Sunday, July 20, 2014

Princeton - July 20

Another beautiful day dawned with just the right amount of cloud cover to offer a nice backdrop for a field trip to Princeton University.

When I get to campus, I like going to the gate in front of Nassau Hall. These first two pictures are of the gate and Nassau Hall. 



Next, it was off to East Pyne Hall, where I discovered an amazing courtyard that would not look out of place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! One image was taken in black and white, the other with the "sepia" tone feature on my camera. The clouds add a nice backdrop. 



Then, it was off to my new favorite place on campus - Prospect House and the beautiful garden behind it. An array of coneflowers in various colors are still in bloom as are amaryllis, tiger lilies and others. Because this part of campus is somewhat secluded, it's nice and quiet and the scenery is spectacular.






The campus also has a number of sculptures. This one, David Smith's "CUBI XIII" reminded me of the TV show "True Detective." 


Here's an upward looking picture of the back side of Alexander Hall, which was featured on the U.S. Postal Service's 1996 stamp honoring the 250th Anniversary of the school. I used my camera's "vivid color" setting to take this one. 


My next stop was Blair Hall. This is a great building to shoot because of its geometry and the downward slope, which gives the photographer a great angle. For this photo, I used a very fast shutter speed (1/1600) which gave the scene a little added drama.


I then ventured into a part of campus I had not been to before - along University Place, and found Henry Hall and the archway that connects it to Foulke Hall. Both photos were taken using the "vivid color" setting. 



Outside the University Chapel is a statue of a pelican, which, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is a religious symbol. 


On my way back to my car, I took this last shot of the Rothschild Arch, again using a fast shutter speed (1/1600) the gate itself remains deeply in shadow juxtaposed against the blue/white sky. 


I hope you enjoyed this little tour of the campus. If you'd like a high resolution copy of any of these images, email me at - scarylawyerguy@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter - @scarylawyerguy.





1 comment:

  1. In medieval iconography, the pelican symbolized Jesus. The idea was that pelicans would stab themselves till they bled, in order to feed their chicks if there was no other food available. This echoed Jesus sacrificing himself for humanity.

    Next time, go a little farther south from Henry Hall and you'll hit Spelman Hall--kind of a surprise after all the neo-Gothic!

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