The Franklin Parker Preserve About 20-some years ago, I slammed on the brakes of my car, bringing it to a screeching halt. It wasn't a traffic incident, but a sign on the side of the road that caused me to stop so suddenly. That sign read "The Franklin Parker Preserve." It was just outside of what was a cranberry farm. The sudden [...]
Fall in the New Jersey Pine Barrens is the one time of year that the Pines become an amazing place to photograph. Fill will have many days with morning mist and the deciduous trees show off their bold reds, yellows and oranges as the season transition from the greens of summer to the muted colors of winter.
When starting to photograph the Pine Barrens, it's easy to chase the sky colors showing our beautiful sunrises and sunsets. The light reflects in some of the 17 trillion gallons of water under the Pines that makes it to the surface in the form of bogs and lakes. As you get to know the Pine Barrens, you start to see the beauty of the shapes, forms and textures of the forest in differing light.
Seeing the Familiar in a Different Way Before we get started, on Friday February 26, at 7pm, I'll be the featured presenter at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance's Lenses on the Pinelands online event. At the event I'll be presenting the the work of some of the amazing photographers who photograph the New Jersey Pinelands. Learn more and register here. Snow in the [...]
Exploring Over 1,000,000 acres My last blog post was about fall mist in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, but the 2020 fall season had a lot more to it then a few misty mornings. It's been a busy one. Pandemic restrictions lifted enough to so I could start holding small photography workshops. My webinar on photographing the New Jersey Pine Barrens for [...]
I enjoy hiking and photographing from late afternoon into the evening so headed out to the Franklin Parker Preserve, a favorite spot in the New Jersey Pinelands
Some recent photographs Something about the magic of the New Jersey Pine Barrens keeps calling you back. This wilderness area features a long human and natural history. The result is a landscape whose magic reveals itself to the artist who gets out and explores a bit. That's were I can help by guiding you to some very special places during my one day [...]
We all can use some serenity, right? When color landscape photography is posted on social media, it is the colorful, over-saturated and dramatically composed images that seem to rack up the likes. Here is an interesting fact. Scientific studies show that while images, photographic or otherwise, with intense color catch the attention immediately, they tend to not be remembered in the long term. I'm [...]
Mixing Hiking and Photography When it is time to clear one's head or just find a little peace and quiet, the woods are the best place to be. Around here, that woods is the New Jersey Pine Barrens. After spending weeks preparing for my first solo exhibition of photographs from the Franklin Parker Preserve in the Pine Barrens, I felt a [...]
When Ordinary Becomes Beautiful Cold Winter Light by Richard Lewis 2017 It doesn't snow much in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, so when it does, it's time to head out to find something to photograph. This old bog in the Franklin Parker Preserve seemed like a nice place to look. Usually the stumps of these old cedar trees look like abstract designs, however [...]
The Struggle Between the Inner Artist and Inner Engineer Fading Winter Light by Richard Lewis 2017 I love going out on New Year's Day to hike to get a first photo of the year. This year the first photograph of 2017 was made on January 8. Why? Because I've been feverishly preparing for a solo exhibition of my New Jersey Pine [...]
Being on the top of that mountain taught me to experience sunrises and sunsets in a different way. I've always looked for that decisive moment when the light is at it's peak. Now I realize that a sunrise is a story that starts at first light and ends when the dawn colors fade.
Shop Local is Good, But is Photograph Local Better? Between commitments and our annual family reunion occurring during Thanksgiving, I decided to challenge myself and spend a week only creating photography in the New Jersey Pinelands. My self-imposed limits were to shoot within a 20 minute drive from my home and to hike no more than 1 mile after I got to a location. [...]
New Jersey's Pinelands Preserve It is not that the New Jersey wilderness known as the Pinelands is forgotten. It is the photographs posted here that are. I've made enough images of this place to have overlooked a few, so here they are. Morning in the Cedars by Richard Lewis 2014 Along the Mullica River by Richard Lewis 2014 Intimate Cedar [...]
Cloud Watching in the New Jersey Pine Barrens I have always been fascinated by clouds. As a kid I would stare at them and my imagination would run wild with images inspired by the cloud formations. My fascination has continued into adulthood where it never ceases to amaze me how clouds affect the quality of light, the color in the sky and ultimately the mood of [...]
Three Cedars in the Morning Light by Richard 2014 In my last post, I mentioned how we photographers can learn something from those that went before us who were shooting film. Working with film is a slower and more methodical process. By practicing a more patient and careful approach to our own photography, we can strive to come back from [...]