Safe Harbor

One can always find interesting boats moored in the Mystic River, especially in the summer time.

Bridges

These are bridges over the Thames River, looking west from the city of Groton across to the city of New London.  The bridge in the foreground carries Amtrak Trains, and Shore Line East trains, while the taller bridge behind carries I95 and US 1 across the Thames.

Old Lyme Library

I've been going through some photos lately and experimenting with some black and white conversions.  I thought this one works pretty well in black and white.  This looks like a wonderful old library to visit some day.  The day I was there however it was closed.  According to their website, this library was established in 1897 and was later financed with funds from the Phoebe Griffen Noyes Trust.  Phoebe must have had some big bucks back in the day.

Sunrise

Sunrises and sunsets often provide some pretty dramatic colors and also some challenges in regards to the the getting the best exposure.  I was able to capture this a few weeks ago, as the sun rose over Niantic Bay and the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.

A View from Harkness State Park

Connecticut has some beautiful state parks.

Winter Sky

First Snow III

You might get the feeling that I like snow from some of these pictures.  I'm not really a big fan of winter, cold weather or snow, but it does look pretty for a short period of time.  A couple of days after this picture was taken, the temperatures around here rose into the low 50's, and most of of the snow is now gone.  I don't think we've seen the last of it for this winter though.

First Snow II

I've photographed this bench before from different angles and in somewhat nicer weather conditions.  Park benches in the winter time look lonely and less inviting, even with a light coating of snow.

First Snow

I really can't complain about this winter.  It's been pretty mild so far in Connecticut.  It has certainly been much better than last winter.  Along the coast we were spared the major snowstorm that crippled most of Connecticut the last weekend in October.  Since that time, we've had no snow, and very mild temperatures.   That all changed yesterday when most of the state got hit with a significant amount of snow, so I was obligated to go out this morning to take the requisite "snowfall" pictures.  It only looks pretty for a short time.  Temperatures are due to rise this week and rain is in the forecast.  I'm betting all the snow will be gone by Wednesday, if not sooner.  I'm sure this won't be the last snow we see this year.

Food Court

Like every shopping mall in the country, the mall that was once Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport has a food court with a number of fast food places.  Nathan's Famous is of course famous in this part of the country especially on Coney Island in Brooklyn.  I love their hot dogs, but I wish they'd learn to make decent french fries.  I haven't seen too many Arthur Treacher's  places these days and was surprised to see it here.  I've never developed a taste for fish, either with or without chips.  I didn't partake of any of these fast foods, since I was having dinner a little later in the day at Mark Joseph's Steakhouse, just a few blocks from here, which I highly recommend.

Printing Press

This was taken during a recent trip to the South Street Seaport in New York City.  We were there the last week of December and I've posted some other images from that trip in this blog.  Although the Seaport Museum was closed for the season, there were a couple of galleries and shops open for the holidays, including this 19th Century era Print shop.  The equipment there still works.  It was like taking a step back in time entering this print shop.

Machinery III

I originally posted a picture of this machine here.  This is a close-up shot of that particular piece of machinery.  I can't really take a lot of credit for the post processing I did for this image.  My skills in post processing consists of trying a number of "presets" that are available in the Apple's Aperture, until I find one that I like.  I think a true "artist" would never use some preset, but until my creativity grows, I'll use the presets, and even add to my collection of presets.  I was inspired to do this by a post in the blog Taken for Granted, which I follow.  The images featured some nice black and white conversions of machinery.

Winter Beach

This is view looking east from Harkness State Park across Long Island Sound.  It was too cold to  walk along the beach on this particular day.  The only inhabitants on this day were the seagulls.

Along the White Trail

You might not think it so, but there is a trail here.  The trails are pretty well marked at Rocky Neck, but you really need to keep looking for the markers on the trees.  Leaves obscure the paths and it's often hard to follow if you just look at the ground.

Rocks II

One of the many boulders one sees at Rocky Neck State Park.