Caesar Trent's Property

Ceasar Trent was a controversial character in Princeton history.

Last night Bhavna told me that the weather forecast called for rain today. But I wanted to finish a 36 exposure roll of Rollei RPX 25 that I had loaded into my Minolta X-700 a few weeks ago. RPX 25 is a slow film. Shooting handheld was challenging and required more light than the overcast skies could provide. To avoid blurry photographs, I had to use my tripod. I had planned on photographing some of the historic buildings around my area. On my list was Rockingham and Einstein's home on Mercer Street. But when I awoke this morning, I did some more searching on the Princeton I stumbled upon a link to Albert E. Hinds Memorial Walking Tour: African American Life in Princeton and discovered things about Princeton's history that I never knew. I did a quick tour of the tour and changed my shot list.

I looked out my bedroom window. The sky was grey, moody, and a bit of fine rain silvered the street. I knew I had to dress warmly.

I had breakfast with Alphie and then packed my gear for the morning. I packed my Peak Design camera sling with my Minolta X-700 and MD Rokkor-X 45mm f/2.8, AKG headphones, Fuji X-T2 and Fujinon XF27mmF2.8 lens (approximately 41mm full-frame). I wanted to try out Ritchie's Tri-X film simulation and capture some images for the Lens Artist Photo Challenge.

I parked on Leigh Street, intending to start my photo walk at the shops, walk over to Witherspoon Street for more photographs before finishing my photo walk at Bank of America on the corner of Witherspoon Street and Nassau Street. I have walked by this street and even entered the bank to use the ATM but never known its significance. According to the Historical Society of Princeton, around 1795, Ceasar Trent became the first Black property owner in Princeton, with his residence at the building.

Ceasar Trent was a controversial character in Princeton history. According to Princeton University, he was a former enslaved person who owned enslaved people and gained significant wealth for a black man through his business dealings with white Princeton business people.

An occasional employee of a prominent landowner, the object of a townsperson’s published recollections, and a slave owner, Cezar Trent was one of a select few free black citizens of antebellum Princeton whose life can be rendered in detail through the examination of historical records. Significantly, his dual status as both a member of Princeton’s free black community and slaveholder challenges notions that free blacks were consistent critics of United States slavery. ~ [Princeton University]

Caesar Trent's Property at 90 Nassau Street in Princeton
Saturday 5 December, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Tri-X Film Simulation
Caesar Trent's Property at 90 Nassau Street in Princeton
Saturday 5 December, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Tri-X Film Simulation

Submitted for the 100DaysToOffload project.

Walking Princeton

A few weeks after New Jersey's Governor, Phil Murphy issued executive orders which effectively shut down non-essential businesses I ventured into downtown Princeton for a solitary photowalk with my Fuji X-T2 camera and XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR lens. I walked for over an hour, photographing everything and anything that caught my eye. I know I pushed the shutter button way too many times, but when I download the images to my iMac, there were several noticeable themes. I had photographed mostly doors and storefronts.

It was early spring, and many of the trees in Princeton were filled with blossoms. Normally the downtown would be filled with the hustle and bustle of people eating or shopping in the downtown stores and restaurants. However, the pandemic lockdown had forced most people to stay home. The streets and sidewalks were empty. That provided an opportunity to photograph storefronts without parked cars blocking the view.

I uploaded a set of images to Unsplash. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Zero license. You are free to download them from Unsplash and use for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial.

Palmer Square Kiosk, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Palmer Square Kiosk, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 250
Bench, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 500
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 200
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 1000
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 1250
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 1600
Den, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Den, 242 ½ Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 1000
Blue Point Grill, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Orange Brick, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 250
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Orange Chairs, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 400
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 400
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 1250
Princeton University Store, Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 400
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 200
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 200
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey
Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey | Tuesday 31 March 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR | f/6.4 | ISO 640

Thank you, Amy, for hosting Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #117.

Submitted for the 100DaysToOffload project.

Kodak Portra 400 Fuji Film Simulation Recipe Compared to DxO Color Efx Pro 4

After messing around with Color Efx Pro 4from DxO's Nik Collection 3, I think my criticism and reaction to the SOOC JPEGs from my Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 5: Kodak Portra 400 test was "user error". I think the exposure compensation dial may have moved during my photo walk. That would certainly explain the washed-out look of the SOOC image. As a test, I used Fuji X RAW Studio to reprocess the images with Ritchie's Kodak Portra 400 recipe and adjusted exposure compensation settings and the results are much better. I think the photos were over-exposed by between EV +1/3 to +1. In the interest of transparency, I left the original blog post but included reprocessed images at the bottom.

I then tried the Kodak Portra 400 film presets from DxO Color Efx Pro 4. DxO Color Efx Pro 4 produced very different images than the SOOC JPEGs created by Ritchie's Kodak Portra 400 recipe for X-Trans III sensors. The images created by DxO Color Efx Pro 4 are consistent with what I had expected based on what I had seen and read about Kodak Portra 400.

I don't know for sure why the two approaches are so different but even in the age of film, the process for developing, the paper used, etc. were all contributors to how a print would be rendered. I'll just have to shoot another "roll" of simulated Kodak Portra 400 and compare results again.

Although I don't have an X-Trans IV camera, I am going to try [Ritchie's newer Portra 400 recipe].

Kodak Portra 400 Film Simulation Recipe | H1912 | 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 41.4 mm
DxO Color Efx Pro 4 | H1912 Vintage & Antique Jewelry | Saturday 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Kodak Portra 400 Film Simulation Recipe | Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue | 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm
DxO Color Efx Pro 4 | Nassau Street and Vandeventer Avenue | Saturday 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Kodak Portra 400 Film Simulation Recipe | Fruity Yogurt & Cafe | 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 34.2 mm
DxO Color Efx Pro 4 | Fruity Yogurt & Cafe | Saturday 6 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR