Peggy Gray Bridge in Winter
Muriel Hepner Park, Denville NJ
I love how the background trees faded away during the morning drizzle.
The print is available in sizes up to 4′ and potentially 6′. A portion of all proceeds will be allocated to local non-profit organizations.
Rockaway Township NJ Town Planner Calendar 2019
Woodland Trail to the Beaver Pond
We are quite fortunate to have nearly 6,000 acres of open space preserve at Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area in Rockaway Township. There is a great diversity of flora and fauna to preserve. I took this photograph at the end of Upper Hibernia Road on a pleasant Summer afternoon.
Peggy Gray Bridge at Muriel Hepner Park
Denville NJ January 2019
This scenic stone arched pedestrian bridge was just complete. A nice use of funding by the Denville Open Space Trust Fund. The bridge is in memory of Peggy Gray who founded the Denville Beautification Committee and Denville P.R.I.D.E.
This image is a 3 photo HDR merge from the Canon SL2 DSLR and is available print at sizes up to 20″ x 30″.
Lisa and I recently got home from 1 week out west which was a terrific trip. We flew non-stop from Newark airport into Phoenix and I was able to secure tickets at $300 after some diligent research. Our first accommodations were Forest Houses Resort in Oak Creek Canyon (just outside of Sedona). For the 2nd leg of our trip we stayed at the Yavapai Lodge within Grand Canyon National Park. We found the rates at both to be reasonable and the rooms were more than adequate. I also booked a rental car from Phoenix at $16/day thanks to hotwire.
Sedona, Arizona. This photo was taken from Red Rock Crossing. Image by Dave Blinder, please contact me for licensing or prints.
For photography equipment I brought along my Canon 5DsR dslr as well as my Canon SL2. I brought three lenses with me, the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC G1, Tamron SP 150-600mm VC G2, and the Tamron SP 90mm VC G1 macro lens. I did not use my macro lens much as I was often on the go, and did not want to swap lenses in dusty environments.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Image by Dave Blinder, please contact me for licensing or prints.
For the sake of brevity I am not posting pictures from each and every park we visited, however I am happy to answer any travel questions that I can help with. Some of the many attractions we enjoyed include: Slide Rock State Park, Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Red Rock State Park, Cathedral Rock, Devil’s Bridge, Palatki Heritage Site, Tuzigoot National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Little Colorado River Gorge, and of course Grand Canyon National Park.
Early morning view of Grand Canyon National Park Arizona. Image by Dave Blinder, please contact me for licensing or prints.
I found the lighting conditions around Sedona to be challenging during my trip, yet I really enjoyed my time spent in the area. Photographic momentum picked up for me when we made it to the Grand Canyon. It would be difficult to take a bad sunrise or sunset picture when standing in front one of the natural wonders of the world. I also found the Navajo tribal land (just beyond desert view) to be very peaceful and a very immersive nature study area. Do yourself and check out the Little Colorado River Gorge when in the area.
Rock Squirrel at Little Colorado River Gorge. Image by Dave Blinder, please contact me for licensing or prints.
Now that it is finally springtime here in New Jersey, I look forward to photographing the regularly scheduled birds and bees. Let me know if you have any questions about my Arizona pictures or any of my travel accommodations.
Lesser Goldfinch Female with Fledgling at the Verde River in Cottonwood Arizona. Image by Dave Blinder, please contact me for licensing or prints.
I am drafting NJ photography program descriptions for later in 2018. I always enjoy interacting with new photography or nature enthusiasts. Let me know if your camera club, library, or community center is interested in a presentation and I will try to accommodate.
Landscape photograph taken in 2018 by Dave Blinder in Parsippany, New Jersey.
Landscapes of New Jersey presentation by Dave Blinder
August 2018
Warren Township Library
Join us as local photographer Dave Blinder walks us through his images for his comprehensive “Landscapes of New Jersey” exhibit. Dave will present 1 nature photograph for each of New Jersey’s 21 counties. We will learn how, where, and why each image was captured and we will discuss the challenges of taking on a large state-wide project. Camera settings will be revealed, compositional techniques will be discussed, and personal anecdotes of Dave’s photographic journey will be provided.
Dave Blinder is a career photographer with specializations in clinical imaging, architectural photography, and fine art sales and exhibitions. Dave volunteers in his spare time for outdoor education and land conservation purposes. He is a proud board member of the Denville-based 501(c)(3) Protect Our Wetlands, Water, and Woods organization. Find Dave’s photographs on the web at facebook.com/daveblinderphotography
This image is one of my favorite recent photographs. It was taken on November 4th 2017 mid-morning on a bright overcast day. This Autumn was not a colorful foliage season in my area but I was fortunate to come across a picket of golden hued Beech Trees whilst walking a wooded trail. The trail is situated within Jonathan’s Woods in Rockaway NJ.
Jonathan’s Woods in Autumn. A wooded trail meanders through a pocket of vivid American Beech trees in November. New Jersey Fine Art Landscape Photograph from Rockaway Township by Dave Blinder.
My goal with this image was to capture a frame which a viewer could easily place themselves into. I had quite an immersive nature experience on this pleasant walk with the fragrant smells of the deciduous forest, the earthy palette of the woodlands, and the slightest breeze on my face. If this image is successful the viewer should also have an engaging exploration within the frame with no coaxing of words or other cues. We shall find out when I print and exhibit the piece!
I should easily be able to make a 20″ x 30″ print from this full frame capture. This wide angle perspective is brought to you by the Tamron USA SP 15-30mm VC lens. A lens this wide gives an extremely broad perspective and will also make objects nearer to the camera appear larger. This characteristic can be utilized by the landscape photographer to simulate three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional capture. It helps the the Tamron 15-30mm is also exceedingly sharp. Camera utilized was the Sony A7R which produces highly detailed and vivid images of my treks.
Thank you for stopping by and be sure to get out and appreciate your local nature. Purchase the lens through my Amazon Affiliate link helps support my art.
Do you have any thoughts or questions about the image? Leave a comment on this post or send me an email to dave@daveblinder.com
This is an impromptu composition that was dictated by the lighting conditions. My intention for this night photography session was to photograph stars in the sky, but the punchy light from the moon and the promenade limited the definition possible in the sky.
Fine Art Photograph taken at night at the Jersey Shore in Sea Isle City
The camera settings here are a focal length of 18mm, aperture at F/5.6 and ISO speed of 400. Increasing the exposure would have blown out the highlights and decreasing the exposure would have rendered the scene too dark for my tastes. I originally started off at a higher ISO but the image looked washed out so I lowered it a full ISO stop. I do not shoot still photos in incremental ISO’s as anything other than native ISO values can deteriorate dynamic range or image quality. Other settings: RAW file format, Auto White Balance, Mirror Lock Up, 2 Second Timer, VC (stabilization) off, tripod firmly in the sand
The composition in this photo is a pretty straight-forward rule-of-thirds setup. The horizon is placed about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the frame and the houses occupy approximately 2/3 of the horizontal length of the frame. Putting those elements dead center in the photo would have killed the dynamics in my opinion.
I was doing nature photography in various parts of Cape May this past Thursday, and had a gameplan to head to the well-known Sunset Beach area to try to make some photos of the setting sun. My plan was foiled as the horizon clouded over as the sun began descending closer and closer to the horizon.
A recent long exposure photo taken in Cape May, New Jersey.
With a fairly bleak sky I shifted my attention and tripod-mounted camera downwards to try to capture the water motion near the tideline. For this capture, I have a circular 3-stop Neutral Density filter attached to my Tamron 18-270mm VC lens to allow more time for motion within the frame. The resultant exposure time here was 30 seconds with an aperture of F/13 to have an expansive depth of field. The ISO value of 100 provides the best image quality possible on current DSLR cameras.
The composition in this image incorporates the rule of thirds to draw the viewer in. The dark rocks of the jetty occupy roughly 1/3 of the horizontal width of the frame and the sky occupies approximately 1/6 of the vertical height of the frame. The misty water occupies the vast majority of the scene, but the rocks and the sky give a sense of scale and environment to the scene.
…
I just flew back home to NJ from Florida yesterday morning and I have lots of files (hopefully good ones to sift through. I will be uploading new images from the trip regularly to http://flickr.com.com/davidraymond but I hope to provide some commentary and technique on individual photos on here as well.
Here’s one sample landscape image from the trip to take a look at it, meanwhile I’ve got to get back to the RAW file processing!
Sunset over Wetlands
Dave Blinder Nature Photography 