In my previous post I mentioned my lack of inspiration at Brookdale park. In a search for alternative shooting locations, I took a drive over to the Eagle Rock Reservation. I think this 400+ acre preserve is going to be the focus of much of my weekend shooting for the next few months. There is not much in the way of color there right now, so I processed my shots as toned B&W. I am really looking forward to shooting here in the spring. Right now, there is so much brown and gray (dead leaves, bare trees, rocks), that moss and grass start to look colorful.
As soon as I saw this fallen tree, I noticed how the roots looked like fingers stuck in the earth. It looks like an evil hand digging into the ground.
Eagle Rock Reservation – Fallen Tree
The vine like plants in the next image can be seen on many of the trees. They look like an invasive species, but I’m not really sure.
Eagle Rock Reservation – Spiral Vine
I really liked the “cutaway view” of the roots of this tree. There is a small stream that washed out the soil, just out of the frame. It reminded me of an illustration in a science book, showing the normally invisible root system.
Eagle Rock Reservation – Exposed Roots
You can give yourself a Rorschach Test with this image. I see a skeletal hand on the right side and a weird frog/bug in the upper left. Am I nuts?
Eagle Rock Reservation – Root Formation
There is not much going on in the last image. I just liked the symmetry of the mushrooms on the trunk.
Eagle Rock Reservation – Trunk and Mushrooms
I am still trying to find a little direction for the layout of the site. I am only going to keep a single post on the front page for the time being. I am also moving away from using the flash based slide show. I had a few people comment that it took away their ability to view the images at their own pace, which made absolute sense. If you got this far, leave a comment and let me know what you think of this site! Thanks.
Wow, these are very stunning photos. I pass some of these trees on my dog walk, but I will really look at them now. Your photos have such mood and atmosphere! I like the site a lot!
Thanks for the comments Suzanne! It’s always nice to hear from people who find the site.
Hai Sean,
nice pictures on your site! I like them very much. You have good eyes. Keep on looking around in the world.
Just one question, can you send me your solution how to put the flashfader-wp-plugin on your pages? I’m looking for some time now to find a simple solution to show my pix in an differnt way on my page. Greetz from Berlin / Germany. Thanks in advance.
Hardy
Hardy,
Thanks for the comments. Basically I am not using FlashFader as designed. I installed the plugin, created a slideshow, and got the object tag, by doing a View Source. I pasted that directly into the WordPress editor (not the wysiwyg one). After some trial and error, i got it to work by putting the whole tag on one line, with spaces between the different tags (Do a view source on my page to see the object tag… just search for “swf”).
All the FlashFader plugin requires is the images.xml file and the actual swf. I removed all of the other files, and turned off the plug-in in WordPress. Going forward I will create a new folder with images, and a new images.xml file for each new slideshow, and paste in a copy of the tag that points to the new images.xml file. The one annoyance is that WordPress adds in p-tags and br-tags when you re-edit a post. Those have to be removed before saving. Hope this helps!
Amazing photos but still a bit creepy.
Hello Sean,
Here a visitor from around the block…Munich 😉
The photos are amazing ( remembers me of my youth in the Transylvanien lands) and all around Your idea is great. I like it and I am also gelous of “not having so much time” like You have to dive into nature’s beauty.
..continue saving images like these …and also Your first impression when shooting
God bless You and Happy Times from,
Marius😉
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment Marius!
Hi, Sean,
I just got finished copying some photos taken by my ancestors from the 1920’s and 1930’s and some were from Eagle Rock. Our family was from Wood-Ridge, NJ. I can upload them (JPEG’s) if you are interested in comparing today’s photos if you can find the same locations.
Bruce
Very nice pics! I agree – I have been taking pictures in Brooksdale Park for a long time – I need a change. I have been up to Mills Reservation a few times – that is also a very old forest.