Tag: Princeton University

Hour

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.

My original intent for getting a shot for this challenge was to get a picture of a clock tower somewhere in the area. I have seen some in the years I have lived in the area, but I need help remembering where. After a few minutes on Google and I had located a few.

But I decided on the clock tower above the archway at Blair Hall, a residence hall on the Princeton University campus. Blair Hall, the University's first collegiate Gothic dormitory, was a Sesquicentennial gift of John Insley Blair (1802-1899), a trustee of Princeton from 1866 to 1899. Originally the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks came to the foot of the broad steps leading up to Blair Arch, which served as the entrance to the campus for visitors arriving by train.

I wanted to associate the image of the clock with the concept of an hour. But which hour of the day? Night or morning? I thought that shooting the clock tower at blue hour would work best. I imagined the building and the clock lit with lights against a blue sky. I didn’t know if it would be or not. This was only in my imagination.

I could have gotten up early and taken a photo at sunrise, but I was not comfortable walking around the Princeton University campus, taking pictures at that hour. I decided to aim for the golden hour or blue hour.

But things didn't go according to plan. Perhaps because I did not plan. My brother-in-law and his wife had their second child, my niece Raina. She was born a week ago, and my wife wanted to visit them at home without the hospital's restrictions. We had fun watching the baby and distracting Raina's older sister, Hazel. She was having some challenges adjusting to having a baby in the house who seemed to be stealing all her parent's time. We stayed a little too long, and the sun was setting by the time we left Annandale.

I missed blue hour by one hour. But my week-long research indicated that the clock tower was illuminated at night. Not this night. Nope. Sigh.

Hour, Blair Hall, Princeton University
Blair Hall, a Princeton University residential hall with a clock tower.

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.

History

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

What I’d like you to do in this challenge is to share a bit of your personal view of history in your image(s) and post. History has a lot of meaning for many of us, and certain parts of history may resonate more with us than others. It will be fun to see what parts of history we bring together this week, as a globally diverse group of Earthlings! (yes, I’m assuming that we’re all from this planet.

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 – History (Dutch goes the Photo!)

What I’d like you to do in this challenge is to share a bit of your personal view of history in your image(s) and post. History has a lot of meaning for many of us, and certain parts of history may resonate more with us than others. It will be fun to see what parts of history we bring together this week, as a globally diverse group of Earthlings! (yes, I’m assuming that we’re all from this planet.

The word history derives originally from Ancient Greek (historía), meaning inquiry or knowledge from inquiry. However, the word enters middle-English as meaning "story" in general and by the mid-fifteenth century had morphed into the current definition: the branch of knowledge that deals with past events.

Ok. Wow! With the previous themes, I have sometimes struggled to find things to photograph that matched the theme. But not for this one. For this weeks’ theme, I was overwhelmed with choice.

I live in one of the most historical areas of the USA. The towns of New Jersey are all in some way or another involved in the War of Independence with Great Britain at the start of the American Revolution.

History, Princeton, Princeton Battlefield Park, Colonnade
Colonnade and Memorial Grove, Princeton Battlefield Park | Tuesday 8 November, 2016 | Nikon D5100 | Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX II 11-16mm F2.8

I live on the Somerset County1 border with Mercer2 County, just a few miles from Princeton Battlefield Park where General George Washington, our first President, and his Continental Army fought the British on their campaign to recapture New York.

Princeton Battlefield Park., Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
Re-enactment of Battle of Princeton | Saturday 27 May, 2017 | Nikon D5100 | AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

A standoff ensued until Washington routed the British forces to the south [of Princeton]. With their main force now in retreat, most of the British troops in Princeton also fled. Still, a few did take up positions in Princeton University’s Nassau Hall for a time until flushed out by Continental Army forces.George Washington’s Mount Vernon

History, Nassau Hall, Princeton, Princeton University
Nassau Hall, Princeton University | Thursday 31 March, 2016 | Nikon D5100 | AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8

In Kingston lies the re-constructed house, Rockingham (Judge John Berrien House), which served as Gen. George Washington's final military headquarters and where he wrote his Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States in 1783.

History, Rockingham, Kingston
Rockingham, Kingston | Sunday 9 July, 2017 | Nikon D5100 | AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

A little further away is the aptly named Pennsylvanian town of Washington Crossing, where George Washington on a very wintry Christmas Day in 1776, with horses, guns, wagons, and soldiers, crossed the Delaware River and marched ten miles south. They arrived in Trenton, New Jersey the next day and fought and defeated Hessians mercenaries.

Where must we go …we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?The First History Man from the move Mad Max

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.

  1. Somerset County is named for the English county of Somerset ↩
  2. Mercer County is named for Continental Army Brigadier General Hugh Mercer. ↩

Reading List - Check cashing and bookstores, photographic process, hindered by the past

Is the ratio of bookstores to cash checking stores an indication of the quality of a neighbourhood?

Check Cashing places are horrible, predatory establishments—often owned by big name banks, by the way—that feed off the misfortune of poor working people. And bookstores are for people who read for fun, a.k.a., “the rich” in today’s messed up world.Bookstores vs. Check Cashing Places

Some thoughts from Olaf on the often-used (misused) term, "photographic process".

To summarize, your emotions, happiness, sadness, peace or anxiety –are all part of you – and they should become an important part of your seeing. Don’t be afraid to use your mood, honeyed or not, to observe, see and create. And never, ever use the mantra “enjoy the process” as an excuse. After all, if you are a photographer, great imagery should always be your goal.Olaf

Shirley Elkin thinks that modern photography is hindered by a devotion to the past.

It seems that technology moves too fast for our own taste: In comparison to the photos of the past, the sharp and precise digital imagery modern cameras produce seem to be lacking character. And so we imbue them with a sense of authenticity through vintage filters, creating a mashup of old and new that’s neither there nor quite here.

Taste is obviously subjective and there’s nothing wrong with vintage optics, but it goes to show how our taste is under the spell of a bygone era: While photo engineers crank out new technology for more life-like photos, we edit the imperfections back in. Our very idea of what makes a beautiful photograph is anchored in the past, even though the present gives us plenty to explore.Lars Mensel