Month: November 2015

Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park / Rocky Hill

We ran out of coffee beans on Friday morning. Usually, the subscription from Drift Away Coffee would arrive just around this time, but for some reason is a bit late. Neither Bhavna nor I can start our day without a good cup of joe. When I woke up Saturday morning, the first thing on my mind was acquiring coffee. Buy the Cup in Rocky Hill is the only coffee shop in my area open before 7 AM on a Saturday. Every cup of coffee is $1, no matter what size - 12 oz, 16 oz or 20oz. It's a real bargain, and I have a choice of Rwanda, Columbia, Mexican, and a few flavoured coffees that I refuse to acknowledge. Flavoured coffee is just plain stupid.

I know the owner, Vitaliy, so every trip is a conversation. This morning we chatted for a few minutes about hacking wi-fi networks. The shop is a local hangout for the early morning residents who jog or work in the area.

I drove away from the shop, enjoying the colour display from the trees lining Washington Street. I circled back around headed toward home admiring the trees in the well-kept yards. I drove down to Rocky Hill section of the Canal State Park. I could see that the light was just coming over the top of the Trap Rock Quarry.

I pulled out my tripod and grabbed a few shots in Slow Shutter Cam on my iPhone 6 before my battery quit. I would have preferred to capture the scene on my Nikon, but I recently lost both my SD cards. Shit happens.

I applied the Fuji Astia 100F v.2 preset from the RNI Films iOS app.

Columbus Day at Rock Brook

The New Jersey state offices are closed for Columbus Day. I consult for the New Jersey Courts so I a holiday as well. After helping out my wife's office with some networking issues, I drove up to one of my favourite spots in Skillman. I parked at the Rock Brook along Hollow Road. I brought only my iPhone and my tripod. I have a smartphone holder clamped to the centre column of my tripod. I usually use it to hold my iPhone when I am doing long-exposures using the Trigger Trap app and dongle. But it also works nicely to keep my iPhone so that I can use as the primary camera. That's what I did. All the images below were captured on my iPhone 6 with either the native camera app, vividHDR or Slow Shutter. I imported the TIFF images to Adobe Lightroom, applied profile correction, and a Hazy Pop matte filter.

Apple iPhone 6

I was surprised by the number of leaves on the ground. The trees were still mostly green, and the air temperature was moderate, so I was surprised that many leaves had fallen from the trees. The leaves were soft, not crunchy as I had expected from how brown they were.

It was quiet as I made my way down to the water.

Apple iPhone 6

As I approached the edge of the brook, leaves and trees gave way to the multitude of rocks that provide the brook its name. There were few leaves on the ground here. Mostly grass that found a way to thrive between the stones. I could hear the water flowing nearby.

Apple iPhone 6

I imagined that in a few weeks as the cooler air and dwindling sunlight causes more leaves to change colours and fall, the rock bed will be covered in orange and red.

Apple iPhone 6

While I set up the tripod near the "falls", I saw a few frogs hopping around. This one decided to keep me company. I very carefully set the tripod up so that I could get a close. I wish I had one of those Moment zoom lenses for the iPod. It took a few tries before the frogs were comfortable with my presence and sat still long enough for me to grab a few shots.

Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32

The "falls" is just a stack of large boulders that have formed a natural dam in the brook. The water pours over the rock, and I shot these images using the Slow Shutter app to give the water that silky smooth look you get when shooting long exposures on a DSLR.

Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32
Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32

While the Slow Shutter Cam captured the "falls" I looked around. I noticed this stack of rocks. I guess someone was down there before me and decided to add some artwork. I like it.

Apple iPhone 6

Battlefield Park A Year Ago

I captured this image about a year ago around the same date while driving to work. My sister-in-law loved the imaged and wanted a large canvas wrap to hang in her new home. She has a lot of my prints displayed on her walls. When I went back to look for the image I realised that I had also captured the picture on my Nikon. I used this image to order a 30"x40" canvas wrap from Canvas Pop.