I happened to drive by this nice Mail Pouch barn a week or so ago and the fall foliage was at it’s peak so I knew with all the windy days we have had, I better get on trying to capture it while it lasted. This is actually an evening shot and with a little blast from my off camera flash, the leaves revealed their lovely fall hues. I do have a few more from here on sunny days that I hope to share soon as well.
Title says it all, awesome fall foliage, Beautiful Church and a pretty sunset to round it out and everything just came together!
A gorgeous Ginkgo tree dropped most of its leaves this particular day so I decided to try a shot incorporating my luminary Candles glowing among the golden leaves.
The other night I elaborated on my interaction with the gentleman who overreacted to me ringing his doorbell, and tonight we bring it full circle with yet another installment of “The Photography Chronicles”. I was headed to work the very next day after the Church debacle when I spotted this pretty Ginkgo tree beside this home that reminded me of homes in New England. I skipped lunch this day and hopped in my truck for a quick attempt to get something before storms took everything down. As you may have already guessed, yes I once again walked up to the door and rang the bell! As I approached the door I could hear several people talking just inside but as soon as I pushed the doorbell, nothing but crickets? So I thought well I at least tried and despite not being able to walk on their driveway, I was still shooting this pretty scene from the street! I shot one or two angles and glancing down the street I notice a cop car coming up the road? I think routine patrol most certainly and as he passes I wave and he continues on, until he gets to the end of the street and turns around! He pulls up and asks what I am doing, I explain shooting fall foliage and he says someone with a security camera called in. As we were talking I looked at the name on his badge and a little light bulb went off from the Church photo fiasco the night prior. I said were you on duty last night, and no kidding, he says are you Donald Reese? I said yes you called my house last night and now you show up again? We both found it slightly amusing that two homes with cameras felt the need to bother police for something so innocent but I understand stuff does go on that needs checked out. All I can say is thank goodness the leaves are down so I wont be tempted to shoot more fall foliage.
I try to be respectful when situations like this arise and I know police work is a balancing act, but I have seen a photographer friend of mine on a couple occasions tell a cop its basically none of his business what he is photographing in a public area. One time we were on a back road snapping sheep/lambs in a small shelter just beside the road and a cop pulls up and asks what we were doing. My buddy gave a response that I don’t know word for word but it was basically to the affect that its none of his business what we are doing taking photos of sheep, to which he shrugged his shoulders and drove off.
Folks say they enjoy reading about my photography escapades so here is one that happened to me recently involving this scene that I took notice of earlier in the day. First thing is the end of this story includes the most unbelievable bit of timing I have ever had! This particular day I noticed this gorgeous tree by the church and knew I needed to be elevated because I was looking uphill quite a bit. I park, walk up to a house across the street that has a yard that would fit the bill. I rang the bell to ask if they would allow me to stand in their yard and no response from inside, which I assumed meant everyone is at work? No Problem, the work day ends and I head out to shoot this spot and of course I stop to inquire at the house because all the lights are now on.
I rang the doorbell once and because the TV seemed loud I gently knocked on the wooden door as well? No response whatsoever, so I move to plan b which is to put my tall tripod on my truck roof and get my elevation that way. I am busy across the street lighting things when I see a guy who appears to be writing down my license plate? After he does that he starts heading my way and the first words out of his mouth are “why have you been pounding on my door all day”? I said if you call ringing your doorbell twice, pounding, we might have a difference of opinion. I explained wanting to get permission to stand in the yard, and my tripod was on my roof in plain sight for him to see and he says “well I called the cops twice already tonight” I said “for what” and he goes off about his daughter was home and she was terrified!
I calmly explained all I wanted was permission and he cooled off and said I could now stand in his yard if I wanted. Like that was an option after all the overblown action he took. So I get home later that night and my daughter asks, were you taking pictures on some guys porch? She said the cops called to talk to me? So the next day comes, I check Facebook and notice there are several people contacting me on messenger? They say I need to check this Facebook page that has security cameras from around town because this guy posted me ringing his bell to see if anyone knows this guy that he thinks is breaking into his house?
Okay now I am ready to take some sort of action because this idiot is making claims that could affect my reputation. Recapping, I rang his doorbell twice, knocked and was holding my camera the second time I stopped, all of which he reviewed on his porch camera and he still does not have the common sense to process what he sees? Lucky for him he had the brains to take the video down in a timely fashion. It seems people are getting more ridiculous every day and logical thinking is non-existent!
If by chance you stayed along this far, here is the unbelievable timing part of this story. There was one lone white car parked to the right uphill from the one lamp post, and I think I was there almost an hour and a half shooting and waiting for the cars owner to hopefully show up and get it out of the shot. Couple neighbors walked by and said it did not look familiar to them so I waited another 10 minutes till I had an appointment. Are you ready for it? I walk across the street to my truck, not a soul in sight, I reach up to grab the tripod legs to get the camera down off the roof and within 5 seconds of me moving that tripod, I hear the car horn beep and the doors unlock ? It was a mailman who just got off of work and within 30 seconds that car was just a bad dream to me. All I could do was laugh how utterly unbelievable this unfolded. Oh and yes I did end up Photoshopping that car out of the shot!
I got lucky and found this local covered bridge surrounded by fall foliage. It had just the right amount of fall color, from the fallen leaves on the wet road to the trees both near and far.
This old truck serves as the perfect backdrop at this farm stand, which was full of colorful Mums, Pumpkins and even paintings on slate that were done by the owner of the stand.
I just caught this foliage before wind and rain literally stripped the tree bare the following day. Years ago I was photographing in here at night and a couple ghost stories were shared, then I went up to the second or third floor, only to walk by a room, glance in and see a figure of a woman in an old dress, which about stopped my heart. Turns out they had a dressed mannequin up there. It would have been nice to mention her! This building houses the museum for the local Historical Society.
I photographed this local scene tonight and until I was finished, I was drenched. A constant downpour all day made things a little difficult and I was too busy trying to light this, to worry about an umbrella! Camera had an umbrella, but not the guy in charge. This is downtown and you would not believe how frequently cars were occupying the space between the tree and lamp post. It was an exercise in frustration because I would shoot a few shots, then a car would park smack dab in the middle for a few minutes, then leave and quickly be replaced by yet another car. Would be nice if the inside were lit up but you cant have it all.
Shot this backlit scene on my way to do another fall shot tonight. I like that one tree is completely bare and the other has a ways to go.
First let me say I hate weddings and have been whining about my weekend being messed up for a few days now. Today was the Wedding which was held at this wonderful property and on a whim I took my camera along. after the wedding ceremony, we were told it would be two hours till we ate. I decided to grab my gear and roam the property and this lovely scene is what I settled on
I shot this on my way to work this morning and the fog was very thick.
This is Zig’s bakery in Lititz, Pa and the area I found myself as the skies started lighting up. I have never been here before so I ran around aimlessly trying to find an angle and the only small puddle in the lot was what I settled on. To complicate matters my tripod only goes as low as a foot or so, so I was forced to set my camera on the ground and put a water bottle and towel under the lens to get the angle right. The lower photo shows the sky after it had peaked but was still very beautiful. We have had several amazing sunsets in the last week, and this was the only one I had my camera along to capture.
I enjoy taking photos in the quaint town of Lititz, PA and happened to be shooting another scene across the street when I noticed folks going inside the local Historical society? Turns out they were having a board meeting and the normally dark interior was now all lit inside with warm light. There are so many aspects to this scene that all go together to make a pleasing result..
This covered bridge is framed nicely by the fence and yellow leaves and a light fog in the air added to the peaceful scene. That was until a car came from the other side, stopped inside the bridge in the middle and began cranking out some music? This lasted a good five minutes, then the horn honked a few times and out the driver came, all by himself? I know the horn honking is an old tradition but why the music first will remain a mystery I guess. Maybe it was remembering an old flame that made the trip with you years ago?
This old Church is located in Lititz Pa, and is not easy to shoot due to the tall steeple. This was quite the undertaking to light the Church, the trees and the grass. Right in the middle of the Church is stained glass above the door where you see blue and I thought I was going to get lucky when I saw some lights come on inside. I knocked and the man answered and I asked if he would turn on the light behind the stained glass, to which He replied he couldn’t. It would have added a nice touch but still a nice shot I feel..
These five Amish siblings were busy loading and transporting tomatoes to market recently as the season is winding down quickly. Lucky for them the destination was only 25 feet in front of them at the families roadside stand. The old saying, “many hands make light work” is exemplified by these ambitious youngsters. The young driver only has her learners permit, so her instructor helped her navigate,all while getting a free ride!
Admittedly this is not one of my favorite buildings but it is situated in a local park and it houses an American Indian museum. The grounds around it have had some nice touches added in the last year and the color was not too bad so I gave it a whirl. The color wont be around too much longer so enjoy this image before you are shoveling snow in a few weeks.
My second image from autumn’s rapid progression. All these lovely leaves were blown clear an hour after I shot this, so remember the early bird catches the worm still rings true.
Hello all, been quite some time since my last post here but thankfully I was motivated enough to go out for a fall shot or two. This photo is the result of persistence and timing. Let me start by saying I was on my way to work the preceding day and saw these lamp posts lit up amongst the fall foliage so I pulled in, got my gear out,set my tripod up and as soon as my camera hit the tripod, the lamps all went out? I laughed to myself on the impeccable timing, and then wandered around to see if there was a sensor controlling them. I did not find one so I knew I was coming back that evening and I did get a few shots but it was a little breezy and less than ideal. Fast forward to the following morning and I headed here long before sunrise because there was a heavy fog and I was eager to capture something. I experimented for a good hour until the ambient light started to increase and that was when I captured this shot. All of a sudden on the other side of the bushes I heard a literal army of backpack blowers headed my way. There were 3 or 4 guys with backpacks and one guy pushing a rolling blower that was really moving leaves. The crew noticed me and graciously left me continue for 10 minutes and then within a few minutes, the entire yard and parking lot were completely bare. The one gentleman told me the tenants fuss like crazy if there are leaves laying around. So I got the shot thankfully and hope you like it.
I have been visiting this Church for photo ops lately and trying to challenge myself to get multiple angles that are appealing. We recently had some heavy storms roll through and I was hoping for some lightning shots here but instead I arrived to find this normally dry stream bed was flowing for the first time I have ever seen. They must have gotten hammered because there was debris three quarters of the way up the slope on the left,so that puts it at maybe 4ft deep at the peak and what is shown here might be 10 inches.
Four adirondack chairs await anyone seeking solace and peace during these troubling times.
A large Cross juts skyward in this infrared cemetery scene. I find myself almost pre-occupied with thinking about the missing local Amish girl and how she can be found. everyone is praying and hoping she is found safe.
Everyone who has a reservation at this place is completely relaxed and the reason for that is this gazebo is located in a cemetery.
This was taken last evening during some stormy weather passing through. As many of you know I enjoy capturing Lancaster county scenes and the Amish who live here, but despite a big gathering at this Amish farm and many of them walking out the lane near where I was parked, I just felt with the missing Amish girl, now was not the time to photograph. For those who saw my post on July 7th about this situation, they have since arrested the man who abducted her but he still refuses to tell authorities anything on her whereabouts. Police did find the spot he buried her clothing and they did say she was harmed after being abducted but no one knows if she is alive or not. News reports said they pinged his phone and there was a huge search over the weekend at the location his phone pinged. Hopefully we still have a glimmer of hope she is found. I included a link showing this idiot. One commenter I saw said he might have Reactive Attachment Disorder which afflicts kids that are abandoned at a young age. He was living on the street at age 7 and the adoptive parents say he was trouble from the very beginning.https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/we-grieve-alongside-our-community-suspect-s-family-issues-statement-on-amish-teen-s-disappearance/article_07b2848c-c53d-11ea-b10e-a75d90ff2e96.html
I shot this last evening as a storm was passing through. The whitish streaks in the stream are actually green bands of floating algae. I was a little surprised how dark and overcast it was but the infrared really popped those trees.
A friend called me last week to tell me about this old pickup sitting in front of a barn that was pretty nice. So that evening I headed out to look at it only to find about 15 cars parked everywhere behind the truck. It seems the owner has planted a field of wildflowers and all the cars were there for those having portraits taken among the flowers. I figured I had nothing else to do so I waited and waited and waited some more. one car left,then another,then three at once until there were only three left and of course they were all parked right in the main part to the right. Well I started shooting as it became darker and hoped they would leave soon, which they finally did. The two images include an infrared that I shot as the sun was getting low and a color one after the sun was down. I like them both but the infrared is more dramatic and gets my vote.
