Princeton Battle Monument at Night

Dedicated on June 9, 1922, the Princeton Battle Monument depicts General Washington leading his troops into the Battle of Princeton. Beaux-Arts sculptor Frederick MacMonnies designed the monument.

I'm learning a bit from the night and low light photography course with Rick Wright. Rick wanted the class to bring in 6-8 images for critique. He wanted us to show the images that we felt had worked out well and images that we felt were failures. I had only captured three photos since the last class, so I drove into Princeton on Wednesday night. I remembered that the Princeton Battle Monument was lit at night and decided to start there. I thought that perhaps the cherry trees would be lit as well—no such luck.

I decided to capture exposure bracketed images to create long exposure HDR images. The camera and tripod were set low and pointed down the path toward the monument. That way, I could get the trees, pathway, monument and some sky in the frame. However, this put the intersection of Nassau Street, Bayard Lane and Stockton Street right behind the camera. The light faded, the more the lights from the cars waiting at the light on Nassau Street affected the exposure. The challenge was getting proper middle exposure and shooting a set of 3-5 bracketed images.

It turns out the headlights were a blessing. The lights cast a warm orange-red glow on the path and the bottom of the trees. I'm not that happy with the sky, though. I was hoping for a richer blue.

Reflections at Whitesbog Village, Browns Mills, New Jersey

Whitesbog Village was a commercial cranberry farm/company town, built in the early 1900s by Elizabeth Coleman White. There are many older buildings that are being restored and many others that are decaying.

I visited for the first time with a Meetup group of photographers from Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

We walked among a few square miles of cranberry bogs, some of which are still functional.

That afternoon the water was a mirror for the sky. There was a gentle breeze, not strong enough to cause any ripples. I set up my tripod and my Nikon with a Hoya 10 stop ND filter. I was able to capture 2-30 second exposures which I combined in Photomatix Pro. This image is a long exposure HDR.

In Adobe Lightroom I pushed the saturation, highlights, vibrance and clarity settings, then applied a Fuji Velvia 50 preset and reduced the grain.

Whitesbog Village—Nikon D5100 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6
Whitesbog Village—Nikon D5100 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6

Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve

My sister-in-law, Falguni, and I have been trying to organize some local hikes. We have many nearby trails in our area. We had planned for late October but the timing was not right. Last Saturday it rained most of the day and Sunday we had a family event to attend. The sun eventually came out later in the day but by then the ground was soggy so we postponed to today. Bhavana, my nephew Rohan and his grandfather decided to come along as well.

Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve
"Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve” — 31 October 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/350s at ISO 32

We decided to walk the Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. Bhavana and I had walked it before with the kids and had promised to come back. We walked along the red path toward Mountain Lake. My nephew seemed excited to be outside. He asked a lot of questions about where we were going and what he would see.

Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve, Princeton
"Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve” — 31 October 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 30s at ISO 32

The park is a 75-acre natural area located just outside Princeton. Access to the park is via Mountain Avenue which is just off Bayard Lane/Van Horne Road when coming via Route 206. The park is a favourite for family walks, birding, and fishing. In the early 1980s, it was purchased by Princeton Township and is preserved as open space. The preserve has two lakes one of which is pictured above.

Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve, Princeton
"Bhavna and Falguni." — 31 October 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/220s at ISO 32
I brought my Nikon D5100 with me along with my Manfrotto tripod but after a few captures, I realized I preferred snapping images with my iPhone 6. Setting up the tripod and composing the shot took time. It was quick to pull out my iPhone 6, slide up to activate the camera, and snap! Eventually, I just carried the tripod on my shoulder and captured all these images with my iPhone.
Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve, Princeton
"My nephew looking for adventure." — 31 October 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/490s at ISO 125
Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve, Princeton
31 October 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/580s at ISO 32
Mountain Lakes, Nature Preserve, Princeton
31 October, 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/280s at ISO 32
31 October, 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 60s at ISO 32

When my nephew and his grandfather sat down on the bench to take a break from walking, I immediately thought about what capturing an image that told a story about a boy and his grandfather. It was only later at home while reviewing the images in Lightroom that I realized that my nephew was holding a leaf.

"Enjoying a moment.” — 31 October, 2015 — iPhone 6 + iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm ƒ/2.2, 1/430s at ISO 32