Vermont Barn Cat

A little sappy, but I couldn't resist.

Big Falls State Park

Had no idea this was so close to the house, which is only about 20 minutes away. The falls are apparently the largest undammed cascade and gorge remaining on a major Vermont river. The river is the Missiquoi, which at this point flows north, soon entering Canada before turning southwest back into the state, eventually ending up in Lake Champlain. Beautiful, remote and easy to get to. Definitely will go back.

Jay Peak Spring Skiing

These were from a couple of weeks ago up at Jay after a late spring snow storm. Love that mountain!

Vermont Snow Storm

The week up in Vt was perfect. It snowed the whole time we were there. About 3-4' I would say. It was a winter wonderland. My knee felt pretty good and I hit the slopes again for the first time since my accident last year. It was sooo great to be back on the mountain, in the trees and enjoying the powder. But slowly and with a bit more caution for sure. Here are some shots from the big storm over the weekend in and around Montgomery Center, all very close to the house.

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome 2010! Here's to a GREAT year ahead for us all. A shot of the ring around the moon up in VT where we celebrate with friends. Beautiful night!

Vermont Black Cat Safari III

Lately it seems that I'm taking more pics of landscapes and the cats than anything else. Go figure. Let's hope that the tide changes soon and I'm back to doing more paying gigs in the new year. Here is Nico jumping the shark, so to speak, up in Vermont a couple of weeks ago. Just before the snows started falling.

Montgomery Center, Lowell and Jay Drive

Took a great little drive before meeting up with everyone to hike. What colors. WOW!
Love the blood hounds.

Jay Peak Hike

Beautiful hike up at Jay Peak with some Nick and some friends a couple of weekends back. Snowed up there last night.

Chip Livingston, poet & author

Last week I went to photograph my friend Chip in Calais, VT while we were up from the city. I spent the afternoon with him on the estate that he watches over and ended up shooting him in the boat house on the lake. Well large pond actually. Beautiful natural light and a great looking man. This photographer was happy. Love these pics.

VT Landscapes

I was up in Vermont last week and shot these on the way to my friend Chip's house in Calais. This was before I wound up on a terrible back road that Google Maps recommended which caused some serious damage to the undercarriage and front frame. Bummer. But the trip sure was scenic, at least the early part before heading off piste. Anyway, these are all turnaround moments in a ten mile stretch around Eden, about 15 miles from the house. So beautiful.

Black Cat VT Safari II

Another nice walk with the cats around the property and onto the Alpine Haven trail a bit. They stick so close to me, like they know there are things that want to eat them in the forest, it's funny. Let's hope the beasts keep away.

Where's the Snow, Jay Peak?

My partner and I came up to VT last night and were bummed to see that so much snow has melted with this warm weather and rain that hit the east coast over the weekend. I was hoping somehow that it wouldn't affect the conditions that much, but looks like the mountain is in terrible shape and is even showing a lot of dirt. Here are some shots from a couple of weeks ago when I was up last and had a few great days on the slopes. Hoping that some snow comes our way tonight...

Best of Both Worlds

Here are some shots from the two beautiful places where I spend most of my time when not in the city. The VT mountaintop shot looks southeast down the back side of Jay Peak and takes in the view of Big Jay and Stowe way off in the distance. Our house sits just to the right of the low lying cloud and mountain to the right, Big Jay, about three miles from the ski area entrance. I took this last Saturday during a great day of skiing and boy, it was cold, about 5˚F. The sunrise shot I woke up to in Mastic Beach the morning I left for VT a week earlier and looks out over Narrows Bay to Fire Island from across the street to our beach place on Long Island. Lucky man indeed.

Vermont House and Skiing

I post today from the snowy confines of our place up in Northern VT where I came to ski and escape the cold gray cement confines of the city six hours to the south. A shot that I took last night of the house shortly after surviving the long drive up and not hitting any deer or sliding off the road. It really does look like a spaceship that just landed, especially with all the lighting and the steam rising on the left side from the boiler vent. I so love this place and feel blessed that we are able to enjoy it.

Fall Colors

Nick and I went up to VT last weekend and bathed in the orange glow at the house. Played with my chainsaw, lawnmower and camera. Happy man. Here's a composite shot of two images taken at sunset from the back deck. One of the mountainside and one of the sky, merged to form a shot that looks like I'm peering through some low flying clouds...kind of.

VT House Upstairs

I swung by the VT house last week and wanted to show how the upstairs rooms turned out, places I love to spend time in when I'm there. In the kitchen, we put in a new fridge that finally opens all the way and is flush with the cabinets, which makes such a huge difference. The one that came with the house not only didn't work, but was standard sized and stuck out 6 more inches beyond the cabinets and was unable to open all the way, rendering it rather inefficient for its 35 year life. The new one's a Liebherr from Germany, a cheaper alternative to a Sub-Zeron, and such a cooler fridge, if you ask me. We also mirrored the backsplash which opens up the space even more and adds to the whole 70's vibe. My grandmother made the Rya shag rug on the floor, while the dining room table, wall hangings and the deer head were finds at my favorite Long Island thrift sale. It all came together quite nicely. I love it.

Jay Peak

This is Jay Peak's incredible mountain top on Monday, photographed from the top of the triple chair. It sits about three miles from our VT pad and six miles from Canada, as far as the crow flies. If you have never skied here before, you are missing out on some of the East Coast's best, not to mention 419 crazy inches of snow this season. The 65 passenger tram house is perched up on top, which you have to take to access the steep wooded face seen above. If that is a little much for you, there is the Vermonter trail, which is on the left and offers some great views looking west towards Big Jay and the valley below. I have still to ski the face, but am setting my sights on next year...

Black Cat VT Safari

Went up to VT this last weekend for, as it turned out, some great spring skiing up at Jay and outdoor fun around the house in 70 degree sunshine. Now that my Kachina is no longer around, I have started taking the cats on little hikes, climbing rocks, trees and jumping over streams, all close to home. It cracks me up to have them follow me through the woods. Here's a shot of each of them in action and then a group photo of all three before we headed home.

Painted VT Mountains

Amazing painterly light on the northern Green Mountains from our deck out back tonight. We had something like 21 inches from the latest storm, but high winds kept the lifts down for all of the day on the upper mountain yesterday, so skiing was limited to those diehards who hiked for their turns. I was not one of them. I waited until today and powder was hard to find. Bummer, you snooze you lose. Have to head back to the city tomorrow for an IFC shoot, with a special guest star Joan Rivers. I'm psyched as she has agreed to sit for portraits for me. Cool. Wish me luck.