On a recent trip to LBI, we took in a sunset cruise near Barnegat Lighthouse.
There were this small sailboats all following one another at one point.
There was this great looking “ hot rod” of a car parked in the Barnegat Light parking lot. Just had to get some pictures…
While down at LBI the other day, a few thunderstorms rolled in. I’m always fascinated with the vivid displays of lightening. Here are some photos that were taken with my point and shoot camera. While on vacation, I try and not carry around my big DSLR’s too much 
Its not really as hard as you think once you get into it and think about it. The hard part is practicing it and managing the “stress” that occurs during the “shoot” since they only last a few minutes (5-10 minutes generally unless you’re fortunate).
Camera Settings – DSLR
ISO – fireworks are brighter than you think – even though it’s nighttime, set your ISO to the lowest setting. I go with 100.
Aperture – generally f8-f16 works well. f11 might be a good starting spot
Shutter Speed – (manual) Bulb and experiment with anything from 4 seconds to 30 seconds.
Tripod – a must for fireworks. If you don’t have one, get or borrow one. Otherwise try putting your camera on something sturdy like the roof of your car or a fence. But remember than you probably need to tilt your camera up somewhat unless you are going for a panoramic shot.
Shutter Release – highly recommended – either a cable type or a more fancy wireless remote control. The less shake on the camera (even though its on a tripod) the better. If you forgot it or don’t have one, then make sure your tripod is rock solid set and try and gently squeeze the shutter instead of pressing it.
Camera Settings – Point & Shoot
Many of these have function settings. If yours does try and find a fireworks setting. If you don’t have one see if you can go manual and go with the settings above.
Focus – since fireworks only last a few seconds auto focus is generally not recommended. Instead try and get the camera to get a good focus on the first few firework displays. Check it carefully in the LCD display. If it looks good then set your focus to manual and LEAVE it where it just was. Generally focusing on infinity is not ideal. If you don’t have a choice, go to infinity then back it out just a “wee” bit (wee is a technical photographic term meaning not too much but just enough 
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Bug spray – if you live in a part of the country where your tiny insect friends also enjoy fireworks then make sure you bring some bug spray. Also a blanket or chair to sit on while waiting for the fun to begin may not be a bad idea
Last Thoughts – enjoy it! This only happens a few times a year if you’re luck so enjoy it.
Some unplanned for showers developed over the area the other evening right around sunset. If you look closely you can see the bottom of the rainbow in this picture as caught on the way out of Home Depot.
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Fall is finally in the air but I wanted to share one last photo of the recent floods.
This one was taken in Stewartsville at a house that has their backyard along the normally quiet Pohatcong creek. I’ve seen this river rise many times but never this bad.
A woman who lives in the house said she never saw it this bad in the entire time she’s lived there (don’t know how long that was but she implied substantial).
In going through the multitude of pictures I took of the recent Delaware river flood, I came across this one. Taken in Easton, PA looking at a stairway that normally goes down to a walkway that is closer to the river and allows you to go towards the back of a music pavilion.
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I was out and about doing some yard work last night taking advantage of the end of the warmth and looked up and noticed this great sunset. If I wasn’t so busy and dirty I would have gone inside and gotten my other camera and tripod and taken more shots.
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I had an opportunity to stay at a friends relative’s house on LBI recently. It’s a gorgeous house located in Beach Haven about 1 mile south of Fantasy Island.
To the left is a photograph of the kitchen.
More photos are available here.
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On our last day in the Big Apple, we decided to rent some bikes and go through central park – something I’ve never done even though I’ve lived in the NY/NJ area all my life. We stopped briefly at the reservoir and I captured this photos. Yes the water was as green as depicted. But it wasn’t a bad green – sort of a tropical seawater type of green. I’m not sure if this is used for drinking in the city as I know a lot of their water comes further north in the Adirondack mountains.
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Picture of the NYC Marriot Marquis from a recent stay at the hotel. We were spending some time with friends from out of town and we both stayed at this very nice hotel.
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Dabour Photography 