In 2015, I’ve had more experience using my camera and have been to new locations to increase the diversity of my photos. In 2014, I took mostly urban photos while living in Jersey City.
In 2015, I moved to Lawrenceville, New Jersey in a more suburban setting with some natural environments. I also went to a lot of baseball games during the summer with more shots of a sport a truly love and enjoy. Of course, I made some return visits to Jersey City with new photos.
Normally, top lists include things numbered, but it was almost impossible to make a number list of my best photos. Instead, I chose the best photos I took in 2015 that I want to showcase and revisit:
In the Trenton area, there is a Christmas tree farm where you can cut your own tree. I spotted this leafless, lifeless tree in the middle of pine trees. It stuck out beautifully and I just had to land a wide shot of it.
One late cold Autumn afternoon with Winter approaching, I had looked out my bedroom window and noticed how beautiful the sunset sky looked. The sky was just burning red. I ran out with my camera and took some shots. This one here with the exposure composition decrease and the white balance set to incandescent warm resulted in this stunning photo.
While walking around the All About Downtown Jersey City Street Fair with a friend of mine, I noticed we had pass this graffiti writing. I loved the saying in it as I told my friend to just pose her feet above it. To see more of my Downtown Jersey City Street Fair photos, check out the article I wrote about it here: Part 1 & Part 2
Needing some unique Autumn photos, I went to the Loveless Nature Preserve in Lawrenceville, NJ to get some forest photos. I put my camera as low as the ground while laying down to get this type of POV shot. To know more about the nature preserve, check out the article I wrote about it here: Nature Preserve
In the Summer time in Lawrenceville, after getting some sunset photos I walked past by the back part of a home. I liked the way the light was shining on top of the door with the presence of nature. It just had this Summer relaxation to it.
One of the first places I discovered in Lawrenceville was Colonial Lake, a park & lake area of the town. In the early parts of Autumn, I was taking cloud photos as well as sunsets. I struck gold with this one as I was able to get the best of both worlds with the sun setting bright orange warmth on this gigantic cloud while reflecting on the lake and the shadowy trees in the background. To see more of my Colonial Lake photos, check out the article I wrote about it here: Colonial Lake
Right in the parking lot of the Lawrence Shopping Center, I had my finest hour as a photographer as I took this breathe taking sunset. By playing with the settings of my camera, I was able to take a bright orange and blue sunset photo in the early parts of Spring. To know more about how I took this photo, here’s the story I written about this photo and how I was inspire to take it: Blue Sunset
While staying over at a friend’s house in Jersey City, I saw this mural from across the street of her home. I loved how its colors contrast wonderfully to the white snow and how everything pops out thanks to the night setting and street light illuminating over it.
Living in Lawrenceville, making trips to Philadelphia is a lot less shorter which ended up me making my first trip to Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Although I am a die-hard New York Mets fan, Citizens Bank Park is a fantastic venue any baseball fan will enjoy. Here’s a wide shot I took during a game between the Phillies and Marlins by the third base line in April.
I went to a few vintage car shows this year in the parking lot of Captain Paul’s Ice Cream Shop in Lawrenceville. This vintage comet car caught my attention and had to just take a rich black and white photo of it. This was the summer that I was really into 50s & 60s pop culture as well as Rockabilly music and Pin-ups. While there were no cute pin-up girls to take photos of, this one of the comet vehicle was enough beauty that I needed.
I ended up with a pet Yorkie this past Summer. It was a long time since I had a dog in the house as Jacob the Yorkie founded a new home. I haven’t taken too many photos of animals so it was a golden opportunity to take several shots of my own pet to practice. I sat this adorable little pup on my bed and went with an extreme close up portrait shot. Jacob is a natural with poses.
In one of my rare visits to my hometown of Jersey City in 2015, I visited Morris Canal Park in one of the coldest days of the Winter. The breeze from the Hudson River did not help much. Quickly, I took this bench and put it in front of this tree since it is my favorite sitting spot in the whole city with one of the best skylines in the world in front of me. I zoomed in for a medium frame making sure I had the presence of a cold Winter day.
In perhaps one of the biggest games in Mets Citi Field regular season history, the New York Mets completed the sweep of the Washington Nationals on August 2 to tie for first place this late of the season. The crowd was just electric. After the game, I took this wide shot of Citi Field and the rotunda on this beautiful Summer night. To know more about my Citi Field and Mets adventure, check out my article about it here: Mayhem in the Citi
One of my closest cousins ended up marrying the love of his life in August 2015 and I was invited to the ceremony as the wedding was in New York City. On a roof top where the wedding ceremony was held, I had the opportunity to get rare shots of the Empire State Building. I framed this one close enough to include the palm trees on each side while displaying the gorgeous Summer sky as well as the Empire State Building itself.
Asides from going to big league baseball games in 2015, I was went to a few Trenton Thunder games, a Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. One of the games ended up going to extra innings as I moved to the front seats to get close to the Thunder’s dugout. That resulted in this shot as I took a photo of a group of young players anticipating an extra inning win and perhaps looking forward to big league dreams. To see more Thunder photos, check out my story about them here: Trenton Thunder
In another visit to a Trenton Thunder game, I ended up capturing one of the pregame ceremony moments: the National Anthem. While the anthem was going on, I noticed the players standing by the flag with a few younger girls. I thought it looked like a great moment as I zoomed in as close as possible to capture the moment along with the actual American flag and the one displayed on screen. To see more Thunder photos, check out my story about them here: Trenton Thunder
In another Jersey City Winter visit, I took a morning stroll down Wayne Street and encounter a very snowy basketball court in Angel Luis Ramos playground. I really like how the snowy court looked in the shadows of the morning sunrise with the back of the apartments in the background. This photo really does have a great urban winter feeling to it.
When the weather warmed up again, I returned to Jersey City in the Spring and visited the Waterfront. The Colgate Clock area was mostly blocked off in 2014 for renovations for a park section. It opened back up as I was able to get much close to the Colgate Clock again. Seeing how close I really was, I laid on my back on the ground with my camera pointing up and decided to include both the Colgate Clock and the Goldman Sachs building (the tallest in New Jersey) in one shot. These are my two favorite landmarks in Jersey City and I was glad to get them both together in one shot.
Going back to the New York Mets game on August 2 against the Washington Nationals, I was so excited and thrilled by this game not only for the implications of it for first place in the NL East, but by the electricity of the crowd! It was the first time I saw Citi Field packed and the loudest I’ve heard Mets fans since the team played in Shea Stadium. I decided to capture the crowd with the widest shot possible to at least get the Pepsi-Cola Porch sign (Which I glad I did since Pepsi is no longer a sponsor of the Mets). I was so happy to get a shot of Citi Field with so many Mets fans. To see more about my visit to Citi Field and the photos I took there, check out my story about it here: Mayhem in the Citi
The New York Mets made it to the playoffs for the first time in nine years and with October baseball on the way, I thought it was appropriate to get my Mets hat along with a baseball and glove to set it on the ground along with some fallen leaves for the Autumn baseball atmosphere. After a dozen shots, I ended up with this beauty of a photo that captures the essence of a team playing in October.
By the Lawrenceville and Hamilton borderline in New Jersey, there is a long walking trail called the D & R Trail Canal. I only traveled a little bit of the trail, but did discovered this awesome graffiti design right underneath a bridge and near the water of the canal. The sun reflected wonderfully on the graffiti and water as I was amaze to see such art work between two suburban towns. To see more about this discovery, check out my story about it here: D & R Trail
When I first entered the Loveless Nature Preserve in Lawrenceville, this was the first thing I saw. It was like entering an enchanted forest. The greenery over taking everything and the small opening to the preserve had left me breathless. I had to go with a wide shot to capture the greenery and the rocky road entrance. To see more photos of the preserve, check out my story about it here: Loveless Nature Preserve
With the cold winter long gone, I was glad to go back out consistently for photography outings. This was also my first time taking Spring photos with my DSLR camera so I was excited to get amazing colors of blooming flowers. The trees in Lawrenceville had looked so beautiful. I took plenty of cherry blossom trees including this one with the gorgeous sky and some light green trees in the background. To see more of my Spring photos, check out my story about it here: Spring Time in Lawrenceville
In one of my visits to Citizens Bank Park, I went to a game in which the New York Mets came to visit in May! It was my first actual Mets road game and it was great to see other Mets fans invade an opposing team’s stadium. What was cooler than that was seeing the players of your favorite team up close. I went up to the Mets bullpen before the game and saw starting pitcher Matt Harvey with some warm up pitchers. He was throwing it catcher Kevin Plawecki. Standing just over the bullpen, I zoomed in close enough of the back of Plawecki and included the flowers over the bullpen on the right side. It was the perfect Spring and baseball photo in one shot! The sun setting and simmering on the bullpen was a nice added bonus.
Just by the D & R trail between the Lawrenceville and Hamilton border, I saw this magnificent creek flowing while I was standing by this small bridge. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and didn’t expect it. I went with a wide shot capturing the narrowness of the creek and the fully filled trees of the Summer. Every time someone has a wise crack about New Jersey and its ugliness, I just show them this to showcase just how beautiful the state is. To see more of my D & R Trail photos, check out my article about it here: D & R Trail
So, that’s it for my best photos of 2015. I look forward to my future photography outings in 2016 and for the new places I might just end up for new shots. I also have a new long range lens for my camera so expect some new and unique photos! I will also try to be as active as possible with this photoblog site to provide new stories of my photography adventures and outings. Until then, have a wonderful 2016!
Photography Journal of Angel Ortiz 