January is usually a quiet time in the Pine Barrens. Not much goes on and it's a good time to plan workshops and other photographic opportunities,. Not this year though. January has been a busy month with two snow storms, a bitter cold snap and even a bit of Piney magic happening.
2024 was one of the most unique years since since I've been photographing the in the Pine Barrens and the Franklin Parker Preserve. Among the misty mornings, wildflowers and beautiful light, there was a solar eclipse, a comet and the northern lights. It was a year that included a heavy snow storm, floods, extreme temperatures and an epic drought. To say the least, it was a very interesting year.
Instead of hanging up my gear and waiting out this dry spell, I decided to photograph it. One reason is to document this unfortunate, but historic event. The other reason is to challenge myself to make at out of these conditions.
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.
On one of those trips, nature showed it's ability to overwhelm with beauty. Here is that story. It took place in a few minutes, 32 to be exact, where I was able to witness a day begin in a magical realm of color and light.
Looks like Fall, but it's Not! The changing colors of the trees in the fall brings leaf peepers out all over the northeastern U.S. There is nothing like it, or is there? This spring in the New Jersey Pine Barrens we were treated to tree color that was almost equal to the fall. To call this leaf peeping really isn't correct. These [...]
Sometimes as a photographer it is good to take a risk. Not the dangle from a cliff or any put yourself in an unsafe condition kind of risk, this post is about taking subject or compositional risks.
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.
The Blog Post That Isn't a Blog Post Not long ago there was a major wildfire in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Pine Barrens forest fires are part of the ecology so there is do doubt that the Pines will recover, sort of. This wildfire was different. It was big, covering over 13,500 acres in some well travelled areas of the Pine [...]
Photographing the New Jersey Pine Barrens For the last few years I've ended the year with a blog post that looks back on what I've done photographically in order to share some things that I have learned. This year, one major accomplishment happened that doesn't have anything to do with specific photographs. It was the publication of my book called Photographing the [...]
But Which Light? If I ever write an autobiography, it will be titled Seduced by the Light. Light, and its effect on the landscape, has fascinated me since I was a kid. Taking up photography has been a way to express that fascination. As landscape photographers we chase light and and tend to go for the cherished golden hour light of sunrise [...]
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 [...]
To say 2020 was an interesting year would be an understatement. The pandemic has changed the way we live. Fortunately it confined me to a place I really don't mind being confined it, the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
Mist in the Pine Barrens briefly changes the world. Our landscape is beautiful in a rugged and sometimes harsh way. It's a world teaming with life and water which can show some rough edges. Mist changes that. For an hour or two on misty mornings the Pine Barrens soften into a mystical and surreal place.
Savannas in New Jersey? Aren't they large grassy plains in Africa loaded with wildlife? Well, here in they are small, very wet, open grassy areas that can be home to wildflowers like orchids and carnivorous plants.
Next to a camera, a tripod is the landscape photographer's best friend. It holds the camera steady so you can control your exposure and composition. What if you want to photograph a landscape from a place where using a tripod is not feasible, like a kayak?