That’s right!  They came through and played at Miller Chapel here at Princeton Seminary.  We decided to take Espen and see how long he would last, and we made around an hour or so.  And, wouldn’t you know it but Sufjan Stevens was playing with them (orange shirt, on the banjo).  It was great seeing the chapel setup like it was, with the projections on the three floating balloons and other various visual aids.  Unfortunately EP has an earlier bedtime than what the show was scheduled to run ’till, so we had to hit the road early.  Here are the shots I came away with.  Please note that it was so dark I was shooting at ISO 3200 (on the 5D Mark II), at either 2.8 or 1.2 (although the first shot below was actually ISO 100, f11, with around 10 seconds of shutter time, due to a friend having a tripod I was able to borrow before the show began – thanks Ben!).

I’ve been involved in many different photographic endeavors recently, ranging (as stated above) across the board.  Here’s a quick preview of a couple things I’ve been seeing through my camera.

I had the great opportunity to work with one of Cherice’s professors, Dr. Charlesworth, for whom I photographed a couple of his ancient pieces.  The below photo is of an early Roman piece of glass with serpentine decorations, found in Jerusalem.  There were other amazing antiquities as well, but this one was particularly beautiful with the glass polished.  I’m extremely grateful to Charlesworth for the opportunity to see and photograph such amazing antiquities.

The other thing I had a lot of fun participating in was our good friends’ daughter’s birthday party…

Above is the birthday girl, herself.  Happy birthday, Abigail!

There’s a really good explanation for the long delay on any posts, and that is due to an expected visit from my folks.  They hadn’t been out to Princeton before, so we had a great time showing them not only around the local area, but up in NY and down in Philly, as well as a few other spots in between.  One of the first and most prominent events of the visit was reading books, as pictured below.  Following that was a great week of relaxation and touring the area, which we all agreed was very well balanced.

We went for the historic Philly trip, which was the first time I was able to actually go into Independence Hall.  I like how the above photo really captures the recent changes to the Liberty Bell, in that instead of a piece of metal to ring the bell there are now legs.  Ha!  When we walked outside I saw my first batch of daffodils, so I of course had to snatch a shot.

We then went in reverse order and went to the visitor center, where EP found this big duck and proceeded to knock off the left arm.

One of the highlights was eating in Philly, which consisted of some Mac & Cheese, but more importantly Philly Cheese Steaks!  Mmmm….

We visited one of the older churches, which turned out to be the one that all the older founding fathers and mothers went to.  People like George Washington, etc.

Following this, we took a trip over to the Arch Street meeting house, pictured below.  The pews are over 300 years old, which made the wood really nice and soft to sit on…well, maybe not quite, but it’s cool to think about people gathered and being led to things like anti-slavery, the suffrage movement, etc., in this place.

Above you can see one of the old banks.

We later walked through the park next to Independence Hall, which proved a great place to put ones child to sleep in a stroller when their afternoon nap is long overdue.

To back track a bit, below begins our first full day in which we went to Princeton Friends Meeting.  Somewhere on the side of the building is a mark where a cannonball from the Civil War hit the building.

We then took the usual Princeton University tour, and it didn’t let us down.

There will be more images coming, but I wanted to give an update post to say I’m still around.

ISO 50, f/1.4, 1/400, 24mm

Yep, we had some snow roll in on Sunday night and I got out for a few shots today before it completely melted for the season.  Here’s a few shots from around the Princeton Theological Seminary campus.

And, on another note.  As I eluded to in an a comment on a previous post, we’ve decided to move back to Oregon for a while after much deliberation.  So, get ready for us back in the NW, we’re planning to return for a while!

That’s right, friends.  Espen’s own blog has arrived at a url near you!  You can either reach it through the above Links page, or click here.  I’ll also continue to post photos from time to time here, but feel free to add that blog to your rss or whatever other blog reader you use to subscribe.  Here’s a fun shot to help round this post out a bit…

1. I was finally contacted by El Al airlines (I can’t say I recommend them completely, but they are apparently the best airline to ride if you want the Tel Aviv security experience to be easier than any other flight – they are more thorough at the airport you depart from, therefore making the chance of being kicked out of Israel less likely when you arrive on their doorstep) after I found out they had lost the two camera batteries taken from me at the bag check in Tel Aviv (because they were apparently a security threat).  I’ll tell the full story later, but for now I am grateful that they found the box with the batteries and are ready to get them out of their lost and found (41 days after they disappeared!!!).

2. I found another piece of gear (a cf card) that I had thought was lost back in Oregon.  It wouldn’t have been such a big deal had it not been so expensive for such a little contraption.

3. Being back at home in New Jersey.  It’s funny to say it, but I’m glad to be back in our own space where I can find a routine after 2 months or so of crazy schedule for a daily meal.  Adventure can taste really nice, but it’s best when followed up with some good processing and space.

4. A great flight in which Espen actually slept for a bit.

5. Family and friends.  Altough it’s good to be back in Jersey, I miss and appreciate the extended (2 weeks more) time we had to connect with folks.

That said, we’re doing well, and I’m looking forward to more blogging now that I’m back at my own computer!!! Nothing says home like your own user defined presets for programs like Adobe Lightroom 2 and Photoshop.