Ordinary

Should I try to make an exceptional photograph of a commonplace scene or an ordinary picture of a memorable scene? What is normal and commonplace? Normal for me or normal for others?

UPDATE: My Fujinon MCEX-16 arrived on Saturday morning, but I didn’t open the package until later. I used the lens today, but it was too late to process and include photographs for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

This past week's Lens-Artists Photo Challenge was indeed a challenge. I. J. Khanewala1 has asked us to lift "...the commonplace into the most extraordinary thing that you have seen". But what does it mean?

adjective
with no special or distinctive features; normal.
noun
what is commonplace or standard.

Should I make an exceptional photograph of a commonplace scene or an ordinary picture of a memorable scene? What is normal and commonplace? Normal for me or normal for others? Does it matter?

At first, I thought about I.J. Khanewala's onion photograph and her approach. I might play with light and shadow from the early morning sunlight coming through the kitchen window. I'm a weekend photographer, and it's October in New Jersey. The light comes up later and goes down sooner, leaving very little time for playing with sunlight in the morning. The skies have been cloudy all week; flat light. But I tried. I'm not too fond of the result. I looked around my home and realised I didn't want to photograph any of it.

As a primarily outdoor photographer, my real challenge is seeing beyond the "every day feels the same" struggle of self-enforced "mental survival" routines I created during the pandemic lockdown. Netflix, Apple TV+, HBO, Hulu, and Disney+ became my escape from the constant reminder that I could not do the things I wanted to do. But, these routines continue despite the "opening". Monday to Friday, I usually don't leave the house Monday to Friday, and some weekends, I don't leave the couch.

It's October in New Jersey, and some leaves on the trees have begun to turn yellow, but not enough of them. I finally gave up on the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge and went for an early morning walk in the Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve in Princeton. The preserve is about ten minutes (6.3 km) from home.


I've hiked the Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve many times over the last several years. It's a quiet place to sit, think, and get some low-effort exercise. The loop around the lake often has stunning fall foliage. I've photographed spectacular displays in early October, mid-October, and late October. But not today. It's too early in New Jersey. The fall foliage forecast in Central New Jersey has defied prediction. Perhaps next weekend?

I focused on photographing what was commonplace at this time.

Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm | 140 sec at f/16 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1125 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 320
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1125 sec at f/9.0 | ISO 1000
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1340 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 47 mm | 1480 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1950 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1640 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1850 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Community Park North
Community Park North | Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | 50 mm | 1220 sec at f/1.0 | ISO 160

While exploring Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, Pettoranello Gardens, and Community Park North, I saw some people cross a narrow wooden bridge I had not noticed before. I had promised Bhavna we would go hiking this weekend, so later that day, we returned to Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve and explored one of the loop trails.

Bhavana asked what photography challenge I was working on. I explained what I thought the challenge was about and why I struggled with it. I stopped to photograph some flowers, wishing I had a macro lens. The XF60mmF has been on my "wish list" since I both my Fuji (2018). But it's an expensive lens, and I have not convinced myself I would use it enough to justify the expense.

Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1210 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1125 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1640 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1950 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1320 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 160
Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
Saturday 16 October, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 1125 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 200

I recently re-discovered Fuji X Weekly's Nostalgic Negative Film Simulation. Ritchie Roesch created this recipe to mimic the Nostalgic Negative Film Simulation, which can only be found on the high-end and expensive Fujifilm GFX100S medium format digital camera.

Ritchie wrote:

Fujifilm stated that the Nostalgic Negative film simulation is based on "American New Color" photography of the 1970s. They studied photographs by William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld and Richard Misrach in order to create them. Eggleston and Sternfeld largely shot on Kodachrome—II and X in the early 1970s, 25 and 64 in the late' 70's—while Shore shot mostly Kodacolor, and Misrach shot a lot of Vericolor. All of those are Kodak 35mm films but with different aesthetics.

The Nostalgic Negative Film Simulation recipe may not be an accurate facsimile of the true Nostalgic Negative, but I am an instant fan. All of the images in this blog post are straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) JEPGs captured using Ritchie's Nostalgic Negative Film Simulation with some cropping to suit my needs.


  1. Who is I.J. Khanewala? I don't know. Unlike Patti and Leya, some guest bloggers don't post their first names. 

The Colours of Autumn

After spring, autumn is my most favourite of the seasons in the North Eastern USA. The cooler autumn air is a welcome respite from the heat and humidity of summer. Although it’s been a little unpredictable in recent years, the change of the leaves from green to various hues and shades of yellow, orange, and red provide a bright, colourful display.

After spring, autumn is my most favourite of the seasons in the North East. The cooler autumn air is a welcome respite from the heat and humidity of summer. Although it's been a little unpredictable in recent years, the change of the leaves from green to various hues and shades of yellow, orange, and red provide a bright, colourful display. Early autumn is also the time for beer fest and October Fest and dining on Weiner schnitzel, spaetzle, and red cabbage. It's the time of the year for glorious sunrises and sunsets. During COVID times, autumn was the time to share a pint of ale or a cocktail around the fire pit outside on the back lawn of the Brick Farm Tavern. Autumn is the time of year to take steam train rides through the Pennsylvania Countryside and explore quaint little towns. It's the time of year to walk around the Princeton University campus and watch kids playing the leaves. It's the time of year for early morning fog over Princeton Battlefield Park.

It's too early for autumn colours in the Garden State. According to nj HIking and nj.com, peak autumn colour is still two weeks away. Some of the maples on Blue Spring Road have a tinge of red but very very few of the mature trees are still showing green.

For the Lens-Artists Challenge #167: Colors of Autumn, I took a look at my Adobe Lightroom catalogue and older blog post for images to post. I looked through five years of October photographs to compile the set below. I photographed some using various models of iPhone, my long-gone Nikon D500, and my Fuji X-T2.

Princeton Battlefield Park in the Fog | Wednesday 29 October, 2014 | Nikon D5100 | 35 mm f/1.8 | 14 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 100
Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve, Princeton | Saturday 31 October, 2015 | Apple iPhone 6 | iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | 30.0 sec at f/2.2 | ISO 32
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania | Sunday 23 October, 2016 | Nikon D5100 | 16-80 mm f/2.8-4 @ 58 mm | 1250 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 200
October Morning on Blue Spring Road. Montgomery Township, New Jersey. | Saturday 21 October, 2017 | Apple iPhone 7 | iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8 | 1/1250 sec at f/1.8 | ISO 20
Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve | Wednesday 31 October, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1140 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200
Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve | Wednesday 31 October, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1750 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200
Sunrise at Carnegie Lake. Yesterday. Before work. The air was cold. | Friday 26 October, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm | 118 sec at f/16 | ISO 200
Leaf Battle, Princeton University | Saturday 26 October, 2019 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1480 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 400
Central Jersey Beer Fest, Mercer County Park, West Windsor, New Jersey
three amigos | 12 Oct, 2019 | Apple iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 6mm f/2 | © Khürt Williams
Wiener Schnitzel, Spätzle, Rotkohl | Saturday 5 October, 2019 | Apple iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro back camera 6mm f/2 | 117 sec at f/2.0 | ISO 500
Flounder Brewing Beer Fest | Saturday 10 October, 2020 | Minolta X-700 | 45mm f/2 MD Rokkor-X | f/4.0 | ISO 100
Thursday 29 October, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 40.1 mm | 180 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 2000
Squash Soup,Brick Farm Tavern | Saturday 31 October, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 50 mm | 1125 sec at f/5.0 | ISO 500
Brick Farm Tavern | Saturday 31 October, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1150 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 200
Sourland Mountain Spirits, Hopewell | Saturday 31 October, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 24.2 mm | 1170 sec at f/8.0 | ISO 200
Through The Window | Monday 26 October, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/6.4 | ISO 4000

Beyond camera technology upgrades by Riccardo Morrick.

Yes, yes, I know, computational photography! Apple is leading here, they’re ahead of the competition, and so on and so forth. I’m simplifying here, but essentially computational photography is something created to take advantage of processing power and software to circumvent the hardware limitations of having small camera sensors, small lenses, and little physical space to operate within the chassis of a smartphone. And from what I’ve seen so far, the goal of having such advanced computational photography is to make your iPhone take photos as closer to reality as possible, especially when it comes to low-light photography.

I’m not arguing its usefulness or Apple’s innovative efforts on this front, at all. The philosophical problem I have with that is that most photography is not about reproducing reality with 100% fidelity. Every time I look at the photo samples Apple shows while touting the iPhone’s ever-improved camera system, the neutral, high-definition, surgically precise nature of such samples doesn’t appeal, inspire, or move me at all.


Bhavna and I had dinner at Brick Farm Tavern. We haven't had dinner here in a few months. After dinner, she asked me to schedule dinner here at least once per month.

Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 190 sec at f/2.8 | ISO 160
Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 320
Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 250
Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/9.0 | ISO 1250
Tuesday 28 September, 2021 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 | 160 sec at f/9.0 | ISO 1600

I’ve been a Mac since November 2005, and I bought my first iPad in April 2010. So no surprise, I’m still using a Mac (27” iMac) and iPad (Pro).

I don’t use email to read newsletters or catch up with blogs. Email is for work-related messaging and personal correspondence, and notifications from banks, utilities, etc.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) was offered free to the world 22 years ago on March 15, 1999. I started using it a few months after that. RSS has been the primary method for keeping up with any source that supports it (mostly blogs).

For RSS, I used Google Reader for many years, but when Google abandoned the product, I searched and found replacements.

I’ve tried Feedly, River 2, Fever, Reeder, and several others, but I’ve used Reeder exclusively for several years. Reeder is cross-platform, running on macOS, iPad OS and iOS. The app team have provided a continuous improvement over the years, and I think the app is feature complete. I originally paid a yearly fee to use a feed aggregation service, Feedbin. The Feedbin service also provided the ability to sync my reading status across my drives. However, Reeder just started leveraging iCloud sync.

I have struggled with managing the feeds that are firehoses. Over the years, I’ve performed multiple spring cleanings and reorganisation of sources. Feeds that update frequently, mainly very popular Apple, cyber security, and photography websites, are corralled under the “news” category. Then I’ve broken down the lower volume photography feeds into “bloggers”, then Fuji, and finally film. The Fuji feeds, and the film feeds are low volume, so keeping up is easy.

I’ve had a Gmail account since the beta launched in 2004. But several years ago, I decided that instead of using a free service, where I’m the product, I would happily pay to host my email. Gmail is where all the low-value email goes. I was a big fan of all things Google, but as I became increasingly concerned with privacy, I started a move away from their services.


In his most recent podcast, Episode 055: about image aspect ratios, Daniel Sigg discusses aspect ratios.?

Why do some photographers continue to define images by the limitations of legacy print technology? In modern times, I think very few photographs are printed. Most photographs are shared online. For example, here are the non-print aspect ratios for Instagram and Facebook and other social media.

Instagram Landscape Photos have 1.91:1 aspect ratio
Facebook Profile Cover Photo have 2.7:1 aspect ratio.
Facebook Photo Post have 1.91:1 aspect ratio.

When will we let go of the past and free photographers from these constraints?


I just read the essay, The End of Nation-States by Tomas Pueyo and my mind is reeling. Tomas makes the interesting proposition that large multinational corporations and cryptocurrencies are disrupting the power of local governments and nation-states.

Historically, how did you trust that your cab was legit?
Because it had a license. From the government.
How did you know to eat in that restaurant?
Because it was certified to be safe. By the government.
How did you know your house was yours?
Because it was registered. By the government.
How did you know somebody was American?
Because they had a passport. From the government

You always needed a gatekeeper.

What about money: how did you certify you had money? You either showed the cash or you needed an attestation from your bank.
How did you prove you knew something? You needed to show a certificate provided by an academic institution.
How did you prove anything was true? You got a seal from a notary public. You always needed a gatekeeper.

Nation-states were the ultimate gatekeepers, because not only did they control their own services, but they also controlled the rest of gatekeepers via regulation. They drew all their might from this control.

Since the Bitcoin paper was published, that power is gone. We haven’t needed gatekeepers to certify most of these things. You don’t need the corruption, absurd regulations, and abuse of power that goes with it. We can build better solutions with more crowd-sourced feedback, faster feedback, crypto-oracle verification. We just haven’t built all these solutions yet.

My only counterpoint to Tomas' thesis is that the generation of cryptocurrency is at the expense of the environment. Cryptocurrencies require large amounts of energy, due to the computations needed for mining. According to one estimate, Bitcoin's energy consumption (118.9TWh/year) is similar to the power consumption of countries like the Netherlands (117.1 TWh/year) or Pakistan (125.9TWh/year).

Not all cryptocurrencies have significant environmental impacts. Many of them do not use mining at all. There are alternative, eco-friendly cryptocurrencies that inflict less damage on the planet.

Exploration of a Sugar Maple Tree

Because the global pandemic has kept me working remotely, I am "seeing" this maple tree for the first time.

Under normal circumstances, at this time of year (fall) and at this time of day, I would be in my car or on a train on my way to work or already at work. By the time I return home from work, it would be dark outside. Because the global pandemic has kept me working remotely, I am "seeing" this sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tree in my backyard for the first time. I read that Sugar maples have a fall foliage colour range from yellow to orange to red, but this specimen is mostly yellow.

Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 41.4 mm | f/9.0 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/8.0 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/2.8 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/2.8 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/5.0 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/4.0 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/9.0 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation
Wednesday 11 November, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | f/6.4 | Fuji Velvia Film Simulation

Submitted for the 100DaysToOffload project.