see an amateur review of my South American trip from last year.

Ft. Tryon Park Durning the Snowfall.

by: Eddie C

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 08:48:02 AM PST

The previous diary was easy pickins' on a clear blue sky day. This represents something a bit more challenging, trying to capture the snow as it is falling.

It's not so easy and I really should have worn a hat and some gloves. But if your in the mood for another snowy park, than take a walk below the fold for a beautiful park in a blizzard.  

Van Cortlandt Park After the Snow

by: Eddie C

Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 17:25:14 PM PST

I often write about and I'm very much in love with the undeveloped parts of Van Cortlandt Park. It is the fourth largest park in New York City and just a few blocks from my apartment. I guess the most popular diary so far was called Just a Walk in the Park, Van Cortlandt Park.

Few Manhattanites know of the beauty of this 1,146 acre park located in the Bronx but this New York City oasis should be of special interest to visitors from drier areas of the nation. The green will just blow you away.

You won't find much green in this diary that focuses on photographic composition but I found a little color to make it interesting. In this photo the underpass leads to the Van Cortland marsh where the story ends. An old bridge from the the abandoned "Old Putt" and an oak tree that likes to hold a few leaves each winter improves the composition.

"Old Putt" is the affectionate nickname that hikers and cross country bikers have given to the New York and Putnam Railroad. The right of way for the railroad bed is a trail that runs the length of the park and passes through almost every type of ecosystem that can be found in the northeast.

Below the fold are the best of the 465 pictures I took last Thursday. Most of them on the Van Cortlandt Lake and surrounding wetlands of the Bronx park. Mostly they are photos of geese but I experimented with ways to defeat the the most annoying property of snow, monochromatic and way too bright.

Winter Photos from the Bronx Zoo.

by: Eddie C

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 18:40:42 PM PST

Have you ever gone to a zoo in midwinter? This diary is a selection of of photos from a three hour trip to the Zoo on a sunny winter day.

I could tell you a winter's tale or two about going to the zoo. I think it is the best time for both interaction with animals and photographic opportunities.

This is not my first Bronx Zoo diary. My point about a winter visit can be made by comparing the photos in that collection from  about twenty visits to the zoo and these from a three hour tour.

Public School Lunches in New York City Tabloid Today

by: Eddie C

Mon Feb 01, 2010 at 09:12:17 AM PST

The health-crazed Bloomberg administration often touts how it has overhauled school lunches and slashed calories - but critics charge the standard cafeteria fare is still far from healthy.

The photo in today's paper that is captioned as looking "more like McDonald's than Whole Foods" actually makes McDonald's look good.

That is actually a New York City school lunch recently served at PS 42.

In a city that once portrayed installing Snapple dispensers as a health conscious move for the children of New York City, there are often stories about Bloomberg improving lunch programs but...

So far it's been a good year for Bronx Sunsets

by: Eddie C

Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 18:51:18 PM PST

Hello and Happy New Year. I have no pootie to photograph but I've had a few days to look out the window to see a few sunsets and some of them have looked great.

Here's a view from last night that I thought was pretty spectacular;

Below the fold is the rest of my year in review sunset diary, all nine days of them. Well not even that, just the ones I was home for.

Saying Goodbye to a Central Park Landmark: the Tavern on the Green

by: Eddie C

Sat Jan 02, 2010 at 00:48:27 AM PST

For anyone who has ever had the pleasure of enjoying the flamboyance of Warner LeRoy, the end of this landmark where John Lennon once celebrated his birthdays marked a very sad day.

And so there was a last waltz. With formidable revelry and not a few tears, some 1,700 New Year's Eve celebrators paid $125 to $500 a person for the privilege of welcoming 2010 with a last, vast, rollicking hurrah for the landmark restaurant in Central Park.

None will be as sad as the 400 Tavern employees.

I was not one of the 1,700 but I did walk around outside in the icy rain of New Years Eve with my camera and I'd like to share these photos of this last hurrah.  

The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show

by: Eddie C

Thu Nov 26, 2009 at 07:49:26 AM PST

Next Wednesday the most famous Christmas Tree In New York City lights up where there was once a Botanical Gardens. Up in the Bronx at the New York Botanical Garden it is already beginning to look a lot like Christmas. On Saturday The Eighteenth Annual Holiday Train Show pulled into town and you can enjoy the delights of a miniature Rockefeller Center Christmas tree already at this favorite for children of all ages.

The star of this New York holiday favorite may seem like the model railway trains chugging through a glass house but children also get to experience the architecture of New York, past and present. Children are inspired by handmade art that is created from plant materials such as bark, moss, twigs, berries, and pine cones.

Below the fold is a photographic guide from start to finish of this year's Holiday Train Show for your children to enjoy and a few old New York stories for you. It's a family outing that definitely has GreenRoots.