Tag: Shaan

Bradley Beach

The clouds are mostly gone and we can feel the sun. Finally!

After lunch at FINS Tropical Cuisine, we drove on 2nd Avenue toward Bradley Beach. We parked on Ocean Avenue and crossed the street to enter the beach.

One thing I don’t like about New Jersey is that one must pay to access the beach. It just feels wrong. The rationale is that the beach must be cleaned and maintained, and the fees help with the cost of that. Ok, fine, but it also pays for the salaries of people like this woman pictured who collect the beach access fees. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to install a turnstile? In states like California, the beach is public access and are a part of the state parks system. New Jersey could do the same and ensure that ALL New Jersey residents, not just the ones who can afford the $9 fee. Some beaches in New Jersey are free. Belmar and Avon-on-the-Sea, and Bradley Beach are not among them.

beach scene
Lawn | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 16 mm | 1⁄200 sec at f/16 | ISO 200
seagull
beach rat | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1⁄240 sec at f/16 | ISO 200

The clouds were mostly gone, and we could feel the sunlight. Finally!

Bhavna
Bhavna, Bradley Beach | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1/1400 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200

It’s a beach scene.

chairs | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1⁄3500 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200

We set up our beach chairs and sat down to enjoy the smell and sound of the ocean, the warmth of sunlight on our skins, and the salty sea breeze.

treasure hunter | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1⁄3200 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200
peace | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 32.1 mm | 1⁄3200 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200

The day didn’t start on a good note, but it turned out better than I expected. I had a few hours to chat with my family and forget about work. My only regret is that we didn’t do this earlier in the summer and that our daughter, Kiran, could not join us.

beach scene
Hat | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 55 mm | 1⁄3200 sec at f/4.0 | ISO 200
The Bradley Beach Trio?
The Bradley Beach Trio? | Tuesday 21 August, 2018 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 33.2 mm | 1⁄800 sec at f/5.6 | ISO 200

Tired of Chasing Perfection

Tired of Perfection by David duChemin (David duChemin - World & Humanitarian Photographer, Nomad, Author.)

This is a little bit all over the place, and it’s raw. But that’s the point of this whole thing. I could do with a little more raw right now. I’m tired of perfection.

I want each image I create to have an emotional impact.

Tired of Perfection by David duChemin (David duChemin - World & Humanitarian Photographer, Nomad, Author.)

This is a little bit all over the place, and it’s raw. But that’s the point of this whole thing. I could do with a little more raw right now. I’m tired of perfection.

[exif id="33986"]

Perhaps it’s time to sit and reflect on why I picked up the camera so many years ago in college. Or why I stopped and then started again later in life.

In search of this perfection, we’re losing the poetic. The grit. The nuance. I see fewer and less story. Less humanity. I’m all in on beauty, but that’s not even what I’m seeing. It’s all just so damn saccharine. My god, all the shiny, happy – perfect – people. It must be exhausting trying to be all that all the time.

I worry that the desire for perfection is killing the spontaneity and the life in our photographs, never mind the honesty in them. ~ David duChemin.

I went searching through the Lightroom catalogue and found these two images from 2001. They were taken on my first digital camera—a Sony DSC-S70. I didn't know much about light and composition and framing etc. But I look at these two images, and they hold more emotional impact for me than any recent image I’ve captured. The quality of the image isn't what draws me in. It's not the contrast or the sharpness of the focus. What makes this photo precious to me is the feelings that come up each time I view them.

I want to reconnect with that feeling. I want each image I create to have an emotional impact.

To me!

child on train platform
Shaan. Waiting for the New Hope-Ivyland Train. New Hope, Pennsylvania | Tuesday 2 October, 2001 | Sony CYBERSHOT | 21 mm | 1⁄470 sec at f/4.8 | ISO 100

Maybe chasing perfection isn't the perfect thing to do.

We want connection. We want hope. We won't wonder. We want to look at something and feel something deeper than whatever it is that moves my finger to click the Like button. ~ David duChemin

Old

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.

For this week's challenge, I had a few ideas in mind. There is a rusting abandoned car along one of the trails of the Autumn Hill Reserve in Princeton. I wanted to take a hike out and see what sort of images I could create with that. However, it rained a lot over the weekend, and the ground was quite wet. The last time Bhavna and I hiked out in the Preserve after a rain we found the trail unpleasant. I didn't fancy slipping and sliding in mud or being up to my ankle in muddy water but I grabbed my tripod and camera and started down the trail. About twenty minutes later I had to turn back. The water on the trail began to seep into my boot. I got a split in the path and realised I could not remember which directly led to the rusted truck. I turned around and walked back to my car.

I was starting to feel a bit down. My weekend photography projects were working out the way I had planned. The weather was putting a damper on things. I was feeling dispirited.

Asbury Park Carousel —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams

On Sunday we decided to drive down to Asbury Park. I've wanted Bhavna and the kids to see this old New Jersey shore town I had discovered for myself several years prior. The sky was 100% overcast, with no chance of sun and the weather report suggested a high probability of rain. But, I wanted to get out of the house, and I hoped that walking the boardwalk would provide some opportunity for photography.

Yello Sub. My family is having some fun with the artwork on the outside wall of the old casino. Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams
Located in Monmouth County, Asbury Park is one of New Jersey's old shore towns. The town was developed in 1871 C.E. as a residential resort. The Asbury Park Boardwalk, an orchestra pavilion, public changing rooms and a pier at the southern end of that boardwalk attracted a lot of tourists and subsequent development including some grand hotels.

Asbury Park Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO180), © Khürt L. Williams
In its heydey as many as 600,000 people visited Asbury Park each summer, riding the New York and Long Branch Railroad from New York City and Philadelphia. The Paramount Theatre and Convention Hall complex, the Casino Arena and Carousel House were built in the 1920s. The photos in this post are from the inside and outside of the convention hall.

Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams
We had planned on playing some miniature golf but my wife complained it was too cold. The boardwalk is normally quiet on a Sunday with only a few people. But earlier in the day, the borough hosted a gay pride parade. The boardwalk and restaurants were packed with people. We walked around, and I gave my family a history lesson -- as much as I knew -- on each of the buildings we passed.

Old Convention Hall, Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Apple iPhone 7 + Apple iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8 @ (3.99 mm, f/1.8, ISO160), ©
Later we walked downtown and had pretzels (kids), bratwurst and beer at the Asbury Biergarten und Festhalle. We sat outside on the roof patio but soon it was too cold. We walked around exploring the downtown before heading home.
Old Convention Hall - Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams
Asbury Park Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams
Shaan spreads his wings. —Nikon D5100 + Nikon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 @ (24 mm, f/4.0, ISO100), © Khürt L. Williams
Mural on the wall outside the Asbury Park Casino. I asked Bhavna to pose, snapped with my iPhone 7 and edited in Adobe Lightroom. —Apple iPhone 7 + Apple iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8 @ (3.99 mm, f/1.8, ISO32), © Khürt L. Williams
Asbuary Park Bierhalle —Apple iPhone 7 + Apple iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8 @ (3.99 mm, f/1.8, ISO20), ©
Asbuary Park Bierhalle —Apple iPhone 7 + Apple iPhone 7 back camera 3.99mm f/1.8 @ (3.99 mm, f/1.8, ISO20), ©

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.