a wordpress birthday

St. Patrick's Cathedral

So WordPress sent me this message today: Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 5 years ago! Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging!

Just want to say thank you to my WordPress family.  To all of you who have connected here… thank you for your comments and conversations, your support and AY-MAY-ZING talent. I am grateful.

In WordPress years I am officially 5 years old. So, as far as photography and blogging go, that would make me a kindergarten student. Yup! That’s about right. Thanks everyone!

To celebrate, here is a favorite image. This is the interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

memories

memories

This image contains lots of ingredients that make up a wonderful part of my life. It was taken a couple of years ago in my home town, East Meadow NY. You can see that it is the corner of FIFTH ST and PROSPECT AVE. If you walk towards the ’57 Chevy and turn right when you pass it, and walk down FIFTH ST, you will arrive at my home in about 4 minutes. Speaking of ’57 Chevy’s, I remember when my dad had one. In fact, I was so young, I can remember sitting in the back seat with my legs sticking straight out. I was too short to bend my knees over the edge of the cavernous seat. All to say, I love my home town memories, my dad’s old ’57 Chevy, and the precious gift of being able to go back and see my parents in the house I grew up in.

black and white challenge 3

under manhattan

Black and white challenge #3. This was taken last year beneath downtown Manhattan, NY. Be sure and visit Darwin on the Rocks and Around the World  (my challenger) where you will find stunning images from her travels around the world.  I am posting a black and white image each day for 5 days – some old and some new – and inviting another blogger to do the same.

Today I challenge the gifted Lignum Draco to join the fun. His blog is full of amazing images from the land down under. He has many delightful black and white street photography images. Check it out!

Here are the rules:

1.Post a different black and white photo of yours each day for five consecutive days.

2. Nominate a fellow blogger on each day to continue the challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post.

Cheers!

black and white challenge 1

St. Patrick's Cathedral

I have accepted a black and white challenge from the amazing Darwin on the Rocks and Around the World. Check out her beautiful images and writing here: https://beautifuliceland.wordpress.com/

My first post features the beautifully stunning St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Last year I was in NY with my oldest son and we spent a day in the city. This amazing structure is undergoing a complete restoration on the inside and out. We were greeted with a dizzying array of scaffolding all around the interior of the sanctuary.

I would like to invite Marcos Ferreiro to participate in the black and white challenge. His blog features beautiful black and white photography of a wide variety of subjects. Visit his amazing blog here: http://sietesombras.es/

There are only 2 rules to follow by accepting this challenge:

1.Post a different black and white photo of yours each day for five consecutive days.

2. Nominate a fellow blogger on each day to continue the challenge. See you tomorrow for the next post.

home church 4

home church 4

A somber, final image from the church of my childhood.

home church 2

home church 2

The second image of the church building of my childhood. The structure is in the shape of an “L”,  with the altar right at the lower left corner where the horizontal and vertical lines of an “L” meet. This is taken looking towards the alter from the end of the horizontal part of the “L.” In know that the church is not a building – it is people following as disciples – still, this was very sad for me to see.

home church 1

home church 1

Moving away from the shore and back to my home town for a series  –  if 4 is a series  –  of images of the church I grew up in. This is the old St. Raphael’s Church in East Meadow, NY. The parish has built a beautiful, modern sanctuary and this is all that remains of the St. Raphael’s of my childhood. The structure is in the shape of an “L”,  with the altar right at the lower left corner where the horizontal and vertical lines of an “L” meet. This is taken from the alter looking at the longest part of the sanctuary.

if i could fly

i believe i can fly 2

if i could fly

beneath the winter sun

beneath the winter sun

The title sounds like the beginning of a nice poem, or a novel about a photographer’s adventures on the shores of a long island… but, for now, it will serve as a title. Taken on my recent trip to Jones Beach. Thanks for stopping by.

under the snowboardwalk

 

 

snowboardwalk

(Under the snowboardwalk) we’ll be havin’ some fun
(Under the snowboardwalk) people walking above
(Under the snowboardwalk) we’ll be falling in love
Under the snowboardwalk, snowboardwalk!

(The Drifters, with a little editing from yours truly)