Photo Of The Day: February 28, 2009

I bought my house on the New Jersey shore nine years ago today. Well, technically, it was nine years ago tomorrow, because I took possession on February 29 in a leap year. I like the house -- it has a nice layout and is just about the right size, and my neighbors are great. But I also love what I see from the house. Here's just one example. For more pictures of the Atlantic Ocean, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 27, 2009

It's actually been pretty mild here in New Jersey this month, but it was much colder up in the Berkshires last month. This mountain has trees encased in a thin coating of ice, which gives the mountain an almost-transluscent look to it. For more photos of the Berkshires, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 26, 2009

I don't know whether someone stubbed their toe near this intersection on Cape Cod and decided to give it this whimsical name, or whether it was created during a real out-of-the-box brainstorming session. No matter what, it's a far cry from Elm Street or 123 Main Street, Anytown, USA. For more pictures of Cape Cod, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 25, 2009

For our last photo from the February Sandy Hook snowfall, I thought it appropriate to show Sandy Hook Light. It's the oldest continuously operated lighthouse in the United States, and has been shining its beacon since 1764. For more pictures of Sandy Hook Light, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 24, 2009

Sandy Hook is generally a straight North-South spit of land, but it has so many wonderfully sculpted sections of shore. Here's one example on the west side looking from the North, with Plum Island right in the background. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 23, 2009

Among the wonders of Sandy Hook is a 264 acre holly forest -- the largest in North America. And it looks particularly good in the snow. For more pictures of holly, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 22, 2009

One thing nice about Sandy Hook is that it's surrounded by water on two sides. So even though it is "just" seven miles long, Sandy Hook has thirteen miles of beaches. Here's how it looked earlier this month from the western border of the Hook. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 21, 2009

Literally just a few hundred feet from the trees photographed in yesterday's Photo of the Day were these very different -- but equally beautiful -- trees. For more pictures of trees, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 20, 2009

Sometimes just the snowfall clinging to the smaller branches on the scrub brush found at Sandy Hook is all you need for a beautiful scene. For more pictures of scrub brush, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 19, 2009

On Sandy Hook, there are miles of snow fencing. Of course, it's a bit of an anomaly, because the fences are used to hold sand, not snow. So it's always kind of fun to see a snow fence on Sandy Hook actually in the snow. For more pictures of fences, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 18, 2009

No visit to Sandy Hook is complete without a visit to Guardian Park. Usually, the best views are after you walk over the footbridge to the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory. But during our recent snowfall, the best view was before you even got into it -- just a few feet from the main road. For more pictures of parks, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 17, 2009

The walkway from Lot G to Gunnison Beach can be filled with people on a summer day. But on this day, there was not even one footprint -- making for a pristine photo. For more pictures of snow without footprints, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 16, 2009

Horseshoe Cove on Sandy Hook is a cove in the shape of, well, a horse shoe. After the recent snowfall, it looked beautiful as you looked from one edge of the horse shoe to the other. For more pictures of horses, and shoes, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 15, 2009

During the recent snowfall here in New Jersey, there was plenty of parking available in the Gunnison Beach and North Beach parking lots on Sandy Hook. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 14, 2009

Today is Valentine's Day, and I couldn't think of a better photo to share than this one. For more pictures of flowers, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 13, 2009

Back to the recent snowfall, here's the Visitor's Center at Sandy Hook. That funky square tower, which you see every few miles all along the New Jersey coast, is an old lifesaving station. People would sit up there and watch for ship wrecks, which happened frequently enough to warrant these towers. Of course, the tower is not used for that now, but it's still a very attractive design element. For more pictures of New Jersey, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 12, 2009

Today is the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, so I can't think of a better photo to use than this one. For more pictures, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 11, 2009

I've heard of white sand, but this is ridiculous. This is from last week's snowfall on Sandy Hook. For more pictures of snow, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 10, 2009

We're taking a one-day break from our Sandy Hook photos today to talk about a very special person. A few years ago Jerry Gerson and his wife Jeanne arrived in the Highlands, and three years ago this month they created a completely unique coffee shop in the center of town. This coffee shop wasn't a chain; the furniture was 100% yard sale vintage; and the music was piped in from WFUV or any number of other unique internet radio stations Jerry was able to research and discover. Within weeks, The Water Witch Coffee and Tea Company became "the" go-to place for all residents -- in part because of the outstanding coffee and fresh-baked pastries, but mostly because of Jerry himself, who was a fixture in the shop, offering ongoing conversation and advice on everything from how to fix a toilet to getting a bicycle in top-flight condition. Jerry was able to relate to any one he met, no matter what their background or station in life, usually within just minutes of first meeting them.

One year ago, Jerry was diagnosed with cancer, and he fought it with such spirit that it was easy to forget the severity of his disease. But last Friday, he lost the fight. True to his style, a memorial gathering last night was followed by a reception at the coffee shop he founded. The enormity of the people who attended, squeezed body-to-body in a standing-room-only celebration of his life, was exceeded only by the enormity of Jerry's generosity, energy, kindness, and popularity. This shot was taken almost exactly a year ago during a snowfall in Highlands, when the day's very first indicator of life and warmth came from the coffee shop, founded by the person for whom life and warmth will always be synonymous.

Photo Of The Day: February 9, 2009

This shot of Sandy Hook Light, the oldest continuously operated lighthouse in the United States, looks even better when surround by snow. For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 8, 2009

You'd think you were in Vermont when looking at this picture taken during last week's snowfall on Sandy Hook, but you're actually just steps form the ocean. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 7, 2009

Continuing with our collection of photos from last week's snowfall on Sandy Hook, here's a shot from the end of Parking Area F. The sign is barely standing up, but it casts a nice shadow and works well with the mound of sand covered in snow and the color of the horizon in the morning light. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 6, 2009

This past Tuesday, we got some real snow here on the New Jersey shore -- well, real snow as defined here, which is about 5 inches, so apologies are in order to those in New England and Spokane, Washington who have had regular 20+ inch snowfalls this year alone. When we get snow, it's just stunning, so off I went to Sandy Hook to capture it the day after. For the next several days, we'll feature shots from Wednesday's shoot. For more pictures of Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 5, 2009

This lily flower in a pond in southern Maine made me think of a gear shifter. There's probably a market somewhere for that as an aftermarket option for some vehicle. For more pictures of lilies, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 4, 2009

It was pretty quiet the other night on New Jersey Transit's North Coast Line heading down the Jersey Shore. Of course, that was before the track was announced and the car was inundated with commuters. For more pictures of transportation, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 3, 2009

In honor of the Pittsburgh Steelers' victory in Super Bowl XLIII, New York City decided to light the Empire State Building in the Steelers' yellow and black colors on Monday as a tribute to their very successful season. I wasn't in New York to see it up close, so I had to use a pretty powerful lens to grab this closeup from my house. The colors appeared when dusk fell at about 5:30, and lasted until the lights were turned off at midnight, as they are each night. That shorter gold-topped building right in front is the New York Life building, and its gold color is only coincidental to the purposeful yellow color of the Empire State Building. For more pictures of the New York as seen from the Jersey Shore, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 2, 2009

One of the nice things about living on the Jersey shore is that you can see the cruise ships as they leave New York City. I haven't seen one in a while, possibly because they sail less in the winter than in the summer, when I've seen five ships within a 90 minute period. So it was a treat to see one yesterday. Even better, with the sun setting when it does this time of year, the ship was beautifully lit -- it was dark enough to see the lights, and light enough to see the shape and detail of the ship as seen here. For more pictures of cruise ships, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: February 1, 2009

The Miami skyline is gorgeous and visible from a number of vantage points. But sometimes, even just four of its buildings grouped together make a nice cityscape, too, as seen here. For more pictures of Miami, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.