01/29/2012 - Batsto Village

[BowhunterNJ]

Here's a little blog I put up around this time last year...today made me think of Batsto Village on a similar sunny afternoon!

 

 

01/29/2012 - Batsto Village

 

Well, it was a beautiful and unseasonably warm winter day so I thought I'd take my camera for a drive towards Wharton State Forest and see what I'd come across that was interesting. I haven't spent much time down that way, so I'm relatively unfamiliar with the area as a whole. My travels led me to a neat little place called Batsto Village, riddled with various historic structures.

 

 

Here's a little excerpt from http://www.batstovillage.org/:

 

Batsto Village, is a New Jersey historic site located in the South Central Pinelands, which is administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks & Forestry. This site is nationally recognized for its historical significance and beauty. The roots of Batsto Village can be traced back to 1766. Two centuries of American history are available to visitors, with the Pinelands environment as a scenic backdrop.

 

 

I'm sure this village is much more vibrant in the spring time, but I viewed it as a nice day to learn more about my camera and have a little fun shooting.

Here's some pics from the day (really just cropped, didn't spend any time yet on editing the images).

 

Lessons learned:

 

1) Shooting my Nikkor at 24mm with the Hoya CPL filter results in some vignetting in the corners. Didn't really ruin any shots, but cropping was needed to trim it out. Next time I'll bump it a bit and step back if needed for the composition.

 

2) I got a good sampling of challenging contrast scenarios...bright sky and dark subjects. I've seen photographers blend two exposures to make a single HDR (high dynamic range) image, but it requires exposing for both the sky and the dark subject to maintain detail in both. I'll have to spend the time with two exposures on these shots in the future to try it out. Other options are ND gradient filters...but I need to read up on it more.

 

3) I need a wider lens! That Nikkor 14-24mm would be the ticket for getting much larger landscapes...although this is more architectural, I still found myself shooting at 24mm more than anything else and still stepping back.

 

4) Bring your flash...always! I left it in my camera bag...in my truck...but it would have been useful (especially for decreasing the contrast between building and sky, as well as the boat under the canopy of structure).

 

 

Alright enough of the lessons, let's move on to some pictures!

 

 

This first shot was actually on my drive...came across the abandoned house and silo along a road...so I swung back around and snapped a few pics.

None of them came out really great, but it's a neat spot, I'll have to swing back again under different conditions...maybe the snow (if we get any more)?

 

 

This was the start of the village...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well that's it for now. If I have some time, I may edit and enhance a few of the RAW files to get them closer to where I would have liked.

Definitely a fun and relaxing day out there and a much needed break! Really looking forward to spring when the colors start to come out!

[remingtonman1108]

Now we are talkin! Great shots like normal Matt

[swampfox]

good pics

[hammer08]

Nice pics, used to go there all the time as a kid. Went kayak fishing in the lake last spring.

[bushden]

What a great post. I have driven by it many times and never went to batsto but after seeing these pictures my wife and I will certainly visit this year.

[Browning 10 GA]

great pics! what setup do you use? my son is getting into photography. he upgraded from a Nikon D3100 to the D600. I don't know too much about equipment but he loves taking pics too.

[joedjr]

Great pictures, some real nice shots you captured.

[BowhunterNJ]

Thanks guys!

 

great pics! what setup do you use? my son is getting into photography. he upgraded from a Nikon D3100 to the D600. I don't know too much about equipment but he loves taking pics too.

 

That day I was shooting a Nikon D700 with a Nikon Nikkor 24-70/f2.8 and circular polarizer filter (hence the crazy blue skies in some pics).

 

That's great your son is into photography! You should sign him up and have him post some pics on here! There are a few guys I know on here already that are really into photography. I'm very much an amateur, but I'm hopeful we can use this sub forum as a little niche of interest and learn from each other!

[rossbowhunter]

:cool:very cool man.