Tag: Mercer County

Wild Sunflowers

My photography and post processing skills have improved in the last few years so I decided to go back and re-process some of my older images. I'm not certain, but I think this is a wild sunflower. The image was taken several years ago while driving along Wargo Road. It was pickup day at the Honey Brook Organic Farm in Pennington and I noticed patches of these flowers on the west side of the road. I had my Nikkor 85 f/1.8 and had been putting it to use for over a month. I don't think I had a purchased tripod at that time or if I had not yet started keeping it in the car wth me. The image was captured just before noon and it was summer. There was a lot of light.

My post processing skills were minimal back then. The series of images sat in my Lightroom catalog. I did nothing with them.

The original looked like this.

-NIKON D5100-20130908-NIKON_D5100_20130908_4247-blog

In Photoshop I removed some cobwebs. I used one of Matt Kloskowski's Lightroom presets to highlight the upper right hand corner to isolate that region and simplify the image. I like the result. What do you think?

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

Vernal Pools

Today Bhavna, Shaan, Kiran and I spent two hours hiking in the Sourlands Ecosystem Preserve in Hopewell. Our hike was hosted by the Sourland Stewards. We had a wonderful time walking through the trail near Mountain Road, and we learned a lot about the amphibian habitats, the vernal pools, of the Sourlands from Mercer Cty Parks Naturalist, Jenn Rogers. We hope to return in a few weeks to see the amphibians that hatch from the eggs we saw.