City Gardens: Trenton's Lost Punk Rock Mecca

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The building seemed to sag against the Trenton sky, its walls leaning in a way that looked both tired and dangerous. I was driving, searching for a lunch spot after a morning spent exploring the city's industrial skeletons, when I saw it. A questionable choice, maybe, but curiosity is a powerful guide. I pulled over. Getting inside was one of the sketchiest entrances I’ve ever attempted. But once my feet were on the dusty floor, the danger faded. An enormous space stretched before me. It was sparse, cleaned out. My footsteps echoed where a stage once stood, a fact I’d later confirm in a NNKH YouTube video about the building’s past life as an underground punk club. The video showed a vibrant scene, an electric place. But the ghosts of that life were mostly gone. The long, rounded bar, where thousands of hands must have slapped down crumpled bills, had vanished. The dust-coated wine and shot glasses that once lined its shelves were gone, too. The club’s glittering crown jewel, a l...

A Supermoon for a Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm Tele










Capturing the ethereal beauty of the night sky, I recently took my new Takumar 135mm 1:3.5 lens for a test under the stars, setting my camera to ISO 200, a shutter speed of 1/200s, and manual mode to best capture the lunar landscape. With the aperture set between f/16 and f/22, the intricate grey details of the moon's surface were vividly showcased against the backdrop of a perfectly clear night sky. As I jot down these thoughts, the clock nudges closer to 3AM EST, specifically 2:37AM EST, underscoring the serene quiet of the early morning.

The intention was to complement this lunar exploration with some low-light video footage, utilizing the Yashica 1.4 lens. However, the whims of nature intervened, as clouds veiled the celestial spectacle, obscuring the view and dashing my plans. Such is the unpredictable thrill of astrophotography, yet the promise of future supermoons keeps the spirit of anticipation alive.

This nocturnal venture not only offered a glimpse into the moon's mesmerizing details but also served as a testament to the Asahi Takumars' exceptional optical quality. These lenses continue to be instrumental in capturing the natural world's subtleties, whether in the dead of night or the light of day.

As I conclude this post, the ambiguity of the hour prompts a playful pondering: Is it time to bid you goodnight, or rather, good morning? Regardless, the adventure into the night yields to the necessity of sleep. Until the next celestial event beckons, I bid you a restful pause, be it under the cloak of night or the first light of dawn.





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