Fall Photography Hike

N

NJChileHead

Explorer
Dec 22, 2011
832
630
Hi Folks,

We're breaking out the camera this weekend and going on a short fall photography hike. I knew that the folks on here would be able to answer this one-we're looking for oak dominated photos for lots of contrast against the pitch pine, or gum/maple dominated swamps. We were looking at Bass River, Double Trouble, Ballanger Creek, Ong's Hat almost to Deep Hollow (we'll have kids with us, so this may be too long), or Allaire. We've done some research but have not been to these parks or haven't been in years-which would you all suggest for this hike?

Belleplain was on the list too, but we're saving it for when it's just my wife and I. Too long for the kiddies.

If anyone has other suggestions for this endeavor, we'd love to hear them.

I'll follow up with pics.
 
Boyd

Boyd

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Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Dunno about the others, but I just drove through Belleplain today and the fall color there is exceptional. Quite a bit more colorful than what I'm seeing in Atlantic County at the moment, I was was surprised. It is also really dry there. Some large seasonal ponds and swamps looked dry as a bone. Probably a good opportunity to get into some areas that are usually flooded.
 
N

NJChileHead

Explorer
Dec 22, 2011
832
630
Thanks Boyd. We were ready to throw Turkey Swamp into the hat and pick it as a winner. I'll have to run Belleplain by my wife again. Mostly white oak/pine forest there, right?
 
Boyd

Boyd

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Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
It is largely an oak-pine forest, with some very pretty cedar swamps as well. To explore land cover and land use, see my free "Landscape of New Jersey", it covers the entire state. First download/install Garmin Basecamp (which is also free): http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435

Then download/install the map: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/441/

If you have a Garmin GPS you can install the map on it. If not, you can still use it on your computer. When you "mouse over" the map, you can see what's there.

landscape.jpg
 
ecampbell

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,889
1,029
A very interesting map Boyd. Is there a description of what the colors and textures mean?
 
Boyd

Boyd

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Jul 31, 2004
9,826
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Thanks. I made that map awhile ago and never really documented it properly. See the screenshot from the style editor below, it includes all the textures that are used in the map.

The source is a very interesting NJDEP dataset. They do very detailed analysis of the aerial photos, trace out areas and assign codes to them. It is very high resolution data - about 12k, which is 4X more detail than standard 24k topo maps: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/lulc07cshp.html

I had to simplify/aggregate things to make a Garmin map, but the source data has a lot more detail. Someday I would like to do other things with it. You can see the full list of codes used here: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/digidownload/metadata/lulc02/codelist2002.html


key.png



I posted a bunch of "on the road" screenshots from this map here: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/a-virtual-drive-through-the-pines.6852/

pines05.jpg
 
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