Tower Hill - A visit to the lights - Dutch goes the Photo!

During the post-covid years, my wife and I have made sure that we visit the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill during one of the highlights of their season: Night Lights! During the holiday season, the creative staff at Tower Hill does an amazing job in creating a lights display that is a feast for the senses.

Night Lights are a Feast for the Senses!

Artful approaches to lighting trees, shrubbery and placing a number of strategic gnomes to keep an eye on proceedings, they are everywhere. Colors show up in many locations and angles of lighting of the trees create for opportunities of both discovering new structure and seeing into arboreal soul…

Some of our visits in past years have been on evenings that were bitterly cold, and being atop Tower Hill was a challenge during those times; this year, the weather was perfect with only a light breeze and pleasant November temperature. Walking along the rainbow path was particularly stimulating and refreshing…

A great big thank you to the staff at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill for creating yet another stunning display! I will share more photos in upcoming posts.

One additional note: this time around I took all the photos with my new iPhone 16 Pro Max. I set the camera to Raw Max mode and use the Night setting; this produces some spectacularly large files in DNG format, which are well worth the storage space, as I’m impressed with the quality produced. My edits were minimal with a little bit of sharpening and contrast/exposure adjustment. More experiments will follow!

Author: jansenphoto

A Fresh Perspective Photography is more than just a vehicle for capturing the world around me; it provides me with a palette and a set of brushes, with which I paint not only what I see, but also look to express the emotions that are evoked by the scene in front of me in that moment. Growing up in the Netherlands exposed me to a wide cross-section of visual arts that laid the foundation of my photographic view of all that surrounds me. Early influences were the Dutch Masters of the 17th century, to whom I was introduced by my grandfather during museum explorations; favorites among them are the scenes of quotidian life depicted by Jan Steen and Frans Hals and the vivid landscapes of Jacob van Ruisdael. My classical high school education was supplemented by the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum, where I spent many a lunch hour exploring its great collection. Here I was introduced to surrealism with a particular love for the approach taken by Salvador Dali; Dali also rekindled my appreciation for the work of Hieronymus Bosch, who often showed the folly of us mortals. Universal Connections My approach to any photographic subject is to look for understanding first; in this I look to establish either a connection between the viewer and the subject or capture the connection of the subject with its surroundings. The captured image then aims to portray this connection from a perspective that is part of my personal interpretation. This interpretation is often a form of externalized introspection, which may alternately display the connection of isolated beings and items with their environment or highlight the whimsy of the profound world, in which we find ourselves. The universe is full of connections, many of which are waiting to be discovered; part of my journey as a photographer is to document these connections. Any assignment, be it an event, a product shoot or a portrait session is always approached through communication with the client; this is where the first connection is established. Ideas are exchanged and a collaborative plan of action forms, ultimately resulting in a set of images that aim to exceed the expectations of each client. And, lest we forget, it is important to have fun while practicing the serious business of photography! View all posts by jansenphoto