Well another year is coming to an end but that just means another one is beginning. Let this be a time of renewal and opportunity. For my last blog post of the year I would like to share the last sunrise of 2014.
I would also like to share a short video I shot today at Pawlings Farm. I recently shared a series of photos I made there and one of them was a "mystery" building about 50 yards from the farmhouse located on the property. Well I went back today and checked it out and the best I can figure is that it is/was an outhouse.
Sorry that the quality isn't the best but it was very bright and windy out. I also have photos that I'll be sharing in a full post on Pawlings Farm I am working on. I would like to wish everyone a Very happy New Year. Thank you so much for taking your time to read my little blog. I hope to have a lot of interesting photos to share with you in the upcoming year. Until next year...
In a post a while back I wrote about turning around. While photographing that is. My point was that sometimes when I am out shooting I will turn around and the perfect shot is right in front of me. Well that kind of happened to me today. I was out on our deck trying to get a shot of the moon. After twenty frames or so I felt I was finished and I was about to go inside when I turned around and saw this.
Okay this may not be the perfect shot but it still pretty nice. It would have been a lot better without that patio umbrella in the frame but I work with what I have. And besides it isn't my umbrella to move. This was about twenty minutes before sunset. The moon photos? Well they didn't turn out that great. That's just the way it goes. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come back soon.
Hi there everyone. Today I have one last photo from our Saturday evening trip to Pawlings Farm to share with you. This is another shot of the barn but this time in color.
I had to tone this down a little and lower the color saturation. The Sun was hitting it directly and blew out the scene a bit. And that's it for today. I hope you have enjoyed your visit. I am working to bring you some interesting new stuff in the days to come. Please be sure to stop back soon. Until next time...
Yesterday I shared a couple photos that I shot of the "Witness Tree" at Pawlings Farm in Valley Forge. Photographing the tree was my main goal but when I got to the park the sun was setting and there was a lot of opportunity to capture some nice images. So today I would like to share a few of them with you. I hope you enjoy these.
This is a trail that I often walk when I visit. In the background is an old farmhouse. In the Summer months there is a lot of foliage and you cannot see the house. Not from this location anyway.
I'm not sure what this building is or what it was used for. It is in a field directly across from the farmhouse. Probably about 50 yards away. Maybe a shed? I shot this in color but somehow that just didn't do it justice. To me it was meant to be black and white. Just like this next photo.
Actually this looked pretty good in color too and I may share that version at another time. Perhaps in the Facebook Group. This is the barn. A very large barn located near the farmhouse. It was constructed in 1826 with addition added in 1845. I would love to be able to see inside but I'm sure that won't be possible. Maybe someday it will be preserved but for now it's fenced off. And that will do it for today folks. I have more to share from my visit to Pawlings Farm so please stop back soon. Thanks for reading. If you enjoy my blog please consider sharing it with your friends. Also feel free to use the comments section. I'd love to hear from you.
What a beautiful day! We had very unseasonably warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine. Very unusual for December. I have a feeling we are going to pay for it in February. Kim and I were heading out for dinner this evening and on the way I stopped by to see this.
This is the "Witness Tree" that I have shared before that is located at the Pawlings Farm section of Valley Forge National Park. My previous images were in warmer months and the tree was covered with leaves. I have been wanting to get over there and shoot some photos while it was bare and today was the perfect day. I also got there when the sun was setting and the light was very friendly. Here is another shot I made today with a closer view of the branches that reach the ground.
This beauty is nearly 300 years old. While at the park I took advantage of the lighting and photographed some some of the buildings too. I will share them over the next couple of days. As always thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy my photos and my attempt at writing :) If you like what you see please come back for more and share it with your friends. All are welcome.
Hi everyone. Well it was back to work today and as usual I was up early. As I looked out off our back deck I was greeted with a beautiful clear sky and I would like to share it with you today.
This is a 30 second exposure shot at ISO 100 with a high aperture.It was also about an hour before sunrise.
Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to come back soon. Until next time...
Well folks we are just about there. It is Christmas Eve and I think I am just about ready. I had the day off from work but believe me I worked. I spent most of my day cleaning and getting things ready for company tomorrow. It's all worth it though and gives me a sense of accomplishment. But with all I had to do I still managed to shoot this to share with you today.
Kim did a little decorating around our fireplace. Notice the bayberry candles on the mantle. It is supposed to be good luck to burn a bayberry candle on Christmas and New Years Eve so I have two for tonight and two for next week. I can use all the good luck I can get :)
And now I must go. There is still stuff to do and time is running out. I will be back real soon. In case we don't meet until after tomorrow I would like to wish every one of you a very Merry Christmas.
This is it folks. Well almost anyway. There are just three more days until Christmas and I think we are getting close to being ready. Oh there is still stuff to do but at least a lot of progress has been made. We got our tree up and although it needs a little more decorating it is just about there. And on that note I would like to share a photo I made of one of our tree ornaments.
I needed a tripod for this shot. It is an 8 second exposure using ISO 100 and a wide aperture of F5.6. That is why there is a blue hue. It is from one of the Christmas lights.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you check back soon. Have a great day! Until next time...
Hello all. Today's photo is not the one I was going to share but as it usually goes this time of year I got side tracked. That's okay though. I got up just in time this morning to capture a really nice shot of the morning sun.
The colors were perfect. I did use a circular polarizing filter to enhance them and also to help sharpen the image. It also kept the sun from blowing out the scene. I am very happy with the result. What do you think? And that's all for now folks. I thank you for stopping by and hope you come back soon to see what else I have to share. Until next time...
Just five days until Christmas. Can you believe it? I have said it before but where does the time go? I am not ready. Close but not quite there yet. And in all of the hustle and bustle I really didn't get to go out and shoot today as I had wanted to. So for today's photo I will share one more from Longwood last weekend. But it is not really Christmas related. You know I can't visit there and not take some shots of the flowers. So here is one of their beautiful Orchids.
I hope to get caught up and have time to shoot some new stuff for you. I'll try my best! Until next time...
It's Friday again and that means another "retro" photo. Today we only go back a few years to the Summer of 2010. It was a rainy evening with a lot of thunder and lightning and for some reason I decided to grab my camera and go outside to try to capture some storm photos. Here is what I got.
Considering the fact that I was just "winging" it I think I did okay. I had never been able to photograph lightning before this and I haven't really tried since. Maybe I'll give it another shot this coming Spring or Summer.
Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon. Until next time...
Hi there everyone! For today's photo I am sharing one last picture from "A Longwood Christmas". And I couldn't think of anything better to sum up this weeks photos than this.
This is Longwood's big Christmas tree that is located near the main entrance on the inside of the gardens and I shot this with my camera phone. It is always a very popular attraction and is difficult to photograph without people in front of it so I feel fortunate for capturing this.
And that is it for today and for my Longwood Christmas pictures. At least here on the blog. I will probably be sharing more on the Facebook Group. You can check it out here. I want to thank you for reading and looking at my photos and invite you to come back to see what else I have to share. And if you like what you see please share it with your friends. I'll be back real soon with more.
Hello again! I am still going over photos from Longwood Gardens Christmas exhibit and have processed a few more that I would like to share with you today. Oh and there is a lot more where these came from :) In case you missed yesterday's post you can find it here. I hope you enjoy these.
And that's what I have for you today folks. Like I said I have a lot more to work on and will be presenting them to you here on the blog. I also may share some of the originals with you at the Facebook Group along with some behind the scenes information. For those who have read my blog before I thank you so much for coming back and to any first time readers I would like to say welcome. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.
Hi there. I have had some time to go over some of the photos from Longwood yesterday and am sharing some of them today. So this is going to be one of my "Pick Your Own" photo of the day posts. I also have a lot more to process and will be posting them over the next couple of days. Maybe it will help everyone get into the Christmas spirit? Anyhow without further delay here is what I have for now.
Conservatory
A Christmas Swan?
Self Portrait
Thanks so much form stopping by and please be sure to come back soon. I have a lot more Longwood Christmas photos to share.
Hi everyone. How's your day been? Mine was busy again. Actually it was a fast and busy weekend. To wrap it up Kim and I and some friends took a drive down to Longwood Gardens to see their Christmas display. As usual it was spectacular. Of course I shot many, many photos and will be doing a separate update. That however is going to take some time so for today I would like to share a couple with you that I have had a chance to go over and touch up a bit.
This was shot with my camera phone from the Italian Water Garden. It is just a sampling of the many lights that were on display.
And this is one of thousands of ornaments on the many trees located in the Conservatory. Actually there are a few ornaments in this shot but I was aiming for the spiral.
And before I wrap it up for the day I would also like to share a short one minute video of Longwood's model train display.
Thanks as always for reading and please stop back soon. I have a lot more to share including a full post on our most recent trip to Longwood. Until next time...
Hi all! This is a late one and it is also going to be a quick one. Kim and I have been on the run all day and all evening. In fact we literally just got home about 10 minutes ago at 11:30 PM. Yeah I know that's not real late but it is for me. Tonight Kim and I went to see a show in Ardmore at the aptly named Ardmore Music Hall. And today (tonight) I am sharing a couple of photos of this venue with you.
These are not touched up in any way and are right out of my camera phone. Maybe I will post revised versions on the Facebook group later. And like I said this is going to be a quick one folks. Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to come back soon. Until next time...
Hi and welcome to another "retro" Friday. And being Friday I'm sure most of us have had a long week so why don't we get right to it. Sound good? Let us go back 21 years to the Winter of 1993 and to one of my favorite places, Valley Forge. Today's photo was shot in 35mm. I am not sure what camera I used but it was probably my Canon T50.
(Stock Photo)
The T50 was a fairly basic camera and was also my first 35mm. It didn't give me a lot of freedom to change settings manually but I did learn a lot about composition using it. And even with a basic set of lenses the quality was superior to the average "point and shoot" of the day. And for the record I still have my T50. I may even take it out one day soon.
And here is today's photo.
I think this is just a bit too grainy. It could be the film I used but I think a more likely cause is the scan I made from the original print. I was able to smooth it out a little in Photoshop. Also coming from me this photo is a little unique. I don't shoot many sunsets at Valley Forge. The parking lots are usually closed at dusk so that of course makes it a little tough to park. I don't remember for sure but I think I may have just pulled the car over and shot this from the side of the road.
And speaking of side of the road photos here is a "stopped on the road" photo from my drive to work this morning. It was early and there was no traffic so I figured I'd give it a "shot" (pun intended).
Just a little snow dusting from a quick overnight snow shower. The roads were actually dry.
And I'm going to call it a day folks. I thank you for reading and ask that you come back soon. Until next time...
Hi there! For today's photo of the day I would like to show you two more photos from Valley Forge that I shot the other day. So I guess that would be "photos" of the day huh? When I was in the choosing stage I looked at both of these individually and thought to myself how different each one was. Sure it's the same subject but they were shot at different angles with different lighting. I also processed them days apart from each other. I find that my mood can affect the final product. Not that it's a bad thing. However after looking at them side by side I don't think they are really that different. Take a look and see what you think.
These are replica cannons. They are all over the park and serve as a reminder that though not a shot was fired in battle at Valley Forge, General Washington's troops stood in readiness as they were transformed from common citizens into the nations first professional army.
Hi again. Its December 10th and we are now into double digits. We are also only 15 days away from Christmas. Where did the year go? And how about this weather? If you are in the northeast you know what I'm talking about. Blustery wind and dipping temperatures prove that Old Man Winter is here to stay. At least for a little while.
Speaking of cold windy days, the other day I took a drive over the Valley Forge to shoot some photos and I sure underestimated how cold it was. I was out of my car for about five minutes when I realized I could barley feel my hands and my face was freezing from the wind. But that didn't stop me from sticking with it for a bit and today I would like to share this with you.
Not a leaf left. At least not on the trees. I must say though that I love to photograph trees in the Fall and Winter. I get to see the limbs and branches that are hidden all Summer. Some of them are really cool looking. Though I still prefer the warm Spring and Summer months. What is your favorite time of year? Do you like extremes like Winter and Summer or do you prefer the more moderate Spring and Fall months?
Thanks for reading. And if you would like more please check out the Facebook Group here. Of course you are always welcome to leave a message. I would love to hear from you.
Well as it turns out I never got to that second post yesterday. I just got caught up in other things. So today I have two photos for you. How's that sound? Both pictures are from my visit to Norview farm yesterday. Here is the first one I like to call Duck Duck Goose. Though I guess it should really be called Goose Duck Duck.
And this one takes a closer look at our goose friend. He has an interesting personality and is quite vocal I might add.
And as an added bonus I am including a short one minute video so you can hear what he has to say :)
As always the video is best enjoyed at full screen and in HD.
So that's all for now folks. Thanks for reading and please check back real soon.
Hi all! To go along with today's photo of the day I have a riddle for you. It's the age old question; Why did the chicken cross the road?
Well apparently for this chicken it was to get almost to the other side, go back to the middle and then continue to cross. I'm sure glad this isn't a busy road! I shot this today at Norview Farm in King of Prussia. It's not a working farm anymore but rather a petting farm. There is also a greenhouse on the premises and in the warmer months an ice cream shop. You can even purchase spring water there directly out of the well. Norview was once a dairy farm but has been closed for many years. The township purchased the property and operates it as a local park. It's nice to have some open space in our all too crowded retail community.
And I have to go for now. I am working on some photos and may have another post today. The key word here is may. I will however be back soon to share more of my photos with you. I hope you visit again soon. Until next time...
Today I would like to share a photo with you that is very special to me. It is also the first picture I am posting on this blog that I did not shoot myself. In fact it was made 26 years before I was born. Today I am sharing a photo of my Dad from 1944. This is from his graduation of basic training in the United States Navy.
He was one of many thousand young men who were called to serve our nation during World War 2. Dad was stationed in Manila in the Philippine Islands. An 18 year old 8,500 miles from home. Today we remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. And I am posting this photo to honor both my Dad and all of the young men who served in our nations military. And let us not forget the sacrifice that all of our men and women made. The one's who worked in factories that supplied the necessities of our troops and the all too many that lost son's, husbands and brothers. Also do not forget the rationing of food, fuel and goods. Today we take most things for granted but imagine going to a food store and not being able to buy a loaf of bread because you did not have a ration stamp. And steak or other meats? Those were a real luxury. I and most people today have never experienced any of this and I am grateful. I just wonder how many would make such sacrifices today. Before I go let me just say that I write about this today as a remembrance and a hope that we can learn from our past. Most nations that were once our enemies are now our friends and that is a great accomplishment. But one that is based upon the sacrifice of many. And to them I would like to say thank you. And thank you as always for visiting my blog. Please check back soon. Until next time...
Yesterday I was off from work and I took the opportunity to run some errands and get some stuff done that I would normally do on the weekend. While out and about I stopped by our local township building which also houses the town library. Also on the same grounds is a really nice man made lake and a great walking trail. Today I would like to share a panorama I shot of the lake.
I created this photo with five exposures that were merged in Photoshop. I had a tough time straightening it out and making the perspective correct but I think it came out okay. I rarely get over there to the township grounds to enjoy this wonderful space that is right in my backyard. But I think there will more trips there.
Thanks as always for stopping by and please come back soon.
Hi and thanks for stopping by. It's Friday again and that means I will be sharing another "retro" photo with you today. This time we travel back to August 1992 Washington DC. I shot this in 35mm but I am not sure what camera I used. It's not the sharpest photo and there is a little grain but I think the composition is pretty good.
This is the Lincoln Memorial as it was undergoing a little cosmetic work. Oh and there's a plane overhead. I'm pretty sure planes cannot fly there anymore. Especially at that altitude. But anyway this is a little glimpse into my early photographic work.
Thanks for checking out my blog. I really hope you come back soon because I some cool stuff coming up.
