This is one of numerous pictures of the Tall Ships parade, taken from our apartment window on Riverside Drive on the 4th of July Bicentennial celebration, in 1976. Obviously, we weren't aware that this would be happening when we first moved into the apartment in July of 1974; all we knew at the time was that our apartment provided a fabulous view out over the Hudson River, from our 14th-story perch. But at some point in 1975 or 1976, I began to realize what wonderful photography opportunities it provided, and I took great advantage of the 500 mm telephoto lens that I had on my Nikon camera. The eastern edge of the river was probably a quarter-mile away from our window, and the far western side of the river, and New Jersey behind it, was probably a mile away. Yet I could take amazing photographs of the apartment buildings on the other side of the river, not to mention all of the river traffic. And when the Tall Ships parade came along, I took picture after picture after picture, all day long, as the naval vessels and civilian ships sailed up the river toward the GW Bridge. But as it turned out, we had a fabulous sunset (of which there were many, many, mnany during our 8-year residence in that apartment), and it provided all kinds of great shots. In this particular picture, the sun was dropping down toward the horizon, and it was like watching the boats sail along on a river of molten gold. The glare was pretty intense, so it was hard to pick up any colors; but at least this boat showed some of its red, white, and blue sails -- while all of the others became just black silhouettes in the golden river. I have no idea what kind of ship this one was, or whether it had any kind of official role in the parade itself; I don't know where it came from, or where it was going. But the colors and the silhouette were wonderful, and it always makes me smile when I see it...

This is one of numerous pictures of the Tall Ships parade, taken from our apartment window on Riverside Drive on the 4th of July Bicentennial celebration, in 1976. Obviously, we weren't aware that this would be happening when we first moved into the apartment in July of 1974; all we knew at the time was that our apartment provided a fabulous view out over the Hudson River, from our 14th-story perch. But at some point in 1975 or 1976, I began to realize what wonderful photography opportunities it provided, and I took great advantage of the 500 mm telephoto lens that I had on my Nikon camera. The eastern edge of the river was probably a quarter-mile away from our window, and the far western side of the river, and New Jersey behind it, was probably a mile away. Yet I could take amazing photographs of the apartment buildings on the other side of the river, not to mention all of the river traffic. And when the Tall Ships parade came along, I took picture after picture after picture, all day long, as the naval vessels and civilian ships sailed up the river toward the GW Bridge. But as it turned out, we had a fabulous sunset (of which there were many, many, mnany during our 8-year residence in that apartment), and it provided all kinds of great shots. In this particular picture, the sun was dropping down toward the horizon, and it was like watching the boats sail along on a river of molten gold. The glare was pretty intense, so it was hard to pick up any colors; but at least this boat showed some of its red, white, and blue sails -- while all of the others became just black silhouettes in the golden river. I have no idea what kind of ship this one was, or whether it had any kind of official role in the parade itself; I don't know where it came from, or where it was going. But the colors and the silhouette were wonderful, and it always makes me smile when I see it...