Tag: Hillsborough Township

Duke Farms

Despite severe allergies and feeling tired from another photo event the previous day, I decided to join a group of photographers for a walk through the Duke Farms estate in Hillsborough. I popped one Zyrtec one Singulair, squeezed a mist of Nasonex in each nostril and drove the ten minutes to the estate. Once again, I met with Ed and Prasanna, our leader Loren, and a few other people from my last photo walk.

The first stop along the path was the waterfall feature. On the last photo walk, Ed and Loren had talked to me about Neutral Density filters. I learned that an ND filter is essential for creating that creamy white water look in photographs of waterfalls and rivers. After some online research I purchased a Hoya 55mm Neutral Density ND-400 X, 9 Stop Multi-Coated Glass Filter from B&H to use on my Nikon 18-55mm f/5.6 lens. I used it for the first time today. What do you think of the result (above)? With some trial and error, I took a 20-second exposure of the waterfall at f/22.

NIKON_D5100_20140413_8122-2-1

Above is a closer crop of the image.

NIKON_D5100_20140413_-1

I didn’t take many photos on this photo walk. I had too much fun being outdoors and enjoying the company of other photogs. Perhaps I’ll come back in a few weeks when the trees have more flowers.

NIKON_D5100_20140413_8147-1

Some images were post-processed in Silver Efx Pro and Color Efx Pro.

NIKON_D5100_20140413_-2-1

Stone Structure

I joined a friendly group of Somerset County photographers for an early morning walk around Duke Farms in Hillsboro.

The early morning weather was cool, and the skies were clear. I met up in the parking lot with a large group of photographers from all over Somerset Country. I already knew a few people - like Terry Lyons - but the rest were strangers.

Duke Farms is the former estate of Doris Duke, an American heiress, horticulturist, art collector, and philanthropy, past. The estate was opened to the public last year. It is a fantastic place with ponds, barns, wildlife, wildflower fields and incredible scenery. There were plenty of photo opportunities.

We walked over instead of taking the tram. As with any large group of photographers, each of us was interested in different things, and each of us saw the park differently. We strolled, stopping at park features we found interesting. For me, that was the landscape and the flora. I got into fascinating conversations with fellow photographers about camera equipment, photography tips and kids.

Following a fire in January 1915, the building remained abandoned. Doris Duke used the ruins as an outdoor sculpture gallery, placing individual marble statues of human figures in linear arrangements along the walls, which can still be seen today.

Duke Farms has a small greenhouse filled with Orchids. One could spend an hour inside. I couldn't. The orchids are misted every five minutes, and the humidity becomes unbearable. However, by far, this was my favourite part of the walk. I saw a few picnic tables, but I'm not sure visitors can bring food in.

There is so much I didn't get to see in the two hours I was there. I will certainly return with my camera and my family and do another walk myself, perhaps more slowly and deliberately.

The image in this post is of the abandoned hay barn near the southern gate to the park. At the time of its construction, the Hay Barn was near the centre of farming activity, but as more land was purchased and the farming moved elsewhere, the structure was no longer needed as a hay press.

Image is HDR from three exposures (+2,0,-2) combined in Photomatix Pro. You can see more of the photos on 500px.