Fire hydrants, like benches are anotherobsession of mine. No, I wasn't a dog in my former life. Whenever I see them, they are usually in a place that is not immediately surrounded by anything else, except space. They seem very alone at times, and at other times they seem to be overwhelmed by the space around them. Usually you see them on street sides, but this was in the middle of the beach, and was surrounded by tons of sand, so I thought it to be a special hydrant. Note: I had to sneak in to a closed park to get this picture without any people around. It's also one of the parks that will probably close most of its facilities this summer due to New York state budget cuts.

When you see this picture, you may immediately think of many others very similar to this shot by masters such as Michael Kenna and Josef Hoflehner. You may also think this is not very original, and its been done many times before. If I ever sold this photo or if it was ever displayed in a gallery, there would be art critics complaining that its plagiarism. 

Wandering around the parks near where I live is a favourite pass time of mine. This pass time is now under attack, as New York State will close many parks this year, and curb spending on a lot of other amenities at these parks. For lack of more eloquent words, this sucks big time. 

A walk through a few towns in the North Fork of Long Island.

8. The commute for the day ends as the last passenger disembarks from the train, going home to their families - the whole thing starts the next day again.

This ends the commuting series. This was my very first documentary photo project and I hope I was able to accurately depict my story....

So, at first, this tiny little house in the middle of this huge field looked kind of cut off - there was no way to get to it, until I went to the other side and I saw this sand/gravel road. Its not much of a road, but still is enough to get to that house. Together its the perfect sight for the end of a long journey on a tough road - to be able to see the end, a nice cozy house waiting for you...

The tree I liked so much last summer has had its branches sawed off :( I was really disappointed to see that, but at the same time I noticed this other tree in a similar predicament. Another symbolism of spring - out with the old, in with the new...

Caumsett State Park has a lot of trees, but usually they are bunched up together - other than some trees near the entrance, which are less grouped together - but this is the one of the few trees that is totally by itself - not sure if it was shunned by the other trees :). This is also one of my first HDRs - and I wanted to test how far I can go to stretch the colors - this is by no means a natural look - and not meant to be either. Taken last summer.

The sky was awesome this weekend at Caumsett park. Near the end of the walk, the sky had turned into a nice pink/yellow/red shade. Reminded me of Monet's painting. It was beautiful.

I went back to Caumsett Park today the first time after the snow. The Drowning Tree that I saw during that trip is making its comeback - symbolic of the first weekend in spring. Very soon, there should be leaves...

This is my friend's dog, Moses. Moses is a pretty cool dog - and by cool, I mean hip. Everytime I see him, he reminds me of a care-free, laid-back dude, one of those guys that makes everything look easy. He is a dog with personality. Recently he had a stroke, and was unable to walk around by himself, but with some support straps and such, he is doing good. This picture is pure moses, totally unaffected by the fact that I am taking his picture - and decided to pose in front of a nice yellow wall. The brown and yellow is a classic color combination and so I snapped :)

Summer Preview: I love sunsets - I mean, who doesn't? I love sunrises, too, but a morning person I am NOT. Anyway, sunsets are the reason I got into HDR, because I always had trouble capturing all the colors in the frame - something was always underexposed or overexposed - to make a long story short, I found out about HDR, and this is one of the first HDRs that I made. Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

This is one of the few buildings in Heckscher State Park in Long Island, New York. When I first saw this building it reminded me of the US embassy back in my country in Bangladesh. I was going there for my student visa, already nervous about it - and then I saw the building, which seemed huge at the time, as I was much younger. It had high walls made of concrete and outlined with blood red bricks, and four tall corner posts with guards - totally indimidating - all I could think about was how much it looked like a fortress. In retrospect, I saw the building again this year after 12 years - it's not that big :). This building is nowhere near as intimidating, but this angle reminded me of it and along with the dramatic sky, it looked a little menacing :)

Summer preview: Fire Island, New York, 2007

Freud would have a field day with this. The recurring bench theme makes its appearance again. This time its a little surreal, like when you work or stay up all night, and night blends into day and/or vice versa, hence the title 'time warp'. West Neck Beach, Lloyd Neck, New York.

A short summer preview - summer reminds me of the beach, and beaches reminds me of sea shells (amongst other things). West Neck Beach, Lloyd Harbor, New York.

I've always liked this car - not sure why, maybe the ruggedness of it; maybe the rough edges has a certain free-spirit charm to it. With the top down and the doors off, its an awesome car. I'm sad to say, I've actually never owned one of this. Seeing this in the mix of all the snow, she sticks out and looks out of place with the bright red, but at the same time she seems perfectly comfortable - to be in this mess. It's where she feels like home. Don't we all want that feeling?

On that note, this is the last of the snow series from Caumsett State Park - future photos from this place should have no snow, and a lot more green :)

I named this Division, because with everything white and gray, the only thing keeping the sky and the land apart in my eyes was the barn and the trees - hence the title... Snow day in Caumsett State Park, Huntington, New York.

The barn at Caumsett State Park, Huntington, New York

Another bench shot on a cold, cold day after the snow storm in Caumsett State Park, New York

Another picture to show the vastness and overshelming nature of snow. The tree is like is drowning in it, struggling to stay afloat - and another cold, cold portrait of Caumsett Park, New York after the snow storm.

Another brief intermission from the wolf series to go back to the cold snow day in Caumsett Park in Huntington, New York. The bench is a recurring theme in my photographs, when I first started experimenting with the emotion 'loneliness'. Since then, I've just become attached to pictures of benches, so here is another one.

A brief departure from the wolf series to show some images from a walk in Caumsett Park, New York with my friend Francesco.

I had taken a documentary course last year, and one of the things our teacher had mentioned was an excercise to do whenever you go out shooting pictures. Basically, us photographers visit a place and shoot whatever we thing will make a good picture. He had asked that instead of doing that, pick an emotion (or two) that you are feeling that day (or any other day)... and try to create pictures that make you feel that emotion. The result is that if you keep thinking about that emotion, you'll make pictures that embody that emotion, and hence convey that same emotion to the viewer. Used in a broader scale, it is very useful in telling a story - especially a story with people, because it allows you to 'characterize' the person thus making a more powerful statement.

The emotion I was feeling that day was 'overwhelmed'. I had to dig my car out of the snow for 2.5 hours, I was feeling very small and insignifact compared to the power and vastness of snow. It's what I saw when I looked at this tiny fire hydrant in the middle of a HUGE field of snow, completely surrounded by it.

Cold Spring Harbor after the snow. As far as I remember, it was freeeeeezing.

Exploring the vastness and emotional coldness of the frozen lake on Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

The view from fire island beach NOT looking into the ocean. It's actually a pretty island even without the water.