Cold

The Tuesday Photo Challenge is a weekly theme-based challenge for photographers of all kinds to share both new and old photography. #fpj-photo-challenge #cold

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I was nervous about this week's photo challenge. This was my first time participating in this blogging challenge. When the topic was announced, I was concerned that I would not get the picture I wanted. I didn't have a particular vision, but I knew that I wanted something with snow or ice.

But that same day it started to snow. It was a weekday, and I had only a few minutes to capture a few shots with my camera. The rest of the day I would be inside working, and by the time the work day was over, it would be dark.

That morning I capture a shot of our mailbox. But I wasn't feeling it. The next day we still had some snow on the ground. On my way out to work, I grabbed a few more shots. I took some images of the snow in the pine needles of the neighbourhood trees.

Last night it started to snow, and it snowed all night. It wasn't a lot of snow. I think we got about five inches of snow. In the morning, my son cleared the snow from the driveway and Bhavana's car. Later that afternoon I convinced Bhavana and Kiran to take a trip into Princeton with me. Kiran wanted some supplies from the paper store, and Bhavana wanted to help me with my project.

It was cold in Princeton. The sky was cloudy, and the wind knifed through our layers of clothing. I had hoped to do some street photography, capturing images of Princeton University students or shoppers walking around town. But few people were about, and most people looked at me strangely when I took their photo. I got a shot of some ladies enjoying hot coffee outside the Dunkin Donuts.

We bought some birthday cards. My sister-in-law celebrated her birthday in November, but I had not found the right card for her. We stopped at Rojo's for coffee and espresso drinks. Bhavana tried a macchiato for the first time. She loved it.

After picking up dinner -- pizza at Jule's and shawarma and falafel sandwiches at Mamouns -- we stopped at the Princeton Public Library to use the restroom where Kiran found some used books to add to her collection. She loves books. We paid for her loot and then headed home.

It was while trying to decide which beer to have with my pizza that I remembered I had a bottle of mead in the fridge. While reading the label, I saw the "WELL CHILLED" on the bottle. At that moment I knew what photo I wanted for the weekly challenge.

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 cold.

Kugler Woods Waterfall

A friend who knows I love the outdoors and photography suggested I visit the Kugler Woods Waterfall near Stockton, New Jersey. It was a great suggestion.

A friend who knows I love the outdoors and photography suggested I visit the Kugler Woods Waterfall in Stockton, New Jersey. I found excellent information on The Outbound website. The waterfall is tiny, but I got some fantastic long-exposure shots on my iPhone 6 (using the Pro Cam app) and Nikon DSLR. I think the flow of water is dependent on the amount of rainfall. I will visit again when the spring rains start.

Kugler Woods Waterfall
Kugler Woods Waterfall | Nikon D5200 | AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G

The best light is most likely the blue hour at the end of the day. I don't know this for sure, but given that the waterfall faces west, the late evening light will illuminate the water.

Getting close to the water with the lens was challenging. The rocks were slippery from the moisture, which in this case was ice. Did I mention it was cold?

I struggled with the long exposure. I used my AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens for all the images. Because the lens focus ring only works in manual mode, I focused with the lens in auto-mode, locked in the exposure readings, switched the lens to manual, and then carefully attached a ten-stop Hoya Pro 52mm 1000x Neutral Density Filter. I had to do this for every capture. I'm saving up either the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX II Digital Zoom Lens or the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM FLD AF Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens. I haven't decided which lens to buy. From what I read on Lensrentals, the Tokina has better image quality than the Sigma. But the Sigma is wider.

I started with 30 seconds, but I think 60 seconds worked best for the time of day. I tried doing some long-exposure HDR as well. The images here are all HDR images with exposure times between 2 and 30 seconds. The exposures were combined in Photomatix Pro 5.

Kugler Woods Waterfall
Kugler Woods Waterfall | Nikon D5200 | AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G

USGS Water Station 01460440

It was snowing this morning when I left for work. Flurries. I left home earlier than usual with the intention of stopping along the way to snap some images. I considered bringing my Nikon but I decided I wanted to keep things simple and just shoot with my iPhone. I chose a route through Princeton and Mercer Street, toward Battle Field Park.

I saw a few scenes on Mercer Street that I wanted to capture. The Princeton Theological Seminary Library was lit with street lamps that gave it a warm wonderland feeling. There are a few colorful mansions with snow-covered trees that I wanted to capture.

But there was no easy way to just pull over on Mercer Street to snap a photo. It’s a busy road. Parking is on one side only. Near the residential part of the road. Residents had already occupied these spaces.

I continued my commute via Quaker Road.

This is the USGS Water Station 01460440 on the Delaware and Raritan Canal at Port Mercer in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. There is a parking area nearby, on the other side of the canal.

Shot with Camera+. Edited in Photogene. Filter is Frost from Priime photography app.