"Empire o'lantern," New York, October 2009

Empire o'lantern

Every block seems to contain a symbol of New York, especially those that include a view of the Empire State Building.

Day 307 of 365

Photographer

This guy and I had the same idea. Only he was on a photo walk and was well-equiped with a tripod. I was on my way to work with only a point-and-shoot. But I managed.

Day 253 of 365

In Hoboken, remembering 9/11

Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009, the Tribute in Light beam rises until it meets the cloud cover. Commuters exit the PATH and Hoboken Bus Terminal. Behind me, Steelers fans drink and talk above the DJ at Texas Arizona as the NFL season prepares to kick off.

Day 252 of 365

Skyline sunset

After I polished off a taste Shackburger, fries and Shackmeister Ale (probably the best beer at Citi Field), I caught the clouds and fading daylight above the old scoreboard skyline perched atop two of the Danny Meyer restaurants out beyond center field.

Day 74 of 365

New York

It's a hotel, not the headquarters of The New Yorker magazine.

Day 62 of 365

Sundown silhouette

An iconic city scene shot on Bank Street on my way to work.

"NYC glow," November 2007

NYC glow

I didn't want just a street scene as my urban landscape. I considered something that's more of a landscape than urban, even if it's technically in the city. So then I settled on this shot, one of my personal favorites, in which, with just a little imagination, those aren't buildings bathed in the light of sunset but trees against a deep blue sky or leaves aflame in the colors of fall.

OK, or it's just sunset on Manhattan.

Day 51 of 365

Glowing in the gathering dusk

Walking along 15th St. toward 9th Ave. on Thursday, I took notice of this building on the corner with its vertical white lights on a black silhouette against a deep blue dusk sky. Had I not been five minutes late for work, I would've stopped to take a picture. Though I also realized that had I not been five minutes late for work, I probably wouldn't have seen that moment, because it would've been earlier and the sky perhaps not at that perfect time of blue gradually growing to black.

Twenty-four hours later, it's Friday, and I'm walking to work along 15th St. and note the tint to the sky and the time on my watch. It's just about 6 p.m. Yes, I'm a few minutes late again, but I was originally delayed by the train, so I take two minutes to pause and compose a few shots before moving on through the wind tunnel to work. Those two minutes -- or however long it was -- was enough exposure of my bare right hand to the gales that it hurt considerably as I buried it into my pocket to cross the street and enter the building. It was worth it, though.

"Seventh St. Bridge," Pittsburgh, August 2008

Pittsburgh beyond the Seventh St. Bridge

When I determined this pic was my Best of 2008 -- or at least my favorite -- to post in the FlickrCentral group, I knew I'd be posting it for Photo Friday's ear-end challenge. That foresight enabled me to reach an all-time high of being the fourth person to post on a Photo Friday challenge. It's a small thing, but I was always curious as to how high I could get. I'm not sure I'll ever top it (or try to), because I usually take some time to select a photo to fit the theme. I had an advantage this time, because I knew what i wanted for this category, and I had an idea that it would be this week's challenge.

Anyway, this image is the result of always having a photographic eye and having shot thousands of photos (and read enough about the art). My wife, in-laws and I were walking back to downtown Pittsburgh from a Pirates game in August and I managed to look away from the fireworks over the ballpark to see this view, pause a moment to compose the shot, and fire off a single frame. The bridges of Pittsburgh are works of art in themselves, which could be expected from a city known for its steel production. I can't take too much credit for the technical specs (I probably had the camera set to auto, or at least shutter priority), but I do give myself kudos for not caring so much about where I was walking as I did about what I was walking past. (Casey's dad waits for no one, so if you don't keep up the pace, you'll have to jog to catch up.)

I suspect 2009 will produce enough images to make next year's choice for "best of" a bit tougher. But I'll know it's coming, so we'll see how high I can get it in the Photo Friday pecking order.

Whether or not I can look at the hundreds of images posted in "Best of 2008" is another matter.

"NYC, 5:30 in the a.m.," June 2008

NYC 5:30 in the a.m.

There's something special about walking out of the office and standing on the streets of New York "finishing" your day while the majority of the city's residents are just about to start theirs.