Stalks in the Blur

I got my Canon T5 in the summer of 2015. When I first got my camera I took it to work with me the building I work in has a nice pond in the front and a walking path around the pond. On my lunch break, I headed out with my camera to see what I can capture. Along the end of the pond, there is numerous plants and stalks. As I was looking straight on toward my building, I stalk sticking straight up. I opened up my aperture and shot away. I was amazed with what the stock lens was able to capture. There was not blurred added this this photo post-shot. This photo was taken in 2015 and still remains one of my favorite shots.

Hope you enjoy it!

All Along the Watertower

This photo was take some time ago... I was on my way to work and I have cross over a bridge. Not a long bridge less than a football field long. Underneath that bridge is an unused railway. The bridge is constructed from concrete and steel. At one end of the bridge is a busy intersection and at the other end is a traffic light, so odds are you when crossing it, you will be stopped along the way. when I was stopped just as the incline of the road met the flattened out segment, I looked to the left and see this picturesque view. The only camera I had on me at the time was my iPhone 6. Just before I had to advance the traffic behind me I was able to take a quick photo of my view. Utilizing some iOS software I was able to enhance the photo to what you see below. This may be not be typical New Jersey photo some would expect from seeing typical New Jersey photos.

Hope you enjoy todays post!

Blurry is Beautiful

A rule of photography is to always keep your subject focused if nothing else. But you know what they say about rules, they are meant to be broken.

Sometimes you intend to make a subject out-of-focus for reasons like, depth or photo dramatics. For me though, it happens by chance. Actually with this photo I knew a focused shot would be difficult due to the lack of a tripod, amount of people around me and my well known lack of patience. However, i still really like the way this photo came out. Even though it is 100% out of focus, you can still read the photo and understand what's happening. You can tell that the photo the was taken in a pack or some sorts and a fireworks display was put on. This was actually at Sesame Place on New Year's Eve, 2016. The park just finished up their nightly parade, and they put on a fireworks display that was much better than I anticipated. It was very comparable to a Disney World "Wishes" fireworks show. My family and I were very pleased with the entertainment and will definitely try to attend another fireworks event by them.

Our Christmas traditions begin

It's that time a year again. The pumpkins are no longer out, the turkey crafts are put away and the holiday music is all over my local radio. Christmas time is officially underway. For my family, we have traditions to last throughout the season but for us the past three years, the season has started with a trip to Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania to attend their "A Very Furry Christmas" event.

Every trip we start of with a visit to see Santa. We like to do that first to avoid the longer lines later in the day. In the past, Sesame Place utilized one of their poolside buildings to house Santa's Workshop. This year, although its in the same building, the Workshop is no longer there. As they have a private room behind closed doors for your visit with santa. This is much more private and a more enjoyable experience then in the past. If you have ever seen Santa at Macy's in New York City, its very much like that, just with out the 3 hour wait.

Many of the rides are open as well as many holiday themed shows. One of the rides we enjoy most is an electric train ride through the "twiddle bugs cookie factory". This year, however it was relocated to another area. This area seems to accommodate for a longer ride as the previous location is now used as a character meet and greet.

Every time we visit "A Very Furry Christmas" we attempt to get the same location to photograph the kids and hope to get at least one good photo to use for our Christmas card we mail out to our family and friends. The kids love the sleigh right outside Santa's workshop which makes taking the photo a bit easier on their mother and I.

So with that, here is the latest edition to the blog. Hope you enjoy it!

Christmas Time Is Here... At our local Zoo!

Every year, our local zoo, The Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ decorates the for Christmas. They put up lights all around the fencing, add some additional light sculptures through the park and of course have special guest. Admission is free, however they ask that you bring some food for the needy. This is the first year my family and I ventured out to this event even though we have been to the zoo many times before in the summers. We packed up a bag a food, got the three kids ready, grabbed my camera bag and headed out the door. We left our house around 4:30 for a 5:00 PM opening. Traffic was horrendous and not just for this opening, but just general Jersey traffic. I tried to navigate around it with Google Maps but they just put be back the same road I was already on, so we just had to push our way through the traffic. Once we got to the main road the zoo is on, it was smooth sailing and arrive shortly after 5. To our surprise, it was a rather low attendance based on what we have heard. We we go there and made our way through the entrance we saw our local news team (CBS 2-New York) getting ready to film a news story with the local weather man. We made our way around the collective group of folks looking to get on TV. That was not our goal so we just snuck around and made our way through the park. I was surprised to see most of the animal still out as it was rather chilly. There where the alpaca's, a kangaroo, penguins of course and the barn was open to walk through to see the horse, pig and chickens. Along the way was came across the Monkey's, although they were not out, the entrance was lit up with Christmas lights. This is where our photo today comes from. I really like the way it came out, but of course i wanted to enhance it a bit.

Hope you like it!

Gotta Catch'em All!

My family and I gathered this weekend for my son's 5th birthday. He theme this year was Pokémon. His favorite character is Squirtle. We spend about 20 minutes at a boardwalk game this year trying to "win up" to the level the Squirtle he wanted. He was so happy that day. With Pokémon Go being such a hit, an influx of Pokémon toys have hit our local stores. He was unable to find a Squirtle toy he wanted, but found a Pokéball with a Pikachu figure. When the time came to help decorate for his party, he ran to his room and got some of his Pokémon toys decorate with. One he chose was the Pokéball with Pikachu. He had fun setting him up in different "catch" positions. He asked me to take a picture of his "decoration". This was one of my favorite pictures he set up!

Enjoy!

My Sister's Barn

By the title of this post alone, one would assume that today post is about a barn owned by my sister to which I happen to photograph the front of. One would assume that my sister asked me and my family up to her barn for the weekend to enjoy the crisp country air. Well I am sad to tell you this, but those assumptions are wrong. My sister did not invite me and my family up to her barn for the weekend to enjoy the crisp country, nor did she ask me to take photos of her barn. No my sister is not being selfish and keeping the barn all to her self... the fact is, my sister does not own this barn, or any barn for that matter. She lives in a suburban town in NJ with her son and husband. This however was a photo taken by my sister of a barn she was at for a birthday party. She posted the photo to facebook, to which I stole and edited it to what you see before you. So while i cannot take credit for the photo itself, I will take the credit for editing it to this dark, ominous effects.

Hope you enjoy it!

Lens flare in the corn field.

This holiday weekend (Columbus Day), my wife and I took our three kids apple and pumpkin picking. This has become our yearly tradition for about the past 3 years. We usually go earlier in the season but couldn't find the time until now. We venture out to a farm in Chester, NJ, called Riamede Farm. There are many "pick-your-own" choices out in this area of NJ, but this farm is perfect for our needs. There are no horse back rides, or carnivalesque games, just pick your own apples, pumpkins and other fruits and vegetables and small shoppe, which looks like it recently had a makeover. The farm is typically packed, but we went on a Monday and got there early, so the crowds where lighter, but on the way out, the crowds picked up. We spent about 3 hours there in total, which was enough time for us to walk through the apple orchard and walked around the pumpkin patch and corn fields.

On this trip I brought along my Canon T5 and used the 18-55mm Lens. New for this trip was my Neewer NW670 Flash and my Amazon Basics 60-inch tripod. It was a bit windy, but this tripod held its ground. Grant it, I did not have it fully extended, it was still very sturdy.

While walking though thew corn field, the sun was glaring behind the stalks. I thought this was a great opportunity to create a natural lens flare image. I had to use the manual focus, as the sun was causing the automatic focus to not focus in on where I wanted it. I really like how the sun helps add the drama to the photo. Final enhancements done via Perfect Effects 9.

From the Vaults: Sunrise in Paradise Island

In August of 2007, my wife and I took a trip to Bahamas, Paradise Island to be exact. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called The RIU. It was located at the end of the Island right next door to the Atlantis Resort. Wwe went for a few days, just enough to get away from the business of New Jersey. At the time, there was no cell service so communication to the rest of the world was minimal. It was one of the most relaxing vacations we've ever taken. The resort was great with shows and entertainment and the pool. And private access to the beach. One of my goals during the trip was to catch a sunrise. On our last morning, we woke up and heading for the beach. Not only did i get picture of the sunrise but video too. It was amazing to see the sunrise along the Bahamian waters. I capture this photo by chance, I wasn't setting my wife up to be at the edge of the water, it just happened to come out that way. It turned out to be one of my favorite photos from our trip.

Hope you enjoy it

From the Vaults: Bushkill Falls

Back in 2003, before my wife and I had children, we took a trip out to Pennsylvania to Bushkill Falls, some call it "The Niagara of Pennsylvania". We have been to Niagara Falls too so I can attest to that statement. But unlike Niagara Falls, there is not just one massive fall of water, there any numerous smaller falls throughout the park. Bushkill Falls provides hiking trails which you can chose a challenge level. There are also multiple look out areas to view the large Pennsylvania hills. Then of course, like all attractions, a gift shop at the end. Surrounding the Bushkill Falls area, another attraction we stop at was Indian Echo Caverns. At Indian Echo Caverns, you take a walking trip through caves and explore the underground. It is a really cool adventure.

As you can imagine, photos a Bushkill Falls can come out great. Back in 2003, we had no iPhones or consumer-friendly D/SLR camera's. My photo-taking machine back then was a point-and-shot Fuji Finepix 3800. I will not go into the details of the specs of that camera, but it did its job and it did it well. Before our trip I researched some tips on how to obtain that amazing waterfall shot, you know the one where the water looks like its raging over the rocks below. The setting on the camera, shutter speed; the tip, slow it down and used a tripod. So that is what I did. To this day, I amaze myself with out great, I think, this photo came out.

Hope you like it!

Helping Hand

Last weekend we spent the afternoon at Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA. It's a short drive for us and we have season passes. I highly recommend the Season Pass for anyone within an hour of Langhorne. It's a quick ride and the season pass pays for itself quickly with all the discounts you get. Food, parking, gift shop plus other perks. On our prior trip to Sesame, my daughter wanted to try the tube slide. I walked her and my boys up to the tower. As I was helping my one son get situated on the slide, my daughter, Ms. Independent, tried to get on all by herself. By her doing this, she end up going almost head first, and got scared and needless to say, i brought her down the same way we went up.

On our recent trip she wanted to try it again but this time allowing me to help her get on the slide. On the way up, I asked my one son to hold her hand to help her get up the steps. If you read my past post, these two have love-hate relationship. When it's hate, its HATE, but when its love, its absolutely adorable.

Edits done with Moldiv for iOS.

Child's play comes to an end

As the summer comes to an end, it times to reflect on the fun time had by the kids. For us this summer was extremely hot. Play time outside was limited as we had multiple heat waves. Some lasting as long as a week.
With shade nearly non-existent in our backyard, dusk is the time for us to have the kids play outside. One of their favorite outdoor activities to do is the bouncy house. The kids love help setting it up and watch it quickly inflate and but sad when it just as quickly deflates. The other night we had the kids playing in the yard and the bouncey house made an appearance. As the kids were winding down from playing, I quickly snapped a photo of my daughter walking away from the house and towards my wife and I. I got a few others of her as well where she is looking us flashing her gorgeous smile but this one stood out to me. With a few edits, I believe it came to life.

Hope you enojoy it!

Play Ball

A few years ago I was my son's TBall coach. One of the fundraisers our league offers is a league wide trip to a local semi pro baseball game. Our local team is the Somerset Patriots based out of Bridgewater, NJ. They have a very successful team capture 6 Atlantic League of Professional Baseball championships since 2001. They offer a wide variety of entertainment while at the ballpark aside from the obvious ball game. On the day we attended, they had multiple baseball leagues in attendance. One of the fun things we got to do was to play catch on the baseball field. My son was 5 at the time and this was something we really got excited about. The time came to run onto the field to play a game of catch. My son and I sprinted out there and picked up a ball and had a great time. As on son was getting ready to throw, I took out my iPhone and started to take continuous photos in hopes to get a mid-air photo. I got more a few and but this one is my favorite.

Wasp.. or what ever this thing is!

On day, my younger two kids were playing in our foyer/entryway/mud room. I was working from home at the time, so this was while my older son was in school. While they were playing, I walked past them and they asked me to look at the front door, some kind of insect was on it. I peeked my head into the room and I saw this wasp just hanging out. It was not in any hurry to fly away as was not bothered by us. Maybe it didn't see us, I don't know what goes on in their little brains. Whats odd though is that is just stayed still for a long period of time. As I realized this thing was not going anywhere, I grabbed by iPhone and opened up the Camera+ app. I knew if I wanted an excellent photo, I would need a macro lens. The software on the base iPhone camera does not support macro, but Camera+ does. So with that app opened, set to macro, I got my photo. It looks huge so close up, but in reality it was maybe the size of a quater. Even after taking my photo, the camera happy insect hung out for a bit longer.

Cape May Lighthouse

In a previous post, I presented a photo I took last year while my family and I vacationed in Wildwood, NJ. In today's post we will venture to Cape May, NJ. Which is right next to Wildwood. While on our trip last year, we took a dolphin cruise out of Wildwood. We expected we would just head out to the ocean and see some dolphins and maybe a whale or two. Well we say many dolphins (I'M sure a future post will highlight that), no whales, but we did cruise to the beaches of Cape May. Cape May is a very historic town. Victorian home throughout the city along the streets and along the beaches. In the water is one of the last concrete WWI ships, USS Atlantus, just laying in the water, fading away. (Read more here). Cape May also offers tourist and residents a "small shoppe" feel shopping district.

One of the biggest surprises along our cruise was the sight of the Cape May Lighthouse. This lighthouse has been around since 1859 and is located in Cape May Point State Park. As you can imagine, the lighthouse does not shy away from the camera. I have many photos that I took of the tower during our few minutes near it. It was hard to choose just one to present. I came across this one that I hope you'll enjoy.

All edits performed with Paint Shop Pro.

Kendall; poolside

As summer 2016 is coming to a close, the kids are getting ready to head back to school, its a good time to recall the memories of the summer.

This Fouth of July we spent with some family in their backyard, having a BBQ and enjoying the water. As we where wrapping things up, I saw my daughter sitting poolside having a good time. I took out my Canon and asked her to turn toward me. As she does most of the time, she turns the camera into her best friend and flashes her expressive smile.

I absolutely love this photo of my three year old. The color effect was done via the camera itself, no post-photo editing.

I have never used that setting before, but now that i have found it, I plan on using it more often.

Cinderella's Castle - What a sight!

Cinderella's Castle; might be one of the most photographed landmarks in family vacation history, post 1971 of course.

I think the appeal of the castle is that it can look great from any angle; left side, right side, back and of course front. The key to photographing the castle is that you would hope to get a shot with as few Disney World guest as possible. That's the challenging part. Some how on our last day of our most recent Disney World trip, I was able to capture this photo. While on our visit, the dreaded crane was along side the castle. Any photo I got had the crane, which would distract the viewer from the castles natural beauty. I was able to remove the crane with a few edits and I think the photo is spectacular.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Wildwood Pier, Wildwood, NJ

Last summer, like most New Jersey families, we spend a few days "down the shore". If you are not familiar with the phrase, "down the shore", its the beach... In NJ we have many beaches and many of those beaches have boardwalks. Of the nicest in the state is the Wildwoods. Wildwood consist of two areas, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. North Wildwood is where you go for the boardwalks, Wildwood Crest is where you'll want to find your motel. North Wildwood has motels too, but Wildwood Crest is typically more relaxes as its further away from the crowds. The beaches in Wildwood are wide, very, very wide. Walking from the curb of the street, to the your desired settle sand spot, can take a few minutes. The beaches are also free, yes FREE. Rarely and form of fun in NJ is free, so this spot has it all. Free wide beaches where people never seem to impose on your personal space, boardwalk fun with three piers of dry and water rides, arcades and game, great foot and overall fun. Please taking a ride to Cape May is just a few minutes away. Oh, at the Cape May County Zoo is nearby too. Like the Wildwood beach, this zoo is large AND they only charge a donation fee, not a set price to get it.

So with beach at one end of the city and the boardwalk at the other end, you can see all the excitement of the boardwalk from the beach looking North. It is a great place to get away for a few days.

When I was going through my photos taken of our trip I came across one that I knew would be a great with a few enhancements. For this photo, even though it was taken with my DSLR, I was able to save it effortless to my iPhone using the EyeFi app and I used the iOS app Moldiv to enhance it. Hope you enjoy it.

Calling all Phodadgraphers

Hello to all the phodadgraphers out there!!!

If you have some photos you would like to tel a story about, email me me at phodadgrapher@gmail.com. I'd love to extend this forum to the many phodadphaghers out there. Your photo can be of anything family or non-family related (just make sure its clean). To understand what a phodadgrapher is, check out this post.

What is a phodadgrapher

So by reading this post I will assume you are interested in learning more about the term phodadgrapher. Well I will tell you my spin on it, although I have not need it mentioned anywhere else.

Being a father of 3 young children, I am always looking for ways to take photos of them whether it be a school function, them at play, us on vacation or them engaged in any other activity, including meltdowns. But photography is not what pays the bills, for me, that's software development. Photography is just a hobby of mine. I enjoy taking picture of many subjects but mostly my family. I am sure you will see many different subjects along my journey.

But enough about you, what is a phodadgrapher....
Ok, so to me a phodadgrapher is a dad, or really a parent, that enjoys taking photos in their spare time. Being a parent is time consuming enough, through in an 8 hour day at work and you left with little time... however, photographing is something we can do at any given moment, especially as camera get smaller and can fit in our pockets. You don't need to have fancy equipment to take amazing photos.

If you are interested in writing a post for this site, email me at phodadgrapher@gmail.comto be featured.