Sunday, February 03, 2008

Riverside Park Walk

For the third Sunday in a row I've gone out in the afternoon to play a bit with my new digital camera.  I'm still figuring it out, since Tommy got rid of the manual years ago.  When he offered me the camera, he said he'd gotten a new one because this one was so huge and clunky.  He made it sound like it needed its own room.  I'd forgotten who I was talking too, of course.  Tommy likes to get the newest stuff whenever possible.  Newer is, by definition, better.  Okey-doke, if I get a free camera out of the deal, who's complaining?  

The setting dial has these intriguing icons.  There's a snowman standing in front of  mountain (for dealing with glare?  While skiing?), a figure standing against a black background, with a single star in the sky (okay, think I've got that one figured out), one that looks like a Roman Candle going off (?), and another one with a figure standing in front of a sunny sky.  The photos posted here were all taken with the Vogue-Lady-in-a-Sun-Hat setting.  She's fancy.  The image suggested high contrast lights and darks to me, I'm pretty pleased with the result, so I think I've figured may be right.  There needs to be more experimenting.  

I lack the technical skills to make this format let me post and comment on a lot of images at once.  In fact this format has been getting odder and more recalcitrant over time.  The spell-check no longer works, for example, and the automatic return sometimes checks out.  I think things may have worsened when I switched from Internet Explorer to Opera, so maybe there's communication difficulties.  Anyway, my point is there are a whole string of photos posted as separate entries, but are, in my mind, all one post.  I started with the first image of my walk, then realized it was going to fall at the end of the line, so I've been posting backwards after the first (last) two entries.  

The day was really brilliant.  Also surprisingly warm, almost 50.  I don't mean to rub my Canadian friends' noses in that fact.  Would it help if I said I was a little freaked out by the warmth?  

You probably all know this, but if you click on each photo, you'll get a larger, more clear image.  

10 comments:

Java said...

So what's up with Blogger's spell-check? I depend on that feature a lot.
I like your photos. And your comments. In the shot of your shoes and reflection in the puddle, it looks like you are wearing two different styles/colors of shoe. It's probably just the lighting. Are they comfortable shoes? Don't replace them. They can be your Sunday afternoon walking shoes. My favorite pair of shoes is nearly 5 years old and look like shit, but I love 'em.

tornwordo said...

So clever with the shadow and puddle reflection shots. And original too ; ) Lovely pics, though really. Thanks for taking us along.

Cooper said...

It doesn't help, but thanks for the thought. ;)

I loved this photo essay ... from puddly shadows to crumbling old buildings to cheeky squirrels and gamboling dogs to patterns and shapes that affect the heart of Patrick. I am so glad you brought us along with you. Isn't the very word "riverside" just rendolent of romance and beauty?!

Sooo-this-is-me said...

Wow you have been a busy boy! I like the pics, keep it up.

Steven

john said...

Pictures are great. I really should start taking pictures. It's a hobby that I would like to develope into an art.

Patrick said...

Glad you all enjoyed the trip; I hope we get to take more, virtually and otherwise, over time. Java, have you been having trouble with the spell-check as well? If it's not just me, then maybe it is blogger, not my internet browswer. How about the auto return, does that behave for you?

Joe Jubinville said...

Hey, I think the "Vogue-Lady-in-a-Sun-Hat setting" is working for you. NY has some great parks. Riverside was a regular haunt when I lived off West End. Before clicking on the larger version of the squirrel shot, I thought that water bottle hanging from the tree was my jock strap.

I remember those scaffolds. NY is a work in progress, always reinventing itself. Yet, as some of your shots show, it's saturated with history. That surprised me when I first saw the city... the ancient feeling amidst the soaring modernism.

I like this photo journal, Patrick, I think it has inspired you down new paths of observation. It's informative too. I had no idea Irish Quakers plotzed.

Patrick said...

Actually the Quaker side is Welsh, but oy, Bubbeleh, always with the plotzing and the shmoozing and the kvetching they were.
Also, they liked shmears. With their oatmeal.

Patrick said...

Oh, and I forgot... lose a lot of jock straps in Riverside did you? Care to elaborate?

In the meantime, I'll go looking for souvenirs. Will they have your name in them?

Joe Jubinville said...

A schmear with oatmeal... like buttah.

And yes, quite a few... in fact if it's marked Fruit Of The Loom, it's probably mine.

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