Liberty State Park a couple of classic Pentax film cameras and some Ilford and Fomapan film

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon this past June my better half ( Brenda ) and I decided to take a ride up the New Jersey Turnpike to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. I have not been there since sometime in the mid 90's and because I'm always searching for a destination to take photos, I felt I was long overdue for a return visit. Upon arriving at the state park we proceeded to the old Central Railroad train / ferry terminal where we purchased tickets and boarded the Miss New Jersey to embark on our afternoon ferry excursion to Liberty Island, Ellis Island and then back to Liberty State Park.

Arriving at the old Central Railroad terminal to purchase tickets for the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands (Pentax K1000 w/50mm f/1.7 - Fomapan 100 @ 50)

View of the New York City Skyline while boarding the Miss New Jersey from Liberty State Park in Jersey City - NJ  (Pentax K1000 w/ 35mm f/2.0 - Fomapan 100 @ 50 ISO)

Since taking photographs was my main objective and it was a nice bright day I loaded up my Pentax K1000 initially with some Fomapan 100 followed by 200, and my Pentax MX with HP5. On a bright contrasty day, such as this day was, I rated the ISO of my Fomapan 100 at 50 and the 200 at 100, for lford HP5 I rated it at 200 instead of 400. Using Rollei Super Grain developer dilution 1:12 to process those films, I pulled back the recommended developing time at 68 degrees by 25% to compensate for the overexposure on those rolls of film. Doing so gives me a slightly flatter contrast negative but with a bit more latitude between the shadows and the highlights. I can then increase the image contrast to taste while editing in Photoshop. The lenses used for this outing were the 50mm f/1.7, the 35mm f/2.0 and a few shots at the end of the trip with the 28mm f/2.8.

Nothing like a front row view on the ride from Liberty State Park to Liberty Island (Pentax K1000 w/ 35mm f/2.0 - Fomapan 100 @ 50)

The NYC skyline views are awesome from the ferry while hopping from Island to Island as well as returning back to the New Jersey mainland terminal. (Pentax K1000 w/ 35mm f/2.0 - Fomapan 200 @ 100)

Upon departing the terminal in Jersey City our first stop would be Liberty Island. The view of the New York City skyline is simply amazing whether the ferry you're on is coming or going. It's also so amazing to see so many people from all over taking selfies or photos of each other with the city skyline or the Statue of Liberty as the backdrop. With ferry service coming from both New Jersey and New York countless numbers of people come from all corners of the world to visit this iconic monument.

Some folks on the top deck of the Miss New Jersey wanting a snap or two with the Statue of Liberty in the background. (Pentax K1000 w/35mm f/2.0 - Fomapan 200 @ 100)

Our first stop would be be Liberty Island where I would take more than just one or two photos of Lady Liberty. (Pentax K1000 w/35mm f/2.0 - Fomapan 200 @ 100)

Since this was a spur of the moment trip and we got a late start, we had a bit of a tight schedule to also visit Ellis Island and not miss the last ferry back to Jersey City , therefore our visit to Liberty Island was a bit shorter than we would have liked. I would've loved to have spent more time on liberty Island as well as obtained tickets ahead of time to go up to the pedestal observation deck. Well next time we'll be better prepared, even so I was still able to get a few photos that I would consider keepers.

Upon departing Liberty Island our next destination would be Ellis Island. Here is our boat docking right in front of the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. (Pentax MX w/35mm f/2.0 - Ilford HP5 @ 200)

The main Hall of the Immigration Museum. It's astounding just how many people walked thru this hallway searching for a new way of life. You can almost feel it. The exhibits thru out this building are truly amazing. (Pentax MX w/35mm f/2.0 - Ilford HP5 @ 200)

Ellis Island and the Immigration Museum leave a lasting impression. This building so rich in it's history is just an incredible place to visit. The thought of more than 12 million people passing thru the hallway of this building from 1892 to 1954 in search of a new way of live is just amazing. I'm a baby boomer and I'm sure there are so many of our generations parents parents and possibly there's that came thru Ellis Island. There's a circular monument right outside the back of this building with plaque after plaque containing the names of the people who passed thru Ellis Island to enter this country. The exhibits throughout the museum were just plain incredible and enlightening. As a photographer I was really amazed at the clarity and detail of the photos on display - especially the ones taken as far back as the 1890's into the early 1900's when photography was still in it's early development.

Left side of this photo shows a section of the huge circular wall containing plaque after plaque - on both sides - with the names of those who passed thru Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954 to enter this country. (Pentax MX w/ 35mm f/2.0 - Ilford HP5 @ 200)

Leaving Ellis Island heading back to Jersey City (Pentax MX w/ 35mm f/2.0 - Ilford HP5 @ 200)

For the photographer, Liberty Island State Park offers an abundance of photographic opportunities. The mainland state park, the two islands and the boat rides to and from each destination, all make for an enjoyable and interesting New Jersey outing. People, places and things all wrapped up in to a nice neat package of photographic possibilities. I now see myself coming back again much sooner than my previous outing - shooting film again might have something to do with that. I love shooting black and white photos on film - it renewed my photographic spirit in a way that I can't put in to words - so I won't - I'll just create a photograph or two and plan to come back here again - sooner than latter.

To View more photos from Liberty State Park click here or the photo below. Thanks for viewing (-:

The Ellis Island Museum of Immigration. (Pentax MX w/28mm f/2.8 - Ilford HP5 @ 200)