August 31, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Yesterday was a bit overcast at the beach in Wildwood Crest but at least it wasn't raining. Kim and I took advantage of this and spent most of the morning enjoying an oceanfront view from our beach chairs.

Of course you can't go to the shore and not see a seagull or two. So I thought I'd share one with you.

Click For Full Size Image

Also, here is a short 16 second video of our view. Take a look.

 

I will be doing a full post of our trip soon. I have a LOT of photos to share. Please check back soon.

Until next time...

August 30, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Here comes the sun.  I know I shared a sunrise photo with you just a couple of days ago but I have a nicer one for you today. I think so at least. 

Kim and I are on a short trip to Wildwood Crest in New Jersey. As always I had to get up early at least one day to greet the sun. What's really nice this time is that we are staying at a motel on the beach so I didn't have to go far. 

Here is what I got today. 

Please be sure to click on the picture to see it full size. Another example of "The Golden Hour".

Thanks for stopping by and as always...

Until next time...

August 29, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

It's called the "Golden Hour". The hour or so after sunrise and before sunset. This is the very best time for nature and landscape photographers. The sweet spot if you will. It is during this time that the sun's light is at it's friendliest. Today's Photo Of The Day is a good example.

I shot this on the beach in Wildwood Crest this evening about 40 minutes to sunset. Note the golden tone in the sand. If this were taken at noon it would have been washed out and dull.

Oh and the seagull tracks are cool too!

Until next time...

August 28, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

There seems to be a common theme with most of my photos so far. Nature. Mostly flowers. Hey, it's that time of year. Continuing with that theme I present to you today a shot of another one of our vinca. This time a purple one.

We usually only find red and white but this year we also found purple. I really like them and as I have said before these are very hardy and can handle a lot of heat and sunlight. In fact they thrive on it. 

As a bonus today I would also like to share something else with you. A short video I shot while photographing in Valley Forge the other day. 

 

I am doing this so you can experience, even for a short time, the peaceful and serene surroundings that I enjoyed that morning. If you listen carefully you can hear the bells at Washington Memorial Chapel on the other side of the field.

Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again soon because I have some cool stuff to share.

Until next time...

August 27, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Hi there! How is everyone? I hope the day finds you well!

Today I would like to share my sunrise with you. I just happened to be up and ready to shoot in time today to catch it. This is a view from my back yard off of our deck. It may not be as pretty as a shot done in Valley Forge or some other picturesque landscape but it is still a reminder of the beginning of another day. Something we should all be thankful for.

Take a look.

Who knows. Maybe as the days get shorter and the sun rises later I will do more of these. Maybe.

For those who have been here before I thank you for your continued support. If you are new here, welcome!

until next time...

August 26, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Welcome to day 8 of my "Photo Of The Day" blog posts. I have been having a lot of fun and I hope you are enjoying my little project. Please be sure to check in every day because there is a lot more to come.

Today I would like to share another photo from Valley Forge. This time it is a black and white panorama composed of three of the shots I made while photographing my favorite tree. Please have a look.

You can click on the image to see a larger version.

Most of my landscape work is of course in color. I must say though that I quite enjoy working in black and white too. To me there is something less intrusive about it. I can enjoy the subject without the "reality" of color. Does that make sense?

On a completely different note I would like you let you know that I am slowly tweaking the layout of my blog. One thing I have added in the sidebar is a list of websites that I enjoy and I think you may too. They are mostly photography related. If you enjoy any of them be sure to check back because I will be adding a lot more. Also if you have any ideas that you think I may like feel free to let me know. You can share them in the comments section or in the soon to come "contact me" section.

Well that's about all for today. I know I say it a lot but I really do appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day to visit me.

Until next time...

August 25, 2014 - Photo of The Day

Sunday morning I took a drive over to Valley Forge National Park and spent an hour and a half photographing one tree. Yep, one tree. 

I always refer to this as "My Favorite Tree" and I hope you see why.

Being that it is now summertime and there are no leaves on this tree I guess it is "dead". But just look at the branches. Such perfect curves. A great place for birds to perch. To me it brings "life" to the park.

I must say that I do worry that it will be taken down one day. I hope not though. It poses no danger where it is. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you come back soon!

Until next time...

August 24, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

King of Prussia, actually incorporated as Upper Merion Township (there is no town of King of Prussia) is famous nationwide as a retail shopping destination. What many do not know is that it started out over 300 years ago as a farming community. At it's beginnings it was known as Reeseville.

I am not going to get into how it became known as King of Prussia in this post but I will however cover that at a later time.

When I was younger there used to be a fully operating dairy farm known as Nor-View Farms. I remember going there with my parents to get fresh milk. Unfortunately Nor-View suffered that same fate as many farms throughout our country and ceased operations. Another victim to "progress". However, and this is a rare move in these parts, Upper Merion Township purchased the farm land and has kept it open to the public as a park. There is even a small petting farm and an ice cream shop that operates in the warmer months. There is also a plant nursery and an artesian spring water vending area that you bring your own bottles and fill up yourself.

Through all of the changes that have taken place though one thing has remained the same. Today I share this with you as my Photo of the day.

The big chicken at the farm entrance.

For as long as I can remember the chicken has stood out front to greet visitors. It has changed over the years, a victim of age and vandalism but there it still stands. A small symbol of what Upper Merion used to be. A quiet and gentle farming community.

You may have noticed that I have included a few links in my post today. I actually do this a lot. I encourage you to check some of them out, if you are so inclined. The web is full of a lot of information that I could never fully cover myself.

As always, thank you so much for visiting. If you like what you see I ask that you share it with others and always feel free to use the comments section  at the bottom.

Until next time...

August 23, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Hey there! I am posting this kind of late but I have had a busy day.

Kim and I drove to Phoenixville this evening for dinner at a restaurant named P J Ryan's Pub. To get there we had to drive through Valley Forge Park. Since it has been a rainy and pretty much gloomy day there was a lot of fog rolling over the hills and fields of the park and I thought it would make for a good photo to share with you. So here you go.

Like I said, it was a gloomy day and it reflects in this picture. Hopefully tomorrow will be nicer.

That's all for now. Please check back again and thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

August 22, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

For today's Photo Of The Day I present what was supposed to be yesterday's photo. A pear in a pear tree! Where else would it be? While not as cute as yesterday's photo it is quite delicious. Well, I don't know about this one but the other ones that I ate were.

This is in our back yard. I planted it about six or seven years ago (maybe a bit longer) and it has sure taken off. I must get two or three hundred pears a year. So many that if I don't pick them the tree leans and the branches hit the ground. That's a lot of pears!

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Until next time...

August 21, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

So, as usual, I'm out back this morning filling our bird feeder and letting our dog Schnitzel do his thing. I also had my camera and was preparing to shoot today's photo. I did get the shot I wanted but as I was getting ready to go in Schnitzel was in the perfect spot for me to grab a couple pics of him. This is very uncommon. He rarely "poses" for me. So instead of the shot I was going to share I am sharing this one instead.

Maybe I'll share the original photo tomorrow. Unless of course something wonderfully unexpected like this occurs again:)

On another note, if you have been trying to comment on any of my posts and not been able to I have fixed the problem (I think). Give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

August 20, 2014 - Photo Of The Day

Here is today's Photo Of The Day.

This is one of the vinca on our deck. We have always had good luck with vincas because they are a very hardy breed and absolutely love sun and heat. In fact it is not always easy to buy them where we live. The township often buys them up because they are so hardy. At least that is what our local Home Depot told us.

One note about today's photo. For some reason it does not display here on Blogger the way it should. Here is a link that shows how it should work. Weird huh?

I hope you enjoy it anyway. Check back again tomorrow!

Until next time...

Let's Try Something New

Starting today I am going to try something new. It may not be completely original but it is something I have been wanting to do for some time now. 

I am going to post a "Photo Of The Day". It could be anything from a bird to a flower (like today), the Moon, the sunrise. It could simply be a cell phone photo of something I find interesting or humorous. Anything. How's that sound? 

My reasoning behind this is simple. It is often said that the best way to hone one's skills in photography is to shoot every day. I firmly believe in this. An example of this is a project I did a couple of years ago where I photographed the sunrise every day for a year. A leap year at that! For 366 days in a row I got up and went out at sunrise to shoot the Sun. Was it easy? No! Was it rewarding? Absolutely! When I look at the first photo taken on January 1 and compare it to the last taken on December 31 I can see a huge improvement. I will share my gallery of these shots in a future post.

So for my first "Photo Of The Day" I present this.

A simple wildflower that sprung up in our back yard. Nothing special but I have seen a group of these every morning when I go out to fill our bird feeder. I don't even know how they got there.

So that's it for today. Please check back tomorrow. Also if you enjoy reading my posts and viewing my photos please share this blog with others that you think may enjoy them as well. I would really appreciate it:)

Until next time...

A Summer Morning At Jenkins Arboretum

Hey there! It's been a few weeks or so since my last post so let's get right into it. Sound good? Okay then let's go! 

The weather has been cool here for a few days. Very unusual for August. I'm not complaining but I sure hope this isn't a sign of another cold Winter.

Anyhow, taking advantage of the cooler air and low humidity I got up and took a drive over to Jenkin's Arboretum. It made for a nice comfortable walk around the grounds. And to make things even better I was the only one there. Not another person in sight. Nice! This all added up to a great opportunity to photograph. Today I would like to share some of my work with you.

For today's trip I tried to concentrate on the small stuff. Instead of shooting everything from landscape to flowers to birds I just walked through the trails looking at the things I may have passed by any other day. I Don't know how well that went but here are the results. I hope you enjoy some of these.

Jenkin's Arboretum is one of my favorite local places to relax and photograph. It's beautiful and very peaceful. It's also free! They do however have optional memberships and I plan on joining to do my part in supporting such a wonderful place. If you are in the area I highly recommend you check it out. You won't be sorry. Click here for the website.

And since you are checking out other websites please take a look at my Flickr page and my 500px page. Here you will see the photos you see here plus many more. I hope you enjoy them.

Until next time...