Rochester Skyline as Seen From Cobbs Hill [Orange You Glad It’s Friday] [Sky Watch Friday]

    Off and on I’ve waxed enthusiastic about generating panoramas. For those who can’t generate such images right in your camera, there are two ways of producing them. The first and most direct method is simply by judicious cropping. Depending on the composition you start with, you can easily obtain an aspect ratio of 5:1 and retain the essentials; but, some thought must be given during shooting of the original scene you were interested in. The second method is taking [multiple] overlapping images and ‘stitching’ them together using some appropriate app. The two images below were produced by cropping alone.
  The highest point in the Rochester, NY is in Cobbs Hill Park, where there is a clearing giving a nice view of the city skyline. It is a favorite spot for photographers, as you might well imagine.These were shot on different days.

Local Winter Scenes [Orange You Glad It’s Friday] [Sky Watch Friday]

   To my OYGIF friends, this is a quick break from my Water Scenes series, as this posting is also appropriate for SWF. Considering that we have had sub-zero temperatures every day this month [and snow almost every day] in Rochester, NY, I thought I’d pay a little homage to Mother Nature. As luck would have it, I did not have to go far to capture these cell phone images: one was from my bedroom window, and the other was out the back door.
  One morning last week, I heard a loud crunching sound from outside. Uh oh!! Looking out I saw that a school bus had collided with my neighbor’s tree. Fortunately, all the school children had been dropped off already, and the bus was returning to where ever they go during the day. I don’t know why the bus left the the road, but a variety of scenarios came to mind. Oddly, enough, the police never appeared and, eventually, the bus backed up and left. I guess this will remain one of those deep, dark mysteries of the universe....

Since the above occurrence, we have had considerably more snow falling. Looking out into the backyard this morning, I had to laugh at how the snow had accumulated. Now I know Rochester can’t compete with the 5 feet that hit Buffalo and Boston, but, it’s our snow.

Water Scenes 1 [Orange You Glad It’s Friday]

 As a former competitive, but still avid, swimmer, I have a natural affinity for water. If I can’t be in it, I like being around it. Since getting hooked on this meme, it’s been a challenge to shoot appropriate water-containing images for OYGIF [aside from those easy shots of sunsets over water]. However, I have managed to assemble enough for several weeks of postings. So, today we start with Water Scenes 1.

 This is a shot off three sisters looking earnestly into a little fish pond in the Lady Bird Johnson Botanical Garden [Austin, Texas].

 This image, shot at sunset on the shore of Eagle Beach [Aruba], is titled 'Here Fishy, Fishy'.

This image was shot in a public park in downtown Braunschweig, Germany, during a city-wide festival. Numerous boats and rafts of all sizes passed along the waterway

Southwest Skies [Sky Watch Friday]

  For this week's SWF we switch from the charm of the Adirondacks to the awesome beauty of the Southwest; more specifically, the environs of Sedona, AZ. While I have posted quite a few images from past vacations there, I don’t think these were among them. These were shot during various hikes, and I am bad at noting names/locations. But, I am confident that the middle image is Courthouse Rock.

Clothing/Accessories 10 [Orange You Glad It’s Friday]

  Today completes the men’s orange shirts mini-series. The image below was shot in NYC in the vicinity of the new World Trade Center. Many photographers are somewhat shy [if not squeamish] about trying to take a portrait, since it seems daunting to approach a person of interest. In the image below, I did not even have to say a word to get this shot. I simply smiled, held out my camera towards him, and sort of cocked my head for approval. The good brother laughed, nodded and puffed up his chest for the shot. So, sometimes ‘body language’ is sufficient to get permission.

 

As in the above image, we were wandering around the area of the new WTC. It was around noon and many workers were taking their lunch break and enjoying the mild weather. For this image, I took a candid shot and continued walking by.

 

 

Continuing our stroll through lower Manhattan, we saw this food stand. My OYGIF alarm went off and I got this three-fer.

If three weren't enough, here I hit a jackpot. This was shot from atop a double-decker city tour bus in Berlin.

Adirondacks Sky [Sky Watch Friday]

  For a good number of years my wife and I spend several days visiting with our youngest daughter and her family during their annual vacation in the Adirondacks. Each year they choose a different venue, packing up and driving from New Jersey with kids, dog, kayaks, bikes, etc. The two scenes below were shot on First Lake. As you can see, the light changed considerably [in a short period of time] and the moon continued to ascend.