Hamptons Snap Shot

Written By: Larry  Warshaw

I suppose some might view it differently, but I’ve always been drawn to color and there’s certainly a lot of it in the Hamptons. To me, it is magical. I see it everywhere and I look at everything . I vividly remember it all with a developed photographic memory. It’s a gift of sorts. In my mind, I can go click to preserve and share the color and the joy of what I’ve seen.Through my lens in walks along the beach, I’ve captured multi colored dots of people lying about, like buttons on a coat. Later there are creamsicle sunsets seemingly getting ready to take a last dip in the ocean before calling it a day. Sharp slivers of sun peer over the horizon to frame the day’s final moments as the clouds bid themselves good night. It’s changing all the time. No two images are ever the same.Then come the stars mounted on a purple canvass .The kind made for wishing upon for everyone. If only everyone would. They are not hard to see, but are hard to capture, though I try. From my vantage, the Ponqougue Bridge is taffy stretching and arching like a gray Siamese cat to connect stylized pinstripes of sand and asphalt. On any given day, the bays start out smooth as glass reflecting an azure sky with the occasional ripple caused by my favorite canine subject doing what else, a dog paddle while trying to fetch a strategically thrown stick. He emerges stick in mouth and shakes off the water spraying the sand like a Jackson Pollock. A masterpiece, if only for few minutes. But, I see and remember. This is what you want. The sun near the bays is direct, warm and bronzing. The shade is cool and sweet. In its way, it evokes an easy mood across undulating sand as it seeks to comfort and pull you in. It’s all shadows and light. Light and shadows. Whites and grays. Elements of color ever changing.But, there is more to see and remember in the Hamptons. Much more. There are gated castles aplenty.The kinds without moats that sport lush lawns and the occasional helipad and tennis court. Like in a fairy tale, you can see them from the distance. Magesticaly guarding the coast, keeping watch. Further up the road towards the east, there are windblown windmills waiting for a breeze like the great Derek Jeter at short daring a ball to bounce his way. These are the kind of windmills you are supposed to tilt at with tarnished cross or Mogen David in hand before you shout towards the sun for glory. The main streets of the Hampton towns are sunlit with cars parked at an angle. They glisten to form chromatic rainbows of steel along the curb. Towards the very end of the east end, a light house beckons. Like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting, it anchors the tip of Montauk to the rest of the Island which most assuredly would have floated away a long time ago without it. Visitors there manage to climb stairs shaped like a winding spring to see the End and take it all in. But, depending on your focus and how you frame it, one can capture a beginning as well as an end. Park rangers in green jackets and blue shorts lead safaris through the brush to find brown seals basking on the rocks along the coast smiling at one another as if to mock the people catching rays of sun on the beach face down instead of flippers up. It takes time to get it all. But, it’s worth the effort. Along the roads and throughout the Hamptons are memorials to honor America and the heros of the past and present. Here, the flags giddily wave in the breeze as they touch the sky from on high providing another snap shot moment. There are flower beds of all sorts throughout the Hamptons.They grow in chiseled pastel colors that captivate the eye and mind. Throughout the Hamptons, barbeques are lit as backyard chefs don their ridiculous bright colored aprons and pose with their friends over pink hot dogs as they happily toast one another with wine and cold beer that easily resembles golden nectar. Wineries abound with acres of sumptuous multi colored grape harvest on the vine that stretch off in the distance single file like kids waiting their turn to get an ice cream cone on a hot day. As I tried to tell you earlier, I see color in everything. It’s all so wonderful. Except for an occasional recharge of my batteries, there is not much time to rest.There is much to see. I’m asked to focus and preserve these days in the Hamptons for you to hold onto because they are special and will not last forever. It’s what I was put on this earth to do. I am a Nikon Digital Single Reflex Auto Focus Camera. Fully charged and ready for action. Look this way, raise your glass, smile and say “cheese.” Click.