Tag: Hunterdon County

32nd Annual QuickChek Festival of Ballooning pre-festival Media Launch

When Scott Wyden posted a Google invite event for a press event at the 32nd annual New Jersey Festival of Ballooning I said yes immediately.

Alt text

Although I had to be at my client's office at 8AM, I decided that I could arrive just before 6:30AM, snap some photos, and be back on the road by 7AM.

But as the date approached, I realized that attending would mean getting up at 5AM. This is 1 hour earlier than I normally get up.  It also meant I wouldn’t have any time to eat a proper breakfast or do my normal coffee ritual.  I almost backed out.  I am glad I did not.

I got some great photos.

Alt text

Alt text

Ken Lockwood Gorge

If you live in New Jersey or are just travelling through and have some time, drop by the Ken Lockwood Gorge.

Loren Fisher setup a meetup at the Ken Lockwood Gorge through the Somerset Photography meetup. I had never been to the gorge. I didn't know what a Gorge was. Loren explained it to me.

Ed, Prasanna and I carpooled from Skillman. We stopped in Somerville and had a leisurely lunch at Hurry Chutney.

While Saturday -- the day before -- was warmer and sunny, today, Winter came back. We were all dressed in layers from head to toe. Some photographers forgot to bring gloves, but fortunately, Loren had some extras in his truck.

Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G
Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

The sky was all grey. Soft lighting would prevail. I had rented a Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5 expecting I would get many wide-angle shots. However, this area still had snow and ice and minimal greenery. Most of the other photographers decided to do long-exposure photography. Ed had brought his neutral density filters with him. He was able to get some very long exposure images. Prasanna and I were a lot less prepared for that sort of photography.

Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G

The most prolonged exposure we could do without blowing out the image was ¼ second at f/29. I still think we got some great shots. I tried to extract more colour from the images. I wanted to make them look warmer and more "spring" like than the weather indicated.

Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM

I didn't use the Sigma 8-16mm as much as I thought I would. At one point, I took it off and shot exclusively with my Nikkor 35mm f1/.8. Maybe it was my familiarity with this lens, but I feel the images are sharper and livelier.

Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM

I enjoyed the hike, and I expect to return in the spring when the trees have some leaves, and the air is warmer. If you live in New Jersey or are just travelling through and have some time, drop by the gorge.

Ben, Khürt, Loren, Prasanna, and Ed at Ken Lockwood Gorge
Ben, Khürt, Loren, Prasanna, and Ed at Ken Lockwood Gorge · Sunday 23 March 2014 · Nikon D5100 · Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM

September 25th, 2011 - Unionville Vineyards

It was supposed to be a rainy, dreary day, but it turned out quite different. We picked up our produce from the farm stand at the Honey Brook Organic Farm in Pennington and drove north on Route 31 through the beautiful little back roads of Ringoes. We were to meet up with a small group of food lovers for a wine tasting at Unionville Vineyards.

Unionville Vineyards | Sunday 25 September, 2011 | Nikon D40 | AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8

We were the first to arrive so used the time to look over the tasting "menu". Bhavana and I decided to share the first tasting and after the tasting purchased a bottle to take home. We were joined by Deboleena Dutta and here husband Ravi and their two kids. Deboleena gave us a sneak peek tasting of two new delicious condiments she has created for HerbNZest. I think these can be paired with the wines from Unionville. After tasting eight different white and red wines — and one Riesling and dessert wine — we were taken on a tour of the winery by assistant winemaker Steve "Zeke" Johnson.

Unionville Vineyards | Sunday 25 September, 2011 | Nikon D40 | AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8

Zeke gave us an overview of the differences production methods for white and red wines, about something called "the muck", and the difference between new oak and French oak. Unionville prefers old oak which they buy from various wineries in California. I never knew winemaking was so involved and detailed.

Steve "Zeke" Johnson | Sunday 25 September, 2011 | Nikon D40 | AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8

After the tour, we returned to the wine tasting room and tried another tasting with five different wines. "Zeke" was upstairs drinking his favourite and so we had a chance to talk to him some more about the wines and the vineyard.

Steve "Zeke" Johnson | Sunday 25 September, 2011 | Nikon D40 | AF-S Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8

Wine tasting is new for us but I could definitely do again. We took home two bottles of wines; a red called "Cam Jam" and a rose called "Fields of Fire".