Goodbye my friend

October 25, 2021 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, People, Vehicles Leave a comment

I was sad to learn recently that my friend, Paul Savior had passed away.

I’ve posted pictures of him, his house and garden and even helped him do a photobook of old pictures for his children (See: Paul’s house; My friend Paul; One of Paul’s cats; and Paul and Family.

A recent communication from the Roaring Brook Lake Garden Club described him as follows: “We wanted to share with you the very sad news that longtime Garden Club member Paul Savior passed away on Friday. Paul had just celebrated his 90th birthday on August 16. He is survived by daughters Valerie and Allison. His daughters said the Garden Club meant a lot to him. Paul had an acting career that spanned over six decades, with roles in shows like Kojak, Mannix, General Hospital, and The Young and The Restless. And of course, starring roles at Tompkins Corner and Garrison Depot Theatre.

I have many memories of Paul, but a couple stand out. The first is of a one man show that he performed at the Tompkins Corners Cultural Center. The show consisted of readings from Edgar Allan Poe, one of Paul’s favorite authors. I don’t think I’d realized just how good a performer he was until I saw this. The second is of him driving around the lake in his midnight blue, convertible Jaguar, which seemed to fit his personality so perfectly.

RIP Paul. I’ll miss you.

Photos taken with a Sony RX-100 M1.

A blue car

June 19, 2021 by Howard Dale Posted in Things, Vehicles Leave a comment

Trying my hand at macro photography again, this time with a flash (MEIKE 320S Mini TTL Speedlite Automatic Flash) and diffuser (Angler PSFD-100 Portable Speedlight Flash Diffuser). The last picture shows scale. Clearly I have a long way to go.

In my defense I only wanted to ensure that the eyes were in focus. I didn’t much care if the rest was blurry.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 7artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens

Sylvan Glen 2021 – A last look

March 28, 2021 by Howard Dale Posted in Ruins, Rust, Vehicles Leave a comment

As I was on my way back to the exit via the dog park when I noticed something white and metallic looking off to my left in the woods. This is what I found.

I have no idea what kind of car this is and I’m astonished that they were able to get it to where it is. I’m even more surprised that anyone would take the trouble.

Taken with an Olympus OM-D EM-10 and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42 f3.5-4.6 II

Around the Neighborhood – Southbound Metro North Train

December 27, 2020 by Howard Dale Posted in Around the Neighborhood, Landscapes, Trains, Vehicles Leave a comment

I usually take pictures while walking the dog in the woods. However, of late I find the woods rather boring. There are only so many pictures of bare trees, dead trees, brown dead leaves, rock walls, boulders etc. that you can take.

So instead of the woods I decided to walk the dog around our neighborhood in Briarcliff Manor, NY. Although this post is the first in the series of pictures of areas I can walk to from the house, I’ve also decided to go back over old posts and, where appropriate assign them to the same “Around the Neighborhood’ category.

Southbound metro north train passing Scarborough Station. New Tappan Zee (Mario Cuomo) bridge in the background.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens.

A walk at Graham Hills Park

November 9, 2020 by Howard Dale Posted in Landscapes, People, Things, Vehicles Leave a comment

It was a Saturday and I had intended to go for another walk at Rockwood Hall, but it was teeming with people so I thought I’d try the Rockefeller State Park. It was the same story: the car park was full and the parked cars were backed up all the way down to Route 117 and then for some distance along Route 117. So decided to try nearby Graham Hills Park.

I was talking to a friend about this walk and as I started to mention the park’s name I paused thinking: wasn’t Graham Hill a famous British Formula One racing car driver? As it turned out I was right, but this Graham Hill had no connection to the park. Rather it’s named after Graham Hills, a one-time hamlet and station on the Putnam Railroad, which in turn takes its name from Dr. Isaac Gilbert Graham, a Revolutionary War army surgeon, who settled there circa 1785.

The pictures show a typical woodland walk around here at this time of year: fallen leaves, bare trees, rocks etc. with the odd brightly colored tree (at the time I took the pictures there were still a few but they’re disappearing fast). It’s not an easy walk, particularly when it has rained. The trails are covered in leaves made slippery by the rain and you can’t readily tell what’s under them (rocks, roots etc.) so it’s easy to lose you footing. Also the park appears to be particularly popular with mountain bike riders. While I don’t begrudge them their fun I wish some of them would pay a bit more attention to other people using the park. At times they would come over a rise, or around a corner at high speed and I’d have to quickly jump out of the way.