Tag: Great Road

Blawenburg Bistro

Blawenburg Bistro describes itself as "... an upscale yet casual establishment that focuses on gourmet take-out, catering, and cafe-style offerings."

The northern part of my home town of Montgomery Township is known as Belle Mead; the southern part (where I live), close to Princeton, is Skillman. The remnants of historic villages which once defined Montgomery, Blawenburg and Harlingen, which once defined Montgomery, are in between. While passing through Blawenburg, one doesn’t see much of any significance. Despite many rumours over the years, the old one-room post office still stands in its original location near the corner of the Great Road (aka County Route 601) and the Georgetown Franklin Turnpike (aka. County Route 518). New World Pizza and a mini-mall with a Japanese grocer are on adjacent northern corners.

On the southern corner near the post office is Blawenburg Bistro. Blawenburg Bistro describes itself as "... an upscale yet casual establishment that focuses on gourmet take-out, catering, and cafe-style offerings." The bistro opened during the pandemic occupying the space formerly known as the Blawenburg Market. One interesting fact is that the building has hosted a post office, general store, dry cleaner, deli, antique shop, newspaper headquarters, dog groomer, and a catering company throughout the years.

I only recently "discovered" the bistro while driving on the way to the Brick Farm Tavern. When the former Blawenburg Market close, the building was closed for a long time. I had not noticed the change in the name of the building from Blawenburg Market to Blawenburg Bistro. Montgomery Township has very few cafes open at 7 AM on a weekday. Last week I stopped in for the first time for breakfast. I bought a cappuccino and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwich. Both were delicious, and I returned on the weekend for the same. The Blawenburg Bistro is now on my regular rotation for early morning breakfast.

I snapped this photograph while waiting for the staff to prepare my "usual". I could see the early morning traffic through the "front" window, mostly school buses. There is no access to the building from the front. Customers enter from the small parking lot in the rear. I spot metered to the left of the window to add a bit of "early morning" mood to the photograph.

Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 2: Velvia

Ritchie Roesch recently announced his Film Simulation Challenge, which requires that the photographer load her camera with one film simulation recipe, capturing either 24 or 36 frames before changing settings. The photographer is forced to shoot with that one "roll" of the film until that roll is completely exposed. Ritchie's post from today reminded me that I had not yet submitted an entry.

My first roll for the challenge I used a roll of Kodachrome II while walking around the main street in Hightstown. But this time, I used a modified version of Ritchie's Fujifilm X-T30 Velvia Film Simulation Recipe. The Fujifilm X-T2 lacks the Color Chrome Effect setting that is available on the Fujifilm X-T3/X-T30. All of the images in this post are straight out of the camera. I love how the colours of the flowers and the fruit "pop." Next year, I'll make a note to use this recipe to shoot the early spring foliage and flowers with an additional mental not to use it this fall for foliage.

I captured some photographs at the Montgomery Farmers' Market then drove to Hollow Road, where I parked my car and walked down to the rock bed of the Rock Brook. As usual, the sound of the water rushing over the rocks and the wind blowing in the trees set me at ease. I was relaxed, noticing how green everything was and the lack of flowers. The occasional bright yellow butterfly floated by on the wind, too quick to photograph. I followed their flight through the trees into the distance.

The silence was broken by the sound of my iPhone, a call from my sister-in-law, inquiring how my wife was feeling after her surgery yesterday. We chatted and made plans to take my nephews out for a wander in the woods to my photographic hideouts. On my way home, I stopped in at Hobler Park. I captured some images of art installation and the yarrow flowers, the only thing in bloom at this point in the high heat and humidity of August.

Here are the keepers from my roll of 24. I used a 10 stop neutral density filter to capture the images of the water on the Rock Brook.

Other entries in this challenge series.

Frame 5, Tomatoes, Montgomery Friends Farmers' Market, Skillman —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (55 mm, 0.003 sec at f/3.6, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 6, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (16 mm, 8.500 sec at f/8.0, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 8, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (16 mm, 0.017 sec at f/8.0, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 11, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (27.4 mm, 8.500 sec at f/8.0, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 12, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (55 mm, 13.000 sec at f/8.0, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 14, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (55 mm, 0.018 sec at f/8.0, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 19, Rock Brook, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (55 mm, 0.000 sec at f/8.0, ISO8000), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 22, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (37.6 mm, 0.000 sec at f/8.0, ISO8000), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 20, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (29.2 mm, 0.000 sec at f/8.0, ISO8000), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 23, Hollow Road, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (37.6 mm, 0.000 sec at f/8.0, ISO8000), © Khürt L. Williams
Frame 31, Hobler Park, Great Road,, Skillman, Montgomery Township —FujiFilm X-T2 + XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ (55 mm, 0.000 sec at f/2.8, ISO200), © Khürt L. Williams

Structure

The Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography. #fpj-photo-challenge

Weekends are the only time I have to complete the challenge. During the week I am busy at work and my daily commute and family matters give me very little time for photography in the morning and afternoon.

Today I had planned a trip to Sea Girt to photograph the lighthouse. However, after breakfast, I checked the weather and decided to do it another day. The air temperature was 0ºC. Brr.

Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (15 mm, f/9.0, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams

After breakfast, I grabbed my Nikon D5100 and my Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 wide-angle and drove over to the Dirck Gulick House.

The Dirck Gulick House, also known just as the Gulick House, was built in 1752 and has been serving as the Society’s headquarters, library, archives, and research facility since 2004. The building conforms to the Dutch style of the 18th century in its story-and-a-half height, double room depth, and use of heavy timber running from the front to back walls. What is rare is its use of stone for building material. This building was added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places in late 2003 after the completion of major restoration.Van Harlingen Historical Society

Dirck Gulick House, Sign
Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (15 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams

The house is a Dutch-style stone structure made from stones from the Sourland Mountain Range. The one-story house has segmented arches of stone above the doors and windows, as well as two front entrances. I have no idea why anyone would build two doors to a home.

Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (16 mm, f/10, ISO140), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams
Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (16 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams
Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (16 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams
Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (16 mm, f/11, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams

The house is located on Great Road (Route 601) in the Harlingen area of Belle Mead just south of the Gibraltar Rock quarry. The house is the site of a Harlingen Society Museum. The museum is no open on Sunday’s.

Montgomery was established in 1702 by Dutch and English Settlers and incorporated in the State of New Jersy in 1772. There are several hamlets within the Township: Belle Mead, Blawenburg, Dutchtown, Harlingen, Rocky Hill, Skillman and Zion.Montgomery Township web site

rock, flat,Dirck Gulick House, Structure
Dirck Gulick House — Nikon D5100 + Nikon Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8 @ (15 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), Copyright 2017-03-05 Khürt L. Williams

UPDATE: Pingback to some of my favourites from this week's entries.

  • Brick Structures in Wilmington, NC.
  • Some interesting tree root structures.

The Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography. This week's theme is structure.