DSLR Photography Forum

The Staten Island Greenbelt is what in German we would call a "Naherholungsgebiet" for New Yorkers, a close by, recreational area. It's a huge park and nature reserve, with dozens of miles of hiking trails.

Relying on New York public transport, it isn't that "near" after all, I have to take 2 trains, a ferry and two busses to get there. I met up with a friend last week to explore the place, and it took us about 2.5 h per trip, or 5 h round trip.

But once there, we were really impressed, especially after being caged in the city for months and months. Even just Staten Island, although one of the five boroughs, is a completely different world. People are very relaxed and usually friendly, even though at starbucks they had a hard time coping with all our requests as to how to customize our drinks ;-)

The day was hot and humid, and as we got on the ferry at the south tip of Manhattan, there was a thick fog over the water:

1


I only took one lense with me, my precious 100mm macro, so all you'll get to see was shot at 100mm.

Once we got to the park, we talked to one of the rangers there to lay out a good walking tour to do in a couple of hours.
As we set off, I just took snaps of leaves and insects and stuff, and had a really good time just breathing some forest air for a change:

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3


4


This is my friend Petri by the way, who shoots a D70 on his job as journalist for a Finnish newspaper:
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We climbed up a little hill and took a break for lunch on a rock, but like I said it was a very hot and humid day, and there was a thunderstorm approaching us, so we kind of hurried down the hill. Not without having enjoyed the stunning view over the forests though. I didn't touch this picture, as it was hazy that day and I think the pictures shows it well. Probably could do some enhancing...

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At the bottom of the hill, the thunderstorm had pretty much got lost and we continued our walk towards some swamps, and again, it was just really nice to be out there:

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We sure got a few mosquito bites down there :-)

Unfortunately, as the trip takes so much time, we didn't really have that much time to spend out there. But I certainly want to go back for more, and it is a wonderful place to find some peace for everyone worn out by the daily pace of this city!

Uli

Good Stuff! I like seeing photos and reading about places on the other side of the world.

1, 2 & 3 are really nice Uli - the place looks huge. Really enjoyed your background to the story as well.

The shot of the Statue Of Liberty is fantastic. Good work Uli.

What a wonderful series.