Candy Cane HOliday Window NYC

A view of a colorful, fun holiday window at Bergdorf Boodman in NYC. The theme of this years windows is all about holiday sweets this window was an eye-catcher in red and white candy cane and pepperment candy displays.

Holiday Window Licorice Carousel NC

A view of a section foa a Bergdorf Goodman holiday window named Licorice Carousel. This year's theme for the windows is based on holiday sweets and each window portrays a favorite type of candy or other holiday treat such as licorice, peppermint, gingerbread, cotton candy.This window is an exquisitely constructed and decorated assembly of mannequins and creaturs that appear to be made out of licorice.

Autumn's Farewell at Gapstow Bridge

A horizontal format view of Central Park Pond and Gapstow Bridge with the gentle, muted colors of the end of autumn. Most of the leaves have fallen and those that remain are faded in colo and ready for a brisk wind to nudge them to the ground. A chilly day but warm sun brings out the gold in the reeds, rushes and scrubby shrubs, a pretty contrast against the azure blue skies above and reflected in the pond.

Central Park Ice Skating Rink

A view of the Central Park Wollman Ice Rink with skaters on the ice, the last of fall colors on the trees and sunflare streaming down from above as the sun glints off of the top edge of a skyscraper to hightlight the rink and frounds to the East side of the park.

Wood Duck Beauty

A beautiful, adult, drake Wood duck (aka Carolina duck, Aix sponsa) on a pond with swirling water in blue, white and gold creating a muddled reflection. These ducks have some of the most beautiful feather coloring of all ducks. with striking red eyes and multi-colored beak, The beautiful ducks are perching ducks and about three-quarters of the length of an adult mallard duck. They are dabbling ducks that feed in the water or on the ground along the edges of ponds, marshes and other water sources on berries, acorns, seeds and insects. The male has easily identifiable multi-colored plumage with red eyes and white on the neck. The female is less colorful with white eye-ring and white throat. Wood ducks are one of two members of the Aix genus, the other being the Asian Mandarin duck. Conservation effects of restoring habitat, building nest boxes and hunting quotas have helped to restore the population of this popular duck which was in significant decline.

Mandarin Duck Portrait 3

The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to East Asia and primarily found there. Closely related to the North American Wood Duck, they are the only two members of genue Aix A vertical format portrait of the breast and head of a mandarin male duck. This duck is widely considered to be the most colorful duck in the world with it multi-colored rainbow plumage hues. Males and females have crests but the it is more pronounced in the male. Two orange 'sails" at the back of the duck make it instantly recognizable along with the purple breast and white eye ring. The mandarin is a medium sized duck, smaller than the wood duck and the more common adult mallard. This mandarin has been stayin in Central Park with a flock of mallard ducks and canada geese and seems to be at home there. Here, he was a bit tuckered out after feeding and seimming around to show off for visitors and shortly after this photo he headed across the pond to shelter and nap in the shade. NOTE: To see my entire collection of photos of this duck, click on the Galleries by Subject Tab at the tope of the page, click on the Bird Gallery and then on the Mandarin Duck folder.

Mandarin Duck Portrait 1

A horizontal format head shot portrait of a Mandarin Drake Duck with a blue water background. The mandarin duck (Aix galericuleta) is a perching duck species native to East Asia and primarily found there. Closely related to the North American Wood Duck, they are the only two members of genue Aix This duck is widely considered to be the most colorful duck in the world with it multi-colored rainbow plumage hues. Males and females have crests but the it is more pronounced in the male. Two orange 'sails" at the back of the duck make it instantly recognizable along with the purple breast and white eye ring. The mandarin is a medium sized duck, smaller than the wood duck and the more common adult mallard. Mandarins are rarely seen in the USA other than in captivity or in small flocks in CA and WA. This beauty has been visiting Central Park in NYC and seems to have made himself quite at home there. NOTE: To see my entire collection of photos of this duck, click on the Galleries by Subject Tab at the tope of the page, click on the Bird Gallery and then on the Mandarin Duck folder.

House Sparrow Portrait

A cute little house sparrow sitting on a branch framed with green leaves and blue background.

NYC Kaleidoscope Sunrise

An out-of-this world effect sunrise that seemed to change by the moment as cloud cover over the city went from solid, deep dark and ominous to broken blues. Yellows came over the horizon before the su n showed its face and as it rose highera bit of magenta purple was added to the mix to finally create this scee as the clouds broke and the sun's warmth altered the scene.

NYC Sunrise over the Horizon

A view of the skyline buildings of New York City and the Hudson River as the early morning deep dawn colors begin to give way to the light of the sun as it just begins to appear over the skyscraper horizon. On this particular morning, with lots of puffy clouds in the sky, the color scheme by Mother Nature is mis-tone blues, yellow and bronze orange with the buiildings in dark silhouette against the light in the sky. The taller center towers are the some of the tallest in the city and are part of the Hudson Yards Project.

Sunrise in Pink and Blue NYC

A view of the midtown Manhattan skyline and Hudson River as the rising sun tries to break through heavy clouds. This lovely pink and blue color combination painted by Mother Nature only lasted a few brief minutes before it faded away to gray tones to forecast a rainy day to come.

Manhattan Skyscraper Sunrise

A view of silhouetted skyscrapers of midtown New York City and the Hudson River at sunrise, as seen from New Jersey. The tall towers are the buildings of the west side Hudson Yards project. You can barely see it from this perspective, but the tallest of the buildings (still under construction) has an outdoor viewing platfrom for visitors to look out over the city.

NY Silhouettes and Sunrise

Midtown Manhattan skyscrapers in shilhouette against the yellow-orange sunrise sky as the sun rises over the city horizon on a very cold Friday after Thanksgiving.

Blue and Golld Lower Manhattan Sundown

A view of One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) and the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan as the gold and yellow hues from the setting sun to the West reflectin the buildings and contrast beautifully with a cyan-blue sky. A treat to see blue skies and some color after days of clouds and gray skies.

World Trade Center Sunset Beauty

A vertical format view of One World Trade Center (Freedon Tower) and the skyscrapers around the Trade Center complex in lower Manhattan as the sun sets across the river to the west. The sunset golden and orange colors reflect in the buildings contrasted against a blue sky with layers of blue, cyan and yellow clouds.

NYC-Westside sundown

The skyscrapers of the west side of Manhattan and the Hudson River at the start of the sundown golden hour under cloud-filled blue skies. The buildings and clouds are tinted with the warm golden colors of the setting sun. In the foreground along the river are cruse ship piers and the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. The two matching dark towers are the towers of the Time Warner complex at Columbus Circle The pyramid shaped building at the extreme left is the VIA 57 West, a residential building designed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The pyramid shaped tower block or "tetrahedron" rises 467 ft and 35 stories tall and is located on West 57th Street in the Hell's Kitchen section of the city.

New York, Clouds and Reflections at Sundown

A vertical format view of skysrapers of midtown Manhattan at the beginning of the sundown golden hour, with beautiful streaked and puffy clouds above and light reflections in the Hudson River in the foreground. The building that stands out with its rust-hued brick facade and green pyriamid shaped roof is named One Worldwide Plaza. The 50 story building is the tallest of a three-building, mixed-use commercial and residential complex (Worldwide Plaza) completed in 1989. Occupying an entire city block, the complex is located between 49th and 50th streets and 8th and 9th Avenues. The complex skyscrapers are included on the list of tallest buildings in the city. The construction of One Worldwide Plaza was documented in a Channel 4 / PBS mini-series and there is also a companion book Skyscraper: The Making of a Building by Karl Sabbagh. brick. The building is crowned by a copper roof and glass pyramid known as "David's Diamond" after the architect, David Childs. The tall building in the background reaching to the clouds, it seems, is one of the new residential towers that are supplanting the older famous, landmark structures in the city at the top of the tallest list.

N.J. Monuments to Liberty and Liberation

An unusual perspective of two statues that can be seen at Liberty State Park N.J., one well known and famous the world over and the other one that perhaps should be. At the south east side of the park on a large grassy lawn, sits the wonderful statue of a World Word II USA soldier carrying a man being rescued from the Nazi concentration camps. Created by sculpture Natan Rapoport, the monument is fifteen feet tall and weighs approximately two tons, it was comissioned by the State of New Jersey and a coalition of veterans orgnazations. While the primary ocus was the Holocast, Rapoport's goal was to creater an artistic vision statement that in the face of sorrow and tradegy, hope can triumph. Governor Thomas H. Kean's speech at the monument's dedication in 1985 included these words. "The monument says that we, as a collective people, stand for freedom. We, as Americans, are not oppressors, and we, as Americans, do not engage in armed conflict for the purpose of conquest. Our role in the world is to preserve that precious, precious thing that we consider to be a free democracy. Today we will remember those who gave their lives for freedom." I took this image on Veteran's Day - it spoke to me strongly with the military boots contrasted with the Statue of LIberty. Isolating the boots of the statue to me represents all of our people who have served or are serving in our military. Thank you to all of our veterans, and those still serving, who gave and give so much, as do their families, to support these ideals and often against difficult odds do their best to keep alive the principals on which this country was founded.

NJ Palisades Cliffs Autumn and Hudson River

A vertical format view of a section of the cliffs of the New JErsey Palisades in beautiful peak fall foliage color with a blue sky and the colorful trees reflected in the Hudson River.

NJ Palisades Autumn at State Line

A vertical format view of the beautiful fall foliage color along the New Jersey Palisades at State Line Lookout Park topped with blue skies. The view overlooks the cliffs of the palisade, the Hudson River and New York across the river.

Autumn Landscape of the NJ Great Falls

A grand scope view of the cliffs of the Passaic River and Great Falls of Paterson New Jersey as the river waters fall over the famous falls and curve around the rock formations to continue on to North Paterson along their long and circuitous journey to Newark Bay. Image taken at Great Falls National Park during the peak autumn fall foliage color.

Historic Great Falls and Mill Autumn Landscape

A landscape image of the Great Falls of Paterson New JErsey surrounded by fall foliage colors with the historic S.U.M. mill in the foreground. The mill ran from 1791-1941 producing textires and doing printing, bleaching and dying. Great FAlls National Park in Paterson New Jersey.

Fall F oliage Passaic RiverN.J.

A view of the beautiful peak fall foliage along the banks of the Passaic River in Paterson New Jersey. Rich, autumn leaves in golds, yellows, ooranges and greens with a plae blue sky reflected in the river waters. This landscape view was seen at Great Falls National Park N.J.