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60 Seconds at Carnegie Lake ...

A few weeks ago, when I looked out the window and saw the light fog hanging over the area, I knew I needed to hurry. I quickly assembled my diabetes kit, bolus for my liquid breakfast of Soylent, packed my TimBuk2 messenger bag, grabbed my iPhone 6 and Nikon D5100 and headed out the door. The tripod was already in the car.

Driving along Blue Spring Road, I noticed that the colour start to appear in the sky. A sort of reddish-orange. I headed toward Carnegie Lake intending to capture images of the fog over the lake. But as I pulled into the parking area, I knew I had to do something else. I mounted the iPhone 6 on the tripod and set about capturing some images.

After a few long exposure shots of the lake with Slow Shutter Cam I tried something new. I put myself in the image. I have only done this one time before. I knew I had to stand still to reduce ghosting since I set the shutter speed to 60 seconds.

But as I stood there counting down the second, I forgot about the image. The camera had long ago captured the picture, but still, I stood there. I am not moving. Just enjoying the scene before me. The air was crisp. For 60 seconds, no cars passed by on Route 27. For 60 seconds, I could hear the sound of the lake water lapping against its bank. For 60 seconds, I could listen to the birds call out to each other across the lake.

60 seconds.

This image was captured on my iPhone 6 with the Slow Shutter Cam app. I applied the Fuji Velvia 100F filter in the Really Nice Images Films mobile app.

Columbus Day at Rock Brook

The New Jersey state offices are closed for Columbus Day. I consult for the New Jersey Courts so I a holiday as well. After helping out my wife's office with some networking issues, I drove up to one of my favourite spots in Skillman. I parked at the Rock Brook along Hollow Road. I brought only my iPhone and my tripod. I have a smartphone holder clamped to the centre column of my tripod. I usually use it to hold my iPhone when I am doing long-exposures using the Trigger Trap app and dongle. But it also works nicely to keep my iPhone so that I can use as the primary camera. That's what I did. All the images below were captured on my iPhone 6 with either the native camera app, vividHDR or Slow Shutter. I imported the TIFF images to Adobe Lightroom, applied profile correction, and a Hazy Pop matte filter.

Apple iPhone 6

I was surprised by the number of leaves on the ground. The trees were still mostly green, and the air temperature was moderate, so I was surprised that many leaves had fallen from the trees. The leaves were soft, not crunchy as I had expected from how brown they were.

It was quiet as I made my way down to the water.

Apple iPhone 6

As I approached the edge of the brook, leaves and trees gave way to the multitude of rocks that provide the brook its name. There were few leaves on the ground here. Mostly grass that found a way to thrive between the stones. I could hear the water flowing nearby.

Apple iPhone 6

I imagined that in a few weeks as the cooler air and dwindling sunlight causes more leaves to change colours and fall, the rock bed will be covered in orange and red.

Apple iPhone 6

While I set up the tripod near the "falls", I saw a few frogs hopping around. This one decided to keep me company. I very carefully set the tripod up so that I could get a close. I wish I had one of those Moment zoom lenses for the iPod. It took a few tries before the frogs were comfortable with my presence and sat still long enough for me to grab a few shots.

Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32

The "falls" is just a stack of large boulders that have formed a natural dam in the brook. The water pours over the rock, and I shot these images using the Slow Shutter app to give the water that silky smooth look you get when shooting long exposures on a DSLR.

Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32
Apple iPhone | Apple iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2 | ISO32

While the Slow Shutter Cam captured the "falls" I looked around. I noticed this stack of rocks. I guess someone was down there before me and decided to add some artwork. I like it.

Apple iPhone 6

Dawn On the Beach

I released these two iPhone images as Creative Commons Zero (CC0) images via Unsplash.

I released these two iPhone images as Creative Commons Zero (CC0) images via Unsplash. They were both shots at Rodanthe Beach on a tripod using the Slow Shutter Cam app on my iPhone. I think a VSCO Cam filter was applied but I don't remember.

Beach, Sand, Rodanthe, North Carolina
On the Beach at Rodanthe | 3 September, 2015 iPhone 6 | iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2 | 60s | ISO 32