Tag: Nassau Street

Nassau Street

Tuesday Photo Challenge Guidelines by jansenphotojansenphoto (Jansen Photo)

A quick overview

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 Guidelines by jansenphotojansenphoto (Jansen Photo)

A quick overview

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I don't have this in my profile but I’m an “INTJ”. This is based on this Myers-Briggs personality test that is generally quite accurate. I can’t say I disagree with the analysis as I've taken the personality test every year over a decade and the results are always the same. People are often quite impressed with the little analysis at the end! Remember to answer honestly, even if you don’t like the answer (no one will see!)

I have chosen to share the private link to my test results.

Nassau Street, Princeton, Street, People

I saw some of the beautiful early blog posts for this weekly challenge and I knew I'd not find anything like those. No historic cobblestone lined city streets with centuries-old buildings. Up until recently, my town, Skillman, was rural. As the town grew in the last decade, the old roads widened just a bit while the amount of motor traffic increased. New roads were built for the homes of the new residents. While there are some beautiful country roads, the roads are narrow and there is no curbing to stop and park a car. Unless you like parking your car in a ditch. I don't.

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So … while photographing another event I walked down Nassau Street in Princeton. I stopped a few times to grab some shots. The weather was great, sunny and cool with few clouds in the sky. People were out enjoying shopping and dining al fresco in the restaurants.

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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.

Mirror Mirror

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Mirror by jansenphotojansenphoto (jansenphoto)

Reflect well upon the world!

The Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography. This week's theme is mirror.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Mirror by jansenphotojansenphoto (jansenphoto)

Reflect well upon the world!

I had very little time for the Tuesday Photo Challenge this week. During the week I had researched several ideas hoping I would find the time to explore one of two of them. However, between the studio still life class on Saturday morning, my niece’s birthday party on Saturday night, and Sunday brunch with a former colleague and his wife, I had just a few hours to get something done.

While doing my research on the word mirror, I found inspiration in an image by Flickr user f/otographer. This particular user has taken an image of himself in the mirror through the front element of one of his lenses.

I decided to try this myself, but it was not an easy task. The only mirrors we have in our home are in our bathroom. That was my studio. The lens is an Asahi Pentax SMC Takumar 50 mm f/1.4 lens that I detached from my father’s Asahi Optical Co. Pentax Spotmatic II. I held the glass out in front of my Nikon and attempted to find a combination of focal lengths and apertures that allowed the image in the mirror to be in focus. It was challenging to get the focus point of the Takumar just right. I got a few good shots, but the image was slightly off centre.

Mirror Mirror —

Nikon D5100 + 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (55 mm, f/8.0, ISO6400), © Khürt L. Williams

It was time to leave to meet my colleague for brunch, so I packed the camera, and we drove into Princeton. We parked close to the restaurant. We shivered under our coats as a cold, dank drizzle added and the gloomy grey skies enhanced the feeling of the miserable day. As we walked past the outside sidewalk of the restaurant, I stopped to take a photo of this woman sitting inside. She was drinking a cup of coffee while reading. Once inside I realised that there were a lot of seats in the interior of the restaurant. I think she chose the window set intentionally. I was fascinated by this woman and wanted to take more photos. I just loved the way she looked sitting there lost in whatever she was reading. But my family seemed embarrassed by my use of the camera, so I put it away.

It was not until I got home and looked through the images that I realised that I had taken my “mirror” shot. I don’t know what prompted me to snap that photo. But I think that after consciously trying so hard to capture “mirror” my subconscious had seen the image and just “knew”.

The Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography. This week's theme is mirror.

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.