Tag: fpj-photo-challenge

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Road by jansenphotojansenphoto

All who dare to enter…

My initial plan was to photograph the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel, using a long exposure to create exciting light trails of the vehicles entering and exiting the tunnel. The heavily congested area with a spectacular nighttime view of the New York City cityscape is called “The Lincoln Tunnel Helix”.

I wanted to capture something visually exciting for this weeks challenge. But the logistics of that plan overwhelmed me. Light trails are the best capture after dark, and we are in early summer in New Jersey, which means the sun goes down much later in the day. A late night trip to that part of Weehawken would be challenging given that street parking is minimal and the entrance to the “Helix” can only be seen from one corner at the end of the block on one street in this residential neighbourhood. I set the Lincoln Tunnel project aside for another time.

My backup plan was to find and shoot a scene along one of the historic roads in the area. But as I drove around this morning working through my mental list of interesting roads, I realised that this wasn’t going to work either. All of the roads in this area are narrow one-lane county roads with ditches on either side and no shoulder to pull over, and this being New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the USA, even at 7 AM on a Saturday there is traffic on these narrow small town country roads.

I sat at the computer, feeling disappointed, and looking through my Adobe Lightroom Catalogue, hoping to spark more ideas. None came. I consoled myself with pulling a few images from the catalogue.

This capture of the tree-lined Blue Spring Road was taken in the fall of 2018 a few weeks after the leaves of the trees were starting to change colour. I was out for a walk and noticed the light coming over the hill was hitting the tops of the trees. The trees looked like they were on fire. The only camera I had on me was my iPhone.

The second image below was captured a year later, almost to the day, on my Fujifilm X-T2.

Blue Spring Road—FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Tower by jansenphotojansenphoto

Towering achievements!

It is my second time photographing the First Reformed Church of Rocky Hill before.

A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals, and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure. They may be stand-alone structures or incorporated into the entrance or centre of the building.Wikipedia

The challenge with photographing this church steeple tower is that the buildings are located at the edge of the property on a street corner. The Fujinon XF16-55 F2.8 LM WR R is not wide enough to capture the steeple and the building. I opted to shoot several images and merge them in Adobe Photoshop to create a panorama.

First Reformed Church of Rocky Hill —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (16 mm, 0.001 sec at f/5.6, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Vista by jansenphotojansenphoto

Welcome to week 161 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!
As we’re spending quite a bit of our vacation time away from WiFi, I’m running a bit behind on last week’s round up, but will try to finish it by Wednesday. I hope you don’t mind too much. The travels did inspire this week’s theme, as my …

Almost a decade ago, Bhavna, Shaan, Kiran and I took a family vacation to Paradise Island, Bahamas. We stayed at the Atlantis Resort. It was our very first family vacation, and I was nervous about messing it up. I wanted the family to have a comfortable flight, have no worries about getting from the airport to the resorts, and no concerns about what to do once we were at the resort.

It turned out better than I expected. Despite a very early start to our day – we had to arrive in Philadelphia two-hours before the 6 AM flight to the Bahamas – we had no issues with our trip. The resort bus met us at the airport, and we enjoyed a relaxing scenic drive to the resort. Our suitcases were taken to the room. When I opened the window to look out, I was presented with this open vista.

We had arrived just after noon, so we had lunch at an American style diner.

Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas —Nikon D40 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (18 mm, 0.003 sec at f/10, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams

After the first few days, the kids and I fell into a pattern. Get up, eat breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit, and pancakes. Then back to the hotel room to change into our swimsuits. We would spend an hour in the nearest pool, then an hour on one of the water rides, then back to the pool for another hour, then have a poolside lunch, then back to one of the water rides, then to the beach, then back to water ride, etc.

By 4:30 PM, we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel room for a shower and a nap. After napping, we dressed and went out to dinner. Atlantis has many choices. We had Chinese food one night, dined at a Bobby Flay’s steakhouse another night, then Johnny Rockets for burgers and fries another night, Caribbean food another night.

These photographs were taken on my Nikon D40 which was my first DSLR and also Nikon’s cheapest entry level camera. I had had the camera for about three years and was still learning how to use it.

Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas —Nikon D40 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (44 mm, 0.003 sec at f/11, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas —Nikon D40 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (18 mm, 0.002 sec at f/20, ISO1600), © Khürt L. Williams
Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas —Nikon D40 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (40 mm, 0.004 sec at f/10, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Bahamas —Nikon D40 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (26 mm, 0.017 sec at f/4.5, ISO1600), © Khürt L. Williams