Photo Of The Day: November 30, 2008

In Wellfleet on Cape Cod, there is a long wooden walking bridge over Duck Creek that connects East Commercial Street to Cannon Hill. It's called Uncle Tim's Bridge and got its name from Tim Daniels, who lived opposite the bridge on East Commercial Street. It was built in the late 1700's but has been rebuilt at least three times before this year, when it was rebuilt again. On November 12, it was officially reopened. Because it is brand new, the wood still has that yellow look to it, which will fade to a darker and grayer brown over the next several months. I saw it Friday as the sun was shining right on it, accentuating the wood's light color, as seen here. For more photos of Uncle Tim's Bridge, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 29, 2008

Tonight I'll be at an end-of-season reception at the Sandpiper Gallery in Wellfleet, MA where my work is exhibited. The Sandpiper Gallery is right on Commercial Street and is a perfect stopover in summer or winter. Here's how it looked earlier this year. For more photos of Wellfleet, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 28, 2008

It may be the day after Thanksgiving, but that doesn't keep some people from putting on their wetsuits and getting in some windsurfing on Sandy Hook, NJ. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 27, 2008

This story will sound made up, but it's not: Last Thanksgiving Day, I was driving through Pennsylvania when I had to make a rest stop. Right outside the Burger King at a rest area on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, in honor of Thanksgiving Day, was this turkey. He was oblivious to the foot and auto traffic around him, and was the only turkey I've ever seen just hanging out in front of a Burger King, or anywhere for that matter. I thought that the turkey should have at least waited until the day after Thanksgiving to show his face. For more pictures of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 26, 2008

Sandy Hook, NJ has autumn colors like the rest of the northeast United States, but they're not of the usual maple and oak trees. Instead, Sandy Hook has a lot of what is called scrub-shrub, or low vegetation growth. So the colors are there, but in smaller increments. For more photos of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 25, 2008

It's hard to believe that it was just a couple of months ago people were outside enjoying the summer weather. This shot was taken on the boardwalk of Point Pleasant beach here on the Jersey shore. For more photos of Point Pleasant, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 24, 2008

I had totally forgotten this autumn photo I took last year while rambling down a country road in Middletown, NJ. It reminds me that autumn can be more than, er, just winter coming early (this said because we've had winter-like temperatures over the past few days, despite winter not arriving for another full month, which I consider grossly unjust). For more autumn photos, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 23, 2008

I was asked to assemble some recent shots of Monmouth County for a client over the weekend, and in doing so I found a few I had forgotten all about. So we'll feature some for the next few days here. This one was a lot of fun to discover -- it looks so similar to the one I use as my gallery photo for my Sandy Hook gallery: the color is similar and the clouds have that identical dotted look. But instead of being way over to the left of the photo as it is in the other shot, the sun is over to the right, just above the osprey's nest. For more photos of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 22, 2008

Unkempt grass usually isn't as nice as a just-mowed lawn, but that all changes when dew drops form on individual blades from condensation of moisture on a warm morning. Here's proof. For more photos of grass, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 21, 2008

Just to be fair regarding yesterday's Photo of the Day, you don't have to be in the Caribbean to plant crops late in the season. This shot was taken in upstate New York just six weeks ago. For more pictures of upstate New York, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 20, 2008

Even though it's winter, there are brand new crops that have just been planted that are in the springtime of their life. The catch: they're in Barbados, where they plant year round. For more photos of crops, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 19, 2008

Today New York City's Triborough Bridge will officially be renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. The Triborough Bridge is a complex of 3 spans that connect the three boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens -- hence the name "Tri-Borough." The naming is in recognition of Robert Kennedy's representation of New York in the United States Senate, and is being held a day before what would have been Robert Kennedy's 83rd birthday. Here's how the newly named Robert F. Kennedy Bridge looks, taken from the East River in Manhattan. For more pictures of bridges, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 18, 2008

Spring Bay is on the almost-most-Eastern point of Barbados in St. Philip, sitting immediately to the Southeast of Ragged Point. It is deeply indented, and terminates at the South with the vertical face of Deebles Point. Deebles Point is a dramatic extension of land that has 80 foot cliffs dropping right down to the Atlantic Ocean, as seen here. For more photos of cliffs, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 17, 2008

As autumn turns into a memory here where temperatures are struggling to get into the 40s, I thought it would be good to look back a few weeks when the leaves were showing off their beauty. This one was taken in upstate New York. For more pictures of upstate New York, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 16, 2008

Taking photographs in mirrors is a fun challenge: you have to keep yourself and your equipment out of the shot, and at the same time keep the perspective as straight-on as possible so it looks as if you're shooting in a centered position directly in front of the mirror. Then, you have to have good raw material in the mirror to show, and ensure that from where you are shooting you create a nicely framed composition created by the confines of the mirror itself. And of course you have to start with a good looking mirror. All of this was easy in this photo, because I was at The Palms in Turks and Caicos, where the artistic design of the entire property ensures that there is nothing but beautiful raw material to shoot. For more pictures of mirrors, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 15, 2008

A photographer friend recently sent me a batch of terrific photos of this year's foliage in New York City. I realized that, despite having literally thousands of photos of New York, I don't have any real arsenal of foliage shots from there. So that will be on my To-Do list for next year. In the meantime, I was able to scrounge up one shot I took a few years ago at Madison Square Park. For more photos of New York City, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 14, 2008

My travels have kept me from getting any foliage shots here in New Jersey this year. So we'll go to the archives for this shot taken two years ago here in New Jersey near Bon Jovi's home. Those of you who are local may recognize this from guidebooks published by the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce. For more autumn pictures, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 13, 2008

Yesterday I showed a photo of Foul Bay Beach, and mentioned the cliffs that define the end of the beach. Here's a close-up of the cliff shown in yesterday's photo, and you can see how large and dramatic it is. For more pictures of beaches, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 12, 2008

There's a beach on Barbados which may be the prettiest beach I've seen. It's called Foul Bay Beach, which is an interesting name because the beach is anything but foul. The beach is pristine, with no washed up seaweed or other objects -- like a beach that is carefully coiffed at a resort every morning, except there's no one there to coif it. To add to that, it is bordered by a cliff on both sides, so despite its expansive size, you feel like you're all alone in this paradise. This shot was taken with a very wide angle lens, and still shows just about two-thirds of the beach. Tomorrow I'll show you a close up of one of the cliffs. For more pictures of beaches, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 11, 2008

Barbados isn't all just warm beaches and white sand. There's also an amazing terrain that is as varied as can be imagined. Here's just one example, taken in the middle of the island. For more pictures of mountains in and out of the United States, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 10, 2008

If you drive to the most absolute northern tip of Barbados, you'll come to the Animal Flower Cave. That unusual name comes from small animals that look like blooming flowers which live in the shallow pools of the cave's floor. After you arrive, you are escorted down a stairway to a large underground cave that has a handful of large openings out to the ocean. The "floor" of the cave has naturally-formed shallow pools of residual water. But in one part of the cave, there is a natural pool that is eight feet deep -- deep enough for swimming. When the sun streams in from the outside through its opening to the ocean, it's a sight that is beyond beautiful. For more photos of water, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 9, 2008

I was a little perturbed yesterday when a rainstorm interrupted my shoot in Barbados, particularly as I had just arrived to cover Bathsheba, one of the most picturesque and dramatic locations on the entire east coast of the island. But I quickly became unperturbed when I saw the result afterwards -- a full arc rainbow right over the Atlantic Ocean. As long as I've been shooting, I've never shot, or even seen, a full rainbow over any body of water. So this shot is particularly special. It's small so you can't really appreciate the grandness of the scene, so you'll need to use your imagination to visualize how enormous the rainbow was, stretching well over a mile. And now that I've taken this, I bet it's Judy Garland's new favorite picture. For more photos of water, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 8, 2008

After arriving in Barbados in mid-afternoon, I spent most of the time hopelessly lost trying to find my way around. The problem wasn't driving on the left side of the road -- I was actually living in England when I became old enough to drive and be licensed, so that part was completely natural. Nor was it the lack of good maps, many of which are available free at the airport and other locations. The issue seemed to be a lack of street identification, so I had no idea if I was where I thought I was. The simple answer is, I usually wasn't! Being lost when you're a photographer is generally a good thing, because you get to see opportunities you may have otherwise missed. But I didn't want to miss the sunset, so I found Highway 7, the road that goes along the coast, and just stayed with it. And just as I arrived at Carlisle Bay, the sun put on its daily show, as seen here. For more photos of sunsets, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 7, 2008

Today I leave for a shoot in Barbados. Although I live closer to Newark Airport, JFK has a nonstop so I'll be leaving from there. But it also means that, for an early flight, I have to leave the house in the dark of night. One nice thing about that is seeing the Verrazano Bridge from the Belt Parkway. I see the bridge from my house, but this provides another nice perspective. Here's a shot taken last week when I was returning from Turks and Caicos. For more pictures of bridges, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 6, 2008

The Sands at Grace Bay Resort sits on the shore of Grace Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos with more than 12 miles of white powdered sand and dazzling transparent turquoise waters. Comprised of 114 suites in six three-story buildings within lush tropical landscaping in a Caribbean Plantation style setting, there's a lot to see and enjoy there -- including this pool right at the edge of the beach. For more pictures of swimming pools, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 5, 2008

The end of the day provides many photographic joys on Turks and Caicos other than just great sunsets. One thing it provides is interesting color just after the sun has gone down. Here's how Grace Bay Beach looked last week, with the wet sand picking up and reflecting the subtle color in the clouds while the water kept its peaceful azure blue color. For more pictures of the ocean, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 4, 2008

Turks and Caicos has bold, dramatic colors that are pretty typical of the Caribbean. It shows up in many ways, including at this store window. Although the establishment was closed when I took the shot, it still provided a simple and stark design of color and form. For more pictures of colorful objects, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 3, 2008

The Regent Palms is a 72-suite luxury Providenciales resort situated on Grace Bay Beach in Turks and Caicos. Among other things, it has an amazing design that provides eye-popping beauty throughout the resort. Here's one example: the entry lobby that you come into when arriving there. For more photos of architecture, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 2, 2008

Two days after arriving in Turks and Caicos, I was on Long Bay Beach at 6:10 a.m. for the sunrise. As is typical for any sunrise, and accentuated in Turks and Caicos, the presentation was spectacular. The combination of pink, blue and orange in the sky almost looked like color was added after-the-fact, but it was the real color that morning. For more pictures of sunrises, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: November 1, 2008

The brown pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is about four feet in length with a wingspan of about seven feet. It's common in the Caribbean, so it was easy to see in Turks and Caicos. Unlike the American White Pelican, it dives for fish from the air, and often travels in groups in single file, flying low over the water's surface. Here's one I saw just taking off, and if you look closely, you'll see the drops of water behind him where he took off. For more pictures of unusual animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.