Photo Of The Day: January 31, 2009

A furnace is very nice this time of year, but this one isn't to heat people -- it's to melt glass, at the Sandwich Glass Museum on Cape Cod. For more pictures of Cape Cod, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 30, 2009

St. John in the United States Virgin Islands has miles of empty beaches. They're empty in part because the population is not terribly large -- just 4,000, making it even smaller than Highlands, NJ. They're also empty because to get to many of the beaches, you have to hike over rocky coasts in ankle deep water to get to them. Here's one such empty beach just east of Fish Bay. For more pictures of St. John, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 29, 2009

Today is a monumental day in the pattern of seasons. Today the mean low temperature goes up one degree. It doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be warmer today than yesterday. But given the averages of the past, it means that we are officially coming out of the trough of winter and moving in a positive direction. So I thought I'd remind you what we're in store for -- eventually. For more pictures of summer, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 28 2009

There's something about a fence receding into the distance that makes you have a whole new perspective on things. This snow fence was taken in Cape Cod. For more pictures of fences, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 27, 2009

On a cold day like this, there's nothing like a cup of authentic Cuban coffee. The only irony is that Cuban coffee is generally available where it's already warm, like this cup, which was served in Little Havana in Miami. For more pictures of coffee, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 26, 2009

When the snow and cold get you down, it's easy to really dislike the winter weather. But that all changes when you see a sunrise coming up over a January field, bathing it in a beautiful color. For more pictures of sunrises, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 25, 2009

One of the beauties of farmland is seeing crops, planted all parallel to each other, receding into the distance to provide a beautiful perspective. This scene was further enhanced by the row of trees behind it, which framed it all up nicely. And the blue sky didn't hurt anything, either. For more pictures of farmland, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 24 2009

This pelican had to work late, but nonetheless made it home just in time for dinner. For more pictures of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 23, 2009

Miami Beach has hotels in many different areas. Some of the most famous are on Ocean Drive and the southern part of Collins Avenue, where the distinctive art deco style exists. But further north on Collins Avenue, much larger hotels start to appear, such as this one. For more pictures of Miami Beach, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 22, 2009

I'm not a big fan of cold winter weather, but sometimes there's immense beauty that results from it. This shot was taken through the window of my house at sunrise. The orange color is from the sunrise, and the design you see is ice. For more pictures of ice, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 21, 2009

The sun is at an unusal angle this time of year, which provides different -- but still spectacular -- sunsets here on Sandy Hook, as seen here in this example. For more photos of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 20, 2009

Manhattan can look good any time of the year. But in the winter months, the sun is at an angle that provides a perfect picture from my home here on the Jersey Shore. Here's how it looked earlier this week at sunset, with Sandy Hook and Brooklyn in the foreground. For more pictures of New York City, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 19, 2009

On Sunday, the temperature rose again above freezing, getting us out of our frigid predicament. Here's a shot from the same time a few years ago when Sandy Hook Bay froze. The shot is taken from one of the two ferry docks that carry passengers to New York, looking at the other dock. Most interesting, in addition to the fact that you could literally "walk on water" to get from one to the other, is the incredible texture created by the frozen water as it get pushed into new forms from the expansion caused by freezing water. For more pictures of docks, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 18, 2009

Yesterday the temperature here on the New Jersey shore hit a three-year low -- 5 degrees. It's already having an impact on the local rivers and bays. Here's a shot of Sandy Hook Bay from several years ago when it last froze -- all the way across to Sandy Hook. For more pictures of frozen water, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 17, 2009

Vancouver Island has a huge range of environments in its 12,000+ square mile space. Among other things are a number of rain forests. In one, it is so damp that the moss, literally, hangs from the tree, as seen here. For more photos of Vancouver Island, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 16, 2009

What makes it worth getting up early enough to get the 5:55 AM boat to New York? Getting this view just as dawn is approaching when pulling out of Pier 11 on the way to the East 35th Street dock. Not only is the balance between the approaching light and the electricity of the city a perfect complement to each other, but the sun rising over the East River casts a wonderful reflective gold light on the lower part of the reflective buildings, which higher up are still capturing the blue sky not yet converted by the sun. For more photos of New York, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 15, 2009

Bougainvillea is always a pretty flower, but it usually has some color -- a magenta, pink, or even orange. But this one was white, which made for a very classy look and a nice contrast against the green leaves. For more pictures of flowers, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 14, 2009

Mary had a little lamb and his fleece was, well, spotted. This newborn comes from a farm in upstate New York. For more pictures of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 13, 2009

One of the nice things about the dolphins at Miami Seaquarium is that after they do a great flip for the ever appreciative audience, as shown yesterday, they come by to discuss their technique and ask for constructive criticism. At least that's what it looked like this dolphin was doing here. For more pictures of dolphins, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 12, 2009

Building on yesterday's Photo of the Day, here's another shot of a dolphin, but not taken in New Jersey. This was taken at the Seaquarium in Miami, where you'll see acrobatics from dolphins like you've never seen anywhere else. Here's just one example. For more pictures of dolphins, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 11, 2009

NBC News had a piece this week on the dolphins here at the Jersey Shore. On Father's Day, 2008, 16 dolphins swam all the way up Sandy Hook Bay to visit, and some have never left. Three have died, eight are unaccounted for and presumed to have returned to the ocean, but five are still around, frolicking, although thinner. I last saw them in person about two weeks ago, and on the next sunny day will venture out again. It's harder to follow them because they are very transitory -- one day they'll be right here in my town at the Highlands bridge, and the next day they'll be several miles up another river in neighboring Rumson. In the meantime, I thought I'd dust off one of the shots I took earlier in the season. For more photos of dolphins, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 10, 2009

For the final shot from my recent shoot in Maine, I've saved the simplest for last -- a clean shot of the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. For more pictures of sunrises, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 9, 2009

Here's another shot of the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse in Maine -- up close and personal so you can see the iron pier that abuts it. For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 8, 2009

Sometimes, the comparatively cold, snowy and rocky coast of Maine can seem inhospitable. That is, until you catch it during the best light of the day. In a glance, you are transformed to a feel of cool, crisp refreshment that even a beer manufacturer would envy. For more pictures of Maine, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 7, 2009

If you want to take a shot of the sun rising over Portland Head Light, you have a pretty limited window -- the angle of the sun is dependent on the time of year, and it's just around the solstice when you can get a nice shot that includes the lighthouse, building, and the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. Worth getting up in the dark in four-degree weather? To me it is, when this is the result. For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 6, 2009

If you want privacy, there's nothing like a house on the end of an island with no other people on it, such as this one near Cape Elizabeth, Maine. For more pictures of islands, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 5, 2009

Any sunrise looks good, but it's even nicer when it's rising over water, and the water is punctuated by jutting rocks -- something found frequently in Maine. For more pictures of Maine, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 4, 2009

The Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse sits about a mile offshore from Portland Head near the entrance to Portland Harbor. Surrounded by dangerous ledges, shipwrecks happened with unusual frequency in the 1800s. So in 1902, Congress appropriated funds for the building of a lighthouse on Ram Island Ledge. Work began in 1903 and was completed in July 1904, complicated by the fact that the base of the lighthouse could be built only at low tide.For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 3, 2009

I was up in Maine over the holidays to add some winter shots to my Maine gallery, and decided to get up in the dark of night to catch the first light of the day. There were some nice results, which we'll feature this week. This one is of Portland Head Light. For more pictures of Maine, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 2, 2009

Well, you learn something new every day. For years I've been shooting Cape Cod, and I have a range of shots of Pilgrim Monument, a commemoration to the Pilgrims' first landfall in the New World. In fact, I posted a fresh photo of it just about a month ago. But this week I finally had a chance to see the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. As the film opened, it showed a scene of Siena, Italy -- and there was the Pilgrim Monument. I couldn't believe my eyes. So I did some research and found that the Pilgrim Monument was designed by Willard T. Sears after the Torre del Mangia in Siena, Italy, which was designed by Arguolo and Agostino in 1309. In other words, Sears simply copied the original that was designed 600 years earlier. Here's a shot I took of the monument, along with an inserted comparison shot of the original monument, kindly provided by Steve Soper, who manages a comprehensive site about Siena, Italy found here. For more shots of Pilgrim Monument,, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: January 1, 2009

Happy New Year! For more pictures of fireworks, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.