A brisk 50F at 9am. Foliage dripping and ground drenched with last night’s much-welcome rain. Update: no rain, but soggy and 55F for the rest the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 06/02/15
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Tag Archives: Photography
Daily Catskills: 06/01/15
50F at 8am, gloomy, damp and chilly.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 05/31/15
75F by 11am, cloudy and humid, with the landscape soaked by last night’s much-needed rain. And more rain again at 12.45pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.45pm
Daily Catskills: 05/30/15
Already 80F at 2400ft by 10am, breezy and humid. Thick, rolling clouds interspersed with periods of sunshine. Scorcher. Update: at 7pm heavy, continual rains throughout the night.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 05/29/15
70F and sunny cloudless skies at 10am rising to 80F by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 05/28/15
64F and damp at 7am with last night’s thick, post-rain mist lingering in the valleys.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am
Daily Catskills: 05/26/15
A very damp morning with dawn showers and 70F at 9am. The morning sun burned through the hazy cloud. More morning showers and 80F by 1pm, brightening up by 2.30pm with cloudy skies and breeze in the trees.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
Daily Catskills: 05/25/15
72F by 11am and breezy with bright sunshine burning through very hazy cloud cover. 85F and mostly cloudy by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 05/24/15
74F and warm in the sunshine. Hazy, wispy, cloud. Gorgeous Sunday for Memorial Day Weekend.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 05/22/15
63F by 10am. Warm in the sunshine and breezy by 10am.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 05/21/15
43F at 8am and grey, which goes well with green. 60F slightly less grey at 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: The Edits
© J.N. Urbanski 5/18/15 12.30pm
I’m eight months into my Daily Catskills project, in which I take one image a day and publish it on the day. There’s such an incredible abundance of life to record here though, that sometimes I spend all day deciding on one image. I take anywhere from one to 100 images a day on the days that I haven’t hired another photographer to do the job. A couple of weeks ago, I took 95 images of the same cherry tree stand at different angles and I didn’t like a single one of those images I took. I reluctantly published the image that I thought was the best, but changed my mind – and it – several times and eventually gave up and moved on. The whole process took four hours. Needless to say, I have thousands of unpublished images and there are plenty of vantage points in these mountains from which I’ve taken a picture many times, capturing snow, rain, mist and sun from the same location.
Daily Catskills: 05/20/15
A gloomy and dismally overcast morning with light winds, still on 44F at 9am. Gusty and raining by noon. Update: still overcast by 3pm with briefest glimpses of sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
En Plein Air
© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/07/15
The summer comes alive for artists when the En Plein Air group reconvenes for the season. Gracious homeowners kindly let our group gather every week in some of the most picturesque spots across the mountains and it’s difficult not to be stunned by the extraordinary beauty of the countryside. This year, May 7th was the group’s earliest meeting on record because of the extraordinary high temperatures for the day, but the landscape was still bare and it seemed like we were able to watch the leaves pop before our eyes. The sun had become so strong by noon on May 7th, however, that whomever didn’t have an umbrella had to move to the shade. Taking part of the day out to paint really clears the mind. To focus closely and solely on the landscape for a few hours is much-needed therapy after the long, arduous winter. All worries dissipate into the air with the drying watercolour and if the homeowner is home, we make a new friend. Today, we had a gorgeous view of the mountains.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon 5/19/15
Daily Catskills: 05/19/15
60F and rain at 8am. Gloomy, misty, wet and relieved that the landscape is getting a thorough, much-appreciated drenching. Update: 70F, dry and sunny despite the cotton wool clouds by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
Daily Catskills: 05/18/15
64F at 8am with hazy sunshine, rising to 82F by noon with clouds moving in. Update: gradually receding warmth followed by late night showers.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 05/17/15
75F at 10.30, overcast but still rather bright, light winds and damp from overnight showers. 80F, scudding cotton wool clouds and hot in the sunshine by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 05/16/15
Much needed overnight rain ushered in a damp, overcast morning. 68F at 11am and humid with mist over the mountains. Update: 76F, overcast and humid at 4.30pm. Steady rain at 6.30pm dwindled to light showers by 8pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.45pm
Catskills Conversations: Heather Rolland
© J.N. Urbanski
Jenny: How long have you lived in the Catskills?
Heather: I moved to the Catskills in 2007, so I’ve been here going on eight years.
Where did were you living before?
I was living in Dutchess County in Dover Plains and I had been there 17 years. I grew up in Nyack. I’ve actually never lived anywhere more urban than Nyack. It’s been a slow and steady march northward.
What started that slow march?
When I was in High School. I had a buddy who – and this is a crazy story – we both turned sixteen, got our driver’s licenses. She quit high school and moved all by herself as a sixteen year old to Woodstock.
Daily Catskills: 05/15/15
A crisp 58F at 9am, overcast rising to 76F and sunny by noon. The blossoms seem to have survived the frost intact, but half the tomatoes have died.
Daily Catskills: 05/14/15
36F at 6.30am, rising to 61F at 1pm with sunny skies. Too early to say if this morning’s frost ruined the blossoms. Burn ban extended to May 21st.
Daily Catskills: 05/13/15
54F and cloudy at 10.30am. Update: Frost forecast for the evening, threatening blossoms and seedlings. Lows of 30F are predicted for the early hours of tomorrow morning (4am to 6am).
Daily Catskills: 05/12/15
64F at 8.30am, with a mix of sun and cloud. Much-needed rain expected this afternoon. The landscape is thirsty. Update: Rain! Late afternoon.
Daily Catskills: 05/11/15
76F at 8am. Warm and sunny with no breeze. Asparagus acting like a sundial will be later eaten for breakfast. Update: they were juicy. The crab apple tree in full bloom.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
Daily Catskills: 05/09/15
61F at 8am with hazy sunshine and light winds, rising to 75Fby the afternoon. The Juneberry blossoms.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 05/08/15
74F at 9am, clear and sunny, rising to 80F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
Daily Catskills: 05/07/15
72F by 8.15am with hazy sunshine. Asparagus, ramps and fiddlehead ferns in season.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
Daily Catskills: 05/06/15
60F at 8am with hazy cloud cover and a light breeze rising to 70F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
Daily Catskills: 05/05/15
59F at 7.30am with misty, hazy cloud cover and the landscape still damp with overnight rain. 78F by 2pm with the same hazy cloud. The magnolia has bloomed and is falling, but the wisteria waits.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 05/04/15
72F at 8am, rising to 81F (for the first time this year) by midday with mostly cloudless skies.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
Daily Catskills: 05/03/15
72F at 10am and mostly sunny with multifarious cloud cover stealing in at noon and dampening the blazing sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 05/02/15
64F at 11am with scudding, cotton wool cloud cover allowing hints of blue skies beyond and brief flashes of blazing sunshine. An intermittent warm breeze. Update: 70F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm An army of basking beet seedlings
Daily Catskills: 05/01/15
55F at 10am and overcast as the daffodils struggle to open. May 1st marks the Celtic celebration known as Beltane, a Spring festival, in which participants dance around a maypole, sit around fire circles and usher in the Summer with good spirits.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
Catskills Then and Now: The St Regis Hotel
Lake Switzerland was built in 1907 for boating and ice harvesting by damming the Bushkill stream. It was later removed and thereafter Lake Switzerland drained considerably. The St Regis, which was originally on the banks of Lake Switzerland, now faces a valley, the original stream, and houses that have since been built on the stream banks. Trees have since grown back and the same view as the old postcard is not really possible from Breezy Hill Road (bottom).
© J.N. Urbanski 4/30/15 2pm
Catskills Then and Now: Lake Switzerland
Built in 1907, the dam that created Lake Switzerland was later thought to be structurally unsound and removed. Just to the right of today’s picture is the road and the spot on which the St Regis Hotel still stands. If you look at the postcard of the St Regis Hotel, it will give you an idea of the area covered by the lake. In the right of today’s picture are some white concrete barriers where the bridge used to be. The image at bottom of the post is the view of the St Regis today from other side of the bridge.
© J.N. Urbanski 4/30/15 11am
Postcard courtesy of Jeanine Pascarella
Daily Catskills: 04/30/15
60F at 9am and sunny, with clear skies dissolving into haze over the mountains, and birdsong. An armada of scudding, cotton wool clouds and 65F by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Catskills Then & Now: Fleischmanns Railway Station
The original station is gone, but what remains was the building behind it.
© J.N. Urbanski 4/29/15 9.15am
Postcard courtesy of Jeanine Pascarella
Catskills: Then and Now
© J.N. Urbanski 4/28/15 1.30pm
Postcard courtesy of Jeanine Pascarella
Daily Catskills: 04/28/15
49F at 9am and sunny with clouds, rising to 60F by 2pm with light winds.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
Daily Catskills: 04/27/15
46F at 9am, quickly rising to 54F by 10.15am. Overcast and gloomy with rolling clouds in gunmetal grey.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 04/26/15
50F at 9am. Mostly clear skies with a small armada of clouds on the horizon. 52F mid-afternoon with full cloud cover. A good sunday for a hike to Panther Mountain.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 04/25/15
42F and sunny clear skies at 9am. 50F at 2pm and with an armada of cotton wool clouds. Cherry blossoms bursting.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 04/23/15
38F by 9am. A sprinkling of overnight snow lay dissolving into puddles. Update: Continual flurries for the rest of the day with 30F by 7pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
Daily Catskills: 04/22/15
54F at 11am. Overcast with mid-morning rain showers. Update: Rainy, cloudy and gloomy for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
Daily Catskills: 04/21/15
44F at 8am, overcast with heavy rain and a glum, sodden landscape. Overnight thunder and lightning, together with yesterday’s high wind had snapped branches and downed trees. Update: 55F and much dryer and brighter by the afternoon with cotton wool cloud cover.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 04/20/15
39F and overcast at 8am. Raining with extremely high winds scattering garden implements, buckets and recently raked leaves. Yesterday’s crocus that had opened by 4pm, had closed up again this morning, beaten by wet leaves and wind. His friend had been flattened.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 04/19/15
52F at 9am rising to 56F by 10.30am. Clear skies, no wind and warm in the sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am
Country Life: Signage
Marvelous signage by Tom of Shamro’s Tire and Auto.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon – Shamro’s Tire and Auto in Fleischmanns
Bookshelves of the Catskills
© J.N. Urbanski Fur, Feaths & Steel in Fleischmanns
Daily Catskills: 04/13/15
49F at 8am, quickly rising to 56F by 8.45am. Beautiful, hazy cloud cover being burned through by the rising sun. Spring is here!
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 04/12/15
55F and clear skies at 10am. 60F and warm in the sunshine by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm The first new shoots at a 2400 ft elevation
Daily Catskills: 04/10/15
44F at 10am. Gloomy, wet and overcast. More rain. Update: 59F and a glimmer of sunshine at 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
Country Piano
The Steinway at Spillian.
© J.N. Urbanski
Daily Catskills: 04/09/15
Jack Frost has cut his expert swathe across the mountains. A frozen, overcast landscape, 31F at 7am and every single bud, blade and branch coated in a thick, icy mantle. Icy granola stuck fast to the entire deck and sides of the house. Overnight thunder, lightning and hail set Spring back again. Update: 36F mid-afternoon with the ice being noisily blown off the branches by the wind.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 04/08/15
34F, windy and heavily raining at 8am. Overcast and grey, the nascent landscape being liberally spritzed. These mountains will never run out of water. Update: 31F and freezing rain by mid-afternoon with high winds.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am