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Speaking candidly

unposed shots of people at work, rest, and play
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No matter which pond, nor what time of year, nor whether the visitor be young or old, the Koi of Brooklyn's Botanical Garden's are always a source of visual delight.
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No matter which pond, nor what time of year, nor whether the visitor be young or old, the Koi of Brooklyn's Botanical Garden's are always a source of visual delight.

couplesBrooklyn Botanical Gardensfallcandidscenic

  • That's the model Scott built sitting on top of the box in front of him. Here he's painting one of the landship's many canon's as he and his friend Matthew talk shop. From a size standpoint some of those that build scale models, might look at this tank he calls "The Waaaghsa" and not find it visually imposing in stature, but when you consider Scott built this model to scale in every detail, so it can be used in real Warhammer battles, it's actually a massive creation compared to most war weapons that it will face in combat. And he won't have far to travel to test it out in battle, as Games Workshops stores serve as a community center with large tables set up both for the building and painting of all manner of Warhammer creations, and more tables next to these that the participants can then do battle on.<br /> <br /> Unlike many games the Warhammer creators don't command absolute control of the weapons used in their game, and encourage their members to combine and create vehicles and weapons that suit the needs of the armies that use them. Even following the guidelines necessary to incorporate your creations into the well setup rules of combat in Warhammer, the only limit to what you can create to use in battle is determined by your imagination, and if there's one thing Scott has in copious amounts it's creativity.
  • As I mentioned this tank isn't just a static model to look at, but it is a weapon to be used in battle, and will have an actual crew that opponents will have to recon with as well. Here Scott's painting one of the many canons his Orc's will use to lay waste to their mythical enemies from the deck of their colossal "landship".
  • While Scott was painting his deck canons for his "landship" his friend Rick was painting his "demon canon's". Awesome looking already just partially painted, they'll look even more phenomenal when he's finished decorating them in all their desired colors.
  • Here the wonderful relaxed pace and social interaction of this unique game experience is on display, as Julian takes his time to plan his moves while his opponent Jackson looks on. They keep rule books within easy reach to aid in play. This scene brought to my mind the relaxing images of many old time board games from companies like Parker Brothers and long gone companies like Avalon Hill.<br /> <br /> Games are probably as old as society itself. The development of the Internet and gaming platforms like PlayStation, Xbox, and computer games, has given those who like to play multiple player games easy access to the one commodity that for ages was as precious as gold to game players - worthy opponents. Before this development, finding people who were willing and able to give you a satisfying challenge was often impossible to find. And if it wasn't a widely popular game you fancied, you were often lucky if you found one or two people to play against over and over again till you knew their upcoming moves like you knew the upcoming change of the seasons.<br /> <br /> Now finding lots of fresh new game partners to dance with has helped those electronic games explode in popularity, while causing exotic board games to fade into history. But these electronic games are often frenetic paced play against faceless opponents, that while quickening the heart rate and providing much excitement, don't quite provide the relaxing mental stimulation that we as social creatures crave (and by the way I do enjoy many an electronic game).<br /> <br /> But if you play a board game whose playing pieces are often so large that you need a massive table to play it on, where in an urban locale like New York, are you going to find someone with an apartment big enough to play it in? Here Warhammer has an advantage no other game I've seen has. The Game Workshop stores provide that table, as well as the modular battle fields that mimic hills, valleys, towns and citadels, while the players provide the collectible pieces to play on them. The store also provides additional tables to build and custom paint their playing pieces. It often takes weeks to assemble and custom paint these figurines, which provides an additional emotional boost and attachment to those pieces (just remember how much you may have liked playing the race car or the hat in Monopoly, and you never took the time to hand paint them) At the same time they are also building friendships while sharing paint supplies and equipment, as well as laughter and stories. All this allows this unique game to thrive worldwide while so many other exotic board games have faded off into history.
  • Providing their customers an actual store to play their battles in also provides the players access to experienced staff members that help aid in game play and rules questions. Here John (in the red staff members shirt) helps Julian and Jackson as they play out the battle "High Elves vs. Chaos", as Lincoln (in the Phillies cap) and Nathan look on.
  • DSC_4686 father daughter bonding by the koi pond
  • Taking the last week of October off so hopefully I could catch the beautiful changing colors of the fall, I found natures display a bit flat and disappointing this season, as the lack of cold nights has the leaves already starting to shrive and die on the branches. But the lack of brilliant colored trees didn't necessarily mean the start to my vacation was a fruitless one.
  • DSC_4740 phone fun
  • My first official day of adding my fall vacation photo fun to Smugmug, started off somberly today with me first posting those pictures of that drowning victim. However this charming pair is actually what I was photographing the moment the sound of helicopters droning on loudly above our heads, led me to walk over and discover the tragic scene I captured in the next group of photo's.
  • DSC_4749 pulled from the river
  • As I am on vacation this week, I was out doing what I do - taking pictures, when I saw several police boats enter the harbor. I thought it a bit odd - so many, but Coast Guard patrol boats enter here regularly around sundown, so I didn't let it disturb my plan to get shots at a spot a 1/2 a mile or so south from here. But soon the peaceful quiet of this rather pleasant evening was disrupted by the sound of helicopters. One flying by would not have been more than white noise (for the city anyway), but this sound was from multiple helicopters and they weren't leaving. Looking up into the sky I knew something was up, and then I noticed a crowd gathering at the other end of the marina, and this sight is what I found when I reached the growing crush of onlookers.
  • My actual plans this afternoon did not include bringing my camera, as I had a pair of places to go in the City, and didn't want to be encumbered with camera equipment while I was traveling in and about. But then I had a change of heart as it occurred to me that the lighting I was seeking for a shot near here was only going to happen in the evening, and I was pretty certain I could get down to that spot before sundown even after taking care of business. Still it was predicted to rain and a cloud filled sky would ruin any chance to get that shot, but if I just brought my camera and my 16-85mm zoom, I could take some test shots for composition of what I figured to be a really nice shot once the lighting cooperated. <br /> <br /> As I was putting together this mini lightweight kit, I grudgingly added my two other zooms, just in case - in case of what I did not know, but as it turns out it was a good thing as I could never have gotten most of these shots without my 70-300mm tagging along, because naturally I wanted to keep my distance and not get in anyone's way during this terrible life and death situation.
  • DSC_4778 pulled out from the bay
  • DSC_4785 pulled out from the bay
  • As I continued to dance around for a clear shooting angle through the growing crowd, I looked to see if she coughed, jerked her head or moved in anyway, but she never did. But the way the paramedics were talking and handling her I was almost certain she was still alive, but as I edited the shots at home her color didn't look good no doubt because of all the water she took in.
  • As the crowd around this scene grew by the second, people were asking what happened, where the accident took place, and if I was with the press. I walked and talked, tried not to speculate, and mostly kept looking for openings in the crowd to get a clear shot from.
  • I hoped against hope that she would be alright, but when I finally found the story online when I got home, I found out she didn't survive. My prayers go to those she left behind.
  • After leaving the scene of the emergency crew trying to revive that woman who fell off the ferry, I rushed southward to the scenic location I really came to Battery Park City to photograph this evening, but the extra time I spent recording that life and death scene meant not getting there in time to capture the lighting I wanted for my scenic shot. So it would not be a total loss of effort, I did take a few test shots of that interesting spot, upon which I decided I should try again, but instead, probably during late day under cloudy conditions.<br /> <br /> After that I packed up my gear certain that the acute shortage of available light would allow my camera to take the rest of the night off. But deciding to walk to the ferry instead of catching the bus on this beautiful evening led me to come upon this interesting scene. This time of night is really beyond my camera's abilities to produce quality images under available light, none the less, I pulled my D300 out of it's premature slumber and immediately pushed it to limits I've never tried to before hoping to capture this unique scene. But forced to use ISO 5000 meant not doing this image justice. Oh what I could have done with this scene if I owned a D3...
  • No matter which pond, nor what time of year, nor whether the visitor be young or old, the Koi of Brooklyn's Botanical Garden's are always a source of visual delight.
  • DSC_4944 fall scene at the Japanese Gardens
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