Photo Of The Day: May 20, 2008

After showing the photo of the alligator from Miami, I thought it was only appropriate to show a more friendly Florida face -- this striking red and blue parrot. For more pictures of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 19, 2008

Yesterday's news talked a lot about Senator Kennedy's seizure over the weekend, so I thought it was an appropriate time to share a portrait I took of the Senator last year. This was taken in his home town of Hyannis, MA on Cape Cod during the ceremony for the unveiling of the John F. Kennedy statue at the JFK Museum. There's no artificial lighting here at all -- the completely natural available light provided a nice and even illumination in the afternoon sun. It's certainly not the only flattering photo ever taken of Senator Kennedy, but it's one of them. I know that everyone, no matter what their political persuasion, wishes the Senator a speedy recovery. For more pictures of people, famous and less famous, and of the Cape, from the canal to the tip, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 18, 2008

Miami is known as a colorful place. One such way it is colorful is via its bridges that connect Miami to Miami Beach. Here's how the MacArthur Causeway looked one night while bathed in its traditional purple. The Port Boulevard Bridge that connects Miami to the Port of Miami is similarly bathed, but in royal blue. For more pictures of bridges, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 17, 2008

Today I am attending a milestone reunion of my class at The Wharton School which is part of the University of Pennsylvania. While there, I hope to take new photos of each of the three primary buildings the MBA students use at Wharton. (Translation: I don't have a good one to put in this Photo of the Day post.) In the meantime, here is a shot of one stately building on one part of Penn's 280 acre campus. For more photos of stately places, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 16, 2008

Like the lighthouse example cited below, I always thought that beach grasses and dunes sculpted by a rickety snow fence were the exclusive purview of the Northeast. I figured that Miami would just have a white beach with some palms on it. Well, that's true in some places and there'll be some shots of that in future Photo of the Day posts. But in the meantime, there are some places in Miami that you'd swear were right out of Cape Cod or the Jersey Shore, like this place captured here. For more beach photos, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 15, 2008

Miami has more palm trees than any place I've been. They're everywhere, and come in all shapes and sizes -- tall, short, bushy, thin, elegant, bulky, and everything in between. But it also has other trees that look to the casual eye like regular deciduous trees in the Northeast. But don't answer yet -- there's more! They also have these huge flowering trees with a ton of bright flowers in it, and there are several different kinds of those as well. Here's one I stopped to take while driving down the road because I was so struck by it. You can see from the size of the house just how humongous these trees are. For more pictures of flowers, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 14 2008

One thing that's nice about Miami is that there are waterways everywhere, and, understandably, there are a lot of buildings and boats right on the water. So you'd get a great shot anywhere you stopped, like this one taken at dusk while headed to Normandy Island on the way to Miami Beach. For more shots of water, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 13, 2008

I've always considered the Northeast coast of the United States "the" home for lighthouses. That's because there are so many here. But it's inaccurate -- in fact, Michigan has more lighthouses than any state in the nation. But Miami, too, has weighed in with its own Cape Florida Lighthouse. Sitting right at the end of Key Biscayne in Bill Baggs State Park on a beautiful beach, it challenges the beauty of other lighthouses everywhere, as seen here. For more pictures of lighthouses, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 12, 2008

One thing you have to be careful of in Miami is alligators. As Jesse Kennon, head of Coopertown Airboat Tours says, if there's water in Miami, it either has an alligator in it, it had an alligator in it, or it will have an alligator in it. Jesse was kind enough to take me on a private airboat tour of the Everglades, using the actual boat used in the intro of CSI: Miami. In case you're wondering, his boats were the ones also used in the old Gentle Ben and Flipper TV series, for which he was a full time consultant. Within minutes of our trip into the Everglades, we came across this 'gator, who came right up to the boat. If you ever wonder why those seats on the boats are so high, well, now you know. For more pictures of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 11, 2008

Today is my brother's birthday. I'll hold on providing any age details, but he's old enough to have decided to change his entire life from a land-based life to one on a sailboat. Some of us think he's a bit crazy to do this, but he and his wife have been successful at it long enough that they no longer qualify as newbies. Last year, he sailed up here to Sandy Hook, NJ. I went to North Beach and got this shot as they sailed with the Verrazano Bridge in the background. For more shots of, and from, Sandy Hook, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 10, 2008

Miami is a wonderful city with a range of beauty in many forms. One thing that Miami is noted for is its skyline, which is ever growing and always beautiful. And to top that off, it can be viewed in a number of different places, providing a different angle and different perspective each time. Here's one example. For more pictures like this, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 9, 2008

One thing Miami is known for is its Art Deco district in Miami Beach. Right on Ocean Avenue, there are a lot of small hotels all lined up in a row. But even on Collins Avenue just a bit north, there are a handful of hotels as well that look like they're right out of the 1940s. Here's one of them. For more photos of Miami, look for a new gallery coming soon at Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 8, 2008

I'm in Miami shooting photos for my next book coming out next year called Miami: A Photographic Portrait. As you can see, the ocean is beautiful at sunrise no matter where you are, from Maine to Cape Cod to the Carolinas to Miami, as seen in this example I took yesterday morning. For more pictures of water, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 7, 2008

Following on yesterday's theme of springtime in New York, here is a scene from Central Park that shows just how serene the city can be when the grass turns green, the leaves come out, and the birds start singing. Yup, that's Manhattan -- smack in the middle of the borough. For more photos of New York City, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 6, 2008

Spring is so "here" now, it's almost turning to Summer. So I'll post two more photos of springtime in New York City. This first one shows the juxtaposition of the flowering tree against the urban building. For more photos of New York City, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 5, 2008

Today I am finally getting around to doing my first law mowing of the season. It's about time, because my grass is as high as a cornfield in July. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. But I don't even have a very large lawn so I don't have a great excuse for putting it off so long. For inspiration, I'm looking at this shot from a prior year when I was on top of my lawn care just to remind me how nice a lawn can look. For more photos of manicured lawns, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 4, 2008

About a week ago I posted a shot of a horse taken at the Stone House Farm in Chester, NY. While pulling it up, I saw this other shot of a latch on a barn door that had a beauty from the wood grain, and a simplicity from the latch. For more pictures of the Stone House Farm, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 3, 2008

Today I am attending the bar mitzvah of a son of a dear friend. I couldn't think of a more appropriate shot to include than this one. For more shots of food, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: May 2, 2008

Over the last two days, I've shared shots that were totally unplanned when I was on my way to a sunrise shoot in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, MA. I thought it only fair to show the shot I was planning to get. For more pictures of Wellfleet, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com. And see other photos of Cape Cod in my new book of Cape Cod photos.

Photo Of The Day: May 1, 2008

Yesterday, I talked about a completely unplanned shot taken from a bridge in Dennis, MA when I was on the way to a sunrise shoot 25 miles away in Wellfleet, MA. It turns out that there was another great opportunity -- right across the bridge on the other side. Here's how that looked. For more pictures of Dennis, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com. And see other photos of Cape Cod in my new book of Cape Cod photos.

Photo Of The Day: April 30, 2008

I got a letter the other day from a student studying photography. I get these from time to time, and try to offer advice and answer questions they ask of me. This one included a question of how I plan for my photos. I explained that I almost never plan out a shoot -- instead I see something beautiful and just grab it. This is the example I gave to the writer: I was up at 4:00 a.m. to get a sunrise in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. On the way there I crossed a bridge in Dennis, MA and found a perfect shot -- an inlet that was completely calm in the pre-dawn. So I screeched the car to a halt, backed up, and put my camera on the bridge railing for the long exposure required. Here's what resulted -- a wonderful, unplanned photo that was 30 miles away from the place I was originally headed. For more pictures of Dennis, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com. And see this shot as a two page spread in my new book of Cape Cod photos.

Photo Of The Day: April 29, 2008

Yesterday I mentioned being in Lambertville, NJ over the weekend. While there, I saw a book of photographs taken of the Stonehouse Farm in New Jersey. I noted this with interest, as last year I took several shots at the Stone House Farm in Chester, NY. That farm was noted for the construction of new buildings that fit in completely with the design and style of the older buildings on the farm, which date back as late as 1854. Here's one shot of a horse taken from that farm. For more photos of the Stone House Farm, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 28, 2008

Saturday I was in Lambertville, NJ for their annual Shad Festival. Lambertville is a quaint town on the Delaware River right opposite New Hope, PA. American shad, the largest member of the herring family, begin their lives in freshwater, like the Delaware River, and later migrate to the ocean. But after three to five years, they return in the springtime to the river of their birth to spawn. Lambertville celebrates this with a crafts fair and festival, and that's what I went to see. Lambertville is a town with wonderful architecture, and yesterday, this was complemented with trees in full bloom. Here's one shot taken there. For more pictures of Bucks County and New Jersey, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 27, 2008

One nice thing about this time of year is that the seasonality changes in the Caribbean, and places that were out of reach during the worst weather of the winter can now be had for pretty good prices. Here's a secluded beach on St. John in the Virgin Islands that can be reached only by foot, walking along a long coastal route, and even crawling along some often-submerged rocks. For more photos of the Virgin Islands, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 26, 2008

I'm starting to hear the birds singing early in the morning, providing yet another sign of the emergence of Spring. I often wonder why they don't sing on a winter morning -- I mean, it can be very beautiful in the winter, and yet they only sing when the weather gets warmer. On the other hand, at least I don't have to deal with rooster crows, like the one that came from this one last autumn during a shoot in Upstate New York. For more photos of animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 25, 2008

Today the weather was warm enough to get to the beach for a few hours. Earlier this week, I bought my yearly pass to Sandy Hook, a beautiful seven mile spit of all-natural land off the New Jersey Shore. With the pass, I can go to Sandy Hook as often as I like to capture the beauty that pervades it. I'm there so much, four seasons a year, that I laughed when I realized I was one of the first to get a pass -- in fact, my pass is Number 0006 of thousands that will be sold in 2008. To see how incredibly beautiful Sandy Hook can be, visit my dedicated gallery called Spectacular Sandy Hook on Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 24, 2008

I've been reading that the next few days will be good opportunities to spot Mercury in the sky. It reminds me that I still owe you a close-up shot of Saturn. "Close-up" is, of course, relative, since Saturn is almost one billion miles from Earth. But it's also huge -- roughly ten times the size of Earth. So on the right night, with the right conditions, it can be photographed. Here's how it looked earlier this year. For more pictures of the sky at night, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 23, 2008

I noticed two tulips in my garden today and while standing up and looking down at them, realized there was a picture just waiting to be taken. For more photos of flowers, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 22, 2008

It's almost impossible to select the right picture for Earth Day, since so many of what I take are of the beauty and serenity of the planet. But this one had a nice combination of hills, trees and clouds, so it gets the nod for this year. For more pictures of the earth, visit the Earth & Sky gallery at Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 21, 2008

Yesterday's Photo Of The Day showed a full moon. If you ever wondered how powerful can moonlight be, well, it was strong enough that it lit up this beautiful lake in New York State last Fall. I didn't have a tripod with me for the multi-second exposure I needed, so I used the next best thing -- a post from a guard rail at the side of the road where I rested my camera and used a self-timer in lieu of a cable release. Of course, every time a car or truck went by, I had to start over, since the vibrations were enough to jiggle the camera. But it was worth it in the end. For more photos taken in New York State, visit the Hudson River Valley, Upstate New York, or Berkshire Bliss galleries at Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 20, 2008

We noted yesterday that we are in the early days of Passover. Passover always occurs during a full moon. This one was taken on the first night of Passover a few years ago. Interestingly, full moons are often less dramatic than partially-full moons. That's because when the sun is lighting the moon from the side, you get more of the shadows illuminating the craters. We'll show a photo of that soon. For more pictures of the moon, sky and earth, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 19, 2008

Today marks the first day of Passover, so I thought it was appropriate to share a photo of a bowl of matzo ball soup. This was taken at a diner, of all places, but the soup was quite good. That's all natural light, lit from the right via a large picture window at the front of the diner. For more photos of food, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 18, 2008

An earlier Photo of the Day mentioned how nice springtime is in New York City because the leaves have not yet become fully-developed. There's a nice side advantage to this, too: The Gapstow Bridge in Central Park is a relatively short, arced bridge made of stone. In the summer, this bridge is completely covered in vines -- so much so, you almost can't tell its shape or what it's made of. In the winter, the bridge's own beauty is visible because the vines have no leaves -- but unless there's a fresh snowfall on it, the scene overall is less attractive. But for about a 10 day period in the spring, the leaves of the trees are budding, the grass is a rich green, and the bridge is visible as a clean stone bridge as seen here. For more pictures of New York City, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 17, 2008

With winter becoming a fond memory, even for my northern neighbors, we'll have to wait a while before seeing this kind of common site of the black-capped chickadee again. For more shots of birds and other animals, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 16, 2008

I recently got a guest book entry from someone who lived in Colorado, but was pining for photos of the beautiful coast of North and South Carolina. She found my site and got her "fix" for the day. Here's just one example of how beautiful the Carolina coast can be. For more shots of coastal Carolina, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 15, 2008

Is there any more appropriate photo to use today -- Tax Return Day -- than one that shows the amount of money you get to keep after you pay your taxes for the year? For more photographs to put your mind at ease, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 14, 2008

It's been strangely misty and foggy here lately, which is perfect for the plants which have gone outside for the first time this season. So it made me think of this rain forest I had the privilege of visiting in Vancouver Islands, BC. For more photos of the earth's environment, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 13, 2008

When you want to see something truly majestic, you don't have to go much further than Tofino on Vancouver Island, BC. The mountains are high and wide and stretch back as far as you can see, and there is a huge body of blue water that meanders among the mountains. For more photos of Vancouver Island, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 12, 2008

Bucks County, PA is home to many historic homes. One such home is this log home in Fallsington, PA -- it's the oldest home in Pennsylvania still standing on its original site. It's called the Moon-Williamson house, named after two of its early residents, Samuel Moon and Mary Williamson. For more photos of Bucks County, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 11, 2008

Yesterday the temperature broke 70 degrees for the first time this season. So what better way to mark the occasion than to show New Jersey in all its summer glory with this picture from Sandy Hook. For more photos of Sandy Hook, visit the new all-Sandy Hook gallery at Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 10, 2008

My sister is a professional cellist who plays with both the Spokane and Yakima Symphonies in Washington State. Recently, she was in New Hampshire to perform a concert. When she travels, she often brings her carbon fiber cello, which is rugged and thus well-suited to baggage compartments of jetliners. Despite limitations of that instrument vs. her prized 1800s Thomas Kennedy cello, she makes it sound as rich and warm and pure as any cellist I've heard. Here is her bow in action at an invitation-only rehearsal to that New Hampshire concert. For more concert photos, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 9, 2008

Yesterday I shared a photo of The Empire State Building that appeared in Shutterbug magazine. So to be fair, here's a photo taken from The Empire State Building -- it was one that appeared in this year's Monmouth Festival of the Arts, which closes today after a five-day run. For more pictures from the ground and the sky, go to Paul Scharff Photograpy.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 8, 2008

This month's issue of Shutterbug magazine features a photo I took from the East River of the Empire State Building. The same building can look very different, depending on the time of day, the season, and the light of the particular day. This day it was bathed in the golden glow of the sun. Shutterbug magazine said, "This one caught our eye just as the building caught the dazzling light." For more photos of New York City, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 7, 2008

The forsythia are perfect this time of year in New Jersey, and they look particularly beautiful along the road where I live. I took the liberty of trimming some of the overly long stalks to make a bouquet for the kitchen. Somehow the yellow flowers and a bright kitchen go together. For more pictures of flowers, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 6, 2008

I was driving down the road when I noticed this cloud formation. In addition to finding it very attractive, I couldn't help but hear the intro to The Simpsons played in my head. For more photos of clouds, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 5, 2008

Today marks the start of the Monmouth Festival of the Arts in nearby Tinton Falls, NJ. The juried festival features over 200 artists exhibiting work in all media, from sculpture, watercolor, wood, oil, paper, dimensional art, and of course, photography. This photo taken looking South from the East River at sunset appears on the cover of the official program. For more photos of New York, go to Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 4, 2008

Tonight I will be dining with friends at Vic's Italian Restaurant in Bradley Beach. It's about twenty miles south of the Highlands, which provides a wonderful 40 minute meandering drive along the ocean. But it also has pizza rated the best in New Jersey, and for a reason. The last time I was there, it was with a group and as a result we all threw money into the pot and paid in cash. While waiting for the server to pick it up, I grabbed this shot. For more food shots, look for a new Food gallery which debuts this weekend on Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 3, 2008

Today I'll be going to the Monmouth Festival of the Arts facilities to check equipment for a presentation I'm giving Monday night on ways to enhance your photos -- before you take them, via composition and camera settings, and after the fact when necessary, via Photoshop. One piece that will be for sale there is this long-time favorite taken down the road on the ocean in Long Branch, New Jersey. For more New Jersey photos, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 2, 2008

I just learned that about half an hour from here at the Manasquan Reservoir they have discovered a pair of bald eagles who are proud parents of adolescents -- two baby eagles born early in the year who have about four more months to prepare for life on their own. Here's a shot of a clearly in-charge alpha adult taken in Vancouver Island, B.C. For more shots of Vancouver Island, visit Paul Scharff Photography.com.

Photo Of The Day: April 1, 2008

One nice thing about living in the Highlands here on the Jersey Shore is that you can take a boat right from the water here that gets you to New York City in just 35 minutes. Yesterday, that ferry service, Seastreak, was sold, by Sea Containers Ltd. to New England Fast Ferry. Riders were thrilled that service they love will continue unabated on Seastreak's luxurious 394 seat catamarans. Here's how it looks on the second (of three total) decks of the Seastreak Highlands vessel. For more photos of boats, trains, planes and automobiles (rickshaws coming soon), go to the transportation gallery on Paul Scharff Photography.com.