While testing an old manual Canon 55mm f/1.2 lens on a recently acquired Sony Nex-5T, my first foray into mirror less cameras, this rose in our garden seemed the only color around on a gloomy fall evening here on Long Island. I think the lens did a good wide open and manual photography brings me great joy specially shooting in monochrome.
A close up of a Dahlia blossom photographed on Long Island
Philipsburg Manor was an English Manor located in Sleepy Hollow, NY that lasted from 1693 to 1779 and pictured here is the still working gristmill that is still open to the public where one can learn how the mill was run along with history on how the manor was created by Royal Charter and what is known of the 20 odd African slaves that worked the property
A mute swan photographed on Long Island earlier this year in Spring at the Belmont Lake State Park
Said to be 500 years old this Southern live oak tree produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet. This 66 foot tall tree located in John’s Island just south of Charleston in South Carolina is a magnificent example of the wonder of nature and is venerated by the locals and has given rise to many a folk lore during its long existence. If ever in the neighborhood make sure you visit with your widest lens in hand as you will surely need it to capture this beauty.
Nikon 1 J1 1/125 @ f/4.5 ISO 100
The impressive “Avenue of Oaks” said to have been planted in 1743, is a natural corridor of moss draped southern Live Oak trees, that warmly welcomes you as one drives up to the Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant in Charleston, South Carolina.
With earliest known references going back to the 1680’s Boone Hall Plantation is open to the public and regarded as being an active plantation for over 320 years. My first encounter with this plantation was 10 years ago watching North and South the popular Civil War based mini series featuring the late Patrick Swayze in which the mansion and the grounds were used extensively. Last week I was able to visit the Plantation while on vacation to three Southern States, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia.
Designed back in the late 1800’s, Belvedere Castle is a folly located in Central Park, Manhattan and a not to be missed location if ever visiting the neighborhood.
A part of a 160 acre property, this enchanting garden is a part of the former estate belonging to John Shaffer Phipps an heir to a US Steel fortune, now better known as Old Westbury Gardens. Together with Westbury House, a Charles II style mansion, it was completed in 1906 and now open to the public and is located in Old Westbury in Nassau County on Long Island, New York.
The property has been used as a film location for many movies including Love Story way back in 1970 and more recently The Manchurian Candidate and American Gangster.
I picked this photo for the blog today also to wish the lady by the fountain, my beautiful and ever tolerant wife Julie, a very happy birthday!
Temple of the Tooth, Kandy – Sri Lanka
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa in my mother tongue Sinhalese, is a sacred Buddhist Shrine situated in the city of Kandy in Sri Lanka, a World Heritage Site.
The octagonal building, the main focus here and the surrounding structures have history dating back to the early 1500’s and as much as it has been a site of religious worship it was also home to the last Kings of Sri Lanka before the British finally managed to do what the Portuguese and the Dutch failed to do by overthrowing the Kingdom of Kandy and ruling the entire Island by 1817.
(For those of you who read this far I’d also state a minor fact that Kandy was also the city of my birth so it holds a special place in my heart.)
This Gold Coast Mansion built nearly a century ago by Otto Hermann Khan is regarded as the second largest private home in all of the United States. Located in the North Shore of Long Island in Huntington, it was Otto Khan’s country home and is comprised of 127 rooms and over 109,000 square feet.
Today a historic hotel with 32 bedrooms you can access the premises only with confirmed reservations to stay, dine or a tour and once you are in they are not too fussy if you walk around the extensive and well manicured gardens with your camera where I shot this image from.
Monochromia 
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