The First 24 Hours On The Island

As I anticipated, I struggled to decide what to document and what not to document.

I drove the whole length of the island yesterday.  As expected, Holgate was a quieting sight.  The fact that no life was lost is a testament to how well the preparation for the storm was executed.  In addition to that, what struck me most was every block or so …were holes.  A blank spot where a home or business or trees stood. These holes are pockets of devastation of dreams.  But for every dashed dream that lays in ruin, there are scores more dreams being rebuilt around it.  There is definitely a spirit of enthusiastic renewal that permeates the island.  It was all overwhelming.

The island has been evolving constantly since I first visited in the 1970’s.  Business come and go, small capes evolved into piered monstrosities and the huge homes north of Ship Bottom slowly became less and less visible from the Boulavard as landscaping and vegitation grew to provide desired privacy.  These were slow changes…every season brought a “Wow, look at what they built there” or “Dang, they closed?”  But this season, A slow ebb and flow of life.  Sandy has brought with her instantaneous change.  A revolution of events and environment that is palpable.

But as has been said before and more eloquently than I can, LBI is Alive and ready for visitors. 

I had a fantastic dinner last night at The Black Whale. The places was rockin’.  A wait for seats both in the dining room and the bar.  I met a lovely couple from Doylestown, PA who were on “a reconnoissance” trip down to see if renting this summer would be feasible.  They are so excited…I imagine they are booking their rental now.

Tonight, I sampled the Pinziminio Trattoria.  A terrific dinner of scallops and salmon with Tuscan flair.  My waiter, Robert and I had a really nice conversation about the recovery efforts and about the spirit of the island.  They are working very hard down here to make sure more good times are head for locals and visitors alike.

As I mentioned, I struggled with what to document.  I sat on the beach for a spell today and noticed all the wild life going about there business and realized that capturing this beauty was the best thing to show.  The life and love that renews us all.

The water is blue and clean.

A little asphalt bathing in the water

This little one was soaring and showing off for me.

Wings Down

Wings Up

Hello There

A different bird in the sky

Oh yeah, Mr. Plane?

I can fly too!

We both can!

A perfect day for a walk with your best friend

A pier-less day…get it, pier…that’s a joke, gag that is.

The breakers point-of-view

Just a stunning day

Hey, hey…don’t forget about me.

A new pecking order

I don’t know what this was…but it was beautiful…all pink and turquoise

I wish these were treats instead of shells.

Up Close and Personal

 

More to come…

iBeach

A collection of images from my vacation I took using my iPhone.  I was inspired to post these because Joe McNally talked about “The Best Camera Is The One You Have With You“, by Chase Jarvis on his blog.  This book is a collection of amazing images all taken with the iPhone.  Not only did Chase Jarvis take them all on his iPhone, but he created this amazing app to allow you process your images and email them directly from your iPhone!  The app is of the same name “Best Camera” which houses a series of sophisticated filters to heighten your iPhotog experience.  The app costs $2.99 which was enough to make me hesitate, but then I decided even Dunkin Donuts coffee can cost more than that so I went for it.  I was so glad…these really were amped up by the app.

Tracks

Mustache Bill's

Whisky Shrimp

September Sunset

My iPhone is one of the best point and shoot cameras.

*This post is hot linked for your ease.

Long Beach Island Light

All of the following were taken from the deck of the house with minor color correction applied in Photoshop.

Moonlight

 

Sunrise

 

Sunrise Jettie

 

Lavender Light

 

Rose in Flight

 

Morning Has Broken

Not a bad way to spend morning…sipping coffee and watching the natural light show.

Three Dudes ~ Revisited

Last year I took this and fell in love with these little guys…yet the SOOC just didn’t do them justice.

 

Three Dudes - SOOC

I had tried fixing the image the first night I had Photoshop…well, let’s just say I wasn’t happy with what I had done.

So, tonight I went back in and I believe enhanced the image just enough, without going over board with Photoshop.  

 

Three Dudes, Today

Thoughts?

Bonus, if you provide captions for each “dude”!

Happy Friday.

Fine…Moving On

Best thing about 300mm…not having to move from the porch.

I promise the last post about my vacation

Here is “Gert” fishing on the beach.

And her BFF “Bettie” reeling in din-din.

Then…along came Jack…

come on knock on our door…where it’s hers and hers and his…

The next two are of a fellow fishing on a Jetty.
I can’t decide which one is the keeper…

On a side note…check out a new link I have posted in my blogroll…Scott Kelby. This man is the guru of all things photo and photoshop, bringing understanding to the masses. A must visit if you are entertaining the thought of buying photoshop and lightroom.

Meet Barney – Barnegat Light

At the north end of the 18 miles that make up Long Beach Island, NJ is a First Order lighthouse named after Barnegat City and the symbol of shore conservation on NJ liscense plates.

“The lighthouse’s beacon remained a first-class navigational light until August 1927, when the Barnegat Lightship was anchored 8 miles (13 km or 15 km) off the coast. This prompted the automation and the replacement of the first-order lens with a gas blinker. As a result, the tower’s light was reduced by over 80 percent. The gas blinker was replaced several weeks later with a 250 watt electric bulb, though the gas apparatus can still be seen at the top of the tower.
The lens was sent to the Tompkinsville Lighthouse Depot on Staten Island, New York. However, the lighthouse’s beacon was not extinguished until January 1944, when it was decommissioned by the Coast Guard and given to the State of New Jersey. Four years later, in 1948, the local municipality Barnegat City renamed itself Barnegat Light. In 1954, the lens was returned to the borough of Barnegat Light and now is on exhibit in the Barnegat Light Historical Museum. The area around the lighthouse was declared a State park and dedicated in 1957. The lightship was removed in 1965, made obsolete by electronic navigation.
In 1988, the lighthouse was closed for repair. It re-opened to visitors in 1991. Although its high-intensity light no longer functions, the tower is flood-lit at night and a continuous lantern is lit from dusk to dawn. This lantern is visible out to the horizon on clear nights, but is not intended to be visible during inclement weather (though an active foghorn is still present at the opposite end of the inlet). The top of the lighthouse is accessible via its 217 steps and continues to attract thousands of visitors every summer.” wikipedia

Through considerable conservation efforts, Barnegat Lights stands today in the midst of the Barnegat Light State Park.
This conserve has much more than protective jetties and the stallwart light.

On the water side, there is a steel and concrete peer that serves as a walk way for viewing many fishing and Coast Gaurd boats.
On the inland side of the park, there is an extensive nature trail that highlights beach errosion issues and provides detailed write ups on the vegitation found as part of the near extinct beach forests.

I can’t remember what these are called, but they really stuck out on the shoal with the velvet red leaves.

Just outside the state run park is a thriving tourist and fishing community. Besides the beautiful day boat scallops, the bay has a wide variety of fish, including small black drum, kingfish, blowfish, porgies, sea bass, small fluke, weakfish, small stripers, herring, bluefish and even occasional triggerfish.

And Andy’s here offers all the delights of early morning fisherman’s fry-up breakfast, deep fried lunch, ice cream and all the chum you need.

But how did Ole Barney come to be?

According to The State Park and Wikipedia “In 1855, Lt. George G. Meade, a government engineer and later a Union leader in the American Civil War, was assigned to design a new lighthouse. He was chosen largely because of his recent design of the Absecon Lighthouse. Meade completed the construction plans in 1855 and work began in late 1856.

This photo has also been entered into the National Geographic contest.

Due to continuing erosion at the time of construction, the new lighthouse was located approximately 100 feet south of the original structure — the site of which is now submerged. During construction, in June 1857, the light in the original structure was relocated to a temporary wooden tower located nearby. This was prompted by the encroaching seas which threatened the original lighthouse and ultimately caused the tower to collapse into the water later that year. It is due to the rough waters of the area that several jetties have been built throughout the history of both lighthouses.

Barnegat Light is open to the public and many of the island’s active senior citizens chug up the 217 steps to the top for their DAILY cardio work out. Well, if ol’ Mildred could do it it so could I! So I climbed the labrinyth of saftey yellow steps…

and climbed…

I was so happy to see that there were window insets so that I could rest…umm…I mean stop and take pictures.

And crafty ole Mildred left her water bottle here…hmmm I wonder if she would noticed if I took a sip?

I knew I was nearing the top when my rest areas were replaced with the round porthole style windows.

With a huff and a puff, I spied the open red door to the walkway…

And the view was worth it!

Barnegat Inlet

I did think of all of you as I stood at the top of ol’ Barney and looked out over LBI.

So there you have it…Barnegat Light from Top to Bottom.

Oh look, there is Mildred waiving out of the window…good chuggin’ old gal!

I guess my pride in LBI and Barney is showing.

Postcards from Long Beach Island NJ

What a week…picture perfect weather (pun intended)

This is how I looked most of the week…
Actually, I was trying to use the mirror to focus on the view…seriously, this was from the back room down the hall and we could STILL see the Atlantic!

I would take the walkway from the house up to the beach…

And a world of fun exploded before my viewfinder…

and finally…one I have entered into the National Geographic Photo Contest

I’m Back…

and not that I don’t love you all…but leaving a view like this was very, very hard to do.

I read that every good photographer has a life’s passion…a mission to capture if you will. I believe mine shall be capturing the essence of beach life. sound good?