New Jersey State House 2, a photo from New Jersey, Northeast

Photographer's Note

I was in Trenton New Jersey only a couple of weeks after the horrible destruction of Hurricane Sandy swept over its shores. Trenton is significantly inland, yet there were still visible signs of the storm around as I drove through the area. That destruction was on my mind as I was walking around the deserted-feeling city.

This shot was taken across the street from the State House, which is the building seen here. The State House dome is unusual in that it isn't clearly visible from the building's front - a legacy of a building built before the sense of grandeur that overtook later state capitol designs. It peeks out more readily once you've moved away a bit, and in this case up the stairs located behind the World War II Memorial, part of which is pictured here. A small plaza opens up across the street from the State House which includes a granite gazebo and statues honoring New Jersey's war dead. The gazebo can be seen in part here, with the word sacrifice visible, along with the olive wreath held aloft at center. The American Flag sits still at right, while the golden dome of the State House looms in the background.

Larger version on Flickr, here.
New Jersey State House set on Flickr, here.

No_One, tyro, larhrissiHicham, jlbrthnn oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

No_One (4) 2013-01-14 5:27

hi Andrew,

Your series on state capitals is brilliant, I am really enjoying seeing all these incredible buildings, and learning how majestic all the buildings are! Every single one seems to be built wiht immense amounts of pride, showing in their domes and classical styles. Great choice of B&W on this one, as it shows the light on the dome really well. This is a great contrast to the darker area in the image down lower.
All the best
Noel

mjw364 (1466) 2013-01-14 6:41

Hello Andrew

Sacrifice and a still flag... a reflective, solemn shot after the hurricane.

I like the tonal range and the almost metallic feel of the dome in the foreground with the inscription. The dome in the background fades adding depth and reminds me of something rising again from civil society re-emerges.

TFS

Mike

tyro (30513) 2013-01-14 7:12

Hello Andrew,

A fine black and white picture with some wonderful tones and contrasts. After reading your note, I feel that the conversion to black and white is appropriate - there is a sense, even to the viewer, that this place is somewhat deserted.

You have found yourself a very appropriate viewpoint here (not a "POV" - I hate that - a "point of view" is an "opinion" to my mind, not a "viewpoint"!) and I can imagine it must have taken some time and consideration to find such an appropriate viewpoint too. But you have achieved a fine composition with all the meain features balancing each other in the frame perfectly: the dome of the State House brightly illuminated and taking pride of place and the curved entablature of the memorial on the left being nicely balanced by the flag on the right.

Lovely light, perfect exposure and stunning details and sharpness.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

kasianowak (17672) 2013-01-14 11:35

Hi Andrew
This is great, I really like the composition enhanced by conversion to monochrome. The golden dome looks interesting in b&w. Good idea to include the building on the left which adds 3D feel to the shot.
Best wishes
Kasia

lousat (138609) 2013-01-14 15:01

Hi Andrew,perfect use of the black and whitr in this original geomteric composition,i like the 3D effect of the perspective and the strong cut,perfect details too.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

Waylim (25436) 2013-01-14 16:48

Hi Andrew,

Very cool shot and good choice to present it in black and white. I like the depth you've captured with the strong forground arch that repeated at 3 different places in this composition and the depth is excellent with successive layers that fades to lighter gray as it goes further back. Sorry, I have not been around much. Will try to be more active :)

Way

JFS (32459) 2013-01-14 22:52

A good shot in B&W, great play of lights and perfect and clever composition. I lov eit!
Cheers,
Juan

dkmurphys (79209) 2013-01-14 23:04

Hi Andrew,
I like this piece of classical American architecture. Clever POV, fine result.
Have a nice day.

Daniel

emka (157280) 2013-01-14 23:59

Hi Andrew, Quite different impact when viewed the larger shot. excellent shot in this black and white version. I like this composition very much. another great shot from your collection.

Warm regrads

Malgo

willperrett (14195) 2013-01-15 7:52

Hello Andrew
I like monochrome. So I like this. Mind you, the subject does seem to lend itself to the medium, given you comments about Hurricane Sandy, and the word "sacrifice" which I saw and you pointed out. Maybe the golden dome isn't done full justice, but I like its light tones: even in b/w it seems to gleam. Well composed as well.
Regards
Will

jlbrthnn (76043) 2013-01-15 12:18

Hello Andrew,
The framing is clever, giving symbolic meaning to the composition. Choice B & W works well. This is an interesting view and a very good picture quality. Bravo.
Have a nice day
Best regards
Joël

fabbs99 (17179) 2013-01-15 17:54

Hello Andrew,

Great shot in B&W.Perfect resolution and contrast.Very well done.

Regards
Farhat

larhrissiHicham (577) 2013-01-16 4:45

What a shotgreat work posted and presented with a note of high quality. Good illustration of the main goal of TrekEarth.
I wonder if the original image was larger and the choice was to corp and present only a piece of it.

Hats off my friend.

Glad to comment your work once again.

Kind Regards

steph (470) 2013-01-16 12:14

I really like the composition and light on this picture. This is the one I prefer out of the 3 of the New Jersey State House you have posted so far.
You have found the right spot.
Well done Andrew.

Stephane

npecanhuk (79329) 2013-01-17 17:16

Hello Andrew!
I really like this one too!
Black & white, exposure, sharpness, horizontal format, chosen pov and composition are all excellent photo qualities that really pleased me!
You found a very special way to photograph one more American State House.
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan