These ware all taken with my iPhone 7 during a walk through Stewart Park in Woodbury, New Jersey. The “glow” is from indiscriminate application of the “Orton Effect“. We were killing time before heading to a beer tasting party. We had over an hour before the party and I pulled up the GPS and selected the first interesting thing on the map. We walked through the open areas of the park but I was drawn to the light coming through the trees in the forested area.
Aperture—ƒ/1.8
Camera—iPhone 7
Taken—22 October, 2017
Focal length—3.99mm
ISO—25
Shutter speed—1/120s
Aperture—ƒ/1.8
Camera—iPhone 7
Taken—22 October, 2017
Focal length—3.99mm
ISO—20
Shutter speed—1/290s
Aperture—ƒ/1.8
Camera—iPhone 7
Taken—22 October, 2017
Focal length—3.99mm
ISO—20
Shutter speed—1/210s
Each Wednesday, The Daily Prompt Photo Challenge provides a theme for creative inspiration. Participants take photographs based on their interpretation of the theme, and post them on their blog anytime before the following Wednesday.
This past weekend I participated in my 4th Scott Kelby World Wide Photo Walk. I first started doing the World Wide Photowalk in 2011 just for fun. It’s a tribal event and even though every member of the tribe has a unique perspective on photography, I enjoy hanging out and talking about the craft. I get a chance to learn something new and explore a new location or further explore a place I have already visited. Seeing through another person’s perspective can bring renewed interested.
Photographer, Mark Krajnak, chose his hometown of Allentown, New Jersey to host the photo walk. We had about 23 participants. I car-pooled with a friend, Prasanna, who has accompanied me on other photo walks. My friend, Ed, met us at the rendezvous point, the Moth Coffee House. We took a group shot and spread out to hunt for images. Ed has some experience with Allentown so Prasanna and I followed him around. The weather was warm and the sun was high in the sky. The three of us agreed that perhaps early morning would have been best for the walk and the light. After Mark took the group shot, the twenty-three camera-equipped pedestrians expanded onto the streets of Allentown.
For the photo walk used an Olympus E-M10 that I borrowed from my friend Chris. Chris has been shooting with micro 4/3 for a few years and is a proponent of the standard. We exchanged a number of text messages about lens choices but since I intended to shoot mostly street photography I ended up using his Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/2.8 lens. This diminutive lens has an angle of view roughly equivalent to a 35mm lens on a full frame camera. Some of the people we met during the walk asked if I was shooting with a film camera.
The historic building of the [Old Mill](https://www.thehistorygirl.com/2012/08/reinventing-old-mill-allentown-nj.html), renamed the Allentown Feed Company in 1977, is now a mini indoor mall with craft shops and a coffee house.
Ed led us along the nearby lake toward the Allentown Presbyterian Church. We explored the cemetery which appeared to have many gravestones from early post-colonial times.
After walking around for a couple of hours we broke for lunch. Ed suggested a few places for lunch but we decided on pizza at the La Piazza.
After lunch, we returned to the starting point for the walk. But first, we stopped at Heavenly Havens Creamery. I had had low blood glucose on the walk to La Piazza. I wanted to be sure that my BG would be safe for me to drive. I had my first soft serve vanilla ice cream in quite a few years. Delicious.
We finished up our ice cream and wandered back to the Moth Coffee House. The parked cars had vacated the parking lot and I could get an unobstructed view of the customers were entering and leaving the restaurant.
The Old Mill, Allentown
E-M10 17mm f/2.8 ISO-100 1/4000sec Khürt L. Williams
I was attracted to the rustic and historic look of the Old Mill. The Old Mill evokes a feeling of the countryside a simpler way of life in Monmouth County, NJ; something that is increasingly being lost in New Jersey. Currently, the building is host to an eclectic mix of speciality craft shops, studios, and farm to table vegan cuisine at our event meeting place, the Moth Coffee House. The building also houses The Old Mill Crafters’ Guild. There is a small dirt patch parking area around the outside of the shops and Main Street runs between the southern wall of the Old Mill and Conines Millpond. We didn’t dine in the restaurant but I can imagine there is quite a view in the early morning and perhaps just before sunset.
Perhaps I’ll return in a few weeks when the fall colours are at their peak and explore more details of the Old Mill and more of the Main Street of Allentown.
Each Wednesday, The Daily Prompt Photo Challenge provides a theme for creative inspiration. Participants take photographs based on their interpretation of the theme, and post them on their blog anytime before the following Wednesday.
I’ve Long noticed that many (most) of the homes I have seen in New Jersey have very few windows. Especially the larger homes. It’s as though some architect found inspiration in a box with small holes. The kind of box you use to transport small rodents home from the pet store.
I’ve seen homes where the entire side of the home is paved in vinyl save for one small and forlorn window. This is usually the side of the house with a two car garage. Why can’t garages have windows? It’s not like people parks cars in garages anymore. The garage is a place to store all the stuff that used to be in the basement. The windowless basement has been finished and no longer looks good with all that junk.
So when did the “War on Windows” start? Was it around the time Americans stopped decorating rooms with personal items? When beige and white became the best colours because you know “resale value”. Not all cities in the USA are lacking in colour. South Carolina, Florida, and California have some very colourful cities. Maybe it’s a northern USA issue.
It’s the same inside most office buildings. Beige carpeting. White walls. Grey cubicles. No light. The office building where I work has small windows on the outer wall. That’s where the court executives sit. Staff sit in cubicles running along the inner walls. No windows.
Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University
When my wife and I looked to buy our home 15 years ago one of the things we loved was how many windows we had. And how much light they let in. If you’ve followed this blog for more than a moment you’ll know that I’m from the West Indies. I’m not a fan of winter. It’s grey and white and beige. It’s the same colour scheme as the inside (and outside) of the average New Jersey home.
I prefer the light. I prefer warmth. I prefer big windows.
Each Wednesday, The Daily Prompt Photo Challenge provides a theme for creative inspiration. Participants take photographs based on their interpretation of the theme, and post them on their blog anytime before the following Wednesday.
