There was a beautiful near-full moon tonight and our Somerset Photography Group met to take some fun photos.
Like I’ve said before, it is better to photographer the full moon on the night before it is full because their is still some color in the sky as the moon rises. On nights of a true full moon, the sky turns black when you expose for the surface of the moon.
The sun shines through yellow leaves.
I headed over to Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ for another autumn sunrise. I was hoping there would be mist rising from the pond or river, but it wasn’t there. There wasn’t a whole lot going on, just some pretty yellow maple leaves hanging by the river.
A tree full of bright leaves.
I walked back to the pond where a tree full of red leaves was screaming at me. I got up close with my wide angle lens and I like the way the leaves are stretching toward me.
Orange leaves in Bridgewater.
I then tried some close-up shots of leaves on the tree.
Geese float on a pond in Bridgewater, NJ.
I took a walk with one of our dogs in Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ, late this afternoon. As we pulled into the park, I saw there were tons of Canada geese in a field by the road. That isn’t uncommon around here so I didn’t pay much attention to them. As Zian and I were walking, the geese took flight with a lot of noise. They were in four or five flocks and circled around and all landed in a small pond with a lot of commotion. We were about done with our walk so I put the dog in the car and pulled out the camera. There were are 250 geese in the pond and I sat there for a while hoping they would all take off again at once so I could get one of those cool geese taking flight shots. They didn’t, but I enjoyed watching them floating and bitching at each other.
The Raritan River pours over a dam in Bridgewater, NJ as the setting sun illuminates overhead clouds.
I headed down to the river after work. That’s what we called it when I was a kid. Going to the river was always a fun place, whether we were fishing or just throwing stones. Tonight I went to a small dam on the Raritan River in Bridgewater. It was therapeutic to sit along the river and wait for the sun to fall beyond the horizon. It was peaceful hearing only the sound of the water going over the dam and the frogs in the trees. Sitting along the river always brightens my mood.
Three bucks out for a forage in Bridgewater, NJ
I was driving through Bridgewater late in the day and the deer were everywhere. As I turned a corner, there stood there good-sized white tail deer bucks. The boys usually hang out together in late summer right before the rut, so it is fairly unusual to see them grouped together while they still have velvet on their antlers.
The sun shines through a water fountain.
The humidity left town but the sun stayed. So I went over to a large fountain as the sun was getting low. The water shooting up with the sun shining through made some nice patterns.
Frustration shows on the guy behind me in line at McDonald's.
I was sitting in a slow line at the McDonald’s drive-thru for what seemed to be 20 minutes. Yea, before you ask, I was there for a salad. I wasn’t in a big hurry, so it didn’t really matter how long I was sitting there, but the guy behind me wasn’t taking the wait too well.
Looking staight up at the Horizon blimp.
One of my favorite photo memories was flying in the Goodyear blimp down the Hudson River and seeing Manhattan from a low, slow angle that few people get to experience. There is a blimp that is based at a small local airport. It brings back good memories, even though it is much smaller than the one I flew in. So when I saw it today I gave chase and got a shot of it looking straight up.
Flowers blow in the wind.
I was lazy today and didn’t make any photos, so I’m using one I shot Sunday. After hiking down to the waterfalls, I saw these blooms on a weed. I liked the way the flower blew in the wind, so rather than try to get a sharp, crisp photo, I went with what I saw.
A black & white shot of the waterfalls on Middle Brook in Bridgewater, NJ
There aren’t many waterfalls in New Jersey. In downtown Paterson there is the great falls, but you are risking your life to see it. Around the central part of the state, I only know of one natural one. It is on Middle Brook, a fairly small creek that runs through Washington Rock Park, a county park in Bridgewater. It is back off the beaten path and if you don’t know about it, you’d never see it. At the top of the falls is an old dam, which makes photos uglier. I don’t know what the dam was for, I’ll have to ask.
Great Blue Heron at Duke Island Park, Bridgewater, NJ
I went to a local county park this morning for sunrise to see what might be good. I walked along the Raritan River on a paved path, the sun was streaming in through the trees and hitting the river in a few places, but nothing hit me. So I walked back to a pond that was near where I parked. There were several pairs of Canada geese with goslings when I initially walked by but the area was in the shade, so I passed them by.
As I approached the pond, there was an old gomer wearing Bermuda shorts in 52 degree weather and carrying a small camera. I saw that he was trying to take pictures of a great blue heron at the edge of the pond. Gomer was trying to sneak up on the heron to get close enough to take a picture with his point-and-shoot camera. Hey Gomer, herons aren’t blind and you can’t walk up to them. I knew he was soon going to blow any chance I had to photograph the bird. Sure enough, the heron took flight but only went to the other side of the pond.
There is a bench by the pond, so I had a seat so I could be still and let the goslings come close. Gomer walked around the pond and sure enough he was trying to sneak up on the heron again. Heron’s will give you about 150 feet and then they are gone. That isn’t nearly close enough to get any kind of decent picture with the camera Gomer was using. Having taken lots of heron photos, I guessed the bird would either leave or come back where it originally was. So I sat extremely still on the bench waiting to see where Gomer would chase the bird.
Luckily the heron flew back to my side of the pond, right where it was earlier. I was there on the bench fairly close and he didn’t care. Fortunately, Gomer gave up and I got some nice shots. The heron stood in the exact same spot for 45 minutes while I photographed him. Most of the time it stood on one leg and preened. Finally I had to leave and the heron was still there as I got in my car.
The setting sun glimmers off trains cars in Bridgewater, NJ
We had another beautiful, clear afternoon with barely a cloud in the sky. After Robin and I had a nice dinner-date, the sun was low and strong, so I headed over to a place that I’ve always wanted to photograph but I never bothered to stop. There’s a railroad overpass on Finderne Ave. in Bridgewater that I’ve seen the sun glimmering off the tracks as I’ve driven past. When I got there the sun was barely above the horizon and made everything it hit a nice orange.
Charles Morgan is ready for another race at the Special Olympics.
If you haven’t met Charles Morgan, you’re missing out on a great friend. Once Charlie knows you for 30 seconds, you’re his friend forever. Charles first came into my life nearly 20 years ago when he was the coverboy of the Courier News’ first Wish Book, a project I got going to raise money for less fortunate folks who have a need. My wife Robin wrote the story on Charlie. At that time he lived 20 miles away but he soon moved to Bridgewater and our phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. He has become part of the family, joining us for most holiday and birthday celebrations.
Today was the local Special Olympics and Charlie is a regular participant. He blazed down the track in his motorized wheelchair and got third in his obstacle course race. Charlie has a case full of medals from the Olympics and now he has more to add.
The sun rises over the Raritan River in Manville, NJ.
Last night was crystal clear and the forecast was good, so I decided to get out and watch the sun rise. It’s always hard for me to drag out of bed early but it is always worth it. I headed to a park in Manville, NJ, along the Raritan River. As always, the sunrise didn’t disappoint.
Virginia Bluebells carpet the ground at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ.
It was a cold, cloudy afternoon, not a very pleasant day outside. I decided to head to Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, it is a nice county park about five miles from my house. The park has a small pond where I have photographed a heron many times and I thought it would be fun to see if it was around yet. The pond is close to the park road, so I could see from my Jeep the heron wasn’t there. I drove through the park a couple of times but didn’t see anything that made me want to get out of the warm vehicle.
I left the park and headed toward another park when it hit me that I saw a tweet from Walter Choroszewski earlier this week that the Virginia Bluebells were out in full force. Walter is a great photographer who has done at least 17 photo books. You can see his gallery of the bluebells here. Walter and I are going on a photo adventure to Alaska this summer.
So I headed back to the park and took the time to get out of the car this time. About 200 yards from the parking there they were. Thousands of small, blue flowers carpeting the floor of the woods. It is a spectacular sight. And I nearly missed it because I didn’t make the effort to simply get out of the car and look around. I felt much better enjoying the beauty of the flowers and being a little chilly than driving around in a warm car. Lesson learned: take time to get out and smell the bluebells.