Police officers from throughout central New Jersey gather at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi for the Diocese of Metuchen’s Blue Mass.  The annual Mass pays tribute to active and retired officers as well as those killed in the line of duty.

Law enforcement officers from throughout the Diocese of Metuchen gathered Wednesday, for the ninth annual Blue Mass. Bishop Paul Gregory Bootkoski presided over the Mass which was held, this year, at St. Stephen Church in Perth Amboy.

I wandered outside the church while the annual Blue Mass was going on inside. In front of the church, I found a Perth Amboy police department honor guard practicing perfection. As the officers repeatedly went through the motions, I had several opportunities to finesse this shot. They practiced their cadence half a dozen times and I shot about 85 images, experimenting with different exposures and compositions.