Tag: Long Exposure

Dark

Sometimes photography is like that. I have a vision of what I want to achieve. But either because of poor planning, less than ideal conditions or lack of knowledge, I don't get what I want. Sometimes, I have to make the best of what I have in front of me. Step out of the creative darkness and into the light.

My initial thought after Frank posted this week's photo challenge and seeing his photo was, "go grab some shots of the Shea Rowing Center." The centre is lit at night, and I thought I would get some good pictures of the lights of the centre illuminating the darkness along Faculty Road.

I planned to leave work and head to Troon Brewing, have dinner next door at Brick Farm Tavern, get home change my clothes and head out to Washington Road for some night photography at the C. Bernard Shea Rowing Center.

I parked on the eastbound side of Washington Road just past the bridge. One thing I had considered was how dark it might be along Washington Road. I took a headlamp with me to light my path as I walked along the road to the bridge. It was dark, but I was surprised by how many cars drove by at this time of night. It was after 9 PM.

I set up my camera halfway on the bridge. It was challenging to focus in the dark. I took a few test shots and started to regret that I did not set up earlier when the light was good. Eventually, I got an image sharp enough. I captured a few photos, experimenting with shutter speeds between 15 to 30 seconds. I was disappointed by the results when I chimped on the back of my Nikon. The images were not sharp, and the composition was "meh".

Frustrated, I turned around to watch the cars go by. What was I going to do? This field trip was a bust. The marching band would soon be back from supporting the football team at the game in Franklin, and my daughter would be calling me to pick her up from the high school. Time was running out. My inner voice said, "photography what you see".

So I did. I experimented with varying the shutter speed and the timing of the triggering of the shutter for the arrival and departure of the cars. And then I went home and imported the images into Adobe Lightroom.

My initial feeling was correct. My images of the boathouse were uninteresting. I didn't like any of theme. I deleted them all except for this one. I wanted to show you what the boathouse looks like.

Dark, Princeton, Faculty Road, Boathouse
The C. Bernard Shea Rowing Center is the boathouse for the Princeton University rowing programs. Located on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, New Jersey, the center consists of the Class of 1887 Boathouse and the Richard Ottesen Prentke ‘67 Training Center.

However, I was thrilled with the images of the light trails. I picked my favourite one, tweaked a few settings in Lightroom, and the result is what you see in the post header.

Sometimes photography is like that. I have a vision of what I want to achieve. But either because of poor planning, less than ideal conditions or lack of knowledge, I don't get what I want. Sometimes, I have to make the best of what I have in front of me. Step out of the creative darkness and into the light.

Created by photographer Frank Jansen, the Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography.

Blue Hour

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Blue (Dutch goes the Photo!)

Blues have a clue here!

Created by photographer Frank Jansen, the Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Blue (Dutch goes the Photo!)

Blues have a clue here!

[exif id="31520"]

Blue Waters

When I checked Frank's website for the challenge theme and I saw his image of .. in Iceland, I couldn't help thinking of the beaches of Antigua and Bequia. I just love all that blue. I find blue very calming and that water reminds me of one of the places in Antigua where I lived when I was in high-school. The house where we lived was just up the roads from the aptly named, Blue Waters beach. I have many fond memories running along the sand and playing in the shallow calm water.

New Jersey is the world far away from Antigua. New Jersey has many beaches -- some good, some are just casino's on the sand -- along with her long Mid-Atlantic coastline. I've visited a few of these beaches -- Sandy Hook, Seaside Heights, Island Beach State Park, Barnegat Light, Asbury Park and Wildwood -- but in my opinion, none compare to the beaches I had in the Caribbean. I live in Skillman, Montgomery Township, a few kilometers (~ 4 miles) from Princeton University) but a little under 64 km (~ 40 miles) from the nearest beach (Asbury Park). With New Jersey traffic that translates to 10 minutes drive to Princeton compared to just over one hour drive to Asbury Park. For this challenge, I knew that with rain expected Saturday and Sunday I would have no chance of photographing sunny blue skies. So I left myself open to alternative ideas.

Rutgers University

blue, Center For Latino Arts, structure, building
Center For Latino Arts - AF-S Nikkor 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, f/4.0, 1/32s, ISO 100
[exif id="31524"]

Last Tuesday, Shaan started his four-year program in biology at the Honors College at Rutgers Univerity. Bhavna and I took the day off to help him move into his residence hall. The campus in New Brunswick is only a 30-minute drive from home and 45 minutes by trains. But with teary eyes, we left our teenage adult to be on his own for the first time. The change is a bit unsettling. My wife has observed that even though he would sometimes annoy us by talking while we watching on of our cable dramas, we missed his voice.

We were back on campus on Saturday to drop off some items that Shaan felt he needed as well as to satisfy our need to see that he adjusting to his new home. He only had 45 minutes to hang out with us before he had to run off to one of several campus-wide orientation events. It was lunch time so we walked the campus looking for lunch. I remarked to my daughter that doing a photo challenge for the word blue on a college campus whose logo colour is red with a football team called The Scarlet Knights, would indeed be a challenge. And for opening weekend, the campus was a sea of red. As we walked College Avenue toward the Panera Bread, I noticed the artwork on the building for the Center For Latino Arts. I had a bit of blue and a decent photograph but still not what I was looking for.

Rain

blue, blue hour
AF-S Nikkor 18-55m f/3.5-5.6 @ 24 mm f/4.0, 5s, ISO 100
[exif id="31521"]

It rained on Saturday. It's Sunday as I write this and it's still raining. Tomorrow's forecast is sunny and warm but rain is expected the rest of the week into next weekend. I have a camera poncho but rarely use it. I mostly shoot near the woods and streams of the nearby towns -- Hopewell, Princeton, Skillman, and Hillsborough. When I do get out in inclement weather I just have to be aware and alert. Trees (I'm surrounded by those) are attractors for lighting and streams (lots of these too) can quickly become dangerous.

The camera poncho might be useful when shooting in light rain but useless in a downpour. Of course, the camera is protected but the photographer gets wet. But last night as it rained I looked outside, taking a break from binge-watching Van Helsing on Netflix, and saw that the sun had set. It was blue hour. A few seconds later, I realized what that meant.

Oh, you fool! It's blue hour! Get the camera! Get the tripod! Get the remote!

Within minutes I had a few shots that I felt good about. I especially like the one with the light trail of the passing car. I snapped several shots at various exposure times and went back to watching my show. Did I mention that blue is my favourite colour?

signature

Created by photographer Frank Jansen, the Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography.

Wasting the day

It seems as though the state of new jersey is closed on days when all my friends are working. They are at work and I have a day to do whatever I like except spend time doing fun things with friends. Like, drive down to a lighthouse early in the morning to take photos at sunrise.

My original plan for an early morning trip to the East Point Lighthouse in Heislerville. Photographing the lighthouse has been on my to-do list all summer ever since I found a photograph on Flickr. I think the lighthouse would be great during the morning and evening golden hours. My plan was to get there about 30 minutes before the start of the golden hour, shoot for about an hour, and then go find breakfast. It would have been an interesting way to spend the morning.

Instead, I drove my son to the high school for "senior sunrise". I saw the sun come up as I drove home. I just didn't want to go if I didn't have anyone with me. Thinking about it left me in a funk.

That feeling worsened as I sat at the computer reading email and checking out social media. I felt I was wasting the day. But of course, I was. I was just sitting here when I could be "doing" … something.

Bhavna called while I was out shooting in Kingston. We had lunch at Midpoint, a newish Middle Eastern restaurant in Skillman. We had a good lunch and chatted for a short while. I'm now sitting on the couch watching cheesy science fiction.

Maybe later, I'll drive out to Clinton. I'd like some evening images of the Red Mill Museum Village. Maybe I'm wasting the day. I wish I had someone with whom I wish to share my day. I wouldn't feel like it was being wasted.