MY OWN BACKYARD AND A LITTLE BEYOND

by Ginny Santora

Our April lecture, entitled "My Own Backyard and a Little Beyond", was delivered by Alan Leckner. Alan showed us that you do not need to travel far and wide to find some great photos--you can find them in your own backyard. Alan's "own backyard" includes three areas within Monmouth County and the Bayshore area. They are: 1. Ramanessen Brook Trail 2. Conoskonk Point (aka Pebble Beach) - part of Union Beach 3. Sandy Hook.

Photography is a non-seasonal activity for Alan. He lives in the Bayshore area, where some fields are still untouched and undeveloped. He uses telephoto, macro, and wide angle lenses. On overcast days, he will not bring the long lens out, and he always looks for themes to shoot. Alan suggests using an off-camera flash adapter to avoid red eye. He showed us a picture of a rabbit that was taken, utilizing this technique. Alan also showed a picture that he took by setting the camera up to a telescope to get a full frame shot of the moon.

At Ramanessen Brook Trail, Alan has photographed the trail at all seasons. He would find something that made art or whatever caught his eye. Alan showed pictures of a robin, a house finch, a mockingbird, a chickadee, a baby cardinal, and a squirrel. Alan also took pictures of skunk cabbage in various stages as it emerged through the ice. As it grew, it changed from day to day. The skunk cabbage plant actually looked like a penguin. Deptford pink, a small flower, the size of a pinky fingernail, also was shown. Alan uses flash shot through a white filter to mute it a bit, but he also uses natural light.

For film Alan recommends using Sensia, which really is Provia which has already been aged. It is less expensive than using Velvia and Provia. He uses Kodak processing for color but he does develop his own black and white film.

Alan visits Sandy Hook more often than any other place in the Bayshore area. "The Hook" is home to the oldest lighthouse in the United States. Alan often employs a hyperfocal distance setting of 1-1/2 feet to infinity. He uses a tripod with his camera set at f/16 and manually focuses to 3 feet. Alan uses hyperfocal distance for all his nature shots. The Sandy Hook pictures were of horseshoe crabs, which are actually more closely related to a spider than a crab. The Redknot (a shore bird) feeds on horseshoe crab eggs. All of Alan's shore pictures were taken in the "littoral" zone, the area near the shore where the waves break. Alan also showed pictures of footprints of a great blue heron and paw prints of a possible beaver or opossum. "Monsters in the Woods" is his series of pictures taken of driftwood that resemble animals. Alan believes Sandy Hook is a great field trip for a club. There is plenty to shoot and you also can find details and patterns in the barracks.

Butterfly photography is best in the early morning when the butterfly's wings are still wet and the sun is low. Ospreys are building their nests this time of year As for equipment, Alan uses a Benbo tripod, not a Gitzo. For years he had used a Sigma 300 f/1.4 lens and a 2X teleconverter on a Maxxum XI. Now he uses a Canon 400 f/2.8, which he considers to be a much sharper, brighter lens.

Did you know that you can collect fossilized sharks' teeth right here in New Jersey? For an interesting day's outing, follow these direction. Take Crawford's Corner Road to Middletown Road to Route 520. At Brookdale College, turn right on McCambell and proceed to the school. The trail and entrance to the stream are right in this area. You can use a fine mesh screen to sift through the sand and gravel in the stream to uncover the sharks' teeth.

Now that the weather has turned warmer, we will be getting out into nature a lot more, and with some advice from Alan, we will be taking better pictures! You can visit Alan Leckner's Web site at http://www.lecknerdesign.com.