Monthly Archives: July 2014
The Original Porta-Potty
This set of outhouses were loaded on the wagon for transport and since its not something you see everyday,I thought I would snap a shot.I have seen numerous one room schools in my area working on their outhouses and my thought is that the government is imposing some new rules on them and that is why they are being worked on.
Exploding Umbrella
This was one of those images that just fell in my lap this past weekend.I was out in search of severe weather and the storms were approaching quickly.Suddenly the winds picked up significantly and at the same time these three Amish girls were heading up the road to visit friends.The umbrella blew inside out just as they past me,which had the three of them laughing and I managed to capture this shot as she wrestled the contraption.
Battle Ready
Local historical site held a civil war weekend.I captured this re-enactor with a cannon.
Crop Rows
I have no idea what crop this is,but the rows looked appealing.
Cozy Quarters
This youngster is situated right between his older sisters and that way he will stay out of trouble.
Don’t Look Down
These two Amish men were pressure washing this barn roof for some reason,and they had one single rope haphazardly laying across the roof.The guy on the left has no rope and it was at least 40-50 feet to the ground so he must have little fear of height,at least till he trips.They say it’s not the fall that kills you,it’s the sudden stop.
Harness Hauler
Coming Round The Bend
Two families head home after a sunday visiting with friends.I basically picked this spot,set up my tripod and hoped for the best.These two buggies were the only two that came by while I waited at least 45 minutes. I kept bumping up the iso as the light levels went lower and lower.I ended up at iso 1250 at a 500th second at f5.6 and the ability to freeze any motion was practically gone.
Can You Go Riding?
These two Amish girls were busy cruising on their tricycles and it appears they might be waiting to hear if the other two can come and play. The younger one might be asking mom if they can join the three wheeling fun.
Duck Dynasty Fans?
If any of you are familiar with the american TV show duck dynasty,you know the one guy on the show coined the phrase,”happy,happy,happy”. Imagine my surprise when I saw it on an Amish buggy recently.
Painterly Skies
The remnants of a late day storm include gorgeous clouds lit by the setting sun and a small rainbow appears where rain still falls in the distance. The clouds have an impressionist painting kind of feel to them.
Horse Shoes For Sale
A group of young Amish entrepreneurs discuss the way they want to position their recently constructed collection box that tourists will use to deposit the money for horse shoe purchases.
Family Time
Mom and the boys enjoy a quiet stroll in the countryside on a cool summer day.
Count Your Toes
Amish children are very industrious and teamwork is something they know very well.This is a scene I have witnessed many times over the years,with siblings pulling a rope hooked to the push mower. Every time I see the bare feet and the spinning blades,I get a little nervous,but they have it all under control.
The Running of the Horses
This might appear to be a race between brothers and their horses but it is basically the young boys bringing the horses in from a day of wheat harvesting.The one boy was giving it his best shot to catch up but the other two knew he did not stand a chance.
Amish Fed ex
These two Amish boys caught my eye because they had their scooters loaded down.After I took the photo,I noticed the box had we ship fed ex, on the back.Not sure if it’s a box of hats or what the shipment might contain.
Amish Balloon Sight Seeing
This series of images were captured on friday evening in rural Lancaster county.The top image was taken as the pair of balloons slowly drifted across the fields on their way to landing on the road.The second image is my favorite and includes a buggy load of locals who rode up to watch the spectacle and the second deflated balloon is barely visible on the right in that image.The third shot includes some Amish volunteers who stepped forward to help fold the balloons up. A young man who was a tourist came over to me in utter shock to tell me the balloons were actually sitting right on the road,and I said relax,you see stuff like that in the country all the time.I was surprised they waved this truck to come through while they were getting ready to deflate.
After The Storm
This is another image after the rainbow from the other day. The whole sky took on a rather wild yellow/orange color and I actually changed my white balance twice thinking I had something set wrong because of the way it looked on my tablet.
Let Your Spirit Soar
This image was taken last evening from a spot I have tried to get lightning shots from several times in the past. This evening was looking like another major let down,and to be honest everything must be just right to get shots like this.You need to have lightning before the rain reaches you,you need lightning to strike where you are pointed,and you need the ambient light to be low enough to see the landscape and yet still have exposure times of eight seconds or longer.Granted you can shoot lightning at shorter times but you will waste an awful lot of frames at 1 second each till you are lucky enough to get one captured.For this shot I put a three stop neutral density on which added several seconds time to my exposure and this image happened during an eight second shot.
A friend called to tell me he was out and had just captured a strike with his new camera and that it was getting real windy where he was,and about thirty seconds later it came through where I was and I was getting a little nervous about the wind knocking the tripod over plus the lightning was getting closer,so I scampered to pack up real quick.
One very interesting thing happened this evening,and that was an Amish man came by on an open horse-drawn cart just as the lightning was picking up,and I heard him coming up the road singing almost a half mile away and he never toned down his singing one bit as he passed me. He had an open hymnal in one hand and the reigns in the other.I would describe the Amish that I have heard singing around here as more of a chant and that is what this man was doing. He looked right at me with a smile as he sang his heart out and let his spirit soar in the middle of farm country.For all I know he could have being singing, Please Lord,let me get home safe tonight. It was one of those moments that I cherish living where I do.
Road To The Rainbow#2
Shot number two from tuesdays storm.Taken just up the road from the image posted yesterday.Rainbow was starting to fade at this point,but grew stronger after I left this spot.
The Road To The Rainbow
I went out last evening for lightning photos and came home with a rainbow shot.A serious storm blew through with zero lightning strikes but it was close to sunset and I could see the horizon beyond the storm looked relatively clear and I thought to myself the conditions are just right for a rainbow or a great sunset,so I better drive around and see what develops.This rainbow suddenly appeared and was absolutely intense and lasted a good while,but I was not in the best area to take advantage of it but this image with the still glistening road satisfied my quest.The sky and clouds turned absolutely gorgeous after this and I may post one or two in the coming days.
Blue Sky Infrared
I shot this one room Amish school in infrared and converted it to reveal the blue sky.Infrared has such a unique look in many situations.
1776 Flags
Fourth of July found me sleeping in until my friend Morrie called to tell me about a wonderful display of flags in the town of Lititz. I quickly got dressed and headed there and was very impressed with the patriotic display that I found at the Moravian church in town.As I was snapping a few photos,the caretaker stopped to make sure the flags were not laying over and straighten those that needed attention,and he told me there were actually 1,776 flags meticulously lined up across the lawn.With his efforts and the help of local boy scouts, the scene was certainly worthy of photographing and a thank you to everyone who put forth the effort.When I first got there all I did was complain how breezy it was but after seeing how the flags were stretching out,I quickly was grateful for the breeze. Countless folks were snapping photos of this amazing scene.
Sweet Relief
I spotted this group of what I think are mules in a field recently and as I was getting out of the car,the one decided to take a dirt bath,which might be for the flies? This one mule did this three more times but the others lost interest after this initial shot and moved out of the photo. It was funny to see all the maneuvering on his back and the dust cloud it created.
The Milk Run
A young Amish boy peeks out the back of this buggy to keep an eye on the two stainless steel milk containers being pulled in the wagon behind them.Of course this could be a homemade milkshake machine but one can only speculate.
Donald Reese Photography 