My First Game at Citi Field

Last Thursday, I went to my first baseball game at Citi Field, the New York Mets' new ballpark. It is a beautiful stadium and a tremendous improvement over Shea Stadium. The concourses are wide and the field is in view from most of the concession stands. My only real criticism is that the ballpark is geared more toward the Brooklyn Dodgers than the New York Mets. For example, the main entrance is called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, in honor of the Brooklyn Dodger great. Also, the exterior of the stadium is modeled after Ebbets Field, where the Dodgers played before they moved to L.A. While both aspects of the ballpark were well done, my only wish is that the Mets had done more to recognize Mets history including the championship teams from 1969 and 1986.

I've heard others make the same criticisms of Citi Field on the radio and in the newspapers. I'm sure, the Mets will do something in the near future to better emphasize Mets history at their new ballpark. In the meantime, Citi Field is a great place to watch a baseball game.

Here are a few pictures of the exterior of Citi Field.

Canon 5D with 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 24mm, 1/250 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100


Airplanes from the local airports still fly over head.

Canon 5D with 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 34mm, 1/200 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100

Canon 5D with 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 28mm, 1/200 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/320 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100


The Mets did a great job with the Citi Field Fanwalk, the brick area in from of the main entrance of the ballpark. These bricks contain engraved messages from fans.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/160 sec., f/6.3, ISO 100


This is the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Look at the big smile on the face of guy in the bottom left of the first picture. He's obviously a Mets fan and happy to be in the new ballpark.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/250 sec., f/2.8, ISO 100

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/80 sec., f/3.2, ISO 100


The Shake Shack is a popular spot to get a good burger.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/500 sec., f/5.0, ISO 200


This is my favorite picture. The sunset produced beautiful light.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/160 sec., f/6.3, ISO 400


A panoramic shot from my seat in the upper deck.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/100 sec., f/6.3, ISO 640


One last shot before going home.

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/20 sec., f/5.0, ISO 1600

The Bellagio

This is a view of the Bellagio pools and courtyards from our hotel room. The weather was mostly sunny and in the 70's. Not too many people went into the water. Most just sunned themselves by the pool.

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/500 sec., f/7.1, ISO 400


This is the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The current exhibit is "Gardens From Around the World".

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/40 sec., f/3.2, ISO 1600

Canon 5D with Lensbaby 3G lens, 1/50 sec., ISO 1600

Las Vegas Vacation

Here is my obligatory picture of probably one of the most photographed signs in Las Vegas, the famous welcome sign.

Canon 5D with 85mm f/1.2L II lens, 1/1000 sec., f/7.1, ISO 100

These pictures are of the Bellagio Hotel and their fountain show.

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/30 sec., f/5.6, ISO 3200

Canon 5D with 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, 1/200 sec., f/2.8, ISO 3200

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/320 sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/500 sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/640 sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200

Canon 5D with 35mm f/1.4L lens, 1/1000 sec., f/1.8, ISO 3200

Baseball Opening Day is Almost Here!

In honor of the new baseball season in which we will welcome new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees, I'm posting one more picture of Shea Stadium from last year.


Canon 40D w/Sigma 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens, 1/320 sec., f/6.3, ISO 250

My last regular season game at Shea Stadium

I went to today's Mets game at Shea Stadium. We were thrilled to watch Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana pitch a masterful, 3 hit, 9 strikeout, complete game shutout to beat the Florida Marlins by the score of 2-0. The victory moved the Mets to just 1/2 game behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Wildcard race. The Mets have only one game left in the regular season. As I type this post, the Chicago Cubs have a 4-1 lead over the Brewers in the eighth inning. If the Cubs can hold on and defeat the Brewers, the Brewers and the Mets will be tied for the Wildcard going into tomorrow's game.

Today's pitching performance by Santana came on only 3 days rest after he threw a career high 125 pitches in his last start. As Santana pitched the ninth inning, the Mets crowd chanted "Jo-han, Jo-han" in appreciation for their ace pitcher coming through with a great performance in the Mets most important game this season to date. Santana ended up finishing with a record of 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA in his first season with the Mets.

Here is a picture of Shea Stadium just before the start of the game. Just beyond the outfield is the Mets new home starting next year, Citi Field.

NYC Pics #2: Federal Hall on Wall Street

Federal Hall is located on Wall Street in the Financial District and is where George Washington took the oath of office as the first President of the United States. Federal Hall was also home to the first Congress, Supreme Court and Executive Branch of the government when New York City was the nation's capitol.

These pictures are of the statue of George Washington in front of Federal Hall. The first two pictures were taken with the Sigma 8mm fisheye lens; the last two with the Canon EF-S 10-22mm wide angle lens.

NYC Pics#1: Trinity Church

I've lived in New York City all of my life and have enjoyed visiting many of the historical and cultural places in the City. On most days, I am usually in either Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn.

Today I am starting a new series of posts with pictures of different places around New York City. Many of the places are very familiar and have been photographed countless times. My goal is to try to capture images of these familiar places in a fresh way from my perspective.

Last week, I was in the Financial District and made a quick stop at Trinity Church which is located at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street. I used to live a few blocks from Trinity Church, but never visited this historical landmark during that time. I was surprised to learn that this was, in fact, the third Trinity Church at this site. The first Trinity Church was built in 1698 and was destroyed in the Great New York City Fire of 1776. The second Trinity Church was built in 1788 and was later torn down because of severe snowstorms in 1838-1839. The Trinity Church of today was built in 1846.

Here is Trinity Church:










The original Trinity Church burial ground includes the graves and memorials of many historical figures including Alexander Hamilton (the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and a Founding Father) and Robert Fulton (developed the first commercially successful steamboat).

Shea Stadium - 4-12-08

I went to the New York Mets game yesterday. There was alot of excitement in the stadium at the start of the game because it was Johan Santana's Shea Stadium debut. Unfortunately, he gave up five runs and was outpitched by the Milwaukee Brewers' ace, Ben Sheets. The Mets ended up losing 5-3.

Despite this subpar performance, I expect Johan to have a great season with the Mets. I watched him for years when he played for the Minnesota Twins and have no doubt that he will continue to be one of the best pitchers in baseball.

On another note, I was happy to see the progress of the construction of Citi Field. This is the last season for the Mets in Shea Stadium. Next year they move into a new stadium which is being built next to the current stadium. Citi Field is expected to be a smaller stadium with architectural aspects reminiscent of the old Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

Here is a picture I took yesterday. If you look in the distance, behind the outfield, you can see Citi Field.

Aruba Vacation - Day 4

On day 4 of our Aruba vacation, we went to the northwest end of the island to Arashi Beach, one of the northernmost beaches in Aruba. Arashi Beach is near the California Lighthouse.

The California Lighthouse was named after a ship with an interesting history - the Californian. According to Aruba-Travelguide .com, the Californian has the distinction of having been in proximity of, and having received distress signals from the Titanic as she was sinking in icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean on her maiden voyage in 1912. The Californian's radio operator was off-duty and asleep at the time of the disaster. A few years after the Titanic disaster, the Californian sank in rough seas off the Aruba coast and is now a popular dive site.



I'm sure you've noticed that I had fun with the fisheye lens during this vacation.



Arashi Beach is a very, very nice beach. The water is clear and calm. In my opinion, the only negatives are that there are only a few beach huts available for shade, so it is best to avoid the midday sun.



Later in the evening we had dinner at The Old Fisherman.



The fried cornbread was very good.



However, unlike Papiamento from the day before, the service at The Old Fisherman was poor. Additionally, while my seafood dish looked good, it was overcooked to the point of being slightly rubbery. Most of the rest of my dinner companions liked their food.

This was my mixed seafood dish:

Aruba Vacation - Day 3

Day 3 in Aruba brought us to a wonderful spot known as Baby Beach. Baby Beach is a shallow lagoon on the southeast end of the island. The gentle waves are great for children and the water is shallow enough for most adults to stand in even far from shore.

These first two pictures really show how calm the waters are and how far out you can walk.






The water level is generally about waist high in the lagoon, but deepens significantly towards the inlet to the ocean. The inlet is teeming with marine life and is a good place for snorkeling. If you don't have your own snorkeling gear, you can rent some from the snack shack on the beach.

I borrowed an underwater housing for my small digital point-and-shoot camera from my fiancee's cousin and was able to take some pictures of the fish I came across in the inlet. A nearby snorkeler had a small bag of bread so the fish really swarmed around us.






I took this picture just before we left the beach to go back to the resort. This is a good example of what the landscape looks like near Baby Beach.




Later in the evening, we had dinner at Papiamento, a terrific restaurant which specializes in Caribbean seafood dishes. There is seating inside the manor house and outside by the pool. Some of the steak, lamb, lobster, shrimp and fish dishes are served on a super-heated stone for guests to finish cooking at the table. Personally, I would stay away from the "on the stone" dishes unless you enjoy that sort of participation. I had the grouper covered with shrimp and scallops. It was delicious.

Besides the excellent food, the best quality of Papiamento is their outstanding service. The staff made sure we were well taken care of, but in an unobtrusive way. Our water glasses never ran empty and we never waited too long between courses. I was a bit clumsy that night and dropped my fork off the table two times. Before I had a chance to pick up the fork, a waiter was there to pick it up and offer me a new one.

Everyone in my party thoroughly enjoyed their meals. I highly recommend Papiamento.

This picture of the front of the restaurant gives little indication of the wonderful dining experience to be had inside. I enjoyed my meal so much, I forgot to take pictures inside!

Aruba Vacation - Day 2

After a good night's sleep, I was ready to enjoy my first full day in Aruba. The plan was to explore the grounds of the resort and relax by the pool. We spent most of the late morning and early afternoon alternating between dips in the pool and naps under the umbrellas.




There are lots of iguanas in Aruba. This large one seemed to like to hang out by the edge of the pool. I don't know much about iguanas so I didn't try to touch it. However, I swam to within a couple of feet of it and it didn't seem to mind me getting close.




In addition to the iguanas, we frequently saw smaller lizards around the grounds. They are harmless and usually run away if you get too close. This one was right next to my sun umbrella.





The sunsets in Aruba are so beautiful that I couldn't help but take pictures whenever I could.



It was New Years' Eve and the entire island seemed to be setting off fireworks. People in Aruba really like their fireworks. There were fireworks every night that we were there.

I didn't bring my tripod on this trip because I wanted to travel relatively light. I took this picture hand held at a slow shutter speed - about 2 seconds. As much as I tried to hold the camera still, there is noticeable camera shake. In order to get crisp fireworks shots, you MUST use a tripod. Shooting at a slow shutter speed allows you to capture the trails of light. I would recommend setting your shutter speed to at least 4 seconds or slower and shooting in manual mode. Once you set the shutter speed, set the aperture to f/11 or f/13. Adjust the shutter speed or the aperture accordingly until you reach a proper exposure.

This is my fireworks picture taken hand held:



My next post will be about Day 3. We went swimming and snorkeling at Baby Beach on the south end of the island.