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This is a shot that I took on New Years Eve in Watchung Reservation about 20 minutes from my home in NJ during a light snowfall. I had not been here in years so I thought it would be interesting to see if anything had changed.

We didn't go too far because it was bitterly cold and windy. I did see that some of the old buildings had been restored and others were boarded up and seriously decayed. I hope to go back when it is a little warmer but also snowing because the snow does make this a magical place.

There is not a lot of information on any of the official park sites about this place. I did read that at one time there were 175 people living there. Now I believe there are only 3 families living there. The village consists of eight houses, a church, a carriage house and a general store, and a small graveyard.

I believe this building once housed a general store downstairs and a church upstairs.

Camera Settings:
NIKON D700
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
1/320 second
F/5.6
ISO 900
50 mm

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For Christians around the world today, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week which ends with Easter Sunday next week. I hope that all those who celebrate have a Blessed week.

Monday is St. Patrick's Day when everyone becomes just a little Irish for a day. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all. How often does St. Patrick's Day and Holy Week coincide? I don't think it's very often.

This is a local church in town that I shot a few months back during an early snowstorm. In the large version you can really see the snow falling, it's not so evident in this small view.

I have to apologize, again for my absence here. I have been swamped! It's all good, but when it rains it pours, feast or famine! I should enjoy the feast while it lasts. I have been buried in work up to my eyeballs the past 2 weeks and it just keeps coming! Which is good, but I am just not used to it.

So between family obligations and work I have had no time for recreational photography, or photo-blogging. I started to make the rounds to the photo-blogs the other day and ended up having more work come in that couldn't wait. The work I am doing I cannot really post here and for that I am sorry.

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This is probably the last photo I will post for this series. Once again it is from Hoffman Park. Now I am not certain but I believe the low building on the right is for the cattle to seek shelter in times of extreme weather. I walked over and there isn't much left to the lean-to type shelter but it definitely looks like that is what it was used for. If someone knows better please let me know so that I can offer the correct information.

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This is a view of Hoffman Park from up at the entrance taken from the parking area looking toward Manny's Pond on the left and Heron Rd. in the middle of the frame. Off in the distance, after the tree line, and before the mountain on the left you can see Spruce Run Reservoir. The farmhouse from the previous photo would be over my right shoulder, behind, and above me.

I rarely saw my Aunt's Farm in winter since she spent her winters in Florida and Nassau in the Bahamas. We only spent summers there when I was little. In fact I actually don't remember ever seeing it with a blanket of snow. The transformation is wonderful!

My Aunt and Uncle started aquiring properties in the county in the 1930's. They would lease the land to farmers for livestock (cattle) at a monthly per animal rate. They owned land in four other townships in Hunterdon County as well as in Florida and the Bahamas. My Uncle was one of the Hoffman's from the Hoffman Beverage Company from many years ago.

As I have mentioned before here, the farm and her other properties in the county were transferred to the county by my Aunt with the stipulation that it remain "pristine parklands".

If you would like more information about Hoffman Park click here.

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This was taken on Saturday the day after our First "real" snow. It is my Aunt's old farmhouse which is located on part of the Hoffman Park Property which is now off limits. The house was grand and beautiful at one time, but has quickly fallen into disrepair and I fear that if the county doesn't restore it soon it will be too late.

I couldn't get any closer because this area is off limits to the public and it was being heavily patrolled by the park rangers because the hills were open for sledding. From this vantage point you cannot see how badly the house has deteriorated. It still looks grand to me. Last year I did "trespass" onto the property and left a rose on the porch in memory of my Aunt. It was then that I saw how really bad the house had gotten and it was pretty tough to see it.

Saturday remained gray all day. I had hoped for a little late afternoon sun, but it didn't happen. I still had a good time getting out and taking winter landscape photos. I am now really ready for Spring!

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Finally we had a real snowstorm! I am not a big fan of winter but I figure if it has to be cold and dreary at least let there be some snow. I got my wish Friday and so did the kids since school was canceled because of the snow.

This was shot in my own backyard on Friday while the snow was still lightly falling. I managed to get out Saturday and take a ride in the country for some more winter scenes. The snow was indeed beautiful but I was hoping for the sun to make a late day appearance to shine some golden light on everything. That never happened as it remained very gray all Saturday. I still managed to get some halfway decent shots from my travels. I will be sharing them over the coming days on both of my photoblogs.

I am hoping that this afternoon I will have a chance to get out and get some photos of the snow in some late day sunlight. It looks promising right now. I just hope the skies co-operate later.

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This was shot During the first real snow that we had on Sunday Dec. 2 just outside of the Methodist Church in town. It was so pretty to see the snow falling fresh around the church grounds. The snow was so pretty even though it was short and didn't stay around long. You can see that not all of the leaves had yet fallen from the trees. I think they are all but gone now a week later.

My cold turned into bronchitis by Friday night but Sunday I started feeling quite a bit better and I think I should be 100% Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for all the well wishes!

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"Tis' The Season"

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It is December 2 and I woke this morning to the first real snow of the season. Not a big snow but enough to cover everything with a beautiful Mantle of pure white delight. I of course was very excited. I had to go to church early to set up the coffee and goodies for Fellowship Hour. When the service ended and all the goodies were put out I went outside and got a few shots of the snow outside of the church.

There is a Pussy Willow bush/tree next to the parking lot. I thought Pussy Willows bloomed with their little fuzzy buds in the early Spring, I didn't know they could have buds in the Fall/Winter. I know there are a few gardeners who visit my site and I would love if one of you could enlighten me.

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"Tis' The Season"

This blog was born. Wow!!! I cannot believe a year has passed. In fact I was taken somewhat by surprise when I realized today was the anniversary. In that year, many posts and many new friends have been made. So many of you have been with me since the very beginning and I have really cherished all of your visits. You all keep me going. The blog has evolved in style over these 12 months thanks to Azhar and his immense talent and kindness. Thank you Azhar!!!

Getting back into photography was one of the best things I've done for myself. It's been rewarding and fun! I hope to stick around for a long time to come. I've come a long way in that year. I look at things differently now, even more so than in my younger days, I find beauty in the seemingly mundane. Sometimes I hit, sometimes I miss, but nearly every shot I take means something to me, even if not everyone else gets it.

I wish this shot was more profound for the 1 year anniversary, but I've been so very busy that I've really not had a chance to go out and shoot other than some jobs for a couple of weeks now. I'm hoping that will change soon and I will have more time. This shot was of the only significant snow we've had so far this winter. It was the Valentines Day snowstorm and it was actually more ice than snow here. This was taken on Friday, a couple of days after the storm, from my Kitchen door looking out onto my deck. I liked the way the sun was coming through the trees and I particularly liked the shadow lines that were created.

When I don't have a post here, there is likely to be a different one on "Parallel Universe" so I invite you to check it out as well. I was moving the archives from here over there since I had issues with the archives so you may see some posts that are duplicates of these but they would be in the archived posts, not the current post, all current posts will be different from what's here.

I want to thank you all for the supportive comments, particularly on the last post regarding Robert and his upcoming deployment to Iraq. It means so much me to have your moral support.

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This is a shot from a couple of weeks ago. It was the only appreciable snow we've had so far this winter. It was only a coating and it melted very fast. I took a quick walk around the park near my house and by the time I got round the pond there, it was nearly all gone.

These are actually teeny tiny delicate little branches with teeny tiny delicate little dried leaves. It was tough to get this shot since it was a little breezy and the macro lens is a bit finicky about focusing in those conditions.

I've been pretty busy lately and haven't been able to get out and shoot for the blogs as I'd like to, but I hope to get out in the next few days.

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Since some people have asked, I decided I probably should tell you what Noise Reduction Software I used in the last post. It's called "Noiseware Pro" by Imagenomic http://www.imagenomic.com/.

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